Chapter 49 Who dares to say "eat in Hong Kong"?

Birds live in Hong Kong, which day can we eat without it? But "eating in Hong Kong" is always a difficult problem to deal with - "where to eat" has to take the lead. What is the "leading"?It is NO.1!Can Hong Kong afford such a hat now? 20 years ago, I heard people say "eating in Hong Kong". At that time, the mainland was poor and the people's mouths were barren. "Eating in Hong Kong" made people greedy.However, 20 years later, with the rapid economic development in the Mainland, all kinds of "delicious food" came out of the old and new recipes, and rushed to the table.

Yes, traditionally speaking, Hong Kong’s food culture is highly developed—restaurants and restaurants are all over Hong Kong and Kowloon, and almost all kinds of food from all over the world can be found here.I can’t remember how many years, but such a concept has been born in people’s minds: Hong Kong people seem to be eating from morning to night: morning tea, afternoon tea, afternoon tea, after dinner and supper, in a word: the whole of Hong Kong, If you only care about this matter on the lips, it is simply a "big dinner table"! Hong Kong is a "big dining table", or Hong Kong has always been a world-renowned "food paradise", can you crown yourself the reputation of "the best food in the world"?If I say "eating in Hong Kong" today, will the Cantonese accept it?Can the Taiwanese do it?Not to mention that there are so many places on five continents and four oceans in the world-what about Japanese cuisine?Where does the French dinner cry?

I have been stationed in Hong Kong since 2004, and I have never dared to touch the topic of "eating". However, a year and a half later, the situation changed suddenly - one day the "eating method" in Hong Kong opened my eyes and made me face this The behavior of society "eating" is speechless.Now I finally saved myself, and I also found out the hat of "eating in Hong Kong" to try to see if I could put it on Hong Kong's head again, and finally found a mirror to look around, and then said to myself: no problem, " Eating in Hong Kong" is indomitable, no one can compare this time!

What is the "way to eat" in Hong Kong?Why can I be reborn with courage? In the Spring Festival of 2006, Hong Kong held a veritable and earth-shattering "eating and drinking" action.The location is an open space where a new government building will soon be built in Tamar Site in Central, Hong Kong Island. The size of this open space is about the size of a football field. On January 8th, this day was only dozens of hours away from the "March 9th", and the temperature in Hong Kong that night was less than 12 degrees. This kind of weather is nothing in Beijing, not to mention Harbin, but in Hong Kong It's almost freezing to death.Sure enough, the next morning, I opened the newspaper, and the Hong Kong weather forecast confirmed that January 8 was the coldest day in Hong Kong since the beginning of winter in 2006. "Oriental Daily" also published a report: Because of the sudden cold snap, Hong Kong "severely cold killed four people."However, on such a night that can "freeze people to death", 1,100 dining tables have been placed in the huge open space of Tamar Square since the afternoon. Each dining table can seat 12 people, and 1,100 times 12 is more than 13,000 diners.My god, "Pon Choi Banquet for Ten Thousand People"?I guess this is to hit the Guinness Book of World Records?I quickly inquired about it, and it really was.

Because of interviews, our CCTV reporter came to Tamar just after 5:00 p.m.The scene was very windy, and all things made of paper and cloth were shaken and rattled in the wind.Standing in front of the billboard of "Ten Thousand Poon Choi Feast", I was holding a microphone and shivering in a thick overcoat. This gave me reason to suspect that tens of thousands of people would come to eat outdoors on such a cold day tonight. ?I heard that this "eating and drinking" event also attracted many Japanese, Koreans, and "ghosts" (Hong Kong's name for "foreigners") from various countries in the Western world.

However, before 7 o'clock, more than 1,000 tables were almost full.Hong Kong people invite friends and family to go out. Everyone has coats, scarves, gloves, hats, and waits in the wind. More than 10,000 diners are guarding the "big pot of vegetables", waiting for the organizer to temporarily set up in the center of the square. Excitedly shouted on the high platform: "One, two, three - let's eat!" More than a thousand dining tables, more than 10,000 mouths, more than 20,000 chopsticks, the cold wind, music, and the heat from the hot pot, how spectacular and magnificent the scene is!

Although, the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Nursing Department, as the main advocate of this "eating and drinking", claimed that the purpose of this "ten thousand people's pot of vegetables banquet" is not simply "eating", because the materials used in this "eating" are absolutely Most of them are produced by local fishing farmers. Therefore, if it is meaningful, the first is to promote local fish and agricultural products in Hong Kong; the second is to promote Hong Kong's food culture through the "Pon Choi Banquet" to attract more tourists from home and abroad.As for all profits from the "Poon Choi Feast for Ten Thousand People", after deducting the cost, it will be donated to the Hong Kong Girl Scouts, which coincides with its 90th birthday.

In order to meet the material needs of this "eating and drinking", when I interviewed the person in charge of the organizer, I learned that the various ingredients they had prepared in advance exceeded 20,000 catties. More than 20,000 catties?What is this concept?3,850 catties of pork belly, 2,750 kg of live chicken, 2,750 catties of grouper (a type of large grouper), 3,850 catties of radish, 2,750 catties of taro, 3,300 catties of lettuce, and so many ingredients are not counted as other ingredients, soup and Noodles, mineral water, etc., which hotel in the world can buy so many things at once to prepare a meal?

On January 8, 2006, there were 1,100 dining tables at Tamar Square in Hong Kong, and each table had only one dish. This dish was put into a basin, which was about the size of an ordinary washbasin. In the center of the table, before eating, it is wrapped with bright red paper, which is shining brightly.Many mainlanders may not know the origin of "Big Poon Choi". It is a custom food in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year, weddings, or burning incense. Its history is traced to the end of the Southern Song Dynasty (about 700 years ago) , Zhao Bing, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, was chased by Jin soldiers and ran southward in a hurry to the New Territories. Their own emperor came suddenly, and everyone was very excited, and every family took out their most beautiful food to entertain the three armies.At that time, people in the New Territories paid attention to the use of nine dishes to worship the gods. 9 means infinite piety, so everyone hurriedly made a "nine-dish feast". Move out the big wooden basin, wash it, and put 9 kinds of vegetables into the basin one by one, so that the "potted vegetables" will be passed down from generation to generation.

I don't know who first thought of expanding the traditional family-style New Year's dinner in Hong Kong to 10,000 people eating together.It is not surprising if a family gathers together to move their chopsticks for a pot of hot food; but thousands of people gather in an open space, the same table and the same dishes, collectively eating in the cold wind. Daichi, such brilliance is jaw-dropping, unbelievable, and even frightening to think about! "Terrible?" Is this the standard for people to evaluate "the best food in the world" nowadays?I suddenly thought of. In the Spring Festival of 2006, Hong Kong's "10,000 Poon Choi Feast" finally broke the world record. In my opinion, the act of "eating" with more than 13,000 diners gathered together is a record. It is an ideological innovation to promote Hong Kong and promote tourism.Fan Xulitai, chairman of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said this sentence when presiding over the opening ceremony of the "Thousands of People's Poon Choi Banquet" fireworks: "The Ten Thousands of Poon Choi Banquet is very meaningful. It not only highlights the characteristics of Hong Kong's gourmet paradise, but also makes the local Fishermen, catering and tourism cooperate to create business opportunities." "Business opportunities"? "Business opportunities" and "food" are closely linked, which is the shrewdness of Hong Kong people.In the past, Hong Kong people used the dining table as a negotiation table, but today Hong Kong people regard Tamar Square as a business venue. It is said that Hong Kong people’s expectations for "eating" have not diminished in their bones, but this time they are more daring and bold. Gotta be a little crazy.

It is rumored that in 2007, in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Hong Kong's catering industry has already designed an even more amazing plan-determined to move the "Thousand People's Poon Choi Banquet" to Beijing, to the Great Hall of the People, and let the "Thousand People Poon Choi Banquet" be held at the state banquet. "Big Poon Choi" spread all over the country, rushed out of Asia, and went to the world! I was so happy that night at Tamar Square that I shook my cheeks. After finishing eating, everyone talked about the price of the meal: Good guy, each table of "Big Poon Choi" is 1,800 Hong Kong dollars, which is really expensive! However, when the organizer accepted my interview, it actually excused itself a long time ago: "Is it expensive? Not expensive! Do you know what everyone will eat tonight?" Fish, that's not a fish, it's more than a year! Shrimp, that's not scaring (pronounced "ha" in Hong Kong dialect), it's laughing haha! Meat, it's not just meat, it means fat and rich! Egg, that is not a simple egg, it is a delegation of reunion! In addition: oysters, Hong Kong dialect is not a homonym for "good market"?Dried scallops, do they look like "yuanbao"? Not to mention that 1800 must "send, send, send"! In the final analysis, Hong Kong's "Ten Thousand Poon Choi Banquet" is not your "zheluo" in Beijing, nor is it the "random stew" in Northeast China. Just ask: Where in the world can there be such a cheap New Year feast? !