January 23, 2013

• Hong Kong culinary gems.

  Flower, pork, rice, and shrimp played crucial roles during my four-day culinary adventure in Hong Kong. The trip was supposed to be a simple gathering of a group of us Xangans, but turned into a food hunting frenzy that left me in a food coma at the end of each of the four-day stay. Well, at least that’s how I’d like to think how it went down. No amount of cups of tea, or tasty looking cakes and pastries, or smiles and laughter, or ferry rides on Hong Kong Bay, enough to erase the unforgettable fish-head rice porridge, shrimp wanton soup, baked pork buns, and osmanthus flower jelly I sampled during the trip, thanks to the guidance of both Chris (@christao408) and Gary (@currypuffy).

  The cool December weather makes one keeps craving for something hot and soupy. What better way to warm oneself than by indulging the popular wanton soup. Varieties are endless and welcomed by food goers. Those made at Tasty Congee and Noodle Wanton Shop in Hong Kong, however, are essentially highly recommended. The broth is the key. Their version is a very light broth, but one that comes with a gush of sweet shrimp flavor. Strong enough to make one wonder how on earth they are able to make something so light, so clear, yet so flavorful. With each mouthful, my mind wondered on the long hours the cooks spent skimming out and straining out the unwanted broth impurities that tend to make soup cloudy. All I could see in the broth were pale green spring onions floating on top, while a school of tiny blind albino goldfish swam calmly and happily in a clear yellow pool, as my ceramic soupspoon stirred them around. One must taste the broth PRIOR to tasting the dumplings, in my humble opinion. It had a flavor that resembled an ocean of shrimps, which what the tongue begged, while the dumplings provided the texture contrast with an extra kick of shrimp sweetness. There was probably only a singular shrimp wrapped in each paper-thin wanton skin, yet each dumpling was the perfect size for every single spoonful of savory heaven. The egg noodle was absent. We didn’t order any. But there was no need, for it may take away the splendidness of the moment brought by the broth and dumplings alone, enough to make a grown man cry.

  

  If the shrimp wanton soup is the star of the evening sky, then the restaurant’s rice porridge clearly is the moon. For it is able to heighten the reputation of the restaurant with its rice porridge making, as the main draw. I have tasted various kinds of rice porridge in my life, for I am a big fan, and I’m pleased to say that this particular restaurant does not play around when it comes to even simple and humble rice porridge. Being it a poor man’s dish, rice porridge also has been known to be the preferred medicine for illnesses in Chinese culture. It soothes, it calms, it rejuvenates, and it replenishes the soul. That’s exactly how I felt as I savored each and every spoonful of the restaurant’s fish head rice porridge. Despite one’s expectation, the flavor was not at all fishy. But the texture was what startled me. So smooth, so silky thick, the porridge basically just glided down inside my throat, and with it bringing a surge of warm hugs, similar to what hot cacao does in the dead of winter. The flavor of the fish together with spring onions was very subtle, yet it caused me to close my eyes and thought about my childhood. The doneness of the fish was also cooked perfectly. Each nook and crannies of the fish head offered the smoothest meat my tongue could search for. And I had a pile of bones to prove it. My palate rejoiced in happiness. Is it any wonder how the establishment awarded with a Michelin star?

  

  Moving on to yet another great gem of a culinary creation. If you managed to survive a two and half hour outdoor wait for an elbow-to-elbow sitting at TIM HO WAN dim sum restaurant, you better make sure to pamper that tongue of yours with their signature baked pork buns. Perfectly round and come in threes, they tease your every bite with their slight crispness on outer top layer, a perfect pairing to a soft textured dough for a bun. They often arrive warm. Hold it gently in between your fingers so not to crush its soft perfect roundness, and take a bite. Soon appear right before your eyes, a mini cave-like hallow filled with small chunks of porky goodness, covered in a deep scarlet hoisin and sweet soy of a flavoring. Juicy and robust in flavor, it bounds to make you relish each bite with glee. Be warn, one may not be enough, and your dining companions might want the two buns left on the plate. My suggestion is to order more. One order per person, so everyone gets to release three big porky sighs. Yes, you’ll want them all. Trust me. This place is so popular that branches of the same establishment can be found at various locations in Hong Kong. And all require one to take a number and wait behind a long line.

  

  Egg tarts seem to be a popular way to end a dim sum. But that is not how one should end a meal at this Michelin starred restaurant. Another MUST at this dim sum joint is their osmanthus flower jelly. Four orange colored squares in a plate, they captive diners’ imagination with the specks of osmanthus petals and wolfberries, or goji berries, which seem to float frozen in those translucent jelly squares. They were served chilled. Yet, despite its cool, firm and smooth texture, the sweet vanilla-like aroma of the osmanthus blossoms able to permeate one’s nostrils and sent happy thoughts to the brain. Each bite seemed like an episode of a picnic in the springtime, sending one sunshine, cool breeze and floral aroma of the osmanthus flowers. I was so captivated by the gentle flavor of the flower that I couldn’t help but to look for the same flavor in another form of food or beverage. One that I gladly found, as sweetened and chilled osmanthus tea, at the food court inside the departure terminal at the international airport, on my last day in Hong Kong prior to my flight back to Indonesia. It was a perfect way to end the trip. Sweet, aromatic, cooling and calming. Just how I like it. Fond memories of the trip came flying by, one by one, as I sucked the last drops of the tea, while waiting for my boarding call. Delectable is just one of the many words my brain able to conjure up on my experience, yet that wouldn’t be suffice to fully explain my gratification over the city’s food scene. And just like that, I made a promise to myself that I’ll be back.

  

  • 4:18 am
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