Hooked on a filling: Sandwiches a plenty in Hong Kong
The humble sandwich has come a long way. Bernice Chan braves the lunchtime rush to find some of the best the city has to offer
Hong Kong used to be few and far between. There were the ready-made ones sold at Oliver's and Pret A Manger, or even 7-Eleven if nothing else was available, but they all suffered from the same problems - mediocre bread and not enough filling.
But recently the selection of sandwiches has exploded, particularly gourmet ones, with the opening of several new shops that cater to the lunchtime crowd.
Candice Suen, director of Bite Limited, the company behind frozen yoghurt chain Yo Mama and Canadian hamburger franchise Triple O's, has recently opened Panino Giusto. The shop at the IFC mall in Central offers an array of panini, stuffed with various sliced meats, fresh salad greens and cheese for under HK$100. It's part of the Panino Giusto chain of panini shops that opened in Milan in 1979 and has since expanded to Tokyo, Yokohama and London.
What makes these sandwiches delectable is the way they are prepared. The bread is toasted and then loaded up with ingredients using the "Rule of 7" - where 70 grams of freshly sliced meat and 70 grams of cheese, along with greens and sauces or oils, are placed in a 70 gram bread roll.
"We have a special way of toasting the bread, where all the bottoms go together and the tops together so that they get a proper toasting," explains Suen. "It's not like other places where all the ingredients are put together and then flattened on the grill. Here the bread is warm, but the other ingredients are not. Panino Giusto has its own formula so all our staff have to go through training in Milan."