With the Michelin Guide introducing a dedicated street food section in its 2016 edition, Hong Kong’s most humble foods are getting some renewed interest. Chefs are getting creative, with twists on the city’s most popular snacks appearing everywhere from modernist kitchens to swanky bars. So let us introduce you to the classic comfort foods of the city and how they’ve evolved – not just on the streets.

ONE

Congee is the Hong Kong food equivalent of donning your pyjamas and diving into a plush cosy bed on a cold winter’s day. Jouk is the ultimate Cantonese comfort food, especially popular for breakfast, but available all hours of the day. A small amount of rice, simmered low and slow for hours with stock or water. The result is a velvety porridge that can be topped with all manner of things, from fresh beef slices to dried scallops. At The Bottle Shop Central, a sophisticated and chunkier version is made with barley, and is jazzed up with multiple, flavour-packed toppings – beef floss (dried beef that is pulled until it resembles cotton candy), Japanese seaweed, a soft onsen egg, and a yau za gwai (fried dough stick), a classic accompaniment to congee.

Try a classic: Mui Kee, Shop 11-12, 4/F, Fa Yuen St Market, Mong Kok

Try a new version: The Bottle Shop Central, Shop 1, 17 Bridges St, Central, 2799 4899

TWO

You’ll see them on many a street corner: thin sheets of steamed rice paper rolled loosely together into sausage-like tubes. Traditionally, they’re served with little more than squirts of hoisin, soy and chilli sauces and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. But try telling chef Eddy Leung that. At his restaurant Lobster Bobo by Eddy, he’s created a much more luxurious version. His comes with a rich lobster sauce and generous chunks of lobster and a dusting of dried fish roe for extra umami.

Try a classic: Hop Yik Tai, G/F, 121 Lam St, Sham Shui Po

Try a new version: Lobster Bobo by Eddy, Shop A, G/F, Haleson Bldg, 1 Jubilee St, Central, 3971 0933

Chef Eddy will be bringing other culinary creations to the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival. Find them at booth A111.

THREE

Rich, hearty and meaty, slow-cooked beef offal, especially tripe and intestines, are a staple often served at hole-in-the-wall noodle shops. With just 40 seats, beef noodle specialists Min Saam Gun are not so different to a classic noodle shop in terms of size, but their bowls are a step up from your average mom n’ pop shop. Using fresh beef from one of the city’s best butchers, stock made with grilled beef bones, noodles from an artisanal maker in Taiwan, and presented thoughtfully like Japanese ramen, they’ve breathed new life into a modest Hong Kong staple.

Try a classic: Kau Kee, G/F, 21 Gough St, Central

Try a new version: Min Saam Gun, G/F, 43 Gough St, Central, 2388 6982

FOUR

Toast may not be traditionally Chinese, but it’s central to Hong Kong’s own breed of diners, called cha chaan teng. Toasted sandwiches, be they filled with scrambled egg, cheese, corned beef or condensed milk, are a mainstay here, invariably devoured in combination with an iced lemon tea or Hong Kong-style milk tea. Kala Cheese Toast has taken this simple afternoon snack and added generous servings of fun and colour. Look no further than their KALA-ful Choice, a rainbow of flavoured grilled cheese (think tomato, basil and lavender) and cheddar, emmental, gruyere and mozzarella.

Try a classic: Australian Dairy Company, G/F, 47-49 Parkes St, Jordan

Try a new version: Kala Cheese Toast, Shop 6, G/F, Cheong Tai Bldg, 4 Tsuen Hing Path, Tsuen Wan, 3706 5432

Kala Cheese Toast Specialist is coming to the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival. Find them at booth C104.

FIVE

No Hongkonger grew up without the treat of an occasional gai daan zai. These freshly made waffles, distinctive for their little egg-shaped protrusions, are beautiful in their simplicity – simple sweet batter transformed into a perfectly shareable snack. But a new crop of dessert shops, like Oddies Foodies, is taking the genre far from the simple end of the spectrum. They’re redefining the genre, adding anything from chocolate to pineapple and even ham and cheese, and pairing it with other sweet treats like cookies, pannacotta and ice-cream to create impressive, towering sundaes.

Try a classic: Master Low-key, Shop B3, G/F, 76A Shau Kei Wan Main St East, Shau Kei Wan

Try a new version: Oddies Foodies, 45 Gough St, Central, 2750 2111

SIX

A specialty of the cha chaan teng, Hong Kong-style French toast is a calorific take on the brunch favourite. Instead of being a thick, pan-fried slice of bread, the local version is a peanut butter or kaya (Malaysian coconut jam) sandwich dipped in egg and dropped straight into a deep-fryer. But even this fried goodness is getting elevated. At gastropub Second Draft, the calorie count goes up further, with an indulgent slice of foie gras butter placed on top of the sandwich in place of regular butter.

Try a classic: Shui Kee Coffee, Shop 17, 2/F, Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, 345 Queen’s Rd Central, Sheung Wan

Try a new version: Second Draft, 98 Tung Lo Wan Rd, Tai Hang, 2656 0232

SEVEN

Don’t go looking for any pineapples in a pineapple bun – this is tropical in name only, dubbed after the sweet crackly sugar top on this soft bread roll. No local-style bakery would dare omit it from its repertoire. Usually eaten plain, or with a generous smear of butter, it’s a sweet-savoury delight. At creative cocktail bar VEA, however, they’ve upped the ante, marrying it with another local favourite, the Macau Pork Chop Bun. The result is a sandwich filled with Japanese-style deep-fried pork chop, with that extra crunch and sweetness – from the pineapple of course.

Try a classic: Kam Fung, G/F, Spring Garden Mansion, 41 Spring Garden Lane, Wan Chai

Try a new version: VEA, 29/F-30/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington St, Central, 2711 8639

EIGHT

Heading out after dinner for sweet, milky tofu skin and egg drop soup in winter, or a cold bowl of mango sago and coconut milk in the summer, is part and parcel of Hong Kong life. These well-loved desserts have been turned into ice-cream by eateries like Lab Made, who cleverly use the quick-freezing properties of liquid nitrogen, popularised by high-end modernist chefs, to make each cup on the spot.

Try a classic: Yuen Kee Dessert, G/F, 32 Centre St, Sai Ying Pun

Try a new version: Lab Made, citywide including 6 Brown St, Tai Hang, 9355 4476

Lab Made is coming to the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival. Find them at booth B013.

NINE

Wontons may be Hong Kong’s most famous culinary export. These pork and shrimp dumplings, served alone or with noodles in a clear, consomme-like soup, can be found throughout the world. But not like the ones at Three Dice Kitchen. At this standing-only restaurant specialising in avant garde cooking techniques, chef Arthur Tsui combines pork and shrimp in dried powder form and wraps them in an edible film of potato starch and soy lecithin. It’s served with dashi, the Japanese consomme, and the wonton wrapper disappears once the molecular dumpling is submerged.

Try a classic: Mak's Noodle, G/F, 77 Wellington St, Central

Try a new version: Three Dice Kitchen, Shop 2, Haven Ct, 137 Leighton Rd, Causeway Bay

Content provided by the team at Cedar Hong Kong — the travel, food and lifestyle content experts. Illustrations by Lon Lee. Taken from: www.discoverhongkong.com