The good junk - Lan Fong Yuen

Think Chinese Nando's

Lan Fong Yuen is/was one of Hong Kong's most famous daipaidongs - I say was because it's now spawned two permanent stores*, and only a couple tables occasionally on the street. The classic green cart is still there though, complete with stools on which people used to squeeze themselves for a 3.15pm milk tea. (I don't know why exactly but 3.15pm (or "3-o'clock-3" - 3 o'clock and the long hand on the '3') was always known as afternoon tea time in HK).

More on dai pai dong

Dai Pai Dong / photo from RTHK

Right after my previous post on municipal cooked food centres (where I kind of tell you to forget dai pai dongs for a second), guess what I'm going to talk about? Yep. Dai pai dongs. It just so happens that as I was asked earlier today about when the Central dai pai dongs (currently closed as the area is under refurbishment) would reopen, I came across this pretty good TV documentary on the revitalisation of dai pai dongs and hawker centres in public housing estates (another semi-alfresco HK dining phenomenon). Unfortunately it's all in Cantonese (with subtitles in Traditional Chinese), but here are some interesting 'did you knows'.

North Point Markets - Clay Pot Indian and Tung Po

Tandoori Chicken at Clay Pot

We in Hong Kong have recently been talking a lot about heritage and 'collective nostalgia'. In the world of food, that's meant age-old recipes, classic restaurants and possibly above all, dai pai dong. The Wiki link on dai pai dong gives a pretty good overview of what it's all about. They're called "dai pai" (lit. big sign) because, back in the day, they graduated from illegal hawkering to getting a proper licence (a "big sign" that they would display in the stall). Fast forward to 2010, and most of these have disappeared. Even the ones near Graham Street market in Central, which have probably had more press than all the others combined, have temporarily closed for refurbishment - after which they'll probably look like botoxed concrete. No doubt an idea from that bright bunch we call our government. Anyway, I digress (again). What I wanted to get to was, apart from dai pai dongs on the street, many DPDs had, at some stage in the past 30 years, been moved into what we call "Civic Centres". These are municipal buildings that often include a wet market, municipal offices, theatres, a public library (sometimes) and a cooked food centre. The wet market and cooked food centre components were moved into such buildings for better/easier sanitary (and possibly administrative) control. Prior to their moves, they were street markets, and - you guessed it - dai pai dongs. However, as more of these buildings were built, there were simply more spaces for eateries, hence this common, but less-talked-about proliferation of market restaurants. There are tons, and I've blogged about one of the most buzzed about of late, ABC Kitchen, so here are two more - one petite and relatively unknown (Clay Pot Indian), and the other, a market superstar (Tung Po), both in North Point.

Alfresco, Hong Kong style - Sing Heung Yuen

Beef and macaroni in tomato soup

People ask why us Hong Kongers eat tinned tomato, instant macaroni and bicarb-marinated beef together. Like yuen yeung (coffee + tea + milk), it's an acquired taste, but it's just so Hong Kong - it's a feeling, a collective nostalgia that even the most talented wordsmith would be hard-pressed to describe.

Market French - ABC Kitchen

French onion soup

I have to thank my lucky stars that I met Eat Love Write's ever so clued in author, who brought me to ABC Kitchen, a French food stand in Sheung Wan's Queen St. Market. Prior to this I'd never even known this market existed, let alone that ex-chefs of M on the Fringe (now temporarily closed while they find a new location) had opened an eatery here.