Extreme BBQ in Hong Kong!! Juiciest Char Siu + Michelin Star ⭐️ Roast Goose!

Today we're eating some of the best roast goose in Hong Kong. As soon as you arrive in Hong Kong and walk down the streets, you'll immediately be greeted by barbecue meat shops. Stacked with a tempting assortment of protein, hanging and glistening, and calling your name to be eaten, Hong Kong is a Cantonese barbecue meat paradise. Oh, that's pretty heavy. Let's see if I have what it takes. If you love to eat meat, you're gonna love Hong Kong's unbelievable roasted meat culture. But with hundreds of shops offering a similar selection, where should you go to eat barbecue meat in Hong Kong? From fire-roasted crispy pork, to goose that's so juicy, you'll have a waterfall in your mouth. So juicy. We're here in the middle of the afternoon and they've already sold 100 geese. But first, we're starting with one of the most popular Let's find out if it's as good as everyone says it is. Good morning. It's your favorite day. Yes. We are in Taiwan at a place called Sun Guai Heung and it is considered, honestly, the best char siu in Hong Kong. And it just came out of the oven. Awesome. It's juicy, it's dripping, it's... Look at that glaze. You can tell that they specialize in char siu and that's one of the favorite things that people come here to eat. It's like a cave, the stalagmites and stalactites and they just ooze and drip with that sauce. And you can see the fattiness and the char. It's really a beautiful thing. But then they also have roast pork, they have chicken, they have ducks going. Welcome to the roasting room, where they're preparing all of the barbecue meats back here. They're prepping the meats. They have the roaster, the big roaster back there. And you can just see meat hanging around. But they do amazingly, they do everything in this tiny little kitchen in the back. So we're gonna see the process, especially of the char siu. He's like on rapid fire. Once he slices up the pork, then you go into the marinating process. And he puts all that pork into some giant bathtub-sized buckets with their signature marinade, which we'll never know all the ingredients in there. But definitely a lot of salt, a lot of sugar, there's probably some fermented bean paste, there's maybe some red wine, there's some spices, maybe Chinese five spice or star anise, and all that gets a dry rub coating. And what's interesting to me is that it's a dry rub coating on the pork. It's not a liquid sauce, but as the pork starts to react with that salt and that sugar, that's when the sauce starts to form. And so that marinates actually for an hour or longer to be able to coat that pork. Then they'll strand it all up, and they already happen to have some strands, some skewers ready to go in the oven. That was our first glimpse into the oven. It literally looks like a spaceship, the oven, but they have the fire at the bottom, and it's this cylindrical shape, so all that heat rises to the top. And yeah, it has this rack, this rotating rack. So he just monitors it through that window, a little window here. It's such a cool oven. And art of roasting Cantonese meat this way is such a skill, such an art. So it's actually, I mean, this is an unbelievable experience to see behind the scenes of how it's cooked and what goes on in the process. Because typically, I would just go to a roast meat shop, and I just, you know, everything is ready, and you just order whatever you want. They chop it up for you, and you enjoy it. But to see the cooking, to see the process of what goes into it, it just makes it so much more special. And so he really takes his time to arrange the racks of char siu, ranging from the thinner pieces to the fattier pieces, and how it's going to roast in the oven, because he knows the heat levels so well. And so I think we're all arranged and ready to go. He's about to put them into the oven. The space shuttle oven is just fully loaded with char siu. In about 30 minutes, then they'll dunk it into this sugary syrup mixture, which is called the maltose. And that's what we'll see next. Once he pulls out all the char siu from the oven, then he has to clip away some of the burnt edges because of that fat, because of that sugar. It kind of burns on the edges. So he clips some of those away, and then it gets a dunk into that sugar syrup, the maltose. Wow. The final step, then it will just ooze and just start to just kind of cascade down the pieces of pork, down the char siu. But wow, that will make your mouth water. It's time to eat. So what did we get, Virginia? Right, so we're going to do char siu, but two ways. So we got the local favorite, which is the half fatty, half lean. They call it the taiyato, the first cut. So the first cut into that piece of meat, they say that this is the best. And then we've got the fatty char siu right here. And that's extra fatty, like almost pure fat. With a bit of char. And then we've got the spare ribs that we saw them break into. And then we've got the chicken. They recommended the chicken. I love, oh, thank you. Oh, thank you, thank you. We got some of their veggies. Oh, that's some of their staff meal. The owner is so friendly. Oh, we have some vegetables on the table. It's not pure protein. But yeah, one of the things I love about the chicken is not the chicken itself, but I love the scallion ginger sauce. Oh, I could eat it all day long. But definitely, what do you think? Should we start with the extra fatty char siu or the medium favorite? Ooh, do you like to save the best for last? Yeah, let's do fatty first then. Okay, do the end, because I love the burnt bits. Oh, man, and that glaze. Oh, you can already feel it almost sticking to the plate. It's so fatty. Oh, it's like goosey, oozy. Look at that wobble. Oh, man, yes. That is just pure fat. But the flavor that comes out of it. But also, like the fat, it's not wobbly. It's got a little bit of a texture, like it springs. It does. Oh, yeah, you're right. What were you telling me about the char siu here? Oh, so they have different words for it. This is called yapin tin. It just means they're gonna melt and disintegrate in your mouth. But you were also telling me that this is life-changing char siu. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This was life-changing. When I ate char siu here, I'm like, oh my god, I didn't know it could be like this. Awesome. So next up, we're gonna try the most popular version. It's the medium fatty. There's some meat on there, but definitely, it's definitely not lean, though. There's definitely big chunks of fat. Okay. That's the one for me. Yeah, because the fatty one is a bit heavy, a bit chunkily fatty. This one, you've got that texture of the meat plus the flavor of the fat, that char that the fat brings to it. Also, this is considered a more traditional taste to it, so it's not too sweet, not too savory, just more traditional. So, Virginia, in the realm of roasted Cantonese barbecue, where does char siu stand? I think it's one of the most popular meats, also because it's boneless, so it's probably the easiest to eat. Also, at night, we do family style, so if you're bringing friends home and we need an extra dish, people will probably do a zham liu, which means just to come here and get a protein, usually char siu as an extra dish. So, would you say that char siu is one of the most popular daily roast meats? I think so. In this place, you know how many kilos that they roast per day? 120 kilos. 120 kilos of char siu per day. Yeah. Okay, that's just a testament of how popular they are, how well they do it. All right, so next up are the ribs. Next up are the ribs. These are cooked in the same marinade, same sauce as the char siu, but then the rib meat, and so, yeah, it's a different cut, it's a different meat, and you can see, look at the, I mean, their knife skills are unbelievable, the way they prepare it, cut it into bite-sized pieces. They slice right through the bone with that Chinese cleaver. I mean, we all know the texture, the flavor of ribs. I think we like ribs because we like to have meat on the bone and we like to gnaw, it's just a personal preference. I think around the world, they like ribs for that reason, yeah. And also because the bone provides flavor. That's why ribs are just so tasty. And this place has the most amount of char. Right as you mentioned char, on that note, I wanted to show you guys something, and also, Virginia, maybe you've already seen this before, but I was browsing through the South China Morning Post about char siu, and they came up with this char siu radar, a radar chart, which almost looks like a spider web, with judging the five different key attributes of char siu. So take a look at this chart. There's char, based, fat, meat, and marinade. And so you can have kind of this spider web formation judging the char siu. And one of the great things about char siu is that there's no right or wrong answer. Some people like more fatty, some people like it more lean, some people like it sweeter, more char, more marinade, more based. But that just kind of gives you the radar of things that you're paying attention to. I think it looks pretty cool. People are super serious about food in Hong Kong. It's evident in here. Oh, yeah. So, all right, next up. We're gonna do the cheeks. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Oh, yeah, that looks fatty and juicy and crispy, all at the same time. Oh, look at that. Look at that cross-section, those layers. Oh, wow. Oh, that is insane. It's so tender. That melts in your mouth with the crispiness of the skin. And it really is smoky, too. There's meat, a little bit of fat, and then crispy skin. That's actually not as fatty as I was expecting. It's more meaty than fatty, actually. The texture is insane. And I always love the poached chicken, especially for that sauce. Again, they're expert knife-chopping skills, just perfectly. You can see that cross-section. And I'm gonna load it up with that scallion oil, ginger. That's just the vessel for your scallion. Exactly. Delicious, really firm. You can actually feel that jelly, the chicken jelly underneath the skin within the meat. I don't usually eat chicken skin, and that chicken skin is so, like, bouncy. Yeah, definitely. It's got a nice texture. I love scallion ginger sauce. And we also got lucky with some of the, yeah, some of the homemade crew meal. Really good. Cabbage with some shrimp to make it extra flavorful. Oh, it looks like dry shrimp. Oh, yeah, it's dry shrimp. Dry shrimp. Yeah, quite sweet. Everything is outstanding, but for sure the highlight here is the char siu. And that medium mix of fatty to meat is the highlight. That is just superb. Two, three. Char siu. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Bye-bye. Thank you. That was amazing. Truly some of the best barbecue char siu that you will find in Hong Kong. We jumped in a taxi. We're on our way to the next place. We still have a lot of meat to eat. Virginia, where are we going next? It's a rare place that still barbecues with charcoal. Nice. We made it. That was kind of a trek across town. We're now in Kowloon at Prince Edward, and this is the spot. Virginia, where are we at next? We're at Wing Hub Long, and we're here to try roasted meat and the suckling pig. And what were you saying about this place that's special? Oh, yes, they're grandfathered as one of the few remaining places to be able to use charcoal. Okay. So that's something that's rare in Hong Kong now? Yeah, like, I think there's less than five. Because of the rules and regulations? Yes, less than five people that have the license. It's grandfathered, and once they renovate, they lose the license. We're in the roasting room here, and they have kind of this huge metal, because we're indoors, actually, they have this huge, the entire grill is kind of like a chimney, and they're just lighting up the charcoal here. Again, as Virginia mentioned, they're one of the few roast meat restaurants in Hong Kong remaining that can still use charcoal, that has a license to use charcoal. So, I mean, that adds another dimension. That's gonna add another flavor dimension to the meat, the quality, especially of the roast pig. They have some whole pigs over on here, which are kind of drying out from the heat, and then these are the suckling pigs, which they're about to roast one right now, so now they're just lighting up that charcoal. Okay, it's going on. Oh, it gets a rub. How long will that take to roast? About 10 minutes. Okay, okay. Spins it until that skin is just, you can hear it crackle. The crispiness, the oily juices coming out, but that takes a lot of skill. He needs to know how to cook it evenly, how to distribute that heat so that no part burns, but that it just remains like, yeah, the entire thing evenly juicy, coated, crispy. So there it is. At the end of that prong, that's the roast suckling pig. The suckling pig is ready. Now it's time for the big one. Hold here, hold here. Wait, okay, wait. Let's see if I have what it takes. Oh, that's pretty heavy. Oh, that's a workout. We're getting ready, it's going on. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's adding some leverage, adding some leverage, making the stick longer. You need more leverage on that. For the bigger size pig, they gotta increase the charcoal as well, make the fire bigger. Wow, he's able to flip and rotate that, even with that amount of weight. Oh, I try? Wow, I can feel the muscles in my rib cage flexing. Oh, okay, cool. Oh, oh, that takes a lot of abs. Oh, okay, if you have enough leverage. Oh, oh, yeah, okay. Yeah, wow, you gotta be, that's a workout. Oh, man, so for the big pig, he has to do that for 45 minutes to an hour and just keep holding it. Man, after 30 seconds, I can already feel that in my rib cage, but just, you gotta be patient. You gotta also be spring into action. He has to keep monitoring it, like pay close attention so that fire doesn't burn it. I really, again, as with every other barbecue meat, it's an art, it's a skill. Oh, slices like butter. Oh, there it is. Okay. This place, like many of the roast meat places, they have a lot of different selection, but what people really come here for is the roast pork, whether that be suckling pig or the full pig, and that's what we came here to eat. Okay, so there's the suckling pig. He's getting ready to carve it. Oh, man, that knife just slices through like butter. Oh, wow. We are sitting down after we roast, re-roasted the entire pig. No, we just roasted it for like 30 seconds, but the masters back there, man, they're so good. Regina, show us how it's done. Everything has a sauce, so with the suckling pig, you mostly eat it for the crispy skin, and so we'll eat it with kind of like a sweet hoisin, sweet sauce, and then with the roasted meats, you use mustard. So that is, oh, that's this hoisin, that's what you said. That's a hoisin, but it's more runny. Okay, ooh, the mustard, I love Cantonese mustard. Usually with the soup, they'll use back the bones. Suckling pig? Yeah. Look at how, look at that cross-section. First of all, okay, you've got the bubbly, crispy skin. You've got the layer of fat. You've got the meat. Mm, mm. That crunch, right? The fatty juiciness. Oh, it's so fatty, yeah. It's so rich, but it's also creamy, and when you bite down, you just kind of like, the oils just kind of squeeze out with this creaminess. Oh, man. But then through that layer, there's that crunchy bit that is really nice. Try another piece and dip into the hoisin sauce. So hoisin sauce would be the common sauce to dip in. Yeah. I think it's all about that skin for me when it comes to the suckling pig. And the meat underneath, it's not like melting your mouth tender, but it has this tender ooziness to it, I think, the texture. Yeah, and for me, I can't explain it, but I feel like this makes it less oily. It just makes it, I prefer it with the sauce, yeah. Gives it like a little glaze of sweet saltiness. A little sweetness, I think, to contrast the saltiness of the pig as well. I also like to eat it with rice. So, oh yeah, one thing is you could order it just as a plain meat, but a lot of people would order it, come in here, they give you a plate of rice, you get your selection of meat directly on top of that plate of rice, then you have a full meal. I think if you were one person, you can get it with rice, but if you had two people, maybe get just the protein and then order your carbs on the side, because the meat will be whole, so you can try all the different, like the white meat, the dark meat. Okay, you can get a better selection. Yeah, exactly. Okay, but you gotta be eating it with rice, because that kind of contrasts the richness, the saltiness of the pig. And additionally, they have a pig bone soup here too. Oh, that's nice. Oh yeah, I think you taste some of the organs in there as well. Some like mustard greens or greens in here as well. They use back the pork bones. Don't waste anything. Moving on, we're gonna try the big pig now. Again, this one is kind of roasted. This one's kind of, they kind of roast the skin a little bit longer, probably. You can see it's a little more charred. And again, you see that the meat is just more developed. Oh, that is, I think it's smokier. I think it's meatier and less fatty, actually, than the salmon fin. You can definitely taste the charcoal too, coming through. It's really nice, that smoky flavor. Both of them are, I mean, similar, but actually totally different in texture, in taste. Yeah, they're very different, actually. Okay, for this one, we'll go dip into the mustard. Okay, that's the combination for me right there. That mustard has a little bit of a bite to it, so it kind of, it doesn't fully go up your nose like wasabi. It's not as strong as wasabi, but it has that kind of wasabi-ish effect, but that adds a nice dimension to the pork. They also wanted us to try the char siu, so let's try the char siu. Mm, it kind of has a crispness to it, almost. Good, again, smoky, sweet. It has a much smokier flavor, yeah. Sweeter, also. And always remember to balance with some vegetables. Next up on this Cantonese barbecue tour in Hong Kong, we're at Central, and we are going to a legendary place. It's always busy, so much action going on. So, Yat Lok, famous for their roast goose, which is something that you absolutely have to eat when you come to Hong Kong. This place, they have one Michelin star, and actually, I had come here, I think it's been seven or eight years ago, maybe even longer ago, and tried the roast goose here, and so I'm very excited to be back. Hello, hello, hello. Yes, oh, the aroma of the goose. Oh, it smells so good. Hello. We're going straight into the kitchen. Oh, hello. Hey, how are you, man? We're here in the middle of the afternoon. They've already roasted 100 geese for the day and sold out of them. Okay, so this whole batch is ready. How long do they roast for? One hour and 15 minutes. One hour and 15 minutes, okay. This depends on the weather sometimes. Ah, the goose. Okay. And also the size, yeah. Okay, they're ready to start roasting, but you can already see there's been a lot of preparation that's been done. You can see that the skin is already kind of tightened. Maybe some of the marinade has already gone into it, but it's a really complex recipe, and I was reading that there's over 20 steps for the preparation. Yeah? What, like, what are some of the main steps of how it's prepared? What steps are needed? What's the most important? Actually, everything is very important. He said every step is very important. Oh, okay, okay. Oven is lit. Close this. It's like a space shuttle. Ready for launching. Oh, they are very... Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, steam. Oh, it's like a waterfall. It's like a waterfall of juices coming out. Wow. Mostly have it where it's, like, head down, because then the juices can go back into the breast. Oh, because there's more fat at the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then that drips down into the body. Yes, that makes sense. That's a fresh batch of roast geese. And here now, they have more of a central kitchen where they handle some of the, where they do a lot of the preparation of the goose, of the geese, where they prepare the skin, the marinade, where they dunk it, where they boil it into, or poach it in hot water to get that skin tight. So that's all done at the central kitchen. And then this, at the restaurant kitchen, is where they just, this is the roasting room, where they just have two mega ovens. Again, like space shuttle-sized ovens where they roast the goose. Oh, man, the aromas coming out of here, the spices and seasonings, that skin. It's so crispy. It's so juicy and oily. Oh, oh, they squeeze out the juice, the oils. The goose, right out of the oven, comes to the rack to be chopped up. And his chopping skills, goose chopping skills, are unbelievable. Slices it in half, and oh, one of the amazing moves, as you can see, he makes a little slit, and he actually drains the juice. There's so much fat, there's so much oil. It's almost like a soup, a natural soup within that goose, because as it roasts, it just releases, renders out that fat. And one of the things I was actually reading about their recipe is that they tend to roast their goose longer than most other places that serve goose, and that renders out more of the fat and also ensures that the skin is crispier. But to chop up that goose, he slices it in half. Then he divvies it out according to what you ordered. You can order it by the half plate, you can order it by the quarter plate, you can order it on top of noodles or on top of rice, it's your choice. He just expertly chops that up, removes some of the excess fat, ensuring that you get a clean, bone-cut portion of skin with whatever you order. The chopping of a goose might be one of the most mouth-watering things you can ever see. They have the back-cutting kitchen where they slice up the goose, especially for dine-in. But here at the front, they also have another kitchen where they boil, actually, the goose necks and the goose heads for a broth. This is where they do the takeaway orders, but then they also do noodles, which are also something you have to order here. And for the noodle broth, they have the necks and the heads simmering away with spices, boiling away for that broth. Yes, yes. And she is in charge of the noodles here. So yeah, so that broth goes in the noodles, that's why you have to order the noodles. Oh man, that smells so good. Now that's the definition of head broth. Here it is, we've made it. This is the pinnacle of all barbecue in Hong Kong. You really cannot come to Hong Kong without eating roast goose. We here love dark meat. Yes, are you ready for that reveal of the cross-section? Oh, with the crispy skin separating from the meat, the juices are pouring out. Oh wow. All the juicy fattiness. It's like popping. It dances on your tongue. The skin is like paper thin as well. You taste all of that seasoning. The star anise, that's juicy heaven in your mouth. Oh man, and then the actual meat is so succulent and rich. Yeah, it's really tender. Oh, it's so much flavor in a bird. Let's chase that bite with some of that broth. Oh, that's really good. Wow. Again, they give a total new meaning to head broth. That's just like, it's like 100, actually, probably all the goose heads from the entire day. So we're at 100 heads. All of them are swimming around in that broth, just infusing into that broth. You see the oily juices coming out of it. The broth is so good. I think they say the beak is bitter, so they only use the neck of it. Okay, so those are just the neck floating around. The neck floating around, yeah. Okay, so it might not actually be head broth. They've given a new meaning to neck broth. Oh man, necks just provide so much flavor. And actually, the necks have a lot of skin as well. So they're extra fatty, the necks. So I think a lot of that fattiness and that oil has accumulated in the necks. And then when they boil it in the soup, that's just released into the broth. That broth is incredible. Actually, all the little bits and bobs, they actually have a bag of it. So they also throw the bits and bobs into the soup as well. That's why it's so flavorful, yeah. Oh, okay, those little blobs that they, oh man. So that's like, oh, that's why you immediately, you can start to feel the fattiness on your lips when you drink that soup. Oh, you know it's just condensed goose flavor. Tell me about these noodles, Virginia. They're called lai fun. It's kind of like the, everything has a pairing, and then goose just has a pairing with these lai fun. Ah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's common to eat together. Mm-hmm. Okay, they're really slippery, too. Very slippery. And actually, even though they've been sitting in the broth for a while, they remain, they don't get soggy at all. That broth infuses into the noodles. Yeah, it's really all about the broth. The noodles themselves are very, very neutral tasting, I think. Now, some people would order the noodles with a goose drumstick directly on top. But I think it's better to order it on the side so that the goose doesn't get soggy, right? You don't ruin the crispiness of that goose. Back for the goose, this time for a different piece. I'll go for this. Oh, this is kind of like the part of the rib, getting into part of the rib cage, I think. Let's dip it into, what is the sauce, Virginia? Sweet plum sauce. Okay. So it's a little bit more tart, and then if it's too oily, this will bring it a little bit more aftertaste. Okay. Mm-hmm. Oh, that was a fatty, fatty bite. Oh, man, the juices just squeeze out between your teeth. And then that is, that sauce is kind of fruity. Yeah, from the plum. Really a little bit sweet and fruity, and it's complementing really well because of that. Kind of like that, when you have a sweet sauce together with a salty meat, that kind of a pairing. Works very well. I came to Yat Lok my first time in 2014. I still vividly remember my first bite, just taking that drumstick and biting into it, and it was just like a life-changing moment for me when that waterfall of goose juice just erupted in my mouth. My first taste of roast goose at this famous restaurant. That is ridiculous. That meat is so juicy, and then that skin is crispy, but just absolutely packed with flavor as well. You should do a 10-year anniversary and reenact it. It's time. Look at that. Let's just take a moment of silence to admire it and appreciate it. The juicy insides, the bone. The goose drumstick. It's one of the great bites in Hong Kong right there. Oh, man, the texture, the skin, the flavor, the smoky char, that's incredible. Let's go in the plum sauce. Wow, that's a lot of fat. Oh, man. There's a waterfall of goose juice in my mouth. Okay, I'm gonna go in for another topping this time. Oh, their chili oil. You can see that's also infused with star anise. We'll get some of the chunky chili oil for the next bite. And we'll let the dribble, the dribble of it go down into the noodles. Oh, the chili oil. Oh, that's good. Oh, that's incredible. And I'll add a little bit more of this chili oil to the noodles. If I'm not mistaken, the last time, it was 10 years ago when I came here, and we ate a whole goose between three of us, but that was a little bit of a goose overdose. So I think 10 years later, this is the perfect amount, especially since we've had three Hong Kong barbecue meat meals this, well, today. So I think that was the perfect amount, not overdoing it, but just getting that, just savoring the richness and the deliciousness. And also 10 years ago, I was capable of eating a whole goose. Now, 10 years later, not nearly as capable, but it's still just absolutely incredible. Yat Lok, three brothers, three generations. Amazing. Thank you very much. Okay, thank you, thank you. Oh, that's goose happiness. And this place, they just stay busy nonstop, nonstop people coming in. Oh, what a place. And I'll have all the places that we went to in this barbecue tour in the description box below. If you love meat, again, you will love the barbecue meat culture in Hong Kong. I also want to say a huge thank you to my friend, Virginia. She does food tours with Humid with a chance at fish balls. So go check out her food tours. Her links will be in the description box below. And I want to say a huge thank you to you for watching this video. Remember to give it a thumbs up, leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you. And remember to watch this entire series where we're eating some of the best food in Hong Kong. See you on the next video.