Hong Kong Street Food

Hong Kong Hawker

If you don’t have time to sit down and eat at a restaurant, you may want to try some Hong Kong street food. These types of food are prepared so that you can eat them while on the go. Many of these foods are put on sticks or in bags to make it more portable.

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There are 2 types of vendors who sell Hong Kong street food. They are called either a “Hawker” or “Dai Pai Dong.” A Hawker is a portable cart that’s used for cooking food. These carts can easily be moved to different streets with big crowds of people. You should be careful when buying food from a Hawker as these cooks are not licensed. If a Hawker sees a Police Officer or Food Inspector on the street, they’ll pack up and run away. Food inspectors will chase Hawkers on the street to arrest them since their food may not be prepared according to health guidelines.

Dai Pai Dong is an outdoor restaurant that serves all different kinds of Cantonese Cuisine. Unfortunately a lot of Dai Pai Dong have been either shut down or moved indoors due to health concerns and possible storms or Typhoons. This kind of takes away from the Dai Pai Dong culture a little bit, but at least people can still enjoy the great tasting food. You may need to go to a Dai Pai Dong with someone who can speak and read Chinese as most of the Dai Pai Dong menus are only in Chinese.

Dai Pai Dong
A traditional Chinese Dai Pai Dong.


Food you may encounter on Hong Kong streets

Curry Fish Balls

Curry Fish Balls

These are balls made out of fish that are cooked in a curry sauce. They usually put about 5 to 7 curry fish balls on a skewer stick.


Roasted Snacks

Roasted ChestnutsRoasted YamA lot of the Hong Kong street food consists of quick roasted snacks. Some of these include roasted chestnuts, yam and barbeque squid. These roasted snacks are quite popular among the locals.

Gai Dan Zai

Chicken Egg Ball Waffle

A waffle in the shape of small balls attached together that resemble chicken’s eggs. These waffles are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, giving 2 different textures in each bite. In Chinese they are called “Gai Dan Zai.”


Put Chai Ko

Sticky Rice Pudding

These pudding cakes are made of steamed sugar and red bean. They’re made in a small container. Once it hardens it can be taken out of the container and put on a stick if desired. They usually have a sweet red bean flavour to them. In Chinese they are called “Put Chai Ko.” They come in a black colour as well.

Peanut Butter Waffle

Peanut Butter Waffle

These are waffles put together like a sandwich. Peanut butter, butter, sugar and sweetened condensed milk are mixed and glazed in between the 2 waffles. They taste very good, but are very sweet and quite high in calories. You may want to share one of these between 2 people before you decide to buy one for yourself.


Stinky Tofu Curd

Stinky Tofu Curd

Stinky tofu curd is fermented tofu that has a very bad smell resembling rotting garbage. If you’re brave enough to try this bad smelling food, it’s usually dipped in Hoisin Sauce.

Pork Chop Bun
Pork Chop Bun
The Pork Chop Bun was originated in Macau and brought over to Hong Kong. This is a cooked, marinated pork chop put inside of a toasted butter roll. It’s usually served with fries.

It may not look like it, but one pork chop bun is usually enough food for the average person. Some restaurants such as McDonalds sell pork chop buns.


These are some of the most popular kinds of Hong Kong street food. If you’re out on the streets of Hong Kong, give one a try. You never know, you might just find your new favourite snack.

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