Cantonese classics

My day to day diet always changes when my parents visit.  Since they live in Australia, they usually want to eat as much Cantonese food as possible when they're in town.  I can't really blame them.  I'm also the type of person that will seek out the food I can't normally get when I travel.  When I see them in Australia, I'll usually have a "no Asian food" policy since I can get more than my fill of that in Hong Kong.

I was getting dinner with them one night and they took me to an old restaurant recommended by their friends.  It was an old school Cantonese restaurant in North Point.  When I walked in, I immediately felt like I was back in my childhood as the decor looked like it hadn't changed since the 90s.  It's one of the shocking things about Hong Kong, there seems to have been a complete lack of any capital investment by a whole host of restaurants since the 90s.  With rents as high as they are, they probably can't afford the investment or the work stoppage to make it happen.  This restaurant was thankfully quite clean and well maintained.  We sat down and my parents quickly ordered.  The food arrived promptly (but not "too" promptly) and I was thrown further back in time.

My parents had ordered snow pea sprouts with a crab sauce.  The sprouts were fresh and the sauce was light.  The sweetness of crab and snow pea sprouts has always been a great combination, and I remember my parents making this for my brother and I when we were young.

Next was the crispy skinned chicken.  It's still so common at the events held by local Hong Kongers, but it doesn't get the love that it deserves.  Hong Kong will always love roast goose, but there's something about the chicken in Hong Kong.  I'm not sure what it is, but it just tastes more "chickeny" than back in Australia.

Lastly we had sang choi bao.  Of all the dishes, this was what I least expected.  It is a truly old school dish that is rarely seen anymore.  It was once a favourite in Australian Chinese restaurants, probably due to the novelty for Australians back in the day of wrapping up their food with a piece of lettuce.  Novelty factor aside, it can be a great dish.  The freshness of the lettuce being the ideal accompaniment to the rich and fatty stir fry of minced duck, mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

For the three of us, it was more than enough food.  All three dishes aren't exactly contemporary, but they were very well cooked.  I probably don't explore enough of the truly local in Hong Kong.  Living in my expat bubble, it's a bit too easy to get caught up with all of the international cuisine available in Hong Kong.  There's plenty of time for that to change though.