Cheung Chau, Hong Kong

Cheung Chau is an island about 30 minutes away from Hong Kong, accessible by a boat trip of about 30mins-1hour depending on whether you’re a cheapass or not – the fast ferry is slightly more expensive of course.

Arriving on the island by midday, we hired some bikes for the day. But first stop was to eat 午餐 – LUNCH. Cheung Chau is a rather old residential area, so it’s not surprising that you find little cafeterias serving you bowls of fishball and cuttlefish ball noodles, originating back to 1959.

The fishballs were so natural and made me think home, albeit not my home, my neighbour’s home because my mother cannot cook (well). A far cry from the machine manufactured stuff you have at home, this was a bowl of ho fun that was devoured pretty much within 10 minutes. For a girl, I’m sorry but that is lightning speed already!

Later on, we finished off an exhausting ride around the island with a cold bowl of TOFUFA. Yes the nonsensical word that makes up this food blog’s url http://t o f u f a.wordpress.com. At $6 a pop, this was essential brain food on a cloudless day with no clouds in site and humid Hong Kong heat.

And have you ever seen crisps strung on a massive stick like this? Well this is how Cheung Chau likes their crisps. Crispy, fresh and definitely a one for the posers *ahem*.

There was also time and stomach space for traditional chinese snacks such as 紅豆糕 (red bean cake), made by a local resident who knocks up a small corner shop that we passed on the way to the beach on the east side of the island. Not only are there red bean cakes, there is also sago puddings, white sugar cakes, custard flavoured puddings – all the things that local HK people love to eat between meals, and never get fat on.

And now you’re thinking… these girls would probably die if they eat anymore. Not quite so. We decided to stay for dinner on the island. Eating in an open air eatery next to the Cheung Chau library and opposite the supermarket, there was no air conditioning to be had, but the breeze from the ocean sufficed for keeping us cool. Foodwise – ever heard of Sweetcorn soup and Fish Belly? That’s what we had. The soup was laden with fish belly – a delicacy that not many ethnicities devour – but one that the Li household love so much and brave the airport securities to bring it back to the UK after every holiday in Hong Kong. There was also Salt and Pepper Prawns – the wetting type also known as 拉尿蝦. Fresh and robot-looking, I didn’t touch these, but they looked tasty anyhow.

We also bought a takeaway Soy Sauce Chicken from another cafe. This chicken was so smooth and succulent (a typical cliche description, ne?) I swear I won’t be able to eat the version that my mother makes anymore.

I HEART Cheung Chau food.

An essential visit when dropping by in Hong Kong!

Tags: Cheung Chau, fishball, Hong Kong, island, traditional