food. Delicious #8 : Street Food Treat - Let's see what all the buzz with Cantonese barbecue meat is about!
Dear Steemit friends:
As you take a walk around the streets of Hong Kong, one delicacy that might frequently dazzle your eyes and catch your attention is the Siu Mei or Spit Roasted Cantonese Meats. The most popular of these would be Cha Siu Pork, Roasted Duck, Suckling Pig, and Cantonese Poached Chicken. All of these tasty dishes originated from the Guangdong province and was popularised in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Nowadays, these barbecue roasted meats have become "Bread and Butter" choice dishes for every keen diner in this region but to what extent?
On average, people in Hong Kong will eat barbecued meats once every 4 days. Even assuming that they eat just 100 grams each sitting, over the course of a year the people of Hong Kong will consume over 66,000 tonnes of barbecued meat each year!
Arriving on my first day in Hong Kong, I found myself extremely tired from my journey here and after checking in at my hotel, I made my way out to look for my next Miss Delicious adventure. As if by fate, just by my hotel, I came across this restaurant that specialised in Siu Mei (Barbecued meats). Through their windows, you could see rows of their freshly roasted meats hanging, and under the lights, shining with a wonderful colour and lustre, dripping natural honey meat juices, looking very appetising! I must say, I had to swallow a gulp of saliva just peering through the windows!
Thanks to the existence of Cantonese roasted meats, I was able to assimilate the lifestyle of the locals rather quickly. As I entered the restaurant, I saw many people dressed in working attire sitting down and enjoying the food. Most people I imagine had only got off work after a long day and are finally getting their evening dinner fix. Others, appear to be regulars; an old man with grey hair walked in and before sitting down, the restaurant owner already knew what he was going to order. Of course, there are other culinary fiends such as myself who simply enjoy eating these barbecued meats. With just a wave of my hand, I ordered a whole roasted duck for take out to eat back at my hotel room.
In Hong Kong, people love the Siu Mei Meal Deals, not only are they good value for money, they also have a good assortment of the roasted meats along with rice, vegetables and soup. You'll also get a nice appetising cold side dish as well.
Lets take a look at the food!
One of the most popular picks is the Assorted Barbecue Meat Platter. It's the best way to get a taste of more meats and satisfy the curiosity for the different tastes each has to offer. Today, I ordered the Roast Duck and White Poached Chicken platter. The duck is first filled with seasoning, condiments and sauces, then it is roasted under charcoal under high temperature. The result, a juicy glistening skin and extremely tasty and delicious meat!
The yellow one is the White Poached Chicken. What's special about it is actually what it's cooked with, rather, it is cooked flavourless without any seasoning or sauces. It is steamed to retain the natural flavour of the chicken. To give the chicken flavour, it is usually dipped the sauce made with scallions and crushed garlic. The sauce gives the chicken a little salty taste but brings out the fragrance tremendously. As for the roast duck, it is usually dipped in the red sauce beside the green scallions. This is a sweet sauce which is slightly spicy and gives the duck that extra bit of zing. It's normal to have these meats alongside rice or noodles. I chose steamed rice.
Saveloy is a bit like a sausage, but it is served cold and thinly sliced. Along side the saveloy we have the jellyfish to complete the cold dish pair. The saveloy is a little fatty but not overly so and the jellyfish is very refreshing slightly on the sour side to balance out the saltier meat dishes.
Blanched vegetables with Oyster sauce are made by scalding the vegetables with boiling water. This quick method of cooking ensures most of the nutritional content is retained whilst keeping the use of pan frying and oil frying to the minimum - very healthy.
This is the soup made of Wax Gourd and Pork Ribs.
After I left the restaurant, I saw some advertisements for room / apartments for let and strangely some advertisements to sell some medicines.
The advertisements are so dense I felt a bit trypophobic from looking at them all.
After a very filling meal, it's always good to take a walk to start digesting all that food.
These are the iconic red taxi's of Hong Kong. They are surprisingly hard to catch.
Since Hong Kong used to be a British Colony, the cars drive on the left. The rest of Asia seem to drive on the right.
There are signs on the road to remind people which way to look as they cross the road. It can be easy to forget for non locals since the rest of asia look the opposite way.
This is a Happy Bus. It seems to be rented by some non-locals for a birthday party. They played loud music as they drove about waving to people outside. Seems like a crazy party but very fun!
This is Hong Kong's planetarium. There are many pretty lights turned on at night time showcasing the arts and culture museums.
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I heard some loud music coming from not so far, so I headed towards the source. It turns out there was an official rapping contest going on outside!
There was a lot of cheering because they were announcing the winners.
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This is a group of children part of a Chinese Traditional Ensemble who won first prize. They're wearing traditional festive attire and having their pictures taken with their prize. Many people were celebrating their win with them.
And that wraps up my Street food and Street photography story for today. I hope you enjoyed the Cantonese Style Barbecue meats!
If you are interested in my other blogs related to Food please check out these other blogs below ^^
