Amazing graze: in praise of the city’s cooked food centres
Cooked food centres offer some of the city’s most exciting – and underrated – fare, write Vanessa Yung, Bernice Chan and Charley Lanyon
PERCHED ABOVE MOST government-run Municipal Services wet markets is the wonderful world of the cooked food centre. Brave the bustle of trolleys and splash of fish stalls, and you’ll be rewarded. While some of the shops have found fame – think Tung Po in North Point and ABC Kitchen in Sheung Wan – others remains an aromatic mystery. These hidden gems showcase the diversity of the Hong Kong food scene, and they won’t hurt your wallet, either.
Tou Yuen Delicacies
Tou Yuen Delicacies is more than just a restaurant: it’s an experience. With its scorching hot Sichuan fare, quirky decor – Taoist poems on the handwritten menus cover every surface – and eccentric proprietor, Tou Yuen is a treat.
Most importantly, the food is excellent. The chef and owner Lam Kwok-hing claims his cooking mixes traditional Cantonese with Sichuan cooking, but our experience was less fusion and more spice. Nearly every dish comes floating in red chilli oil or buried under heaped mounds of dried chillies.
Despite the hot supply of spice, Lam is Hong Kong born and – except for a 20-day food tour to Chongqing – entirely self-taught. As other Sichuan eateries cut out the oil and dial down the heat, Lam remains unbowed.
“Hongkongers may complain about Sichuan food being too oily,” says Lam.
“But the truth is, excessive oil is needed for dishes like fish in spicy soup because it forms a layer of spiciness on the surface, and when people pick up the pieces of fish from the bottom, having to pass through the layer enriches the flavour and makes it more delicious.”