I Spent 24 Hours Hunting Hong Kong’s Hidden Food Gems!

This is Hong Kong, but not as you know it. In today's food adventure, I'm opting out of the concrete jungle and opting into Yum Cha on a watercress farm. I would sleep on a bed made of this. Look at this. Bruce Lee's favorite restaurant. Do they have like a Bruce Lee menu? Yes. I want the Bruce Lee set, please. Ikea black sesame soft serve. Oh, it's always fun when you're out in public eating black sesame dessert. And a side of Hong Kong that's slowly disappearing. Grab snacks and get comfy, my friends, because this is the hidden gem food tour of Hong Kong. Hidden gem tour of Hong Kong. Oh my God, there's a bug on me. Is there a bug on me? Take care. You're from Australia. That doesn't mean anything. I hate you guys. You guys have like the wildest creatures. Okay, this is not how I exactly wanted to introduce my beautiful guest in this video. This wouldn't be possible without Virginia. Virginia is taking me around. You may already know her. She takes around a lot of the big YouTubers when they come to Hong Kong. So thank you for taking me. I feel very honored. Would you mind introducing yourself? Yes, my name's Virginia, and I run Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Tours. We specialize in food tours and also mahjong lessons, and I also make a lot of content. And here's all my info. Basically, you're gonna be taking me on a hidden gem tour of Hong Kong. Can you believe that this is Hong Kong? Like this is not the Hong Kong that I know, that the Hong Kong that I have seen, but we are in a, not only a field, we're in a farm. I didn't know there were farms in Hong Kong. We are in, this is all watercraft. We're currently in Chun Long Village, about a 30 minute drive from central Hong Kong and just around the corner from Hong Kong's tallest peak, Tai Mo Shan. Look, they even have like big signage of bugs. It's like a warning. No, I think that's to scare off the bugs from the field. Like scaring off bugs with pictures of other bugs. And the reason we're starting our food adventure here today is this watercress field is not only home to a plethora of bug life, but also a very old school yum cha spot. Actually, we're going to be having dim sum where it's do it by yourself. You're gonna have to grab everything yourself, including the tea, and we're going to be eating dim sum in a village house. And also, do you hear the birds? Yeah. Very traditional. They're still men with their pet birds. So back in the day, this was like the Rolex or the car, the Tesla car. It was how men could show status. It could be very, very expensive and they would bring their little bird cages, hook it, and they would drink tea and they would chat with their friends. I've learnt this is one of the last places in Hong Kong where you can BYO bird. The first thing you need to know about this yum cha place is it's in an old Hakka village house. So this is actually private property owned by the people who own the restaurant. So you're literally eating within a local home. My design. You did this? Yes. It's beautiful. For the people. You did a really good job. So basically, you arrive inside and then you find a table and then you come in here and you choose your items. First thing you see is this heated kind of chamber where they've got your deep fried items. You've got these beautiful looking prawn wontons. And then you basically enter the kitchen area. You've got kind of separated. Over there is where they're cutting up items, steaming things, getting the whole process done. And over here, they're actually making these tea cakes. This is a Hakka special tea. And what's really cool is they're basically making them fresh here. They're getting put into the basket where I guess they're gonna be steamed. 20 minutes later, we had fresh Hakka tea cakes right out of the steamer. So this is our cake. It's very, very hot. Oh, okay. So on the inside, you've got a filling here. And the smell that's coming at me, even from that distance, is peanut. Sesame and peanut. Spills out of the center. Sticky on the outside, crumbly and crunchy on the inside from the mixture of the peanut and the sesame. And it's also a sweet feeling as well. So you've got that glutinous, sweet, peanut-y kind of vibe going on. But let's get back downstairs and collect a few more items from the collection station here. To let you know when there are new items available, there's actually a loudspeaker. And it just said, we have pork buns that have just come out. And look how gorgeous and steamy they are. Actually, yeah, I do. I'll have one. I have my pork buns. Do you like char siu bao? I do. It is very big thing. Oh, it's so soft and fresh. I would sleep on a bed made of this char siu bao skin. It's, wow. It's, oh, look at this. Look at this. You were asking me, what are the special things we can get here? The special things. This is not the, is this right? This is, there are other items that I'm really keen to try here that you won't find anywhere else. This is not one of them, but I've been enticed. It's my comfort food. Oh, oh, oh. Yeah, that's a good bao. It's good, it's hot, wow. Ooh, tangerine rind. Oh yeah, it does have a slight citrusy note to it. Okay, well let's go get some other items. And as much as I want to move on from the char siu bao topic, what in the char siu bao is this giant here? This is called a big bun. It's basically whatever they have left in their kitchen and they don't know what to do with it. And then they just wrap it into a bun. That's how they clean their fridge. Looks like there's even an entire quail egg in there too. Speaking of quail egg, apparently this here is one of their OG items. Pig liver siu mai with a quail egg on top. We also grabbed chicken feet, my favorite. Malay cake. They've even got a self-serve tofu pudding station that you can add as much or as little sugar as you'd like. And these crispy wontons that have been calling my name since the moment we arrived. But we're not ready to dig in just yet. This place is DIY, right down to collecting and cleaning your own utensils and tableware and preparing your own tea too. Tea, because it's called yam cha. Yam means drink tea. Tea is the most important. So do you know all the legends and all the stories and all the etiquette? I know that, okay, I know that if you want to say thank you for tea, you can put two fingers on the table. I know when you want more tea, you need to keep the top open. Yes, do you know why? Actually, I have no idea. I just thought it was a sign that made it easy for servers to know, okay, they're ready for more tea. That is true, but it actually originated, or legend says that it originated from the birds. So people would bring the birds in the cages. They were very expensive, very precious birds. And some guy was keeping his bird warm in the teapot, but he was, and they always read newspapers. So he was just reading his newspaper, minding his business. Then the wait staff would come over and it's boiling hot water. They open it and they poured hot water into the teapot and essentially boiled the bird alive. And then they say that ever since then, you must have it opened to ensure there's no bird inside before they could pour that hot water in. That is so cool. I have eaten yum cha for so many years, my whole life. I've always done that, but I never knew that was the reason why. Well, since we found ourselves on the topic of cooked birds, how about we try these quail egg xiaomai with pork liver? So this is a really traditional dim sum. It's too labor intensive, so not a lot of restaurants do it. But back in the day, innards were considered a waste product. So they were sold really cheaply. Then people being scrappy were like, what else can I do with this? So pig liver, xiaomai. The quail egg is so juicy. It's definitely more intense than xiaomai I've had before. It's really rich and savory with a slight metallic-iness from the liver, but balanced out quite nicely by the softness and creaminess of the quail egg. But now let's try the other item I've been most excited to try, the prawn wonton. And I have never seen a prawn fried wonton that looks like this. It's so beautiful. It's also very crispy. And like all good yum cha fried items, we've got that tangy, iconic sweet and sour sauce to pair with it. Wow. If that's not the crispiest wonton I've ever had in my life. But I haven't gotten to the prawn yet. It's raining wonton! And yay! Seems like I finally uncovered the prawn. When we just arrived, this was the thing that was over the speaker. This is freshly fried. It's so freaking crispy, as you can hear, to the point where it's like a little bit ridiculous. I think they can hear my crunch from the other side of the village here. But then you get to the inside and this prawn is so tender and so moist. And this sauce just goes perfectly with it. It's, I love it because it's a classic that I've grown up eating, but in a slightly kind of different context. And it also feels very light. It's not overly oily either, greasy. And she saved some for later. Here. Next I'm keen to go in for this because I don't know if it's a good thing that I do or not, but I tend to judge a restaurant by the quality of its chicken feet. Oh wow. I've become somewhat of a chicken foot aficionado. But you know I'm gonna judge you on how well you're gonna eat your chicken feet, yeah. Oh, is there a technique? Well, how clean are your bones? Not so clean. Oh. First impression, flavors there. Rich, umami, deep flavor. Good collageniness. And the meat falls off the bones nicely. I give that very high marks. So we've got our two sweets left. Why not start with our tofu pudding? Oh, it's very soft. Wow, that, I'm gonna pull this over here. Okay. Check out how jiggly and how soft and non-grainy that looks. Wow, that's like drinkable tofu. I could drink that bowl. And also that tofu flavor really comes out. And I love the flavor of the sugar. It's not just pure sugar. It's got like a more of a caramelly richness to it as well. Put more sugar than you think you need is what I always say. I could almost do with more sugar. We always have this during the hiking routes and also when you bike and then you'll see it, we'll always stop for tofu pudding. What a perfect snack. Yeah. And full of protein. You mentioned that this is just like a place that people, they go for a hike and they stop here for a lunch. Yeah, it's Tai Mo Shan. It's 957 meters above sea level. They either start the hike with the dim sum or end with the dim sum. I can't think of anything better. Actually, I can. Getting stuck into our Malay cake here. I have to say, it smells very, very nice. Is there a correct way to go about this? Yeah, so locals think that the skin is the nicest part. So we should cut it vertically this way. That works too. Okay, now that I've got it in my hand and this is my half. Whoa, it's sturdy. Now I can really show you what this thing can do. Okay, this is the squish factor. I'm not putting a whole lot of pressure. There's like fluffier versions. This one's more of a sturdy one. I like a moist, dense cake. You've separated the skin from the body. Is that a personal thing or is that how it's done? I only eat the muffin top, the muffin. Really? Yeah. Talk about waste. No, then my friend can eat, you can eat the muffin. I'll eat it for you, I'll eat it for you. Okay, well, I'm gonna eat the whole thing. So enjoy your muffin top. That's very moist. You're missing out on a great part of the experience with that. Here, have this then. I'll make a, oh, it's so good. I like my top. You go girl. Just a friendly reminder, if you're vegetarian, they put lard in this, 100%. That's why it's so good. That's why it's moist. I can taste the lard. I love lard. But we're actually missing the must eat here. We haven't had it already. No. Do you wanna go take a look? Yes. We are here for this. Oh, you better catch her before she throws it in. She's really fast. Oh, is this the watercress? Yes, it's the watercress. So it's fresh right from the field out front. They basically just boil it until it's soft. Then you can add whatever sauces you like on top. We're gonna do a little bit of soy sauce. As well as a generous drizzle of Furu, fermented bean curd. If you've never had Furu before, it adds this savory punch, a slight funk, a fermented edge, and almost a creaminess. For that reason, a lot of people actually refer to Furu as Chinese cheese. So this is watercress. Normally it would be in a soup. We don't actually eat it like this. If you see fermented bean curd, the vegetable of choice usually would be morning glory. Okay, so why have they just used watercress? Because we're literally in a watercress field? The watercress is so young that when you eat it, it's gonna be so fragrant. I don't know if I've actually ever tried this. Usually when you've got a leafy green like that, you kind of think it'll be maybe a little bit tasteless or something. But that has almost a floral-y... It almost feels like I'm eating a scented candle in the best possible way. I've got a really complex, sweet, yet floral kind of vibe happening at the back of my throat that's really, really hard to describe. It's a more strong vegetable. It's very flavor-forward. It's kind of like a kale or a cilantro. Maybe you can taste the labor of the lady. Yeah, we saw her working in the field. She's literally just selling bags of watercress in the field. How cool. The side of Hong Kong I just did not know existed. This is amazing. To get to our next stop, we're taking not one, but two iconic Hong Kong methods of transport. First, the light bus, and secondly, a taxi. We're completing the rest of our journey in one of the iconic Hong Kong taxi cabs. And I think Hong Kong's the only city that I know of that has such an old-school-looking taxi. Do you know why Hong Kong, they still have these very old-school vehicles as taxis? They standardized everything in 1974. This is the Crown Comfort. Oh, that's the model name? I was curious what happens when these taxis need replacing. Like, are they even still being made? So we actually asked our driver. I want to ask, if you want a new taxi, will it still look like this? They're going to change the EV hybrid. For me, these taxis are such a big part of Hong Kong's identity. And imagining the city without them kind of feels a bit sad, I have to say. Where are we? We are going to visit Longhua Hotel for Pigeon, also supposedly Bruce Lee's favorite restaurant in Hong Kong. And if you didn't know that fact, you'd probably know pretty quickly after arriving because there's Bruce Lee memorabilia everywhere. They're very proud of Bruce Lee practicing his martial arts for the movies. You see on top of the lettering? Yeah. That's where Bruce Lee practices martial arts. There are also some Bruce Lee favorites that are on the menu. Do they have, like, a Bruce Lee menu? Yes. I want the Bruce Lee set, please. I used to practice Wing Chun, so... You did? Yeah, I met in a big part because of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee, Ip Man, all that era of Hong Kong... Do you want to go up and practice the... They didn't let us. I already asked. Time for your big movie. That was my dream. Did you not know that? I dreamed of being a kung fu stunt woman. So I... No way. Do you have the jumpsuit? Actually, there was one shoot that I did with Wolverine clothes. I was, like, jumping off buildings, and I... You jumped off buildings? I studied for, like, two years at a martial arts stunt woman academy, and then I just decided, actually, it's too dangerous, too risky, so I decided on food vlogging instead. But for a good portion, like, three years, I was inspired by Ip Man and Bruce Lee. I wanted to do kung fu films. Bruce Lee, Amy Lee? Yeah, that's also why, in Chinese, my last name is Lee. Because I... And apparently, when Bruce Lee came here to practice kung fu, he'd first fuel up with a serve of their famous pigeon. This, back in the day, was, like, the most popular spot. At that point, they sold about 6,000 pigeons a day. A day is not good. I do love me some pigeon. It's a very nice, meaty-looking pigeon. It's juicy. Very juicy. I think the great thing about pigeon is it can be super, super juicy. I've had some versions where you bite into it, and then the juices just flow, drip out. It's very nice. Crispy skin, juicy, tender meat. Not gamey, quite flavorful. Yeah, and I've noticed that they have some sugar here. Is that sugar? No, it's salt and pepper. And then this one has worcester. It just gives it a little bit of acid, some brightness. And it's a match made in heaven for our pigeon here. I've never paired duck, pigeon, or anything like this with sushi sauce before, but I think I will keep doing it because that's delicious. Okay, time to burn off some of this food. A short walk down the road from this restaurant is the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery. There are 10,000 Buddhas? 13,000 to be exact. Wow, and are they all different, or is it basically the same one repeated? No, they're all in different poses. And boy, are there a lot of them. Oh my gosh, you can see it's snaking all the way up there. That's incredible. It's like a 10-minute hike. Are you ready? I am ready. What I love is that not only are the faces different, the posture is different. They're all holding different things. Oh, look at this guy with the long arm. Next to this guy here, I guess covered with his grandchildren. And the array of human expression, and they're just so vivid. I mean, some are sitting pensively looking out into the distance, some are sad, some are angry, some are happy, and it just keeps going and going and going. Also super peaceful here, which makes me feel even more the sense that I'm being watched, which might sound funny, but yeah, they're very realistic. Also not busy at all, a verified hidden gem. And look, is our next spot a hidden gem? Probably not, but I have been itching to try IKEA's very localized soft serve menu here. Wow. Okay, so we've got quite some options here. First, you've got their douhua soft serve, a nod to Hong Kong's love of sweet tofu pudding. They also do a black sesame soft serve as well, another staple of the region. I actually made a whole episode about black sesame a few years ago, and all the different ways it's used across Hong Kong. Plus, it's meant to be good for your hair, so we went for that. Did they change their branding and colors to match the ice cream? Oh, they may have. So yeah, we've got basically the soft serve, the black sesame soft serve, the black sauce on top, which is also black sesame, and then also mochi as well. Do you like black sesame? I love it. I love it too. I developed a real taste for it. Oh. I am a huge fan of this. It's basically like the black sesame dessert, but cold. It has not to sweet at all. No, they've really retained the essence of black sesame dessert. It's nutty. It's nutty, it's thick, it's earthy, it's rich. Try it with the mochi. Yeah. Oh. Oh, with a mochi in my mouth. Oh, it's always fun when you're out in public eating black sesame dessert. But we're not done with dessert just yet. We are at Aquamic Housing, and underneath there is a huge mall full of all these goodies, and I believe that the school kids have beat us here. This place is famous for all of their mango desserts. And the mango's so fresh and sweet, you can actually smell this place before you see it. So this is ours here. The mango looks so golden and juicy and tempting, but Virginia's urging me to hold off until we arrive at this viral Hong Kong picture and picnic spot. The viral place is right here. So Virginia was like, oh my gosh, there's this really viral playground here, and she's really been talking it up, and I'm like, whoa. Let me show you the vision. It's like, it's just a few arches here. So what people do is they will sit on this thing. Okay. And then they will take a photo here with the estate in the background, and it looks very, very majestic and very cool. Oh, I do see it. It's got quite a symmetry to it. Very Wes Anderson. This is where we're gonna eat our mango dessert. I love this backdrop, actually. This is, yeah, the viral backdrop. It's really cool. So I don't actually know what it is we've ordered, but I can only assume it's some variety of mango sago pudding with coconut milk. And there was vanilla shake as well. What I'm really excited for is that mango, which looks so juicy and sweet, and it's like creamy mango, sweet, tangy. It's like the perfect mango. The mango is the hero of this. But also the sago balls are a little bit chewy. As you dig into this side as well, it's got some kind of vanilla ice cream or some kind of like vanilla slushy. So that also adds like this really creamy sweetness. So it's giving coconut, mango, sago, vanilla. Would absolutely 10 out of 10 recommend. I mean, cold mango on a hot summer's day. What is better? Our next activity I am super excited about. This is really, really special. So because Virginia is really well connected here in Hong Kong, she knows everyone. I remember when we were talking and planning this trip, I mentioned to you that there was a book that I saw in a bookstore here in Hong Kong last time that is basically capturing the disappearing crafts of Hong Kong. And I felt really drawn to it. And she says, I know the author of that book. So without further ado, meet Lindsay Varty, author of Sunset Survivors. Mainly like growing up in Hong Kong as a Westerner, my parents really wanted me to understand Hong Kong culture as much as possible and try to integrate. Because it's very easy to live in Hong Kong, especially as an expat or a foreigner, and not integrate. So we went to like wet markets, Tai Pai Dong, we went to all sorts of places to really try to understand Hong Kong people and not be afraid of that side of Hong Kong. I think as I grew up, a lot of the market stores that we would go to, they started disappearing. And then I've always just liked talking to strangers. So I started just asking them what's going on, what was happening, what were the difficulties. And then I just realized that there was like such a story there. And I just wanted to share their stories with other people. So was there one craft that you found particularly interesting or very niche? Yeah, I would say that the letter writers were one of those. In the past, like even in 50s, 60s Hong Kong, Hong Kong had quite a low literacy rate. So it's only 60% before compulsory education and everything. So a lot of people couldn't read and write. So you would go and find a letter writer and they were seen as like super smart, super prestigious job. But they've done all sorts of things, even like love letters from British sailors that fell in love with local prostitutes and all sorts of things like that. But of course, as soon as compulsory education came along, they basically became entirely redundant. And now with Google Translate, because they also help people translate things, they just became more and more out of use and people don't really need them anymore. But there are still two that remain today. They still use typewriters, but that's him like in the corner of the Jade Market in Yangmai Tei, just like typing on a typewriter. Actually when I met him, he was typing a letter and I looked at it and it was written in French and I randomly speak French. So I tried to ask him a question in French and he replied in French. He can speak French. He can speak five languages. These people have like an infinite number of like fascinating stories. And for me, like to try to condense it into just such a small amount of words was really difficult. Are most of them disappearing at a very alarming rate or is it kind of a gradual process? Like what's the status on a lot of these traditional crafts? I wrote the book. It was published in 2018 and there's 30 craftsmen and women in there. I'd say there's only about 14 or 15 remaining. My gosh. But all of the crafts and men and women that I interviewed, they are on licenses, which are not being renewed and can no longer be passed down. So it literally is the last, you know, dai pai dong that we'll see in Hong Kong, the last birdcage makers, because basically, normally these jobs are passed down from generation to generation. But this generation have been to school, been to university. They have no intention of taking over these small crafts and actually spending like the 10 years that it might take to learn the craft, right? So sadly, this is really the last sort of wave of these old traditional crafts that we will have and see in Hong Kong in the flesh. Well, we're kind of gonna be doing exactly that. So we're about to go in this building and meet with a mahjong carver. This will be my first time seeing it. For me, mahjong, I've only ever seen the tiles made with machinery. What's something that you found interesting about mahjong carving when you were making your book? I think it's the process is, what looks so simple for them is so intricate from an outsider's point of view. Like every tool is so specifically designed for this craft. The way they sit is specifically designed for the craft. Like the whole posture and demeanor is just like so dedicated to one thing. And you can really see it because every single stroke is so precise. And what really strikes me is how similar the tiles look. Like he doesn't have a stencil on that. He's doing it completely by hand, yet they all look the same. But that's what makes it different to the machine cut out ones, right? It's like, even though they all look the same, they are carved with like the dedication and understanding of one person. So there are tiny little differences in them, which is so much more beautiful than just a cookie cutter version of a set. This is cool. I'm actually gonna get a try. Where I very quickly learned, this is nowhere near as easy and effortless as the master makes it look. I'm using very jagged strokes, but the master, he does it so smooth. He makes the tile look like butter, but it really is not. This is hard material. And to add insult to injury, the tile I'm carving is an ultra soft wax block designed for beginners. The tile he carves into is made of hard, unforgiving acrylic. I mean, it's one thing hearing about mastery, but seeing it in person, it was just a mind blowing experience. Of all the interviews I did, people were never sad that their shop would close or that they would retire or pass away. It was just that the craft that had been passed down from generation to generation would be lost forever. And I think that's the saddest thing to me. But actually, of everyone that I interviewed, I'd say like 90% were incredibly happy that their children did not have to do that craft. Because they were only given that one option, right? Like if you were the child of a bamboo steamer maker. That's your job. That's your job, that's what you're gonna do. Whereas there was something, they were so incredibly proud that their children had an education and had a choice, right? And could obviously work better hours and earn more money from doing something which they enjoyed. And we're actually gonna be finishing off today's food adventure with one of the disappearing industries found in Sunset Survivors. And that's a dai pai dong, an iconic Hong Kong eatery where the kitchen actually spills out onto the street. Dai pai means a big license eatery. So back in the day, these licenses would have to have the face of the person on it. And only that person could renew the license. The reason this is one of the last few dozen dai pai dong still existing in Hong Kong today is because no new licenses are being issued. And the existing ones can only be passed down within families. For me, dai pai dong are characterized by open air cooking, a lot of wok hay. You can see that wok there with all the fire. You can see the smoke coming out of the wok. That means that your food is gonna be amazingly tasty with that beautiful smokiness. Generally more affordable cuisine. And you do see a lot of seafood in dai pai dong as well. But what we've ordered today, not only has zero seafood, but it's also the signature dish of this restaurant. It's black pepper, beef and potato. This dish somehow makes me homesick for dong mei. I've been away from home for over a month and seeing potato and meat, it's suddenly making me think of home sweet home in dong mei. Also a disclaimer, there are way more things that you can order in a dai pai dong, but we are very, very full after a day of eating. Oh my God. For a massive chunk of meat, that's incredibly tender. It's a little bit sweet, a bit salty, a bit peppery. And the beef quality is quite nice. It's not too fatty. It's very tender. I don't even like potatoes and these ones are so good. What makes them so good? They boil them before they put them into the wok. Because dai pai dongs are all about quick, affordable food, they prep as much as they can in advance. Pre-boiling potatoes, blanching veggies, and even pre-mixing their sauces. I feel like the theme of today has been mastery. It's also another kind of mastery, being able to like create such delicious flavors and combinations in such a short period of time. I mean, even seeing him preparing the sauce combinations. Last long memory. So quick. That's going to bring us to the end of today's food adventure. I couldn't have done it without you. I mean, I could do a year of research and not be able to find the places that you took me today. I hope that you've enjoyed watching it as much as I've enjoyed filming it. So, big thank you. Don't forget to follow Virginia on all of her socials. We've got one more Hong Kong Hidden Gem episode coming next week, also with Virginia. So, there's also some really interesting things coming up there. So, don't forget to check that out. But yeah, until then, goodbye from Hong Kong. Goodbye!