Ken Hom on Cantonese restaurants 粤菜天下第一

By Ken Hom

Published: January 30 2010 00:34 | Last updated: January 30 2010 00:34

Dishes are prepared at the Sang Kee Seafood restaurant

Hong Kong is a city close to my heart and even closer to my stomach. Is it because I am Cantonese and think that our cooking is simply the best? Well, a recent visit to Hong Kong sought to confirm exactly that. With the exception of Nha Trang, an extraordinary Vietnamese place, all the restaurants I ate in served the most delicious Cantonese fare in jam-packed restaurants filled with families and friends. And Hong Kong, known in the past for surly service, now has friendly and efficient waiters anticipating your every need.

We began at Fu Sing Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant, a brash old Cantonese family favourite. (We did not eat shark fin, despite the name of the restaurant.) Everyone comes here for BBQ pork, which melts in your mouth. The suckling pig was also outstanding. Fried rice in fu sing style was a dish so tasty that we continued to eat it despite being quite full. Finally, don’t miss the crispy twists with honey. These are delicate, thin pieces of fresh wonton skins, skilfully fried and then drizzled with a light coating of honey syrup.

Our next stop was Fan Tang: it means dining room in Cantonese and appears almost like a private club. There is no sign on the door and you ring a bell to get in. The interiors have the cosy look of a Shanghai club fitted out with the usual Chinese glitter and gold trimming. Only recently opened, it is already a hangout for Hong Kong film and TV stars.

We had several dishes of dim sum, which included a perfect dish of minced pork and vegetables wrapped with a slightly chewy skin that was steamed just right. The Shanghai dumplings with hairy crab roe paired with minced pork were so good that we ordered more. We finished with a simple dish of pan-fried noodles with a tasty sauce of shredded chicken with mushrooms and bean sprouts. The crispy noodles were served separately, and we poured the sauce on at the very last moment, preserving their crunch. A dish of poached tiny Chinese cabbage in broth to finish our meal was quite addictive.

Barbecued pork patties at the Vietnamese restaurant Nha Trang

Nha Trang is one of the most popular Vietnamese restaurants in the city. Both the delicious food and quick, efficient service makes it worth the long queue for a table. Banh cuon, a classic steamed Vietnamese rice ravioli was wrapped in a transparent rice paper encasing minced shrimp and pork.

Do ask for pho tai, the famous northern Vietnamese hearty soup with thinly sliced medium rare beef and rice noodles. Squeeze the lime into the soup and mix with the chopped fresh hot chillies and you are inpho heaven. And the best dish: heo sua dot lo, which you must not miss. This was no ordinary roast suckling pig but one that had perfect crispy skin and melting, moist and incredibly seasoned meat. Now we knew why everyone was so patiently queuing up!

Sang Kee Seafood is an established Cantonese restaurant that is as popular as ever. It was packed with large numbers of Chinese stock and currency traders who miss great home-cooked Cantonese food. A signature dish is the fried prawn in soy sauce, marinated in a fragrant soy sauce that does not overwhelm the sweetness of the prawns. It is crispy on the outside and succulent and tasty on the inside.

Braised fish with bitter melon at Sang Kee

Then a dish I had never tasted: lightly steamed crab served in a slightly piquant sweet sauce of plums. It was a perfect and unusual balance. Steamed flowering cabbage with preserved vegetables was a simple dish of large stems of Chinese cabbage, steamed just right and showered with pickled vegetables that had been soaked so thoroughly there was just a hint of salt. Then a large fresh river fish, braised in a rich black bean sauce and paired with the quinine bitterness of melon, made an unexpected but delicious combination.

A special order dish of fresh ham braised in a wonderful aromatic blend of soy sauce, star anise and cinnamon, served on a bed of sea moss and vegetables, was the highlight of the evening. Just when we cried out “No more food”, our hosts insisted that we at least try the fish congee. It was the right finish. The smooth – but not fishy – rice porridge with bits of fried doughnuts convinced me that everyone in the packed dining room really knew their food.

Sampling dishes at Sang Kee

No foodie visit to Hong Kong would be complete without eating at least one Chiu Chow meal, a regional style of cooking from around the Swatow district of eastern Guangdong province. AtCarrianna Chiu Chow restaurant we started with a few Chiu Chow-style dim sum such as steamed turnip cake with preserved meat, deep-fried glutinous dumpling with spicy meat and steamed shrimp dumpling.

The soy goose is a speciality of Chiu Chow cooking, the bird slowly braised in a rich broth of herbs and spices so it becomes tender and savoury. It is served with a piquant sauce of garlic and rice vinegar which strikes the right balance to the rich goose meat and skin.

Another Chiu Chow favourite was the delightful diced chicken wrapped in egg-white crepe, filled with tiny chopped bits of savoury chicken and mushroom. It looked like a wrapped surprise gift. We finished with fried e-fu noodles, a crispy noodle dish to which you are encouraged to add vinegar and sprinkle sugar for a sweet and sour taste. But the noodles were so good, I simply ate them plain.

When I flew out of Hong Kong, I reflected on what an extraordinary few days it had been, with some of the best food I’d had in a long time. I see no reason to reconsider my opinion that Cantonese food this good is the best in the world.

Ken Hom is the author of ‘Chinese Cookery’ (BBC Books)

Fu Sing Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant, 1/F, 353 Lockhart Road, Sunshine Plaza, Wanchai, Hong Kong. tel: +853 2893 0881

Fan Tang, G/F & 1/F, Bright Star Mansion, 93-95 Leighton Road Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. tel: +852 2890 3339

Nha Trang, Shop No. 2, 2/F Wu Chung House, 213 Queen’s Road East Wanchai, Hong Kong. tel: +852 2891 1177

Sang Kee Seafood, 1/F Hip Sang Building, 107-115 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong. tel: +852 2575 2236

Carrianna Chiu Chow, 1/F, AXA Centre, 151 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. tel: +852 2511 1282

香港这个城市不仅深得我心，而且更对我的胃口。这是否因为我是广东人，并且认为我们的烹饪术天下最好？为了证明此言不虚，我最近去了一趟香港。除了 独具一格的越南风味餐厅芽庄(Nha Trang)以外，我这次去的餐厅，全都以绝顶美味的粤菜飨客，而且全都顾客盈门，客人们不是呼朋携友，就是举家前来。香港过去以服务恶劣著称，可如今的 服务员不但态度亲切，服务快捷，还事事都预先替你想得周到。
我们先去了性急的老广东人最喜爱的富声鱼翅海鲜酒家(Fu Sing Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant)。虽然餐厅名字中有鱼翅两字，但我们没有吃鱼翅。这里的客人都是冲着叉烧(BBQ pork)来的。叉烧软嫩可口。乳猪也很棒。富声特色炒饭非常好吃，虽然我们已经吃得很饱了，还是照样把它吃下去。最后，可别错过蜂蜜脆麻花。这道菜以小 巧、细薄的新鲜混沌皮，经过油炸，再浇上薄薄一层峰蜜。
我们的下一站是饭堂(Fan Tang)。在广东话里，饭堂的意思就是吃饭的所在。这里的风格颇近于私人会所。门上没有招牌，按门铃后，有人给你开门。室内布置得金碧辉煌，是常见的中 式风格，有点像上海的俱乐部，显得温暖舒适。饭堂刚开张不久，就已经是香港影视明星常到之地。
我们品尝了好几种点心，其中有一样点心味道绝佳，里面是猪肉蔬菜馅，外皮带着点韧劲，蒸得刚刚好。添加了猪肉泥的上海蟹黄包异常可口，我们吃完后又 加点了一些。最后一道是简单的两面黄(pan-fried noodles)。用鸡肉丁、蘑菇和豆芽做成的酱汁味道鲜美，煎面与酱分开盛放，吃的时候把酱浇到面上，这样面条嚼起来才会嘎吱嘎吱响。最后以一道上汤奶 白菜收尾，真是过瘾。
芽庄(Nha Trang)是香港最红火的越南餐厅之一。美食加快捷高效的服务，的确值得排长队等候。粉卷(Banh cuon)是一种传统的越南小吃，以虾蓉和猪肉泥作馅，裹以透明的米皮，清蒸而成。
一定要点生牛肉河粉(Pho Tai)。这是越南北方名吃，浓汤中是片得薄薄的半生不熟的牛肉和米粉，撒上酸橙酱和新鲜的辣椒末，就是一碗滋味绝佳的河粉。而heo sua dot lo这道佳肴，更是千万不能错过。这可不是普通的烤乳猪，它的外皮异常酥脆，肉则鲜嫩多汁，入口即化，味道叫人难以置信。终于理解为什么大家会这么耐心地 排队等候了。
生记海鲜(Sang Kee Seafood)是家有些年头的广式餐厅，还是一如既往的红火。钟爱正宗广式家常菜的中资股票和外汇交易员常常云集于此。有道招牌菜是油烹大虾，香浓的酱汁并没有掩盖虾肉的鲜美。外脆，里面则汁多味美。
接着是一道我从未尝过的菜：略微蒸过的螃蟹，辅以甜中带辣的李子酱。真是绝妙而少见的搭配。有一味简单的菜是清蒸菜心，大块的菜心蒸得恰到好处，上 面覆以厚厚一层泡菜。泡菜腌得通透，只带着一点点咸味。然后是一条硕大的新鲜河鱼，加豆豉焖熟，配上苦瓜的奎宁味道，搭配得出人意料而又十分美味。
当晚的亮点是一味特别预订的火腿。用新鲜的火腿，加酱油、八角和桂皮等焖熟，盛放在一层海苔和蔬菜之上，气味芳香，口感绝妙。正当我们喊着“吃不下 了”，主人们却坚称我们至少得尝尝鱼片粥。这是很正点的收尾。以大米熬成的鱼片粥滑腻而没有鱼腥味，掺了少许炸面圈。我由此断定，在这个拥挤的餐厅里，每 个人都真正懂得美食。
作为美食家，到香港至少要吃一回潮州菜，否则就不圆满。潮州菜是广东省汕头一带的地方菜。我们去了佳宁娜潮州菜(Carrianna Chiu Chow)，先要了一些潮州风味点心，如清蒸咸肉萝卜糕，油炸辣肉糯米团和蒸虾蛟。
卤水鹅是一种潮州特色菜，把鹅肉置于各种药草和香料做成的浓汤里文火炖熟，使它变得细嫩而入味，辅之以蒜酱和米醋，正可以去掉鹅肉的油腻。
另一道潮州名菜是以蛋清裹着鸡肉丁，配以细碎的咸鸡肉和蘑菇，看上去赏心悦目，就像是一件让人意外的包好的礼物。我们最后吃的是口感松软的干烧伊面，店方会建议你加醋加糖，拌成酸甜口味。但面条本身很好吃，我干脆什么都不加。
飞离香港时，我回味着这几天度过的美好时光，期间品尝到了一些很长时间以来最好的美味佳肴。我看没什么理由改变观点了，粤菜就是天下第一等美食。

本文作者著有《谭荣辉的中国烹饪》（Chinese Cookery，BBC出版）一书

富声鱼翅海鲜酒家，湾仔骆克道353号三湘大厦1楼，电话：+853 2893 0881
饭堂，铜锣湾礼顿道93-95号地面及1楼，电话： +852 2890 3339
芽庄，湾仔皇后大道东213号胡忠大厦2楼2号铺，电话：+852 2891 1177
生记海鲜，湾仔轩尼诗道107-115号协生大厦1楼，电话：+852 2575 2236
佳宁娜潮州菜，湾仔告士打道151号国卫中心1楼，电话：+852 2511 1282

译者/杨远