HK: Local Flavors

Lychee ginger lime…Longan tea with red dates…Red bean…Tofu…Black sticky rice…Rose...Kiwi...Cream cheese…Black sesame…Roasted chestnut...Honey citrus – these are all local flavors of ice cream you can find in Hong Kong and nowhere else. Soymilk comes in vanilla, chocolate, red bean (my favorite), taro, mango, green tea, and jasmine. Starbucks offers green tea with red bean muffins, green tea tofu cheesecake, mango lychee cheesecake, mango latte, and black currant latte. McDonald’s has a coffee shop called McCafe attached to it that looks more like a Starbucks than Dunkin Donuts. Even Pizza Hut’s décor can pass for a 3-star restaurant.

I know I can’t stop raving about the food here, but that’s because eating is definitely one of HK's favorite pastimes and with good reason. Unlike other wealthy cities, you don't need a lot of money to eat well here. Everywhere you go, there are street vendors that sell fresh fruit drinks, bubble teas, pastries and baked goods, mango desserts, and Chinese fast-food such as meat balls, tripe, and stinky tofu – all served on a stick. What is also popular are these fast-food restaurants called cha chan tang which literally means tea restaurant where you can get delicious and filling set meals for only $2-$4! Sample dishes include baked pork chop rice with tomatoes or thick fried French toast with peanut butter and condensed milk. If you want to try cuisines from other countries, then HK is your place! Their chefs are able to recreate international dishes that taste very authentic. Unlike in India where Chinese food is cooked with the same spices as Indian food so it tastes more Indian than Chinese. I have tried everything from cheap street food to expensive fine cuisine and have never been disappointed.

Speaking of local flavors, the most popular toothpaste brand here is Darkie – or “Black People Toothpaste” in Chinese. No I’m not joking. It’s been around for decades and has ads everywhere with a black guy’s face and white teeth as their trademark logo. But after years of ignorance, they finally realized that it is a little politically incorrect so the name was recently changed to Darlie and the logo is now the negative image so the face is more white than black. Funny thing is, the Chinese name remains as is. Unbelievable!