When people talk about Hong Kong food culture, things like dim sum, pineapple buns and egg waffles inevitably crop up. But here at Coconuts, we went straight off the deep end to find you some of the most unusual culinary items available in our food-obsessed city. From the Filipino delicacy balut to Texan Rocky Mountain oysters and Cantonese soy sauce-marinated chicken testicles, we’ve pretty much tried them all. Keep reading to find out the 10 weirdest dishes we’ve found in Hong Kong and how we felt about them! The question is, would YOU be brave enough to try these foods?
1. Pig Intestines
Deep fried pig intestines.
Our first reaction: “Nope. I don’t like this. Nope. Can I spit it out? Bleughh!”
This is sort of like a skewer of rolled up streaky bacon with a crispy outside and soft juicy inside… if you can get past the sickening taste of thousand-year-oil that oozes into your mouth with every bite. But hey, you can always smother it in sweet sauce, right?
What: Deep fried pig intestines
Where: Chun Mei Mei (真美味小食專家), Shop D6, 43 Dundas Street, Mong Kok (Openrice)
Price: HKD30
2. Balut
Balut.
Our first reaction: “Oh duuude! It’s got little tiny undeveloped feathers on it!”
Balut, or partially developed duck embryo, is a popular street snack in the Philippines. While it can be predictably found at Worldwide House in Central (a.k.a. Hong Kong’s unofficial Filipino quarter), make sure you head over on Wednesdays and Fridays after 4pm, lest you want to go on a wild goose chase – or wild duck chase – like we did. As for the taste itself, it turns out that duck embryo is just like plain ol’ chicken… with a side of feathers.
What: Balut
Where: Victory Supermart, Shop 134-136, Worldwide House, Central (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD8.5
3. Chicken Testicles
Marinated chicken testes.
Our first reaction: “Eww it tastes like liver. I don’t like liver. Or balls.”
Like any good Hongkonger, we bloody love soy sauce. Unfortunately, no matter how great a sauce is, it can’t hide what it’s actually on, which in this case was a heap of chicken testicles. Who would’ve thought chicken testicles came in such a dizzying array of shapes, sizes and textures? Some of them are as small as a kidney bean while others are as big as, well, an actual kidney. And the texture, well, some are hard and some are soft. It’s probably best to just leave it at that with a ’nuff said.
What: Marinated chicken testes
Where: High Street Cart Noodles (高街麵霸), G/F, 39 High Street, Sai Ying Pun, Western District (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD38
4. Pig Blood Curd
Pig blood curd congee with century egg.
Our first reaction: “Oh my god. It actually tastes like blood.”
Isn’t it interesting how something peasants once had to make do with to avoid starving is now an actual menu item, not just in your average noodle/congee shack but even in high end Chinese restaurants? Literally just a congealed block of pig’s blood with added salt and sugar, pig blood curd or “blood tofu” can be found in pretty much all noodle and congee shops across Hong Kong. Don’t see the appeal? Well do you fancy a slightly al dente, blood flavored tofu-esque block? No? Well. To each their own, we guess. To each their own.
What: Pig blood curd congee with century egg
Where: Ocean Empire Food Shop (海皇粥店), Multiple Locations (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD27
5. Snake Soup
Snake soup.
Our first reaction: “Are you sure we’re not getting ripped off? It looks and tastes just like chicken.”
Imagine a nice big bowl of imitation shark fin soup but minus the vermicelli. That’s pretty much what snake soup tastes like. Right down to the shiitake mushrooms, cloud ear fungus, and the snake meat which can easily be mistaken as shredded chicken. Believed to have warming properties, snake meat is said to be a good source of positive “Yin” energy in traditional Chinese medicine.
Snake soup is said to be very nutritious and good for one’s spiritual balance as the positive “Yin” energy will combat against the cold, negative “Yang” energy especially during the months of winter. Supposedly, you shouldn’t eat snake soup during the summer since its warming properties are said to have an adverse effect on the body when combined with warm weather. Having said that, we went ahead and ate it on a scorching August day anyway, because YOLO.
What: Snake soup
Where: Ser Wong Fun (蛇王芬), G/F, 30 Cochrane Street, Central (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD120
6. Bull Testicles
Rocky Mountain oysters.
Our first reaction: “Oh they’re like chicken nuggets! I love bull balls!”
It’s not every day when the first words coming out of your mouth as you walk into a restaurant is: “You guys do the bull balls, right?” But here at Coconuts, that’s exactly how we roll. Ten minutes later, here we are, having a staring contest with a bowl of sautéed mushrooms and panko crusted bull testicles, pondering the choices that led us here.
What: Rocky Mountain oysters
Where: Crafty Cow, G/F, 3-3A Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD97
7. Frog Legs
Frog leg clay pot rice.
Our first reaction: “It’s got some weird slimy crap all over it!”
You know when people just say that everything tastes like chicken? In case you hadn’t noticed from the three chicken comparisons we’ve made already in this article, we’re beginning to think that it might actually be the truth. If we had our eyes closed, we’d probably think these frog legs were actually chicken just based on the flavour. But we eat with our eyes open like regular people, so we know it’s not. And there’s also the slime.
What: Frog leg clay pot rice
Where: Chuen Moon Kee Restaurant (銓滿記餐廳小廚), G/F, Man Fok Building, 419 Reclamation Street, Mong Kok (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD73
8. Mealworms
Crispy fried mealworms. Photo: Openrice
Our first reaction: “No. I refuse to look at this, let alone eat it.”
We were all taught to be brave and power through tough situations. But you know what, you’ve got to draw a line somewhere. For us, mealworms are way past the line. *Insert pep talk on sources of protein and sustainable food*
What: Crispy fried mealworms
Where: 雲南人家風味餐廳, Shop 8, 32-34 Hong Keung Street, San Po Kong (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD70
9. Cow Offal
Menu for bull penis, bull testes, cow ovaries and cow vulva. (Photo via Openrice)
Our first reaction: “Yeah. No. Just no.”
At this point, we’ve already got freaky food fatigue. We’re done. It turns out even with all the balls we’ve eaten, we just haven’t got the balls to hack this. Here’s a photo of a menu with bull penis and testes as well as cow vulva and ovaries along with the restaurant address so you, dear readers, can try it for yourselves ’cause we sure as hell ain’t gonna. Have fun!
What: Bull penis, bull testes, cow vulva, cow ovaries (with rice/ noodles)
Where: Ka Lai Yuen Chiu Chow Restaurant (嘉麗園潮州粉麵餐廳), Shop 5, Li King House, Hong King Street, Yuen Long (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD80
10. Snake Wine/Snake Bile
Snake infused Chinese wine.
Our first reaction: “There are live snakes in there! I thought it’d just be more wine bottles!”
So now that bacon infused vodka shots are a thing, maybe it’s time to step up your pregame a notch with snake infused Chinese white wine or shots of Chinese white wine with snake bile. This specific adventure included a very graphic description of how snake bile is prepared as well as being shown a wooden crate filled with live, slithering snakes. FYI, when we say “very graphic description”, we mean that they murder a live snake in front of you and mix the bile into a shot of white wine. Needless to say, we politely declined (read: beelined for the front door) when the shopkeeper kindly offered us a shot.
What: Snake infused chinese wine & Snake bile shot (Also serves snake soup during winter months)
Where: She Wong Lam (蛇王林), Shop 13, Hillier Street, Sheung Wan (Google Maps) (Openrice)
Price: HKD80+ (snake wine), HKD300 (snake bile)
Words/Photos: Keina Chiu, Audrey Leung, Diana Or
