Sun 7 Jan 2007
Hong Kong Congee
Happy New Year! Just flew back from Hong Kong today – a 14 hour flight in economy class on Cathay Pacific (The seats are much more comfortable on Continental I have to say). Anyhow, I am excited to share with you the first of many posts from our trip to Hong Kong, Macau, ZhongSan China and ShenZhen China.
Congee or “jook” in Cantonese is both great in the morning and also as a late night snack (we did this on multiple occasions). We stayed in Jordan in Kowloon and there was an excellent Congee Diner across the street from our hotel. I ordered the Pork and Egg congee along with the Fried Dough. I actually have a photo somewhere that shows how they make the Fried Dough or “you tau”. 
Each restaurant has a slightly different variety of congee in Hong Kong – some are thicker, more meatier, some add a lot of MSG, some ot so much. The great thing however is that it’s always fresh and hot right out of their huge pots that they prepare early in the morning. Man, I wish I could have some now to help me with my jetlag.
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On days like today (rainy, gray, gross), I love congee with a passion. Though it’s 20 minutes each way for me, I have been known to power my way to Chinatown, grab a thing of congee from East Corner (they make it best, in my opinion) and power my way back, to enjoy at my desk. Nothing better in this kind of weather.
In NY’s Chinatown, you can’t go wrong with Da Wang restauant, which, in my opinion, makes some of the best congee [shi fan] ever. In fact, some of the best Chinese food ever.
And yes, it is hilarious that the restaurant’s name translates to Big Wang.