Hong Kong Milk Tea 港式奶茶
A tea drink that consists of black tea and condensed milk. It is one of the most popular drink in Hong Kong. Hong Kong milk tea has a stronger tea taste as compared to the regular milk tea.
Yuenyeung 鸳鸯
Another popular drink in Hong Kong that consists of 30% coffee and 70% Hong Kong milk tea. The name 'yuenyeung' is actually a kind of bird - mandarin ducks. They often appear in pairs, a male and a female, that looks very different from each other. They symbolises love in the Chinese culture. Therefore, the name is used for this drink, 2 unlike items pairing together.
Polo Bun / Pineapple Bun 菠萝包
There is no pineapple in this bun. It is called as so, as the look and texture of the topping, a sugary crust, resembles a pineapple. It is often served with a slab of cold butter in the middle.
Try: Kam Wah Cafe & Bakery 金华冰厅.
Egg Tart 蛋挞
Egg Tarts generally come in 2 types of crusts, shortcrust pastry and puff pastry. They are both filled with a egg custard, mainly consisting of eggs and milk. They taste less creamy than English custard tarts and does not have nutmeg / cinnamon dusting. Another kind of egg tart, Portuguese Egg Tart, can be found in Macau. Macau's version was brought in by Portuguese colonizers and has a creme brûlée-like caramelised finish.
Try: Honolulu Coffee Shop 檀岛咖啡饼店, Tai Cheong Bakery 泰昌饼家, Kam Wah Cafe & Bakery 金华冰厅.
Steamed Milk Pudding 双皮奶
A milk dessert that consists of a special steaming technique that results in a runny milk pudding with a thin sheet of milk at the top. Thus, it is called as 'double skin milk' in Chinese.
Try: Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司, Yee Shun Milk Company 义顺牛奶公司.
Mango Pomelo Sago 杨枝甘露
A type of Hong Kong dessert invented in 1984 by Lei Garden, that consists of mango, pomelo, sago, coconut milk, evapourated milk and milk.
Try: Hui Lau Shan 许留山.
Bubble Waffle 鸡蛋仔
A spherical egg-based waffle and is a popular Hong Kong street snack. Due to its appearance, it is also referred as bubble waffle. These days, it comes in various flavours like chocolate, matcha and yam; fillings or with sauce drizzled over.
Try: Mammy Pancake 妈咪鸡蛋仔, More Eggettes 摩芽鸡蛋仔.
Put Chai Ko 砵仔糕
A popular pudding snack in Hong Kong that consists of brown sugar, rice flour and red bean. It is usually palm-sized and soft. The batter is poured into small bowls, then steamed, and served at room temperature. It is traditionally sold skewered on 2 bamboo sticks, but these days it is sold in sandwich bags.
Try: Kwan Kee Store 坤记糕品.
Hong Kong Curry Fishballs 咖喱鱼蛋
Another popular Hong Kong street snack. The curry sauce makes fried fishballs taste even more yummy!
Hong Kong French Toast 港式西多士
French toast is bread dipped in eggs with sugar and pan-fried till browned. Unlike the traditional way, Hong Kong French Toast is fried and served with a slab of butter and drizzled with honey / condensed milk.
Scrambled Eggs Sandwich 炒蛋三明治
Scrambled eggs may be a western thing, but it is a common dish served in Hong Kong, often as a form of sandwich or with toast by the side. Another common dish is replacing the sliced bread with polo bun, so you get like a scrambled eggs polo bun "burger".
Try: Chrisly Cafe 华星冰室, Cross Cafe 十字冰室 (for Polo Bun Egg Sandwich).
Dim Sum 点心
They are bite-sized portions of food served in small steam baskets. It is often paired with Chinese tea types like Chrysanthemum tea (菊花 Ju Hua), green tea (龙井 Long Jing), Pounei tea (普洱 Pu Er) and Oolong tea (乌龙 Wu Long). Other than the traditional steamed dim sum, baked and fried dim sums are available as well. Here is a list of the most common types of dim sum in Hong Kong.
Try: Yum Cha 饮茶, One Dim Sum 一点心.
Hong Kong Instant Noodles 港式公仔面
A simple soup / dry dish that consists of instant noodles, sunny side-up, luncheon meat / spam slices and leafy stalk vegetables like bok choy.
Wonton Noodles 云吞面
Hong Kong's wontons are the best as these meat dumplings are wrapped with a whole shrimp in it instead of minced shrimp. The usual wonton filling consists of 3 parts of minced pork with 1 part of minced shrimp. Next 2 components that are equally important is the chewy noodles and the soup. The noodles are blanched, then rinsed under cold water so that its texture does not get affected being submerged in the hot soup. It is not to be missed up with the Singapore / Malaysia version that is often served dry with char siew slices and tossed in seasoning. The soup is served separated.
Try: Tsim Chai Kee Noodle Shop 沾仔记云吞面, Ho Hung Kee Congee & Noodle 何洪记.
Beef Brisket Noodles 牛腩面
Another popular type of noodles in Hong Kong is the Beef Brisket Noodles. It is a must try soup dish.
Try: Kau Kee 九记牛腩.
Swiss Chicken Wings 瑞士鸡翅
A sweet soy sauce-based chicken wings served in many restaurants in Hong Kong. It is marinated in a sauce made up of soy sauce, sugar, Chinese wine and spices. Despite its name of 'Swiss', it is totally not related to Switzerland.
Try: Tsui Wah Restaurant 翠华餐厅.
Hong Kong Congee 港式粥
Congee / Porridge comes in many forms and the Cantonese congee consists of rice boiled in lots of water for a long time, till it becomes thick, white and smooth, resulting in a creamy texture. You almost couldn't spot any rice grains.
Try: Mui Kee Congee 妹記生滾粥品, Trusty Congee King 靠得住靓粥.