Move over Macau, this Wan Chai stall is doing a better pork chop bun

HONG KONG, Aug 23 — Continuing this incredible journey down the streets, alleys, nooks and corners of Hong Kong, I spent most of my time over the weekends exploring the city — in search of good grub, comfort food and new finds. Well, to some extent, everything is new to me relatively speaking.

Wan Chai is no doubt one of the busiest neighbourhoods on the island; packed with hundreds of char chaan teng — the quintessential Hong Kong cafe serving meals from the earliest hours of the day, and trust me, the locals do not start their day as early as I initially thought. Think malls opening around 11am or after, and breakfast typically mean a quick bite within 15 minutes, take away or packed food like a sandwich, or the classic Polo bun fresh from the shops.

Expect a hefty chunk of meat between the buns and the rest of the pork chop with the bone placed on top of the bun for your carnivorous satisfaction

A typical char chaan teng experience may put you off, if you are not used to being shoved around, seated elbow to elbow with strangers, cannot read Chinese, and being served with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

Just be aware that the locals move at a frantic pace; every minute matters and affects the turnover rate of the usually extremely cramped environment. Hence if you take your own sweet time to browse the menu, engage in small talk, or ask the waitress to read you the entire menu, then good luck, as you will be stepping on some irate nerves.

Anyway, let’s get back to today’s char chaan teng experience sharing.

Located at a corner of Cross Street in Wan Chai, surrounded by wet market stalls parked on the outdoor area within the vicinity, is this humble corner stall named Fung Shing Siu Sek (literally translated to Phoenix City Little Eats), dishing out ‘lighter’ bites like hot dog, pork chop bun, instant noodles, toast and the likes, paired with, of course, the essential Hong Kong milk tea.

They call this char dan meen; instant noodles cooked in soup with luncheon meat, fried egg and vegetables. A cheap, yet filling breakfast option

Until a friend brought me to this shabby corner stall with no signboard in English, I would not have imagined finding a pork chop bun in Hong Kong that scored high in my books; albeit this is not the conventional Macau-style pork chop bun served between a crispy, roasted bun.

Instead at Fung Shing you get a pan-fried burger bun slathered with a layer of butter, and a generous dollop of mayonnaise, a handful of lettuce leaves, and a hefty chunk of fried pork chop in between. Not only that, they were generous enough to top that bun with another piece of meat; the remaining portion with the bone, if you will.

I was impartial initially. Biased even, making presumptions that this could not be anywhere near to what Macau has to offer.

But my impression changed as I started taking a bite into the juicy cut of pork; marinated perfectly and fried to a right degree of doneness; then the buttery whiff from the burger bun and tanginess of the mayonnaise set in.

This pork chop bun was a pretty satisfying treat, more than ample to entice me back for repeated visits.

The milk tea at Fung Shing, served either hot (without sugar or with condensed milk) or iced is perfect to complement your meal (left). Crispy toast with condensed milk and butter is possibly their answer to the Malaysian kaya and butter toast (right)

At that moment, I wished I was the one staying near to this outdoor wet market in Wan Chai, so that I can get my pork chop bun fix on those mornings when I wake up with an insatiable hunger!

If you don’t feel like having the buns, you can opt for a bowl of soupy instant noodles or macaroni with pork chop; a more filling meal but definitely won’t pass the healthy eating test!

A more conventional and basic breakfast consists of instant noodle soup with a piece of luncheon meat, fried egg and a few stalks of vegetables. You can call this comfort food, if you will. Something you can whip up just as easily at home for those after meal, late hour cravings. But for the locals, this is a common find in all of their char chaan teng. And a cheap one at that.

Still a little bit peckish, we shared a serving of toast with butter and condensed milk; nothing fancy but a Hong Kong style of the Malaysian kaya and butter toast perhaps. The alternative includes substituting the sliced white bread with buns; also known as ji jai bao or piglet buns.

Lastly, wash the grease all down with a chilled glass of iced milk tea; or a hot one where you can customise your own sweetness level, or opt for the one with condensed milk (like our usual teh susu or teh tarik). The iced milk tea herewas strong. With one sip, I could immediately taste the tea and the generous amount of fresh milk used in brewing the concoction.

The front façade of the stall at the junction of Cross Street in Wan Chai, Hong Kong

So the next time you dismiss the thought of walking into another char chaan teng or giving random, small stalls like this a miss, do think again. My suggestion is to follow the crowd, or the locals to be specific. They usually will avoid tourist haunts (let’s not call them traps here), but instead hop over to their favourite neighbourhood cafes after doing the morning market rounds nearby.

And Fung Shing is at a darn strategic spot to lure the morning crowd in; more like a dai pai dong (streetside stall) style than a char chaan teng really.

I will be back for another serving of pork chop bun here. But then again, this depends on whether I can afford to miss the perpetual charm of the other eateries within a stone’s throw away.

Fung Shing Little Eats (鳳城小食)

Shop A1, G/F, 18, Cross Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Directions: Come out from MTR Wan Chai exit A3, and take a short 5 minutes walk to this stall right in the heart of the outdoor wet market.

James Tan loves good food and blogs at Motormouth From Ipoh (www.j2kfm.com)