Hong Kong Recipes
16 recipesHong Kong food starts with Cantonese cooking and adds British, Southeast Asian and Western touches picked up in a busy port city. Fresh ingredients are cooked briefly: steamed fish with ginger and scallion, stir-fries with wok hei (the smoky heat of a very hot wok) and slow-simmered soups at home. Yum cha, the tea and dim sum meal, fills restaurants on weekend mornings with shrimp dumplings, siu mai and rice noodle rolls. Roast meat shops hang glazed char siu, crackling pork belly and goose in the window. Cha chaan teng, the local tea cafes, serve a hybrid menu of milk tea, buttery pineapple buns, French toast and baked rice with tomato sauce. Noodle shops are known for thin egg noodles in wonton soup, and congee is the classic breakfast. Street snacks include egg waffles and curry fish balls. At Lunar New Year, families steam turnip cake and other sticky treats for good luck.
Staple ingredients
- rice and rice noodles
- soy sauce
- ginger and scallion
- pork and seafood
- dried shrimp and dried seafood
- oyster sauce
- wheat starch and rice flour
- tea
Breakfast
Century Egg and Pork Congee (Hong Kong Style)HK1 h 30 minEasy
Hong Kong French Toast (Sai Do Si with Peanut Butter)HK20 minEasy
Appetizers
Har Gow (Hong Kong Shrimp Dumplings)HK1 h 8 minChallenging
Siu Mai (Hong Kong Pork and Shrimp Dumplings)HK55 minMedium
Soups
Main Dishes
Beef Chow Fun (Hong Kong Dry-Fried Beef and Rice Noodles)HK30 minMedium
Char Siu (Cantonese Honey-Glazed Roast Pork)HK1 hEasy
Baked Pork Chop Rice (Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng Style)HK1 h 10 minMedium
Siu Yuk (Hong Kong Crispy Roast Pork Belly)HK2 hChallenging
Breads
Desserts
Snacks
Cheung Fun (Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls with Shrimp)HK1 h 10 minMedium
Curry Fish Balls (Hong Kong Street Snack)HK35 minEasy
Gai Daan Jai (Hong Kong Egg Waffles)HK30 minEasy
Lo Bak Go (Hong Kong Pan-Fried Turnip Cake)HK1 h 55 minMedium
Drinks
Common questions
What is Hong Kong food known for?
Dim sum, roast meats such as char siu, wonton noodles, congee, and cha chaan teng favorites like milk tea and egg tarts. The cooking is mostly Cantonese, with strong British and Southeast Asian touches.
What is the national dish of Hong Kong?
Hong Kong has no official dish. Dim sum, wonton noodle soup and char siu are the foods most often named as symbols of the city's cooking.
Is Hong Kong food spicy?
Not typically. Cantonese cooking favors clean, savory flavors with ginger, scallion and soy sauce. Chili oil and hot mustard come on the side, and curry fish balls are one of the few spicy street snacks.