I'm on a semi-retired models quest to eat my way through Hong Kong or any other city I travel to
with the help of food bloggers
I want to learn more about the culture, meet new people and discover exciting new tastes in the places I am in
Today we're exploring Hong Kong's night food scenes specifically in the form of Dai pai dongs
We're going to try some of the staple dishes
Learn about the culture
and talk to locals about why you probably won't see these places for much longer
Right now we're in central on Hong Kong Island, but we need to cross over to Kowloon side to meet our foodie
So this episode begins on the iconic Star Ferry.
Thanks, buddy hug, Virginia, yeah. Nice to meet you.
Hello Canadian, right? You're Canadian
I am Canadian
You are from Toronto, right, Vancouver
Hi, my name is Virginia, so I'm a cbc at canadian born Chinese
I like to say that my heart from Hong Kong
But I was made and assembled in Canada moved to Hong Kong six years ago
Worked an HR at a bank and now I'm a tour guide
and I run a touring company called humid with a chance of fishballs
Today we're doing dai pai dong and it's my very first experience. I've never
Really excited to explore the whole night scene. It's very loud, a lot of smell, there's a lot of people
Yeah, there's a lot of shirtless men cooking.
common, common, in wet markets and all these places
Yeah, ok. So where are we where we first? Where did you take us first?
So this is a Dai pai dong, do you know what a Dai pai dong means?
It means it's an open-air food stall
the legal term means that say back in the day
They gave Dai pai dong, like the licensing to people as a sort of a social welfare
So they gave it to people who maybe had more children, etc
So it was an easy place for them to have a lot of easy to make money
they call it the big license, Dai pai means big license because the license was
Bigger than average because they had to have the photo of the licensee on the permit itself
So that's why they're usually open air like this and they're around public area
So this one as you can see, this is all the open air, but they also have three to four stalls now
That's just indoors with aircon for them.
So this place is at the family-owned. Yes
They have to be family-owned, because the license only is his mom's name
they can't pass it on to anybody else
So we're just gonna rinse everything through
they have a say in Chinese, like big germs become smalle germs and smaller germs become nutritional nutrients
I can't believe how quickly the food is ready
because it is really hot it goes up to about 200 degrees Celsius
So everything cooks really quickly. It's kerosene gas, and that's why people love to come to a Dai pai dong
It's call Wok Hey, this is all wok aroma. You like it to be a little bit charred, okay
Seasoned and breaded deep-fried puffer fish
clams in black bean sauce
which is what Virginia calls the ultimate Dai pai dong dish and
Morning Glory with a fermented bean curd paste and chili all famous dishes from this particularDai pai dong
It's like a noodle bowl
yeah, looks like a noodle
It's like steaming hot, right?
But they cooked perfectly like it's still a bit crispy, a bit little crunch
It's not like completely
and if we watch them cooking literally it's about two to three minutes and it's done
really quick because of the high gas.
So good
Anything in this sauce is good, though.
They have a really tasty sauce. I buy mine in can
I buy mine in can but most of this places will make their own
The spices you after I eat
More you it eat, it lingers right
(Sham Shui Po) have all the good street food
There's a lot of
Michelin recommended food around here as well. So definitely it's like a hidden gem. Yeah. I hope it doesn't change but I feel like
I love it. Yeah. I hope it doesn't change but I feel like it has a bit right
Yes, it has a bit especially with these Dai pai dong
There's a law in place
That there's actually is one license and 2 systems
kind of like the plan of 1 country 2 systems and basically what it is is the ones in central
They protected those Dai pai dong
They've given a little bit of money for them to come and also they can actually give the license over to their offspring
So those ones you can actually change the name to their son from the daughter
with these ones here, they are not allow
Parents
passes away, they can't renew it
Reason why as well that they have indoor store
and they've taken some of these restaurants as well.
They're scared in case anything happens
That means they don't have the Dai pai dong, but they have their restaurants run as well
So you'll need for the ones in some Shum Shui po, lot of them will actually have it inside eating area.
So for him his mom is the one that actually inspired with
with the name Oi Man Sang, for the mama is Oi
and him and his brother is Man, Sang
That's how the name is it, a family owned business. Mum 86 this year
They're really scared about the renewal process because that has to be under her name, right?
So they're just scared and they're paving the way for their future so anything happened then at least they have the indoor area
So that's why so many of them have died off over the years because of the complicated renewal
No, I think they said in the 80s'
is where they decided the hygienic for the sanitary conditions here for not good
so the government just didn't want Dai pai dong anymore,
at that time there was like three thousand Dai pai dong in Hong Kong
so they decided that they weren't gonna
Renew, no they won't have anymore new licensees implemented
So they eventually got grandfather and eventually, you know as they get older
they kind of drop off etc.
And then it was 2000, that they decided they want to keep the Dai pai dong culture
so in Central where they have the scheme of keeping them then they can actually have the license to pass down to the offsrping
But they said it is 1 license, 2 systems, because they didn't do it for this side
With a deeper understanding of the past present and future of this particular food culture. We are eager to try another spot
Couldn't help but notice that well so much of Hong Kong has changed
this district still remains quite old and traditional
the buildings are all still old here there are no new skyscrapers or anything
so you know how they have the subdivided block there
Somewhere around here, they are usually around Sham Shui Po
That divide house, the coffin, is here
the cage home as well
cause this is the poor district
So it seems Hong Kong has a few issues
Not only are some cultural aspects declining
But the population is on the steady incline and it doesn't have enough space to host
a 7.3 million population in its
2,700 kilometers square
But that's a whole nother video. So for now we'll just stick to food
This is Michelin
they recently got michelin recommended
So I stood behind him, it's so hot, so far behind him
and I already couldn't take the heat and then he's just throwing his whole body into it
like his hands are basically touching it through this towel.
Like I don't know how he can stand that, it's insane
I think he takes a lot of build up
Here's what he made for us
fried rice with egg white and vegetables
Chinese kale with shrimp paste
and a Chinese donut with squid paste inside
their most popular fusion dish
this is actually the local favourite
I love the thousand-year-old egg too
you do? anything with it, yeah
Pei Dan, or salty egg yolk.
When is the first time you tried it? in Toronto, or in Asia?
Here
I like the one with the vegetable and the broth and then the salted egg in that thousand-year-old all those eggs
one of my favorite dish
Yeah, you liked it the first time or?
first time, and quickly fell in love, love at first sight
love at first taste
You're right, it's really fragrant
it's really fragrant and also because it's such high heat
They use the karosen gas. Each of the little rice. They're all separate. It's not soggy at all
and it took like three minutes for him to fire the entire thing.
Yeah, so it's like slightly crispy on the outside or something
Yeah, slightly charred. Yeah
all made from a Dai pai dong
I feel like you need a little bit extra of the other flavors. You didn't ask for that
We're stuck to the pan because they like gives it more
More of a rich taste like complicated flavor
Yeah, it's really good because my my grandma always says that like it's not really her cooking
It's a pan, the really old pan that like many years and like flavors stucks to it
It builds up. You know how you're supposed to use the same
Teapot for that type of tea and then filled up the aroma in side the tea
Something like that
This is great
At the end of the night I had an overwhelming sense of emotions
Happiness and warmth from the communities and friendships I saw.
the smells, the sounds, the friendly smiling faces
Strangers coming together and sharing a meal in the open air
so much history in tradition being passed down to generations
and of course delicious food
Then at the same time, I felt sadness for the fear of the unknown future and the strong possibility
Of this culture dying out in the coming years
I know I don't want it to go away
If you come to Hong Kong Dai pai dong are definitely something you need to experience before they're no longer here
I'm so happy I got to do this today, and I'll definitely be back to these places
so we're finished up for today. The general feeling I got was
There's not many left
But what's left of it is very it feels like a family everyone sits outside eats together and start interact with you
it's about like good quick cheap food, but like the
environment is very warm and welcoming
and just friendly, they want you to learn about them and they're happy to tell you about their history
Yeah, we met some really nice people at both places
So I think it's the Hong Kong term so they were really nice to us. They were very welcoming
Answered all our questions, super nice and friendly came down to sit with us, take selfies
Yeah, what's your favorite dish of the day
my favorite dish
That's so hard
Yeah, they're all so different
so clams and black bean sauce is always the staple
It's always I just like it everywhere. But I think one thing that I was really surprised is the fried rice here
It was really seasoned really well,
so it was pretty pale looking so people might be scared it's not really flavored
really seasoned really well and just from the wok, that sizzle. It was really really yummy
yeah polished off the whole plate and we were like so full
I love the rice and I love the vegetables that to fermented tofu
the first place, the morning glory
Yeah, those two were so good
Thank you so much
We were like stinky sweaty is okay
I will link Virginia below if you're coming to Hong Kong and you want to try out these foods
she does a food tour and
She takes you around she shows you how to do it
She helps you to order because some of these places are a little bit difficult, but definitely check her out
She can talk to everyone. So you guys are gonna love her, everyone loves you tonight.
Oh, thank you everybody love you. Thank you
Thank you so much. Okay. Thanks for watching guy