My Hong Kong trip: notable eats! (Part 3)

Picking up here where we left off in Part 2....so, after stuffing myself silly with waffles and beef offals at the hawker stall, I then proceeded to explore Causeway Bay on foot. I felt a bit self-conscious pulling out my iPhone and snapping away at every street corner, and was acutely aware of looking like a stereotypical tourist, but my curiosity trumped whatever reservations I may have had.

Hey...this looks familiar!

I'm not sure if the Saint Honore Cake Shop in Chinatown all the way back in Sydney is in anyway related to this one, but accidentally finding this bakery really struck home (no pun intended!) how deep the Canton influence in Sydney runs.

Lap cheong sausages and other dried meats hanging in an outdoor market.

Searching through the web for place names and landmarks now, it seems that I may have inadvertently found my way to Wan Chai, where there is a bustling and chaotic wet-market selling a variety of fresh produce, meat and other edible goods.  

A stall in the Wan Chai street market combining two of the best things in life: fruit, and socks.

The wet-market was a real sight to behold. The last time I saw something like this was when I was in Tianjin, my hometown in China, a few years back, and a relative took me to one of the local markets. Certainly, there is nothing like this in Sydney. The Wan Chai wet-market was positively teeming with life, from the butchers and fishmongers shouting their wares, to the old ladies picking discriminately at the fruits and vegetables, to the silver-scaled fish still flopping about in their pans. It was overwhelming, but in the best of ways.

A fishmonger with his array of seafood.

So many varieties of molluscs.

Tropical fruits.

Asian greens.

Woah, fish roe alert! Or, at least I think it's fish roe.

I gawked at this rack of ribs (stripped bare!), and the huge, whole liver and heart hanging next to it, until the vendor stared back and I scuttled away in embarrassment.

Another sight to gawk at: dried up chicken carcasses hanging in a row. 

There were hawker-style food stalls aplenty, offering cheap hot meals, but I decided to lunch on odd bits and pieces collected from a range of sources. First up - the Hong Kong egg tart (dan tat): 

This one was purchased from the Tin Lok Bakery in Wan Chai.

The pastry crust was wonderfully crumbly and layered, as a dan tat's ought to be. The custard filling was not as rich as that in a Portuguese egg tart, the latter making use of heavy cream and egg yolks. Still, eating this was an enjoyable experience.

The pastry was stellar. I desire desperately to learn the secret behind making a multi-layered tart crust.

I bought and ate whatever looked interesting. At that moment, it happened to be a glutinous rice ball, rolled in desiccated coconut and filled with a black sesame paste:

Black sesame is one of my favourite flavours in a dessert. I love it in all its forms - black sesame ice cream, black sesame soup, black sesame sponge roll!

Needing something savoury to balance out all the sugar, I got a few pieces of sugar-glazed bacon (okay, fine, more sugar!) from Bee Cheng Hiang, a company specialising in bakkwa (salty-sweet, jerky-like pieces of dried meat). 

The glazed bacon was listed as "gourmet bakkwa". Candied bacon is as gourmet as bacon gets in my book!

The streaks of fat were the best bits.

Stomach filled (for the moment), I did a bit more sight-seeing:

Sasa, the HK version of Priceline, but so much more awesome. I may or may not have blown all my spending money on fake eyelashes, eyelid tape, and hot pink lipstick...what, I'm a girl!

Ooh, shinyyyy...maybe it's good for hypnotising myself into eating less chocolate in the new year?

Cake food porn!

Apparently home to the best dim sum in Hong Kong. Must try on my next visit!

Chocolate selection at the International supermarket in Windsor House.

How is it that they stock the 90% and 99%, and Woolies/Coles do not?!

Commuters waiting at the bus stop. I haven't ridden in a double-decker in years.

It was cool walking through these dingy back alley-ways. Only in the light of day, though!

One of the entrances to Causeway Bay Station.

By the time dinner time rolled around, my Achilles tendons felt like they were about to snap. Sorry for that piece of imagery, but paper thin-soled ballet flats really aren't made for walkin'. Nothing a good dinner can't fix. Stay tuned for the details in Part 4!

Read more about my Hong Kong adventures in Part 1 and Part 2.

My Hong Kong trip: notable eats! (Part 2)

Okay, here's Part 2 of this series of posts on the foods I saw and ate during my recent trip to Hong Kong.

A trio of roast ducks at Maxim's MX.

On our very first morning spent in Hong Kong, we opted for breakfast at Maxim's MX. Listed as a "fast food outlet", the dining environment here was very orderly (read: lacking in personality) in comparison to the less-modernised breakfast stalls and restaurants in the area. I hate to sound like a snobby foodist, but I personally would have preferred to eat at one of those more authentic (and chaotic places), if only to soak up some of the local flavour and atmosphere. However, MX was chosen in concession to the younger children we were travelling with, who baulked at the idea of perching on cracked stools eating beef liver and pork intestines for brekkie. Their loss!

Picture perfect siu mei...to the point of looking too perfect.

I ordered a 'tasting bowl' of the siu mei on offer. There was roast goose, roast duck, char siu pork, red sausage, and half a salted duck egg, served with cabbage and rice. Let's just say it looked better on the picture menu. The amount of food given was paltry, and the various animal proteins quite shrivelled and, um, pathetic looking.

The 'six meats' combo.

My fellow diners opted for spaghetti bolognese. Kids being kids :D

I swear I was not this picky as a child; the little person who ordered this dish wouldn't even touch the egg! I ate it for her, since I was still hungry after my own meal. Urgh.

An eating opportunity wasted! This sentiment was felt particularly keenly when I later spotted some of the real siu mei places. Check out the gorgeous flesh on offer:

For $25 HK, this quarter of a roast duck is yours!

Beautifully plump birds. 

Not to worry - shortly after parting ways with the rest of my travelling companions (they wanted to go shopping; I preferred sight-seeing), I went looking for alternative means of filling my stomach. There was much to choose from! 

Lookee, it's Tony Bourdain! Or, an article featuring him, at least. These days, I travel with at least one Bourdain text tucked in my backpack.

A selection of take-away hot meals.

Various casserole-style dishes.

Deep-fried goodies for those who like to start off the day with a hefty dose of grease and carbs.

Perhaps a few egg tarts? Or...a whole pizza.

I eventually stumbled upon a stall selling the usual variety of Hong Kong hawker snack foods - skewers of beef and fish balls, deep-fried vegetables, animal entrails, etc. 

Skewers! So many of them!

Also available were waffles, both in the traditional "waffle iron" grid pattern, as well as the Hong Kong style egg waffle (known as the "eggette". Which I decided to try!

The HK style egg waffle (eggette) is made using a special mould.

I ate this with a sense of child-like glee. It was fun breaking off the individual balls of waffle, and then eating it one by one. The best thing about this kind of waffle, in my opinion, is the still-soft interiors of the crispy spheres. 

Crispy exterior. (Excuse my gross-looking hand).

Fluffy interior!

I also had a skewer of jellied pig ears. The crunch from the cartilage was delightful. As was the thick, sweet and salty sauce. Which dripped on my shoe, of course.

Pig ear skewer.

I finished off my second breakfast with a bowl of beef offal and turnip in broth. I think what I was eating was liver, lung, intestine and tripe. 

Eating this was like exploring a treasure trove. I kept uncovering different bits of offal.

Fatty, delicious intestine.

After this...I finally felt full :D

It was time to go exploring!

A Toblerone double-decker bus!!! Why don't we have these in Sydney? :D

For Part 1 of my Hong Kong adventures, click here.

Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills

Just as people have certain dishes they consider as "comfort food", I view Bourke Street Bakery as my very own security blanket, and a home away from home, if it isn't too presumptuous to say so.

At times, I would purposefully get off the bus a few stops earlier, just so I can walk past the bakery on my way to wherever it is I am going. Sometimes I would go in and grab a few things for lunch or a snack. On the rare occasions that I am actually not hungry, I am content to simply admire the window display of gigantic sourdough loaves, raisin snails, and (my personal favourite) the pain au chocolat.

The said pain au chocolat.

My friend Pumpkin Pie, a self-confessed Bourke Street Bakery aficionado, gave a somewhat embarrassed recount of the time she and her mother polished off half a loaf of sourdough, just the bread on its own, at lightning speed while sitting inside their car. I countered her story with one of my very own: myself and another friend, each clutching an armful of brown paper bags filled with baked goods sweet and savoury, stumbling over to the park across the street and wolfing down half of our purchases before our brain could even process what it was we were eating. And when it did start to process, the scent, sight and atmosphere of the moment only served to stimulate our appetites further, and we finished everything off at a more leisurely pace, agreeing at the end that this was one of the best eating experiences we have shared.

Toby the dog, who left the side of his master to watch us eat. This was his expression throughout the length of our meal, and would return to his face each time he was done devouring whatever we gave him from our bounty.

Amongst our purchases were two sausage rolls, a variety of sweet tarts and a pain au chocolat to have then and there, as well as a few loaves of various sourdough to take home (or just in case we were still hungry afterwards).

We started with the savoury: the sausage rolls.

Pork & fennel sausage roll

The pastry of the pork & fennel sausage roll was very, very buttery and flaky, as evidenced by the state of my shirt afterwards, but did not taste greasy at all - a true indication of the freshness of the ingredients used and the rapid turnover of goods at the bakery. The pork and fennel filling was juicy, aromatic and very well seasoned. I can say with certainty that this was the best sausage roll I've tasted up to that point in time.

Inside the pork & fennel sausage roll. Look at the beautiful colours of the pastry and filling.



The lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll was similarly fresh, flaky and delectable. A sprinkle of what looked to be poppyseeds on top gave this a distinctly gourmet look. It tasted gourmet too! ;D

Lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll.

The insides of the lamb, almond & harrisa sausage roll.

The sausage rolls were quite substantial in size, but we had just completed a long run and still had more than sufficient stomach space to accommodate desserts. So, without the slightest reprieve, we moved onto the sweets!

Ginger brulee tart

There's certainly no skimping on the ginger in the ginger brulee tart. The caramelized top tasted of deeply burnt sugar and ginger (a good thing!) and the custard underneath was smooth, wonderfully chilled, and held echoes of the gingery flavour.

Chocolate tart

The chocolate tart reminded me of a Twix chocolate bar. I maintain that Bourke Street Bakery has the best sweet tart crust (the recipe for which, if I recall correctly, may be found in the bakery's cookbook). It's not crumbly like shortbread, but very brittle, like a freshly made cannoli shell or the casing of a brandy snap. And tastes best when chilled, I reckon.

 Passion fruit meringue tart

The passion fruit meringue tart was definitely the stunner out of all the tarts in appearance. Perfect balance between the acidity of the passion fruit curd, and fluffy sweetness of the meringue.

Chocolate mousse and raspberry tart

The mousse component of the chocolate mousse and raspberry tart was very chocolatey, but not too sweet. The raspberry part was quite sour. They paired very well together.

Lemon curd tart

On the brink of a sugar coma, it was a good thing this lemon curd tart lived up to its name. The curd is indeed very sour and lemon-y, and may not necessarily be everyone's cuppa tea, but if you like a bit of bite to your desserts, do try this!

Oho, if we haven't scared you off yet with our gluttony, you should know that somehow, we managed to fit in a chocolate croissant as well!

Surely I am not the only one who sees a cute little piggy snout in this?!

And that was the end of our feast, I promise :D

Bourke Street Bakery

633 Bourke Street, Surry Hills.

Phone: (02) 9699 1011

Website: http://www.bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 7am - 6pm

Saturday & Sunday: 8am - 5pm