The term 'exotic' is relative to location and cultural background, but Hong Kong certainly has its fair share of culinary favourites that provoke responses in visitors ranging from raised eyebrows to pinched nostrils.
There are those who regard frogs, snakes and chicken feet as surprising inclusions on menus, while a quickened pace and a firmly grasped nose are a common response to vendors of the unappetizingly but aptly named 'stinky' tofu.
The latter is a telling translation. The original Chinese tsao-doufu means something closer to aromatic, or even fragrant. Few Westerners see or smell it that way, and protestations that tsao-doufu and durian smell no worse than ripe blue cheese, and taste at least as good, generally fall on unsympathetic ears.
The local exotica range from modestly priced dishes that often have their origin in a frugal desire to avoid waste which may well be the way chicken feet first found their way on to dim sum trolleys to hugely expensive luxury foods such as sharks fin and abalone.
The first of these, in recent years, has become a hotly debated subject. Objections to sharks fin (served in almost all the top-end Chinese restaurants here) are based on concerns that some species of shark are threatened with extinction, and with humane objections to the practice of 'finning' where the fin is cut from a living shark, which is then thrown back into the sea in what may reasonably be presumed to be agony, to die.
The usual defence for eating sharks fin is that it is an important element of traditional Chinese gastronomy, and sharks fin soup is certainly omnipresent at banquets, but pressure groups are having some success in getting it removed from menus. Don't expect to see the top-end restaurants in five-star hotels dropping the delicacy any time soon though. Sharks fin, which gives the broth in which it is cooked its gelatinous quality, although little of its flavour, is an expensive ingredient, but its cost pales into insignificance beside the restaurants mark-ups. The delicacy is a huge profit centre for F & B managers.
The same is true of abalone, which, being a mere marine mollusk, does not excite animal rights activists in quite the same way. But its appeal is often mysterious to those unfamiliar with the dishes made from it. Expensive whether canned or fresh, abalone is to some extent a face food.
People advertise their affluence by ordering it. Historically, however, Chinese gourmets have long prized it, generally braised to reduce the natural toughness of the meat. Like sharks fin, sea cucumber and birds nest, abalone is an ingredient you will find in all of the top Chinese restaurants in town, but the most famous is Forum in Causeway Bay, where Yeung Koon Yat or 'Ah Yat' almost certainly the most famous abalone specialist in the world presides and does remarkable things with the pricey flesh.
It is perhaps the slippery, gelatinous texture of sea cucumber that puts off many diners, but chefs and gourmets here value it for its ability to absorb flavour, and, perhaps because of its phallic appearance, some believe it to have aphrodisiac properties.
Bird's nest is another locally adored delicacy that has very little taste of its own, and it is a challenge explaining to the uninitiated the appeal of a soup or dessert in which the principal ingredient is the saliva of a swift. The high price of birds' nests stems from the danger and difficulty involved in harvesting the edible bird homes, and from their supposed medicinal properties.
The appeal of 1,000-year-old eggs with their strong odour and minimal taste is also a bit of a mystery to many people, although in fact the green preserved whites and yolks are only weeks, or at most months, old. They are however a popular hors doeuvre, particularly at Yung Kee in Wellington Street where the eggs are almost as famous as the legendary roasted goose.
Most of the exotic delicacies enjoyed by Hong Kong diners have been consumed for many generations, but one that is uniquely the city's own is of relatively recent provenance.
XO sauce came into being during the 1980s, and was probably so named because XO cognac was the drink of choice for those who could afford it at the time. Today it would probably be named after a First Growth Bordeaux, as it contains no cognac.
Although it is now commercially available in supermarkets, restaurants make their own; Spring Moon at The Peninsulas being particularly highly rated. A spicy condiment used both in cooking and at the table, XO sauce can contain a variety of different ingredients but dried seafood, chilli and garlic are always among them. For a visitor to Hong Kong who wants to take an exotic taste of the city home, a jar of XO sauce would be the perfect choice.
