Hong Kong is a heaven for shopaholics and foodies from street shopping to huge modern shopping malls and local eateries to western restaurants. When I was younger, I used to fill my luggage with clothes, shoes and some useless souvenirs that gets thrown out during spring cleaning. These days, I end up either buying food stuff which is really expensive here in Singapore or items where you can only buy in that country.
Here is my list of items to buy from Hong Kong:
1) Japan Flower Mushrooms
Yes, you can buy these in Singapore as well but trust me the quality is totally different. I mean there are probably quality ones in Singapore but selling at a much higher price. The price for these at 300 grams is at HKD 168 which is about SGD 29. The fragrance of the mushroom is so strong with each bite and each mushroom is extremely ‘meaty’ and juicy. Over the years, I have bought so many of these home for friends and since then we only eat the ones from Hong Kong. I have a particular store I patronise from the whole street of selling dried seafood.
Shop: Tian An Cheng
Address: 46 Wing Lok Street
Nearest Station: Sheung Wan MTR Exit A2
2) Dried Oysters/Scallops/Abalone/Sea Cucumber
This is like one of those shops your grandmother and mother rush to every new year and for most chef, this is like a candy shop where each ingredients sold will make you chuckle with joy. Some of the items I buy from this store is gigantic dried oysters which are extremely sweet and can be used to cook porridge or Chinese stew. Dried scallops from Japan, sea cucumber from South Africa and also dried shrimps. Why you may ask do I go through the length of lugging them home when Singapore sells them? Well for the quality and the price, this is definitely worth it.
Address: 8C-8J Cleverly St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Nearest Station: Sheung Wan MTR Exit A2
3) Jenny Butter Cookies
I don’t think I need to say much about Jenny’s biscuits. Basically, the butters are of melt in your mouth quality and there is always a long queue fighting to get a box of it. On popular days, there is even a limit to the number of boxes one customer can buy. It is so popular that maybe fake products are sold along the streets to unknowingly tourists so the confectionery made sure that the design of their biscuit tin changes every month. The most popular one is the 2 mix variety which is the plain butter and coffee butter cookies.
Address: Hong Kong, Sheung Wan, Wing Wo St, 15
Operating hours: 9 am to 7 pm
Nearest Station: Sheung Wan MTR Exit E2
4) Goose Liver Sausage
Cured meat and sausages are like salami and ham for the Italian. We use it in a lot of our cuisines especially for dishes during the Lunar New Year. The modern young people these days might be eating less of these due to the high fat and salt content but taking this once in a while is really quite ok. For me I will specially get the cured goose liver sausage which is not available at all in Singapore. This is so good it is almost like eating cured foie gras and I usually buy mine from Yung Kee to ensure the quality.
Address: 32-40號 Wellington St, Central, Hong Kong
Operating hours: 11 am to 11.30 pm
Nearest Station: Central MTR Exit D1
5) Fermented Bean curd
Fermented bean curd is yet another traditional food for the Chinese where it can be used to fry vegetables, stews or even just as a plain condiment with porridge. Finding the correct one which is tasty and not too salty is not easy and since I chanced upon Kung Wo, I always bought my suppliers from them. Check out my review on Kung Wo Dou Bun Chong
Address: G/F, 118 Pei Ho Street, Sham Shui Po
Operating hours: 7 am to 9 pm
Nearest Station: Sham Shui Po MTR Exit B2
6) Kee Wah Confectionery
There are so many goodies to buy from Kee Wah confectionery that it is no wonder their goods are always out of stocks. You can visit both shops at the airport; before immigrations and after immigrations just to make sure you have bought enough goodies to distribute to your friends back home. Some of the items worth buying includes the wife biscuits, almond crisps, palmiers and egg rolls. There is so much more choices and during festive period like Chinese New Year, they also have yam cake and sweet glutinous cake for sale. They have many outlets so you can visit any of the outlets.
Bear Travels . Bear Eats . Bear Cooks 