10 Best Hong Kong Foods You Must Try

I recently visited Hong Kong over the winter break for the first time and I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I heard very mixed opinions on just about everything regarding visiting Hong Kong but I ended up having such an incredible visit! The city was so much fun, the sites and attractions were incredible, and the food was absolutely amazing. This inspired me to make this blog post highlighting the 10 best Hong Kong foods you must try when visiting or just trying Hong Kong / Cantonese cuisine in general.

Hong Kong Milk Tea

Tea with milk is probably my favorite thing in the entire world. I drink chai, which is South Asian black tea with milk, every single day and I am pretty confident that I always will. Given my love for chai, I feel like it is no surprise that I am a huge fan of other milk teas around the world. I have previously tried Taiwanese milk tea in Taiwan and Thai iced tea in Thailand, and I absolutely loved both. Having only tried Hong Kong milk tea in Canada, I was confident that I enjoyed Taiwanese milk tea and Thai iced tea more, but that all changed when I actually tried it in Hong Kong itself.

My most common complaint when it comes to chai or milk teas is that the tea flavor isn’t strong enough. So, I think the reason I fell in love with the milk tea in Hong Kong is because it is very strong. This style of tea was introduced during the British colonial period of Hong Kong in the 20th century and is popularly consumed at “cha chaan tengs” which are Hong Kong breakfast cafes with Western influenced dishes. This milk tea is prepared in a mesh bag that resembles a stocking and involves a specific aeration method and blend of black teas to achieve an optimal flavor. The tea is then topped with evaporated milk to produce a strong, rich, and creamy milk tea. I also want to add that for some reason the evaporated milk that they use tastes way better than the evaporated milk we have in Canada so even if you aren’t a fan of evaporated milk this is still an absolute must-try. It would also say it is a must-try even if you aren’t a fan of strong milk tea because despite being strong they prepare it in a way where there is very little bitterness / astringency which I find very impressive. Make sure to get the milk tea from a cha chaan teng or restaurant as well, I found them to generally be better than the ones served from milk tea shops on the street. If I have one regret from my (pretty much perfect) trip to Hong Kong it is not drinking more milk tea while I was there!

Egg Waffles

Prior to visiting Hong Kong I made jokes about how I am going just so I can try the egg waffles. These waffles, also known as bubble waffles, have distinct “bubbles” covering the waffle that can be stuffed with delicious fillings. Despite being a pretty popular street food snack in Hong Kong, there weren’t as many bubble waffle stalls as I expected. I had to go and seek them out to a degree but it was definitely worth it! The texture of the waffles is quite light and airy and the fillings have a light, pleasant, flavor and texture. I didn’t find that the egg waffles in Hong Kong were dramatically better than in Canada but it is absolutely a must-try while you are there, especially if you have never tried them before!

Curry Fish Balls

Although not pervasive, certain areas of the city in Hong Kong have quite a few street food options which I was so happy to see! One of the beloved street food offerings is curry fish balls which are exactly as they sound, fish balls with a curry. Fish balls can be somewhat hit or miss, especially when they are too fishy, but these ones were quite nice. The fish flavour was pleasant, the curry sauce was surprisingly slightly spicy, and the texture was very bouncy. This dish isn’t anything revolutionary and it didn’t blow me away but it is a nice, simple, street food snack to enjoy when you are a little hungry but don’t want a full meal.

French Toast, Egg Toast, Pineapple Bun

While Hong Kong milk tea is the beverage of choice at cha chaan teng’s in Hong Kong; french toast, egg toast, and pineapple buns are the dishes of choice. French toast is a type of buttery fried toast, egg toast is simply eggs between toast, and pineapple buns are a buttery bread-like pastry. These baked goods are probably familiar to a lot of people, so why should you try it in Hong Kong? One answer is that each of these dishes were probably the best one I have ever had anywhere when I tried them in Hong Kong. Another answer is that cha chaan teng’s may serve up Western inspired dishes but they are still distinctly specific to Hong Kong. Everything is prepared slightly differently and what you get is versions of these baked goods with crazy good textures and flavors. The eggs are light and savoury, the bread is soft and fluffy, the pineapple bun is crusty on the outside and buttery smooth on the inside, everything you want with these dishes. If my biggest regret when visiting Hong Kong was not getting more milk tea my second biggest regret is not going to more cha chaan teng’s for these dishes.

Wonton Noodles

Wonton noodles are another classic Cantonese dish that I knew I had to try when visiting Hong Kong. This dish originates in mainland China, where wontons were typically filled with pork or a mix of shrimp and pork. This developed into just shrimp as a filling in Hong Kong due to the availability of shrimp, since Hong Kong is on the coast, and the desire for a more “refined” flavor. I cannot speak on how pork wontons would taste, but the shrimp ones are great! The shrimp is bouncy and the wontons are a bit thicker than a regular shrimp dumpling, which works better in soup because it gives it a bit more substance. Additionally, the broth is light and flavorful, and the noodles are thin and crisp. This dish isn’t necessarily going to win any flavor awards but it lives up to its reputation as a comforting, working-class, dish.

Claypot Rice

Claypot rice was one of the dishes I was most excited to try when visiting Hong Kong. Variations of claypot rice exist across Asia but Hong Kong seems pretty famous for their claypot rice and they have some very popular spots across the city. I stumbled across one such spot by coincidence, Kwan Kee Claypot Rice, because it had a massive line in front. I immediately got in the queue and luckily it only took about half an hour to get in. I am so glad I ended up going to this spot because the claypot rice was incredible! The meat has a perfect texture, being tender while still having a slight chew to it, and the savoury sauce they served alongside the claypot rice was delicious. The star of the show is undoubtedly the hard rice burnt onto the bottom of the pot though. It reminded me of Persian tahdig but a bit more charred, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I am sure there are a lot of terrific claypot rice spots in Hong Kong but I can specifically vouch for this spot as being a great spot to try this iconic dish!

Roast Goose Rice

When it comes to poultry, I am definitely more of a chicken and quail person. In Hong Kong and Guangdong though, roasted goose is the preferred roasted meat. I have never tried goose before but I assumed it would be somewhat similar to duck. I enjoy duck depending on how it’s prepared but oftentimes I find it a bit gamey, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the roast goose in Hong Kong. Despite not being something that I would normally order, the roasted goose I tried was actually really good! It wasn’t as gamey as I expected, the meat actually has a really pleasant flavour and juicy texture, and the skin was nice and crispy. Sometimes in Canada, roasted meats can also have a bit of a sweet flavor profile which doesn’t pair very well with the accompanying sweet plum sauce in my opinion, but here the roast goose was very savory and the plum sauce wasn’t too sweet either, which I really liked. The only thing I didn’t like about the goose was that the part I got was quite boney and it was a bit fatty for my taste but overall it was a really great experience. All of this is to say, even if you aren’t into goose or roasted meats I would definitely give this a try when you are in Hong Kong because they do it exceptionally well.

Shrimp Dumplings, Rice Rolls, and… Pigeon? (Dim Sum)

Dim sum is another traditional Cantonese type of meal that is very popular in Hong Kong. Dim sum includes a vast variety of small dishes, many of which are steamed in bamboo steamers. Two of the most popular dishes are shrimp dumplings and rice noodle rolls. Shrimp dumplings are simple and classic, simply consisting of shrimp inside of a dumpling wrapper, but due to this simplicity it needs to be executed really well. The shrimp should be juicy and the dumpling wrapper should be thin but not completely falling apart. The dim sum that I had in Hong Kong has terrific shrimp dumplings that fit this criteria. Similarly, rice noodle rolls are sort of crepe-like shaped slightly thicker rice wrappings that envelop any number of toppings. My favourite version of this dish is with beef or shrimp and during this trip I actually had my favorite rice roll at a dedicated rice roll shop in Sham Shui Po, called 生物鍾石磨腸粉. It was super savory, the textures of the proteins were terrific, and I got served complimentary cold soy milk. This just goes to show that you can find really great dim sum dishes at small shops on the street as well, not just grand dim sum dining halls!

Aside from all of the classic dim sum dishes that I had already tried before many times, I also tried a new dim sum dish in Hong Kong… Pigeon! This may sound a bit bizarre but in Cantonese cuisine, young pigeon, also referred to as squab, is a fancy / upscale dim sum dish. I did not know this prior to visiting Hong Kong but I went to dim sum with my friend, who grew up in Hong Kong, and she encouraged me to give it a try. In comparison to the goose I had tried this was more gamey, and I guess it generally tasted more like duck. It was prepared really well though and the skin was even crispier and the interior was even juicier than the goose I had. It wasn’t my favorite dish but it is definitely worth trying, especially if you enjoy gamey-er poultry!

Egg Tarts

Egg/custard tarts come in a couple of different forms, most notably the Portuguese pastel de nata, the English custard tart, and the Hong Kong egg tart. My favourite of the three, after my visit to Portugal, is definitely the pastel de nata. I hadn’t had much success with trying good Hong Kong egg tarts aside from in Boston, where the small Chinatown has surprisingly good Cantonese food. In any case, I was excited to try egg tarts from the source and they definitely did not disappoint! The filling was much less eggy and didn’t have a sickly sweet aroma like some that I have tried and the tart was nice and crumbly with a pleasant flavor. Needless to say, egg tarts are terrific in Hong Kong and it definitely changed my perspective of this variation of the egg/custard tart.

Beef Chow Fun

To end off I have to mention one of my favourite dishes from my trip, beef chow fun. I have always been a big fan of wide, flat, rice noodles, so I was naturally super excited to try beef chow fun. This dish is another classic Cantonese dish that you can find at casual dining spots and cha chaan tengs around Hong Kong. Beef chow fun uses a type of rice noodle called hor fun (which is also why this dish is sometimes referred to as beef hor fun) which is accompanied by beef, onions, bean sprouts, and a simple soy sauce based sauce. Sounds simple enough, but making a dish like this requires precise control in achieving the perfect texture and flavour. In Hong Kong, the chefs at the restaurants where I tried beef chow fun cooked it to the perfect texture with an incredible umami and wok hei. If you are unfamiliar with the term wok hei, it refers to the smoky/charred flavour that food gets from being cooked in the hot wok. It may be difficult to discern in some dishes but this dish probably had the strongest wok hei flavour out of any dish I have tried.

10 Best Hong Kong Foods You Must Try

Overall, I think Hong Kong is an excellent food city and an amazing place to visit in general. If you are visiting Hong Kong, I hope this serves as a useful guide for all of the teriffic dishes you should prioritize trying! Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post where I will also highlight what my favourite sightseeing activities were in the city. I hope you all enjoyed this post and if you are visiting Canada I hope this provided some insight into some spots you may want to try. Make sure to follow me on my social media platforms and checkout my other blog posts if you enjoy my content!