It may be a little known fact to those living outside of the fragrant harbour, but Hong Kong is one of the culinary capitals of the world. From extravagant, gold-encrusted seafood restaurants to hole-in-the-walls, Michelin stars don’t discriminate. Hong Kong is renowned for its transience, which makes it cold and shallow to some. But to those who love to eat; it’s a mecca for international fare. Anyways, before I start sounding like a Hong Kong tourism ad, let me get into why being born and raised where was critical to my love of cooking without the frills.
From a young age I was frequently removed from the bubble of Discovery Bay - which is as suburban as it gets in Hong Kong - and plonked into true Hong Kong. We often went to the wet markets in neighbouring Tung Chung to do the weekly shop, my mum negotiating in her best Cantonese for some veggies or whole fish - which, to my horror, were killed right in front of me. I also remember begging for the famous Hong Kong waffles, lathered in lashings of condensed milk and peanut butter.
Hongkongers are obsessed with food in the most no-nonsense way. The servers at the chan chan tengs are perpetually rude; it’s an intimidating experience if you don’t know exactly what you want. As you’d expect, the best places to eat are the ones that look on the verge of a health code closure. Most places don’t allow reservations, and anywhere decent has a line out the door at lunchtime. The formalities are different - I ate noodles and rice for breakfast and was pretty disappointed when I had to eat cereal. MSG is undoubtedly in everything (yay!). But here’s the thing - why would you want it any other way? The focus is always on the food; and it’s delicious.
Perhaps where I get my slap-dash cooking from. I lived in Hong Kong from birth to age 18 and this influenced the way I see food - it’s there to taste good, and everything else is just a distraction. I’m lucky enough to understand the ingredients and flavours and can now veganise them.
Dim sum is my favourite food on the planet. For years I was “vegetarian except for dim sum” but now I have delved into the intimidating world of dim sum cooking at home. I adapted this recipe from Made with Lau during lockdown; where I couldn’t visit my favourite vegan Chinese restaurants. This recipe takes some practice, but I promise you, it’s so worth it. My family called this dish “footballs” for years until we found out their proper name - "Ham Sui Gok”. Long live the mighty dim sum.
ingredients.
dough:
1/4 cup wheat starch
1/4 cup water (to mix with the starch)
1 1/2 glutinous rice flour
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup water (for the dough)
1/8 cup cooking oil (something with no flavour such as vegetable or canola)
marinade + vegan “pork”:
300g vegan mince
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp water mixed with 1 tsp corn starch
filling:
40g rehydrated or fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped finely
3 water chestnuts, chopped finely
1 tbsp chopped spring onion
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp chinese five spice powder
salt and sugar to taste
1 tsp MSG
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch slurry
1 tbsp oil to cook
how to.
Combine wheat starch with the water until a dough is formed.
Place glutinous rice flour into another bowl and make a well for the sugar and wheat starch dough.
Add the rest of the water in and dissolve the sugar and wheat starch dough by kneading. When combine, knead it into the glutinous rice flour until it forms a larger dough. Add the oil and mix into the dough.
Wrap tightly in cling film while you work on the filling.
Combine mince with marinate with the ingredients from the marinated “pork” section.
Add oil to a pan on low heat and brown the spring onion and ginger.
Turn the heat up to medium, add the mushrooms and water chestnuts and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the marinated vegan mince in along with the five spice powder, pepper, vegetarian oyster sauce, MSG and sesame oil and cornstarch slurry. Cook for 5 minutes, and add sugar and salt, adjust according to taste. Put in the fridge to cool.
Take the dough out and work it until it is flexible. If it is too dry, knead 1/2 tbsp water in at a time to get the right consistency. You don’t want it too sticky, or too dry, so don’t be afraid to play around with the consistency.
Roll the dough into a long log and divide it into 15 segments.
Roll each section of the log into a ball and flatten it into a flat circle. Add 1 tbsp of the cooked pork in the center of the dough.Bring the left and right sides together and pinch to join close from top to bottom until it encloses the filling. It should look like an American football!
Heat enough oil in a deep pan or deep fryer onto medium heat. Let them bubble for about 5 minutes; just before they're ready, increase the heat to high and fry until golden. You may have to fry in sections.
Serve immediately and enter dim sum heaven.
It was so insightful and inspiring to read all of this - thank you for sharing it!
desperately thinking of dim sum now....
So wonderful to read about how Hong Kong shaped the way you eat and cook! What's the "pork" mince in the recipe? Here we have different vegan "meats" that resemble ground beef, sausage, beef, fish, or chicken, but have not found one that replaces pork. I've travelled to Hong Kong twice, and can't wait to return (now as a vegan) with my family. Cheers!