Snack Your Way in HK: Street Food Trail😋
Originally published: Jul 2019
Edited and Republished: Oct 2021
Hong Kong is known for its variety of street food that is enjoyed by both locals and tourists alike. Spend an afternoon to check out the local food scene in Wanchai/CWB area and also Sheung Wan, and try out some of our recommendations!
Our food tour starts at Sheung Wan MTR(Exit E2). After trying We then took the MTR towards CWB and Wanchai to try some street food there, which is more spread out than in the Western district.
The entire route takes about 3 hours (Just over hr only in Sheung wan as snack shops more close by), depending on how long you hang around each stall.
So pack your walking shoes and an empty belly to try them out - one by one or all at once.
Happy Eating!
Start your journey and follow the map below 😝:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=10nNz5-vGnnmWjXGW2pd4hrtxrYWgczY_&ll=22.285910002645267%2C114.15189999999996&z=18
Egg Tarts(蛋挞）
After eating at a local Cha Chaan Teng(茶餐廳), you’ve got to wrap your meal with the classic Hong Kong dessert - Egg Tarts ! It is one of the favorite snacks sold at local bakeries. In one bite, you savour a balance between crisp flakey exterior and the smooth soft egg custard filling. It is a well-loved desert that was developed under English and Portuguese influences, moderated to suit local Chinese tastes over time.
There are 2 main styles of Hong Kong egg tarts; puff pastry base or cookie base. We tried the pastry base because it is more crispy and soft. It is more delicate to make; the pastry is thinly layered and if not done correctly the base becomes thick and too oily to the snack.
Egg tarts can be found in bakeries and in local cafes. The bakery we tasted is a chain store, Hoi Xe Cake Shop. With more than 30 stores citywide, it is easily accessible and a convenient snack to take on the go. All of its bakeries have a kitchen at the back, so its breads are freshly baked on-site.
A joke amongst locals is that in Cantonese “Hoi Xe” sounds the same as “sea seal”; sounds exactly the same as “sea seal”; so when we say the bakery we clap our hands like the animal.
👏👏👏
Shop: Hoixe Cake Shop (凱施餅店) Address: Various locations on Hk island
Further down the street, Tin Lok Bakery serves egg tarts as well as some other traditional baked goods on offer. Here you can try other Hong Kong specialties like chicken pies, coconut tarts and ‘sweetheart’ cakes (i.e. “wife cakes” in Cantonese. Speaking of wife, of course we have another half. Some bakeries even have “husband cakes”).
Shop: Tin Lok Bakery Address: 17 Tin Lok Ln, Wan Chai
63 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan
Egg Waffle and Waffles (雞蛋仔&格仔餅)
Step aside plain egg waffle! Here you can find a myriad of flavours, both sweet and savoury, to satisfy any waffling craving.
We tried the seaweed and pork floss egg waffle which had a surprisingly satisfying balance of sweet and savoury which grows on you with every bite. Other options for egg waffles include seaweed and corn, cheese, banana and peanut butter. The condensed milk and peanut butter waffle also sounds delicious.
Be sure to bring a few friends so you can try out all the flavours!
These are affordable and are particularly popular amongst students to snack on after school with their classmates.
To others, eating these foods brings back warm childhood memories. Our volunteer recalls how she ate egg waffles when she was a primary school student. Her cousin went to a secondary school nearby and would bring her egg waffles to share during recess.
Shop: Mammy Pancakes (媽咪雞蛋仔)
Address: Leishun Court, 1-5 Haven St, Causeway Bay
32 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan
Mochi (Sticky rice pudding 糯米糍)
Originally a Cheung Chau dessert, mango mochi is a gooey rice-flour ‘dough’ that is stuffed with fresh pieces of mango.
This snack is unlike your typical mochi (filled with peanut, red bean paste, black sesame paste), put fruit inside the rice flour dough; and it becomes popular in the Island and then downtown!
Everyone I know who has tried it has fallen in love with this dessert.😍
They also sell a range of other mochi-covered fruits to try - including kiwi, lychee and durian. A lovely sweet but refreshing snack that will cool you down in a hot summer. The dessert also leaves you with a powder white moustache ;) .
Make sure you have a little handkerchief with you; not only wiping away sweat but also icing sugar! The kiwi mochi is similar to the mango one – with a bonus whole kiwi in the middle, extra tasty
The stall also offers sweet drinks, perfect to sip on a sunny day.
Shop: Cheung Chau Ping Kee (長洲平記)
Address: Shun Feng Internation Centre, 182 Queen's Rd E, Wan Chai
23-29 Wing Wo Street, Sheung Wan
Jellyfish (海蜇)
If sweets aren’t your fancy, here is a savoury dish that can cool you down. Popular in Chinese cuisine, it is a refreshing dinner appetizer that is typically paired with other BBQ meats such as Cha Siu or roasted duck. In daytime locals order it while having Chinese afternoon tea (yum cha).
For those new to the idea, it’s really not that weird. Personally I would describe the texture to be similar to squid; chewy but a little crunchier in texture and tasteless on its own. The jellyfish (海蜇) is served as a cold salad dressed in sesame oil and chili.
When we tried it, a local volunteer was shocked that jellyfish was on the menu; “seriously is this jellyfish?”. They even checked with mum afterwards to confirm. OMG!
Even a local girl didn’t realize for many years! 😂
Shop: 厚興諭記手撕雞 (No English name available) Address: 328 Queen’s Road Central, Central
Skewered Savouries
Just around the corner is a vendor selling a variety of skewered goodies. You can indulge in pigs ears, chicken livers or intestines and fried octopus in an easy one-handed snack.
Other popular snacks include Fish Balls (魚蛋), personally I would recommend the curry fish balls (咖喱鱼蛋), and Siu Mai (i.e. steamed dumpling燒賣). Traditionally Siu Mai is made of fish/pork/beef paste, shrimp wrapped in a wonton wrapper. They are prepared fresh at the stand and smell delicious.
You can find them steaming away in many stores, even at 7-11! This particular shop is a herbal tea shop and also sells typical Chinese sweet soups like green bean, sesame and mango/pomelo which are worth a try too.
Shop: (no name available)
Address: Hillier Street, Sheung Wan
Put Chai Ko (Rice Pudding, 砵仔糕)
Last stop on our trail is a rice pudding store that will satisfy all your sweet tooth cravings. They specialise in rice pudding made with red beans. These round shaped rice puddings are perfumed in a coconut fragrance; the store owner explained it is from steeping the rice for 8 hours. Super sweet and very delicious! They also sell a brown sugar rice pudding too.
Eat it there with a skewer like us or pack it up to take home.
Ollie our little food critic also enjoyed the pudding. He recommends you to try!
Shop: Super Bowl King Traditional Snack (砵仔王)
Address: 20 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan
There you have it. Some delicious local treats to bite into next time you’re in Sheung Wan. It’s by no means a complete list, but we certainly couldn’t fit any more in our bellies!