Food is often the best and probably the most fun way to learn about a new culture when you travel – Hong Kong is famous for its cuisine, whether it’s Hong Kong Cafes (Cha Chan Teng 茶餐厅) or amazing dim sum restaurants, and I’ve had my fair share of all that in my various visits to Hong Kong.
Sun Kee cheese noodles from Tsim Tsa Tsui, mmhmm
Famous Bolo Bao from Tsui Wah
Previously I was approached by the folk from Traveling Spoon who are all about sharing culture through local food experiences, because I wasn’t travelling then, they linked me up with a Singapore host to enjoy a home cooked meal of local delicacies by a lovely Singaporean lady. Now I could see it being a great experience for visitors to Singapore who were new to our food, but it wasn’t particularly revelatory for me.
So I approached them again when I was headed to Hong Kong, and this time they linked me up with a Hong Kong host so I could see a more local and home-cooked view on HK’s cuisine. I also requested if the host could be located out of the central area if possible, so I would have the chance to explore Hong Kong a bit more. What I like is that you can be a bit more specific about the type of experience you are looking for, and they’ll do their best to match you up with someone appropriate.
Our Host
Grace’s cook book which she kindly gifted to me
Traveling Spoon linked me up with Grace Choy who lives out in the New Territories and has gained herself quite a following, with over 175,000 people following her on her facebook profile and a cookbook of recipes to her name.
We totally walked past this little place the first time round and ended up a bit lost
A and I found ourselves at her little Choy Choy Kitchen storefront in Kam Sheung Road one rainy afternoon – Grace used to run a mixed-goods store and a little eatery here and owned the upstairs room as well, but since then she’s sold off the upstairs room and only does private dinner engagements on appointment at the little kitchen she has left.
My weird expression is because I totally had something in my teeth at this point
Cooking Lesson time
For this particular Traveling Spoon experience, we were expecting a meal and cooking lesson for two dishes, but alongside trying our hand at cooking, we ended up being fed a veritable slew of delicious food we could hardly say no to. It was Asian hospitality at its finest and at its purest desire to ensure guests are filled to the brim with good grub – here’s what Grace had prepared for our arrival:
really awesome hearty double boiled soup with fungus to stave off the chill from the rain
what is in this weird container?
home brewed plum wine which has been stewing for 2 whole years! very awesome and tasty
scallops with caviar and tomatos, fancy~
chicken with spinach
amazing tiger prawns which weren’t actually planned for but just happened to be available in the market that morning!
like look how big the prawn is!
We ate in the porch area, facing the main road and people-watching as we ate. Some hopeful passers-by eager to get out of the rain asked if there was food being served, though sadly they had to be turned away. The indoor area is literally her entire kitchen and a rather small one at that – it was a bit of a squeeze for the three of us in this space – her helper poked her head in to the window from outside when we were in the kitchen.
The main table in the porch. A is perusing the cookbook. The entire kitchen is made up of the room behind the table!
Getting to work – chopping onions with Grace’s supervision
Grace’s view on food is quite practical – dishes that are simple to prepare and don’t require too much prep work and fancy equipment. She also believes in healthy food – not too much seasoning or additional condiments, but by no means does that compromise on the taste of her dishes, my extremely full belly can attest to that.
The first dish we prepared was flower crabs in steam egg:
Crab! This is a pretty simple dish to make really
The second dish we prepared was minced pork patties with lotus root.
Grace mixing up the minced pork
Awesome fried pork patties with the chicken and crab in the background
There was so much to eat between the two of us that we had to bring the extras back! Topping off the meal was this homemade ice cream – in ginger flavour (surprising, interesting) and cucumber (really cucumbery)
the greenish bits are cucumber ice cream, the yellowish bits are ginger. interesting but not really to my taste!
After all that, Grace even took the time to bring us around the Kam Sheung Road neighbourhood, which is not a part of the paid experience but a kind gesture on her part as a local to introduce her neighbourhood. Look out for the next post on things you can do in the New Territories to find out more about what we explored!
It made for a pretty fun afternoon and I really enjoyed it – definitely something different than what one might expect from a trip to Hong Kong! Big thanks to the Traveling Spoon folk for setting up this complimentary experience for me :)
Getting to Kam Sheung Road
Take the MTR on the magenta West Rail Line to Kam Sheung Road Station. Take Exit B at the back and walk along the little winding footpath to the main road where you turn right. Choy Choy Kitchen is on the left side of the road.
More about Traveling Spoon
To get in touch with Grace and have a private dining experience with Choy Choy Kitchen, you can go through Traveling Spoon to set up a reservation or get in touch with her here.
Thinking about a Hong Kong holiday? See what else I did in Hong Kong, or check out nearby Macau as well.
bluebalu
Tuesday 5th of May 2015
Sounds interesting - I live in HK but have not been to the neighbourhood or tried any of these dishes! Bookmarked for one of my future adventures, thanks for sharing!
Jaclynn Seah
Wednesday 6th of May 2015
Thanks bluebalu - look out for my upcoming post on what you can actually see in the neighbourhood if you want to walk around on your own :) have fun exploring HK!