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I like it wet in Hong Kong
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Originally uploaded by: KnOizKi
Ok forget tall skyscrapers, beautiful lights, glass windows, nice shopping malls, cool cars but nice buildings are just buildings. If nothing for it, Hong Kong is just a blah, soulless city - it has gotten much of the History of old Hong Kong and today, most everything that’s built lacks charm, not that I’m saying the architecture isn’t beautiful, you know what I mean. But what I really like about HK is its history, the old buildings, the street names from the colonial past. Not to mention the many old buildings which then one day will be demolished, and Wanchai wet market is one of them, to built more taller buildings - because it simply defines that HK is just all about skyscrapers.
Just the other day I accepted a job to cook a simple dish for myself but didn’t went well so once again I volunteered the enthusiasm to cook up a little something very easy, a shrimp cooked in butter. And evennif reading recipes from the World Class Cuiscene sound so easy, I think cooking, as what Belle pointed out, “for a starter, you did good in cooking. Don’t expect perfection, right away. We all make mistakes. Sa susunod na pagluto mo perfect na iyan”.
My ingredients was nothing but a sticky butter, garlic salt and a half kilo fresh shrimp (mga buhay, kawawa naman, pumipitik-pitik pa sila) right from the market. It was very easy, it took me less than 15mins to cook. Just melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stir constantly until the mixture begins to bubble. When the shrimp gets golden, put it in a nice platter and that’s it. Of course a dish comes with a satisfying portion of boiled kangkong vegetable (Ong Choy in Chinese, KangKong in other Asians, Morning Glory in English) which you can actually cook in many ways at home. Kangkong is served better, which I prefer, only when boiled tapos you sprinkle a little bit of fish sauce, a tiny squeeze (or lots) of lemon and that’s basically it.
So where else can you buy cheap but fresh shrimps? In Wanchai wet market that is. Hong Kong is very much like the Philippines. The most important thing I discovered about Hong Kong is that I like it wet. Not exactly raining wet but their wet market similar to a Talipapa with a combination of everything from Chiange’ stalls to simply Thailand. I think there are several Thai stores where you can buy mostly anything chilli and spicy. Practically all live fish and seafood are sold through these wet markets. It’s near my place and don’t know why this is so popular even for tourists. It’s a small version of the Ladies Market (tourist’s favourite night shopping area for cheap products and souvenirs). Seafood restaurants also buy through this market.
The above picture is the Wan Chai Market. According to wiki, it was constructed in 1937. Its architectural style is influenced by Streamline Moderne (also known as Streamlined Moderne or Art Moderne) architecture, a popular style of building of the 1930s. It is often erroneously referred to as a Bauhaus-style building. More on wiki.
So what can you find in a wet market? A tattooed butcher wearing thick 24 karat gold necklace, an old grannie that sits ‘near his eggs’ out of his push-trolley, veggies and fruit stands and best of all, fish and seafoods. It looks dirty but I swear, you could never see any insects or “flies” roaming around the open air market. Here, they like their fish alive as possible so get ready to get wet if you’re standing infront of a fish stall.
Chinese loves fish. When a fish even cut to pieces or cut in half, the fish will be bloody and the heart well exposed and still beating. Fish heads still have the gills and lungs on, and are still moving. It’s quite the sight that reminds me of my growing up in the province. Nagtitinda ako ng kamatis nun sa palengke.
And finally, my dinner was somehing closed to perfection. I am so proud of myself. Ang sarap ng naka kamay kumain. This is probably one of my 2nd best while living here, for the very first time in my life, alone. I don’t have no expensive utensils, a fancy dining table because I have no room for it but no fret, I still keep that folding-table for some congee. Now the bad news is, I hate cleaning up the kitchen.
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whah, my mouth is watering tuloy. k, we have two things in common dito sa update mo. i so luv patis, lalo na’t sa sinigang, pretong isda and scrambled egg. then i luv kumaing nakakamay, a pity i’m not in the phils. orelse nakapatong na sa upuan ang isa kong leg
pero ano kamo yon, you hate cleaning up your kitchen? hmmn, naisip ko tuloy na instead yayain kang kumain sa labas, padalhan nalang kita ng walis tingting para isang walis nalang ang kalat mo :).
hey, kailan ka punta dito? sige na eb tayo with others here!
kala ko naman kung anong wet na hahaha
Their Palengke looks cleanier compara sa ating mga talipapa lol
Present din ako sa EB ha! yung unang sahud ni benggay ang pantaya! lol
K,paborito ko kangkong.Dalhan mo ako pag nagawi ka dito ha!:)
Ate Beng, “…yayain kang kumain sa labas, padalhan nalang kita ng walis tingting para isang walis nalang ang kalat mo..”. Hahahaha. ang liit kasi ng mga kitchen dito sa HK. The typical bachelor’s flat is like the same size as your living room (baka mas malaki pa yang living room nyo).
Cheh, speaking of EB, hahaha those were the days - like every weekend I’d get drunk with fellow chatters. IRC, pa nun.
Your meal looks really good, the only thing that’s missing there for me is the hot sauce, and I think Thai/Lao people eat very spicy food, but it’s good for our metabolism, it speeds up everything, if you know what I mean.
I also like the old world charm, but what I find really cool is the new modern building sandwiched between the old buildings (or vice versa) and you’d often see this in NYC. It’s a bit odd to look at first, but once you get use to it, I think it adds charm to the city and gives it character.
I love that building, that probably is not a “Bauhaus-style building”, but is very influenced by Grorpius and Le Corbusier and of course by Art-Decó style. Some call it Rationalist Architecture and all of those movements are more or less the same and from the same years. For me is very difficult to distinguish among them but I definitely love the 20´s to 50´s architecture.
Ginger, thanks for reminding me that. Honestly, I am not the person who spend looking for something I might need for cooking, my Mother taught me to just “cook what you know” and I forgot the hot sauce. Noted. Thanks.
Inthesity, I have no idea why they called it a bahaus, well probably because it’s only a 3 storey floor? Never go there but I also like the architecture but sad to say, it is set to be demolished real soon. You see that yellow banner? It’s a campaign against the demolision including some old buildings near the block to make way for development. Recently, HK Govt demolished this.
K, fried shirmps and lemon are also good partners
next time cooking adobong kangkong. at masarap talagang kumain ng naka-kamay lang, lalo na sa dahon ng saging, hehe.
ano ba yun, na-mali na tuloy spelling at grammar ko, lol
hey I remember I used to cook that very often when I was there. Madali kasi lutuin. Alam mo nag uusap kami nga mga kapatid ko [they were able to visit me when I was still there], gusto naming magbakasyon uli dyan. Iba talaga ang charm ng HK. I also remember our sinigang and adobo nights! Ay sarap!
Dimaks, at nakataas ang paa? I still do that pag umuuwi sa Bicol, hahaha. *don’t worry about the ‘grammy-errors’, understood naman.
Masel, kelan daw? Now na? Of course na alala ko pa yun. Diba it was you who cooked there at Isay’s o sina Ron & Treena? Not sure eh basta bitin yung sinigang (nasa paso pa - ang galeng ng presentasyon). And Karen got .. wait, she’s reading my blog. Hahaha.
Well it´s a shame, they will regret it in the future. I hate this people who has no perspective for the good things that our past left. I like skycrapers, but it´s important to know where they are coming form.