Hong Kong is the gourmet paradise and everyone visiting Hong Kong is ready to eat. The food guide here will tell you some of the food that you may want to try out.
1. Century Egg Pastry 皮蛋酥
You can find the century egg pastry in most of the bakery shop in Hong Kong. The ingredients consist of century egg, lotus paste, butter & flour. A combination of lotus paste and century egg gives an explosion of flavors in every bite of this unique pastry.
Century egg is duck egg preserved in a mixture of clay, salt, and ash. The color of the egg is black and Chinese love to put century egg in congee. Can you spot the black century egg here?
2. Cocktail Bun or Kai Mei Bao/雞尾包
This is as popular as the star bread pineapple bun/ “Po Lor Bao” in Hong Kong. The ingredients are coconut, butter or margarine. It tasted sweet and soft. You can also find cocktail bun in most of the bakery shop or in the “Cha Chaan Teng” restaurant.
3. Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐
The pungent aroma of this delicacy is like a mix of rotten eggs and meat. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you may vomit. Stinky tofu is sold everywhere on the streets of Hong Kong. The Taiwan version of Stinky tofu usually compliments with the pickled vegetables which I prefer more. Hong Kong stinky tofu is eaten with sweet sauce and chili sauce.
4. Fried Pig Intestines 炸大腸
The pig intestines are deep fried and usually skewed in a stick. It is crispy on the outside and chewy inside. You can also add in more flavor with dipping the sweet sauce, chili sauce, plum sauce or anything that is available at the counter. This is one of the most popular street food in Hong Kong.
When you order street food, do ask for the price first before you place the order. Some honest stores have the price listed out on the signboard but some don’t. Those without the price tag at the signboard, please be careful. I encountered this shop at Mongkok which scam me for a piece of stinky tofu for triple the price.
5. Herbal Tea or Liang Cha
The small table is usually set up in front of a shop, can be spotted almost everywhere in Hong Kong. There are several types of herbal tea with all the funny names, such as 24 herbs 廿四味, chicken bone grass 雞骨草, and snake needlegrass 白花蛇舌草. Even if you are not sick, you can still drink this herbal tea, it has plenty of benefits from the Chinese herb and medicine, to soothe a throat or cures a cold.
Highly recommend anyone who is in Jordan area, go visit Chung Kee Dessert. The shop is filled with local and serves high-quality desserts. The desserts here taste so much better than Hui Lau Shan 許留山, Hui Lau Shan is mainly focused on tourist as it has franchises all over the world.
6. Mango Pomelo Sago 楊枝甘露
Hong Kong people love mangoes and one of the iconic mangoes desserts that you should try is Mango Pomelo Sago. A chilled mango flavored dessert topping with coconut milk and some pomelo fruit, sago pearls and fresh mango. Every time I visit Hong Kong, I will have this iconic dessert. Simply can’t resist and no other place made a better mango dessert than in Hong Kong.
7. Fake Shark Fin Soup 碗仔翅
Fake shark fin soup is a common street food too. I love how it does not contain any real shark fins (I am against sharks killing just for their fins) but fake fins made from glass noodles. The soup is a little starchy fill with ingredients such as black fungus, mushrooms, the egg that is lightly beaten and shredded chicken.
8. Curry Fish Ball
Hong Kong curry fish ball is another popular street food. I don’t find them very special at all. However, you are welcome to check it out yourself. The store the I bought the curry fish ball do not provide any curry sauce but you are allowed to dip with their chili sauce and sweet sauce. You can also find curry fish ball in Macau.
9. Egg waffle 雞蛋仔
To translate the Chinese word into English is called “chicken egg baby”- an egg waffle shaped like many little baby eggs. It comes like a shape of honeycomb, hollow inside and soft but crispy at the shell. I know in London Chinatown, they called it Bubble wrap.
10. Red Bean Yuan Yeung Tea 红豆鸳鸯茶
Yuan Yeung is a mixture of tea and coffee and this beverage is very popular in Hong Kong. Made of a mixture of three parts of coffee and seven parts of Hong Kong-style milk tea, it can be served hot or cold. This one here includes red bean too. Super yummy.
Final thoughts:
From curry fish balls to stinky tofu, Hong Kong is the perfect place for street food. Most eateries open till late and start as early as 6 am. Some of the top places to find food are Mong Kok, Causeway Bay, Jordon & Tsim Sha Tsui.
26 comments
Food is my favorite part of traveling. I love to explore the eats of a place as much as I love to explore the culture. I’d love to do a food tour of these.
Dear Stacie,
One of the best part of traveling is tasting the local cuisine, especially the food that we never tasted before.
Wow there is so many different snack to try…the century egg and stink tofu are prob a no go for me lol but I’ll try it one day
I agree the stinky tofu and century egg could be probably some of the hardest for people who have never seen those things before.
wow it looks so good ,I would love to try everything and especially Hong Kong curry fish ball,hope one day to visit Hong Kong
Dear Ingrida,
You are right, curry fish ball is one of the top food to try and can be found almost everywhere.
This is awesome! I am addicted to street food but too bad i’ve never been Hong kong. Soon i hope.
I love seeing the street food in other countries. It’s always such a cool peek into the flavors they prize the most, as well as the presentation of how they sell their street foods. I would be game to try all of this, especially every single bubble tea place. I can’t get enough bubble tea!
Dear Elaine,
Bubble tea is another big thing in Asia and I think in some part of the US, UK, and Australia, you can also get bubble tea, especially in their Chinatown. Bubble tea originally came from Taiwan ’80s and spread to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.
Bubble tea is so big in my hometown in the UK, but it’s definitely not on my top list. I love trying out new street food and these look awesome! looks like I need to plan a trip to Hong Kong
Dear Abbigayle,
There are plenty of street food to try out in Hong Kong, if you love challenge, try the stinky tofu. LOL.
My husband has tried all of these. I’m not sure I could do them all!!
Dear Jessica,
Wow, I am sure he loves them. LOL.
Can’t wait to finally go to Hong Kong! I never knew how cool the city was. Between the hiking and the food, I definitely need to pay HK a visit.
Dear Eli,
Hong Kong is not only a food paradise but also a great place to go hiking. Plenty of mountains there.
I would love visit Hong Kong someday it’s on my bucket list. I would love to try all this street food it looks so good. Also your photos are beautiful!
Do include Macau when you plan for your Hong Kong trip. It can be reached by ferry, only an hour ride.
The place looks interesting and a perfect place for trying street food. Nice captures.
Dear Kalyan,
You are right. Hong Kong is about food, food and food. Trying street food is a must when you travel Hong Kong.
These foods look very tasty. Wish I could try all of them. The only thing I tasted in the list is pearl milk tea.
Oh this made me so hungry. We’re actually going out that way later this year. So I’m definitely going to have try some of these.
Dear Maggie,
Hope you have a fun experience in Hong Kong end of this year.
this post is making me hungry! I love trying new street food
these look so tasty! Most of these food choices are so foreign to me. Boba tea is always a win
Dear Katie,
The stinky tofu and fried intestines are not that bad at all, try them and see what you think.
I should not be looking at stuff like this when I am hungry! lol. It all looks so yummy! I am ready for a vacation!