HK Food Trail: Pt.4 – Shatin Pigeons

I am still paying penance for this meal.

We had this sin-laden meal for supper. I’m not sure about the name of this place (it’s written in Chinese) – the locals refer to it as “Foh Tharn” (literally translated as “charcoal”!) but the cab driver knew it well enough and deposited us right in front of this hawker centre-like place. There are about 6-7 stalls located in that row… and I was told all of them serve the same kinda dishes, more or less.

Of course the main attraction here is there Fried Pigeons… after all, Shatin is famous for this delicacy!

Crispily-fried skin with a thin layer of fat above the slightly-gamey meat, the tender succulent birds lived up to the Shatin reputation.

Pigeon thigh – anyone?

The other famous item here is their Chicken Porridge.

Here the porridge is slightly on the “watery” side and the chicken pieces in it are actually pre-cooked… either blanched or steamed beforehand.  Nevertheless, the tastiness of the porridge was not compromised at all.

I find the chicken in Hong Kong are very different from what we get here. The HK chicken have fuller flavour and aroma… hmmm…. like “more chickeny“, if you know what I mean. Definitely more delicious.

These insanely sinful Fried Intestines were the main culprits that caused us to pay penance…

You can see how crispy the skin was and the thick chewy intestines were very flavourful, with hints of 5-spice powder and pepper. It was a very generous portion and I recall we had difficulty finishing this dish even though we are all members of the Porky Fan Club.

Fried Brinjals done “chew yim” style… ie deep-fried brinjals with salt & pepper… but this version had bits of chillies, dried shrimps and minced pork scattered all over! The Hongkees do this popular dish brilliantly – the bright purple colour of the skin is intact despite being deep fried! The light crunch of the perfectly-fried skin and the smooth tender texture of the brinjal beneath was superb.

Deep Fried Whitebait …. we were practically groaning at all the fried dishes (that’s why this meal’s so sinful!) but then how could we possibly miss out on this?! The little fishes were very fresh and the thin batter coating them added on to the crispiness – the sweet marine taste of these fishies made this very addictive and they disappeared in no time!

What we call “kangkung” here is known as “vegetables with hollow stems” over in HK – a direct translation, I mean. The stems are lighter in colour compared to our locally-grown ones. Lightly stir-fried with garlic, chillies and fermented beancurd paste (“fu yee”), I enjoyed the crunchy stems and tender leaves.

Although I’m not big on beer, I enjoyed this “Official State Beer of China” which is widely served there. It has a lighter and very refreshing taste to it.

Here’s the name and location of this place…

Oh yes, we downed all those close to midnight and almost fell asleep in the cab taking us back!