Yummy in my Tummy (kind of)

Lots of people have asked me about the food in Hong Kong and I don't know how to succinctly address the topic. I've had some amazing food on the island and I've had some repulsive food on campus. Most of it for me is just pretty bland. At times I find the bland food very comforting. Even when I eat Chinese, it kind of seems western because it's not incredibly flavorful. There hasn't been anything that I crave or that I imagine missing a lot when I leave.

My biggest observation is that in Hong Kong (and Asia in general from what I hear) meat doesn't come deboned, skinless, or as specific parts of the animal. If a dish has chicken in it, it likely has the skin on, will involve white and dark meat, and might have the bones as well. There's never going to be boneless, skinless, white meat chicken breast only in a dish.  It's takes a while to get used to.  The beef here is of pretty poor quality, which is a bummer, so I try to stay away.  Everything is pretty fatty, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad.  I find it best to not really look at my food, but just start eating. If I examine it closely I get a little weirded out because it's not what I'm used to. 

 Here are pictures of some of the food I've had since I've been here: (I'm having technical difficulties, so everything is mixed up and out of chronological order, sorry.)

After two days of having mostly Chinese food I caved and got McDonalds. I'm a big believer that one has to balance trying the new with the comfort foods. I mean, in the US we don't eat American fare 100% of the time, right?  The McDonalds in Asia is smaller in terms of serving size and the food just tastes a lot healthier. Frankly, the quality of the chicken seemed much higher than in the US as well.

The first morning I was at HKU I needed to find breakfast on my own. A local bakery was recommended to me and I most definitely had a chocolate-frosted doughnut. It was delicious, but no Tim Hortons.

Along with my doughnut I had this awesome breakfast pastry. It look a bit like pizza, but that's ham and chicken, not pepperoni. The bread was more sweet than savory and the cheese on it was unlike anything I've ever had. IT WAS DELICIOUS. I've had it twice again since this first one. And actually, even though I said there's no food I crave in HK, this might do it for me.  The best part was that between this pastry, the doughnut, and some apple juice I was full. Oh, and it only cost me like US$4. 

Kinder Beuno is not unique to HK, but I LOVE IT! It's in all the vending machines and in the convenience stores. I've eaten more Kinder than I'm willing to admit at the moment. Let's just say I thank God for all the opportunities to walk here. :)

I tried the vegetarian restaurant on campus and hated it. This plate did not sit well with me at all. I mostly ate the cauliflower and rice. I was really disappointed and had a stomach ache.

For our administrators dinner we went to a place called Cafe Malacca, which served Malaysian cuisine. It was delicious!! The following pictures are from Cafe Malacca too.  This meal consisted of rice, some spicy noodle thing, some sauteed greens, beef, chicken, and lamb kabobs, and turnip cakes. The turnip cakes were to die for. They are probably one of the best things that I've had since I've been here. YUMMY!

For my first breakfast in HK I made Jason take me to a hotel buffet so I could have some western fare. I complemented it with some noodles and I tried some congee. I didn't take a picture of the congee, but it's basically a rice porridge. 

Our first night with all of the staff involved a welcome dinner served family style. This was some sort of vegetarian soup, that I think had tofu in it. If not, it wasn't vegetarian and it had minced chicken. None of us were sure. It was ok, but didn't rock my world either way.

More welcome dinner food... it was all ok. Nothing really to say. 

One night I tried to the Japanese restaurant down the road. The chicken was pretty good, but my udon was pretty bad. I also thought those mushrooms were testicles. I would have been ticked I wasted money, but again, it cost like US$6 and I tried something different. There are worse ways to spend $6.

My peanut butter toastee (peanut butter on wheat toast with sliced banana) was a welcomed breakfast on our first day with the campers.  You'll notice I have a Watsons water here too. Watsons water is my favorite. It's distilled and nothing special, but it's my water of choice. You can drink the drinking fountain water here, but it's best to stay away from the tap water. I'm not sure it would hurt us, but we can tell that each faucet water smells a bit different. Rumor has it that the water is ok, but the pipes in certain buildings are not, so it's always best to err on the side of caution. Plus, water is dirt cheap here. I can buy 1.5L for about $.90. It's worth buying it if it means we don't risk illness. 

The other night I stopped in a random noodle place and got noodles with greens and some beef. Chicken, pork, and duck are your best options in HK. Beef, not so much. I would give this meal a C-. It served it's purpose, but I won't go there again. The best part about HK is that there are so many restaurants of so many varieties that I could eat at a different place every night (and pretty cheaply as well) and still have options left over. Plus, when I try a bad place I don't feel so bad because this meal cost me HK$19 or about US$2.50. :)

When in doubt, I put on some tunes, get a chocolate milkshake from McDonalds and enjoy the city.