The humble cha chaan teng, the local greasy spoon cafe - or what the Hong Kong Tourist Board website amusingly refers to as a 'tea bistro' - signifies comfort food to Hong Kong people. Found on practically every street in Hong Kong and most Chinese emigrant destinations, these cafes have menus that seldom change.
In a way it is reassuring that, despite the city's internationalism, Hong Kong Chinese are as parochial as any other ethnic group when it comes to food. Chinese writer Lin Yutang was right; patriotism is basically nostalgia for the tastes of one's childhood.
The menu at an average cha chaan teng also points to Hong Kong's mixed heritage. The ubiquitous naai cha (milk tea) is derived directly from good old-fashioned army tea, brewed strong from Ceylon tea dust, heavily sweetened and doused with evaporated milk. Kung-see jee - club sandwiches - are another soy-sauce western variant; as is boh lo bau (pineapple bread). Lor soong tong (Russian borscht) is a legacy of the White Russian presence, which was a noted local feature between the 1920s and 50s. A distinctly local concoction - yuen yeung - is almost unavailable outside Hong Kong. It mixes naai cha and strong milk coffee (usually served iced), and is not for the faint-hearted!
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong recently suggested that cha chaan teng should be considered part of our 'intangible cultural heritage'. Cha chaan teng are certainly tangible, but are they an essential part of Hong Kong?
Most are basic, crowded, noisy and frankly rather grubby - a bit like Hong Kong. And most patrons prefer it that way. People hotly debate the differences and merits of one over the other when, to a dispassionate observer, the cha chaan teng and their offerings have only minor nuances to distinguish them apart. And like Hong Kong, the cha chaan teng menu (interpret this as its structural or administrative underpinnings) is fundamentally western-derived, yet bears a deep and distinct Chinese cultural input.
Perhaps the DAB has a point: the humble cha chaan teng is an inherent part of Hong Kong's 'intangible cultural heritage' - and an interesting metaphor for wider society, too. Jason Wordie
