For Abbie’s bday gift, Alex got her (and two pals) a food tour through Sham Shui Po! We didn’t really know what to expect, but wow, these 3 hours get a post of their own. We went to 6 places and ate sooo much good food. We would likely not have gone to Sham Shui Po at all, since it is north of TST, let alone found the places we ended up eating at. It was a tour of the area and Hong Kong just as much as it was a food tour.

We had a great tour guide (Carrie) — one of the tour guides you actually find on tripadvisor later and write a good review for. We started off first thing in the morning when the street markets were just getting set up. We learned that each block has its own specialty product, buttons, pool floaties, clothes, food, electronics, you name it! It was fun to explore and get a sense for Sham Shui Po in between our food stops.

First up was pineapple buns — huge breakfast buns that have some egg and sugar on top which makes it look like a pineapple? There was no actual pineapple involved. For me, I got a substitute of beef noodles, aka rice noodles with beef. Pretty simple, but pretty delicious! And not bad for breakfast either. We were full after our first stop and we knew we had five more to go! The server brought out my beef noodles at first and there were forks on the table. I started off with the fork, and he said to Carrie something along the lines of “do you want the chopstick challenge”? We were obviously tourists, so I don’t know if he was actually asking if I wanted chopsticks or was trying to punk me. Either way, I said yes and used them and by now I’ve had a week to adjust to chopsticks so I think I impressed. He came back at the end and actually did look impressed.

Next food was rice rolls. These I definitely would not have picked on my own accord. This hole in the wall restaurant was totally bumping with locals. I am pretty sure it has a Michelin star rating too. So rice rolls are basically a doughy rice food item that you eat with peanut sauce, soy sauce (but not for me), Hoisin, chili sauce, and lots of sesame seeds. So tasty! There was such a long queue for this place going out the door as people we getting rice rolls to go as part of their morning routine.

Next stop was also a surprise. It was a tiny shop that served soft tofu dessert in bowls with a warm ginger sauce/syrup/broth and sugar crystals on top. The texture was bizarre, but the ginger broth was sooooo good. It was also interesting to be eating a hot dessert in bowls in the middle of the street, but it was totally normal.

Then we went to a dumpling place. There were at least 4 women sitting with huge bowls of dumpling filling and churning them out into freshly folded dumplings. They worked quickly! The heaps of raw dumpling filling were admittedly not that appetizing looking, but supposedly the dumplings were amazing. My substitute meal was congee- a local rice dish. It’s basically rice that you make with extra water so it’s more of a soup or porridge. Not bad! It was best with peanuts, chili sauce, and sesame seeds.

Next up was a small bakery. Most people got moon cakes, and I got to try red bean mochi. Last up, was this noodle place that Anthony Bourdain apparently visited when he was in HK and recommended. They home-make the noodles using a very manual process and churning the batter. The house specialty was the bamboo noodles with shrimp roe, but I got the rice noodle and pork dish as an alternative.

Along the way, we saw lots of interesting things. We went into a shop where a family business was making knives, using a wet stone to sharpen the blades. Abbie, Angela, and I got matching green linen boxy dresses that caught all of our attention as we walked by. We went into a dried seafood store (which we have seen many of, but have no idea what the items are). With our guide, we learned what ones were the fish bladders and where to find the dried geckos and the times when you would use each ingredient for medicinal purposes or special occasions (larger fish bladders for weddings, and geckos for asthma!). We also saw the wet markets, where they hang meat out on the streets (under red lighting to make it look fresh), and where they have fish flopping on ice and you select the one you want. There were lots of parts of animals that I am not used to eating (tongues, hooves…) but honestly it makes me question why it is so weird to eat those things, when in reality, it is just another part of the animal and is more practical to make the most of what you get.

Also, a little less cool, but an interesting thing to see, was the outside of some cage homes. These are very small, very subdivided homes that run for ~2,000 HKD where people live in close quarters in literal wire cages. It was a working class neighborhood and you can imagine how rent is crazy enough as is, and why these apartments are necessary. I guess they are illegal, but the government doesn’t crack down on it since people living there have few alternatives. Not only is it the small size that is problematic, but it’s also the lack of ventilation and airflow and safety.