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Chris Lau

Foodies with a taste for adventure can sample something a little more exotic at this year's Food Expo - black abalone harvested in the waters between New Zealand and Antarctica.
And if that doesn't appeal, how about molecularly altered crisps that implode in your mouth with nitrogen?
A 160 gram "black jade abalone", costing HK$200 to HK$300, is the result of three years of negotiations between Max Choice Corporation and locals in New Zealand to bring the delicacy to Hong Kong for the 26th edition of the annual show.
"We spoke to the local New Zealanders and Maori people there, but there is a quota limiting the number each diver can harvest," said managing director Sam Ng Hung-sum, speaking outside his counter yesterday while a model painted black promoted the lesser-known species of shellfish.
Visitors to the expo, which runs from August 13 to 17 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, will be able to enjoy the rare treat - known as the Paua in New Zealand - at a 20 per cent discount.
The Trade Development Council, organiser of the event, said this year's food spectacle would feature 1,100 exhibitors from more than 20 countries.
Another exhibitor, Arthur Tsui Hong-loong, general manager of Gourmet Orient, said he planned to impress expo visitors with the appliance of science.
Tsui will be serving up his company's invention - a crisp with a meringue-like base that implodes in the mouth with a mix of nitrogen gas and lemon tea flavour. Another of the firm's offerings is "egg yolk" that tastes like melon.
But there will as usual be plenty on offer for bargain hunters. On Kee Dry Seafood, which organised a fish maw-grabbing contest last year, will carry on its tradition this year with abalone.
The first 10 arrivals on the opening day will be able to take part in the contest to grab as many as possible from an "abalone mountain" at the cost of just HK$1 per person.
The Food Expo attracted more than 460,000 visitors last year, up 50,000 from the previous year. Tickets cost HK$40 per person, but there's a HK$10 special for entry after 6pm.


Food expo offers rare black abalone and imploding crisps

Model Alice D and matching black jade abalone from New Zealand. This year's show features 1,100 exhibitors. Photo: Dickson Lee

Model Alice D and matching black jade abalone from New Zealand. This year's show features 1,100 exhibitors.Photos: Dickson Lee