The BBC Blog Diet: Hong Kong Fast Food

No doubt everyone has their favourite memories of HK fast food. My personal favourites are the char chan tengs (glass table tops, tea served in cloudy plastic beakers and vast pots of steaming beef brisket in the windows) and those ubiquitous chain cafes like Fairwood and Maxims - all fast, cheap and with varied menus.

The UK's Guardian newspaper has just published a list of some fast food outlets you may not be familiar with but which seem to be worth checking out:

Hong Kong is one of the most vibrant food capitals in the world, with a staggering 12,000 restaurants to choose from. The Michelin Guide launched here at the end of last year- a foreboding green light for celebrity chefs to open expensive gourmet restaurants. They would be missing the point: Hong Kong certainly isn't somewhere you have to spend a fortune for fabulous Chinese food.

So here is an alternative guide for budget eating out, where the quality and freshness of the food is what counts, not the decor and service.

Article: Street eats and cafe cuisine in Hong Kong

The bbc blog diet: Cha Cha Moon

Don't believe the (bad) hype. Cha Cha Moon is actually quite good.

When this Alan Yau 'casual dining' restaurant opened, there was a special offer of any dish for £3.50 which is no longer available but it's still worth paying a visit. My duck noodle soup with plump goji beans was very nice and the Hong Kong style milk tea was fine although it didn't seem as strong as the real thing. They even do warm Vitasoy in bottles just like in HK.

Could this be further evidence that Western food critics don't really know how to assess Chinese or Asian restaurants?

Related: Cha Cha Moon, Alan Yau's new restaurant getting mixed reviews
Link: ThisisLondon review
Link: London Eating reviews

The bbc blog diet: Egg with tomato

This dish is an old favourite that I remember from childhood (although it seems to be made with a slightly more complicated recipe in this video than I remember).



The bbc blog diet is an assortment of dishes that may or may not cause you to lose weight but at least they taste nice!

Am I the only bbc who has never eaten 'cha yip dan'?

I was browsing a Chinese cookery book when I saw a recipe for 'tea eggs': chicken and quail's eggs boiled in seasoned tea.

I'd actually never heard of these before and it was only after a bit of Googling that I discovered that 'cha yip dan', as they are called in Cantonese, are a common snack throughout Asia. In fact, Wikipedia says Taiwan's 7-Elevens sell millions of them.

How have I managed growing up as a bbc - including numerous trips to HK - and not eaten one, solitary tea egg? I thought I'd eaten everything! :)

So that's my latest mission: To get me some 'cha yip dan'. No idea when this will happen but I'll post some pics when it does. If you're interested in trying to make them yourself, this seems to be a good recipe.

The bbc blog Diet (Step 1)

I strongly recommend that you try the 'b.b.c.' blog's simple, easy to follow diet. You won't lose any weight but the food tastes nice!

Step 1: Char siu and roast duck rice from Loon Tao, Gerrard Street:



Delicious, and with complimentary soup too. If you can't remember where Loon Tao is, check out the streetsensation link posted a while ago.