March 27, 2014

• Hong Kong Cha-Chaan-Teng.

  In the dead of night, my mind is swirling around in madness as I toss and turn, unable to doze off like a normal person should.  Outside, the thunder roaring like a lion, sending vibrations through the four walls of my bedroom and its wooden framed tinted glass window.  The room shook for few seconds each time the thunder rolled and blasted an ear defecting sound, worthy of a cringe.  I thought the glass window would shatter, prompting me to keeping my eyes wide open, to be on the lookout.

  It’s been over a week of tired limbs, sore muscles, heavy eyes, and light migraines.  I digested all the pills.  Swallowed countless honeyed-minty throat sprays.  Drank pots of luo-han-guo tea.  Yet, the damn coughs lingered.  And now I have phlegm to deal with.  This sucks.  Big time.  With no energy for anything else, work seems like a relentless chore day in day out.  And my gym routine?  WHAT gym routine?  The thought of sweating it out just makes me want to crash into my bed as soon as I get home, and pass out.

  Tonight, like many nights prior, my thoughts run wild.  Thinking things that I should not have at this hour of well pass 1AM.  Mainly, food.  I don’t know why, but whenever I get bored, or distressed, or mellow, or ill, food immediately took over my train of thoughts.  A bad habit that is hard to break.  With me feeling cold, under the cover, sarong covering my bare chest, and the rain keeps pouring down like nobody’s business, I begin to wish for some comfort food.  And the first thing that pops into my head is Hong Kong cha-chaan-teng.

  Part of the joy in visiting Hong Kong is the breakfast food.  They have got it down almost to perfection.  A cha-chaan-teng place is an ideal spot to be at for an affordable comfort food.  Starting from its milk-tea, to noodle soups, to egg sandwich, to milk puddings.  I crave them all now.  The way I craved them on my last day in Hong Kong last December, as I sat by the window seat on my return flight to Jakarta, looking out at the sun setting.  As the plane parked on the run-away, awaiting for a take off, a rush of heaviness settled deep within, sending a stir of melancholy thoughts and making me wish to return to the city again.  Soon.

  

  I visited numerous eating establishments during the six-day stay in Hong Kong.  Sharing many finger-licking delicacies with a special someone definitely worth the experience.  From Michelin star restaurants to street side hole-in-the-wall places, many have warmed and replenished my soul to a point that I could actually see myself living there.  But when I have to recall the memorable ones, immediately the cha-chaan-teng varieties that sent my tongue to salivate.

  A food blogger, Ladyironchef, once blogged about the top 10 cha-chaan-teng places in Hong Kong.  Of the top ten, I think I have only had a chance to visit three or four.  Many of these establishments are named in Chinese characters, preventing me to recognize or pronounce the name.  I too have been to others outside the listed top 10, but one thing they all have in common is the milk tea.

  

  It’s a must.  I don’t think there is a single cha chaan teng place that doesn’t serve a milk tea.  It is basically the core and basic item to be found on the menu.  Unlike chai, it is a plain black tea mixed with milk.  Unsweetened, it is just as delightfully fragrant as when flavored with some granulated caster sugar that one may find provided on the table.  They do serve coffee as well as plain tea with lemon slice, but somehow Hong Kong breakfast without a cup of milk tea is just not the same.

  Moving on to something heftier, you’ll come across several choices for noodle soups.  You may go with the simple macaroni soup with ham slices or instant noodle with beef.  But I’d opt for a true noodle soup, ranging from thin vermicelli with sliced pork and pickled mustard greens, to thick vermicelli with pork chop and shrimp-pork dumplings.  What I truly like about these noodle dishes is the lightness of the broth that comes with them.  All tasting differently, but flavorful without the heaviness that certain noodle soups may have, such as with ramen noodle broth.

  

  This goes beyond a meal of wanton noodle soup or rice porridge that many may associate Hong Kong with.  A legitimate and common association when it comes to Hong Kong food, but a totally different shear of satisfaction in comparison.

  When one is craving for a lighter fare and less noodle-like, I’d vote for the always-satisfying egg sandwich.  Most often, you’ll be served with thrillingly-thick buttered toasted sandwich bread accompanied with perfectly wet scrambled eggs.  The shear thickness of the bread provides a false pillow-like texture that we Asians tend to die for.  Perfection comes only when married with the softness and joyous flavor of the eggs.  If that is not enough, you may opt for a sweeter version, the same bread slice topped with crunchy-gooey peanut butter and drizzled with sticky sweet condensed milk.  Heaven on a plate.

  

  Many customers surrender to the optional pork chop in a bun/sandwich concept when they crave for bread.  Though tasty, this doesn’t particularly send me off to a foodgasm.  Oh well, I guess I’m not most people.

  If a dessert is all you would want in the early hour of your day, you can settle with some silky smooth milk puddings.  Flavored in a variety of choices that range from regular, to egg, to ginger, to brown sugar.  My favorite has always been the yellow colored egg milk pudding.  It has the lightest flavor, for it lacks that milky heaviness in comparison or the sugary sweetness one may find in the others.

  

  The next best thing is the regular one.  Though it is heavier in flavor than the egg variety, it is what most people preferred, hot, for its true milky aroma.  All puddings available in either hot or cold.  I personally prefer a cold one, as it gives off a subtler flavor and aroma.  Though my preference may change from time to time, especially when eating in the cooler December climate of Hong Kong.

  Alas, I still lay awake thinking about what I could stuff my mouth with at a night like this.  Even when it’s close to 2AM.  The soothing and cozy-warmness I feel each time I had some Hong Kong breakfast food truly is bewitching and would forever be memorable.  It would be such a perfection if by some miracle there is a knock on my door and came a room service rolling in a tray of all those mentioned above.  Sigh… I would even settle for a dim sum selection right now.  Guess I just have to toughen it out tonight.  Stomach growling or not.

  Here’s me being greedy over a perfectly baked barbeque pork bun at one of the famous breakfast dim sum places in Hong Kong.

  

  • 10:58 pm
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