There are a lot of different celebrations for Chinese New Year. On the streets of Hong Kong during Chinese New Year, you may have seen lions and dragons dancing to clanging gongs and beating drums as part of the new year celebrations. So what is this lion dance and dragon dance all about? What is the difference between the two? A lion dance (舞狮) is believed to bring good fortune. Many businesses arrange a team of lion dancers for a performance at the beginning of the new year hoping for a prosperous year ahead. Lions are also believed to be able to chase away evil spirits and protect the community. There are two types of lion dances. Northern lion dance, common ...
Read more
What else do we have as Chinese New Year Dish? Black Moss? Hair Vegetable? Get Rich? As mentioned in our previous blog post, homonyms are prevalent in Cantonese, especially with Chinese New Year festive greetings and with names of food served during this time of the year. This evening, we had one such dish — 發財好事 — literally translates as Be Prosperous, Great Things. Or more generally, it means great fortune. The dish features two main ingredients. One is 髮菜, literally translated as “hair vegetable” is black moss, but it is phonetically pronounced like 發財 (Be Prosperous). Another ingredient is 蠔豉, or dried oysters, which sounds like 好事, or great things. It is believed that having this dish will bring lots ...
Read more
Chinese New Year is the most important time of the year for Chinese. Not only does it signify the beginning of a new year, it is also the season for traditional food indulgence with the your loved ones. Before we welcome the new year, Chinese families always gather today on New Year’s Eve to feast and reunite at a Chinese Year-End Dinner before another year of hard work kick starts. So what do we eat for this Chinese Year-End dinner? The beauty of Chinese culture is the remarkable styles of regional cuisine which vary across the country. Every region has its own customs to celebrate Chinese New Year. Situated in the Guangdong province, Cantonese food which often features steamed fresh ...
Read more
Happy Year of the Horse! Hong Kong Foodie wishes everyone a very healthy and prosperous year! Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. Have you visited any relatives or friends to send your well wishes? If so, perhaps you might have been greeted with lots of festive sayings, given (or asked for) some lai sees (red pockets with money) and served some steamed cakes? Word puns are common in Chinese. Many of them were developed from the practice of greeting each other with festive wishes towards wealth and health during Chinese New Year. It is also the cultural root for giving out “Lai Sees” (red pockets with money). Lai Sees are blessings of fortune and prosperity. Traditionally, Lai Sees are given by married, older ...
Read more
Are you passionate about Hong Kong? Do you love all the different types of food our city has to offer? Are you a great story-teller and can manage a group? Consider joining the Hong Kong Foodie Team. Hong Kong Foodie is currently seeking energetic and engaging foodies who have a great sense of humor to join our growing team of Foodie Guides. You must be passionate about Hong Kong and its food and are eager to share this passion with visitors from around the world. You are also a strong leader with exceptional English communication skills. Leading a Foodie Tour with Hong Kong Foodie is fun and rewarding. If this sounds like you, WE WANT YOU! Founded in 2011, Hong Kong Foodie is the ...
Read more
Winter Solstice is an important Chinese festival. Some Chinese will tell you it is a bigger festival than Chinese New Year. When I lived in the US, I used to explain it to my friends as the Chinese Thanksgiving. As with all Chinese festivals, Winter Solstice dinner also revolves around food and family. This year, some of the food my family picked is somewhat untraditional. No Chinese festival is celebrated without chicken. It is a bit like turkey is a must for Thanksgiving. Instead of the usual poached chicken or crispy chicken, this year, we had Szechuan Pepper Chicken. The chicken is marinated with lots of flavors. The pepper leaves on the side are crispy and fragrant. Next comes some perfectly ...
Read more
Hong Kong Foodie has just launched our annual sale event. 20% discount off! From Black Friday to Cyber Monday, including the Saturday and Sunday in between, you can purchase tickets to Hong Kong Foodie tours with a special discount. For four days, you can buy tickets to our Central & Sheung Wan Foodie Tour or our Sham Shui Po Foodie Tour at a special discount. Our tours are perfect excursions in Hong Kong. What else could be better than combining a great morning or afternoon of tasting different Hong Kong classic foods and drinks while strolling around different neighborhoods? Our walking tours on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon provide an unique experience combining culinary tastings, history and culture. This year, you will also be able to ...
Read more
Today is Chung Yeung Festival. Follow us on our adventure today, which includes a Hong Kong vegetarian meal at a Taoist temple. As with our family tradition, my parents and I, together with a gang of relatives (aunts, uncles and cousins galore) hiked up hills to pay respect to our ancestors. Back when I was a kid, we used to carry a whole suckling pig, chicken, our ancestors’ favorite drinks, together with many other offerings to be burnt, up the hill with us. A few things have have changed since then. We no longer carry a whole roast suckling pig with us but only a small takeaway box of roast meat. We still bring paper offerings to be burnt but ...
Read more
There are lots of different types of Hong Kong desserts. In the hot summer months, one of the preferred desserts for us locals is “leung fun”. Sometimes called “grass jelly”, “leung fun” is like a jello. Often, it is cut into little cubes and served with syrup or fruit. Today, we tried one of the popular Hong Kong desserts — Mango Hor Fun. Hor Fun typically refers to a wide Chinese noodle similar to fettuccine but here, it is a type of leung fun (or grass jelly) shaped like hor fun. It is very smooth in texture. By itself, it doesn’t have much taste but when served cold with fruits such as mangoes, it is sweet and very refreshing, especially on ...
Read more
For those of you who have been to our Central & Sheung Wan Foodie Tour, you know how much Hong Kong people love roast meat. One of our favorites is roast goose, especially when it’s served with a bowl of delicious lai fun (somewhat like fat spaghetti) with soup. Geese are quite meaty and more fatty than duck. The ones roasted to perfection have a slightly crispy skin which usually has a thin layer of fat underneath but the meat is still moist and tender, retaining most of its flavors. Avoid overcooked geese as they could be very tough! As you bite into a piece of perfectly done roast goose, the fat from the crispy skin melts in your mouth together with the ...
Read more
