Top Ten Hong Kong Dishes (#5-1)

Our countdown of the top ten dishes any visitor to or, indeed, resident in Hong Kong simply must try, concludes with the top 5.

5. Swiss Chicken Wings You may wonder why this incredibly popular Cantonese dish, with its curious, moreish blend of saltiness, sweetness and subtle spice, came to be deemed ‘Swiss'. Legend has it that it came from a miscommunication between an English speaking customer and a Hong Kong waiter many decades ago. The customer wished to know the name of the dish; the waiter thought he wanted to know where the chicken meat came from. The rest is history.

4. Egg Tart As with much of the dessert food popular in Hong Kong, the delicious Egg Tart has its roots in British tea time treats. Custard Tart, regularly enjoyed with afternoon tea by the colonialists, eventually evolved into this much richer flavoured local delicacy. There are two common versions you will find in HK. One is a flaky, puff pastry creation, the other a stout, hardy short bread.

3. Roast Pigeon Pigeon is massively popular across Asia and in Hong Kong things are no different. Here you can find pigeon roasted in a potent cocktail of rice wine, soy and star anise. It's a gorgeously crispy, succulent and full flavoured sensation.

2. Snake Soup If you are new to Asian cooking you might be go a little green at the thought of eating snake. Once you try a broth made from snake meat from an authentic Hong Kong restaurant, however, your mind will quickly change. For a good, hearty helping of snake soup is not just delicious. It's also extremely good for you, being prescribed down the centuries by local physicians as a good way to fortify your natural defences against all kinds of complaints. There are a few varieties, one of the most popular being a mix of snake, pork, mushroom and ginger.

1. Chicken Feet Another dish whose name might make newcomers hesitant but whose taste will quickly change their minds. Generally, chicken feet come deep fried in black bean sauce after being deep fried. This lends the meat a really soft, melty texture unlike any other part of the bird. An absolute one off taste, epitomising the one-of-a-kind Hong Kong buzz!

Top-Ten Hong Kong dishes (#10-6)

Hong Kong has a food history as rich as its political, cinematic and cultural one. Food is very much part of the Hong Kong buzz and if you consider yourself a serious foodie, then you will find plenty to love on its streets and restaurants. For those new to the cuisine, may we present a top ten of must-eat HK foods. This first article will take us from 10 to 6. Happy eating!

10. Sweet Tofu Soup One of the great things about Hong Kong food is its ability to be both simple and complex at once. Sweet Tofu Soup is a terrific example. Here you have a light, sweet, syrupy soup but with the strong taste of Tofu to bring it a really subtle power.

9. French Toast You have not eaten French toast until you've eaten it in Hong Kong. This version of the popular savoury treat takes two slices of bread, smothers them in either peanut butter or kaya jam, then deep fries them in egg batter and butter, then serves with syrup. Not recommended for the calorie counters, certainly, but an absolute must for fans of big taste.

8. Five Layer Roast Pork Known locally as ‘Siu Yuk' this delicious take on pork belly is a powerful mixture of the crisp and soft. It comes with a top layer of golden brown crackling, a middle section of succulent pork and a bottom layer of sweet spice. Eat it with a generous helping of mustard on the side to bring its overpowering flavours to the fore.

7. Sweet and Sour Pork Though it may be a staple of Chinese restaurants the world over, you won't find anything like Hong Kong Sweet and Sour Pork anywhere else. Known here as ‘Go Lo Yuk', it comes with an intensity of flavour thanks to a potent mixture of vinegar, hawthorn candy and preserved plums. A Cantonese classic.

6. Fishballs One of the most popular snack foods for Hong Kongers is the humble fishball. There are two types available all over HK: the cheaper, yellow ball, fried in curry sauce and served five at a time on a skewer by street vendors and the more refined white ball, handmade by skilled chefs and served in restaurants only.

The poetry of Bruce Lee

While everybody knows Bruce Lee as the most famous Chinese film star of all time and one of the greatest martial artists ever, fewer know him as a poet. Yet a poet he was; in fact he was a very accomplished one. Here is a selection of his most enlightening, perceptive and moving verses.

The doubters said,

"Man can not fly,"

The doers said,

"Maybe, but we'll try,"

And finally soared

In the morning glow

While non-believers

Watched from below

Not being tense but ready.

Not thinking but not dreaming.

Not being set but flexible.

Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement.

It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.

It is useless to try to stir the dirt

Out of the muddy water,

As it will become murkier.

But leave it alone,

And if it should be cleared;

It will become clear by itself.

Read this poem I leave you, read it

When the silence of the world possesses you,

Or when you are fretted with disquiet.

Long must be this parting, and

Remember, remember that all

My thoughts have always been of you.

The dying sun lies sadly in the far horizon.

The autumn wind blows mercilessly;

The yellow leaves fall.

From the mountain peak,

Two streams parted unwillingly.

The two fish swim;

One white, one gold.

From the picket fence

A pink rose reaches out to the sun.

Among the flowers, two butterflies fly.

They might know where they want to go,

But they do not know how to get there.

The wave from mountain peaks becomes

Hammer to sculpture rocks,

To leave chiseled shapes and polished surfaces.

From boulder to rock to sand.

And with the final thrust the sun

Throws wave upon the shore

The jellyfish in weariness

Nestles in a pool.

Let us then take a lump of clay,

Wet it, pat it,

And make an image of you

And an image of me.

Then smash them, crash them,

And, with a little water,

Knead them together.

Love,

Could life be otherwise

With you and me?

The Philosophy of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee is, perhaps, the most famous of all Hong Kong stars. The most influential martial artist of the modern age, he became a huge star during the Kung-Fu film boom of the 1970s, before his tragically early death in 1973. He was also a great philosopher and poet, incredibly well read and thoughtful. Here are some of his most profound philosophical quotes, illustrating his unique take on the spiritual, the physical, the emotional and the mental.

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.

Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.

Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.

Be happy, but never satisfied.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.

If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.