Thursday, March 02, 2017

BEAN CURD COUNTRY

Among beloved Hong Kong eats is one substance that many non-Kongers find repellent, and another which I like but my stomach doesn't.
The disgusting item is stinky tofu (臭豆腐).
The problematic one is fresh tofu.

Fermenting beancurd yields something that unfavourably resembles toe cheese. Or sometimes assertive garbage sludge. It can not be said to be immensely popular, and it is also a must try when visiting Taiwan.


木桶豆腐花

Fresh tofu (豆腐花) is, on the other hand, quite delightful. Except for people who enjoy the taste but suffer cramps after consuming it. It is a refreshing mid-afternoon snack widely available in Fragrant Harbour, and to a lesser extent in San Francisco Chinatown. Best way to serve is with gingko nuts in syrup, or sweet red adzuki beans. And, luxuriously, sweet condensed milk and tinned fruit salad, but that is rare.

I seldom eat it, but I'm odd.



Other favourite Hong Kong treats, for the curious: curry fish balls (咖喱魚蛋 'gaa lei yu daan'), won ton noodles (雲吞湯麵 'wan tan tong min'), charsiu (叉燒), egg tarts (蛋撻 'daan taat'), pineapple buns (菠蘿包 'po lo baau'), jook (粥), steamed charsiu bao (蒸叉燒包), rice sheet noodle (腸粉 'cheung fan'), old wife cakes (老婆餅 'lou po beng'), white sugar cake (白糖糕 'paak tong gou'), French toast (西多士 'sai do si'). mango pudding (芒果布甸), little cart noodles (車仔麵 'che jai min'), prawn balls (蝦球 'haa kau'), fried chicken (炸雞 'jaa kai'), tea eggs (茶葉蛋 'cha yip daan'), chow fun (炒粉), Swiss wings (瑞士雞翼 'seui si kai yik'), red bean ices (紅荳冰 'hung dou ping'), ......
Actually, the list is endless.

And ALL of them will float through your head at two o'clock in the morning, eventually waking you up.


I was actually dreaming of a burrito, but got sidetracked.
Carnitas is reminiscent of charsiu and siu yiuk.
And could probably be used similarly.
In steamed bao, for instance.
Or in cheung fan.




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8 comments:

金龙崛起 said...

23333333 You stupid splittist, China is one united, you all list is only Chinese foods, because Hong Kong is fully part of China so is now fully Chinese, also you have so much gall to use english colony running dog spelling, you must want use true Chinese hanyu pinyin, dont give me your stupit "tofu", 豆腐 is called DOUFU, Chinese people need to use real Chinese language putonghua, otherwise nobody can understand, you still dare promote splittist local dialect!

妈的港独份子真的是洋鬼走狗,爱舔老外鸡巴的低种傻逼,我艹

The back of the hill said...

Sorry, my dear 北猪, Cantonese is an older and more mellifluous language than that hackety-hack patois of yours, and in any case much more useful here in the United States.
And Cantonese food is far better than anything in your part of the world.

Do you Northerners even know how to make tofu?

Aren't you all still eating rotten cabbage and steamed bran muffins?


BTW, that "English Colony running dog spelling" transcribes how Cantonese sounds, whereas pinyin was tailored specifically to Mandarin, and is quite irrelevant in the context of Hong Kong foods. And in any case, few Cantonese would pay attention to the Romanization; they would read the Chinese words and know what was meant.

Hee hee hee.

It's TOFU, you dipshits! said...

Jesus, Atboth, you've never come across as an English Colony Running Dog. I always imagined you as a chubby version of Nicholas van Rijn, shipwrecked in San Francisco and making the best of it.

More cunning and devious than anything else.

Stop fucking with my language, 阿燦 said...

And I quote: "The English term comes from Japanese tōfu (豆腐), borrowed from the original Chinese equivalent (豆腐 or 荳腐) transcribed tou4-fu3 (Wade-Giles) or dòufu (pinyin), literally "bean" (豆) + "curdled" or "fermented" (腐)."

"A reference to the word "towfu" exists in a letter dated 1770 from the English merchant James Flint to United States statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin. This is believed to be the first documented usage of the word in English."

The back of the hill said...

阿燦 as in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"?

哇,粗俗咁呢!


;-D


Toe Food said...

Try pressed tofu sometime. Slice into French Fry shape, dress with a little minced garlic, Chinese sesame oil, red vinegar, and chili sauce.

1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 - 3 tablespoons vinegar, and between t teaspoon and 3 tablespoons chili sauce.

Depending on how Hunanese you are.

Jacky said...

嘩哈哈,你遭受五毛嘅覺眼,而家你知道我哋日日嘅感覺。恭喜你!

喂喂蝗蟲,我知道你唔識正字,但係我知道你識拉丁字,所以我想show你睇呢啲古文:
ho jing maang yue fu, gung fei cheun yue jue!
唔聽識我哋就同我哋學,唔好強迫我哋講你個北蠻胡種語!唔似你哋紅衛兵,呢個大佬識成吉思汗未屌過嘅正宗唐人文化!

By the way 琴日我同朋友去旺角個茶餐廳食嘢,我食雲吞湯麵and西多士。冇咁好食,但係好筍價,喺旺角好罕見㗎。

Bei Guo Ren said...

What have you folks got against Madarin Soeakers? Have you ever listened to that frightful gabble of the Cantos? Sounds like cats fighting!

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