Although Tsing Yi Residents have been doing this twice a year Annual Festival to celebrate with the Temple’s Deities for decades, it only took most locals including myself until recent years to have heard of this traditional event which is organized by the original residents of Tsing Yi Island all these years. This time around I had a local from here who guided me to the Market and Chinese Operas during the 2nd last day of the 1st session 《真君誕》. Luckily for others, the 2nd session is also held in Solar Calendar May in 2015 which is 2 weeks later from 18th to 22nd May 2015, this time for 《天后誕》and you can come prepared and see the Chinese version of a Night Market. The sessions officially start from 7:30pm to 12:00am but local residents mentioned that coming here around 5:30pm will already see you some actions. The bonus is that despite recent inflations most local Food Items here are still in the $25-30 range, a can of beer starts from $11 HKD only..
A Decades long Tradition in Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong -
It’s always within Chinese Lunar Months of March and April.
Which means, in 2015 both Events fall into the Caesar Calendar May bracket..
1st Period: 30th April to 4 May 2015 Night Time
2nd Period: 18th to 22 May Night Time
The Tradition behind has a Story -
The Temple wanted a Celebration Festival with two locally famous Deities.
Apart from Food Offerings, there will be plenty of shows including Chinese Opera Theatres.
Blowing Traditional Sugar Candies – $10 Each
There are two stalls here. It does take some skills to make them look neat, here my friend from the area did a much better job! Always fun to try… You can always pay another $10 to practise !
日式燒魚餅 – Japanese style Grilled Fish Cake with Bonito Flakes $30
OMG when I saw this I was so happy. This is a recipe that I have never found in Hong Kong before, but surprisingly found on this Island. The normal versions I tasted in Japan are based on Calamari. Here they do it with Fish and Pork, but with a Japanese Okonomiyaki sauce and Bonito. Glad we ordered this and the queue was not too long..
Unfortunately,
Regulars said this grew crowdier and crowdier not only by the year,
but also by the day. This is only the Entrance side. When we walked to the inside, the most popular Food Stalls had upwards of 150-200 people lining up individually all the way to the other side of the space, or sometimes curling up the outside corners ! Amazing sight indeed. I guess HK does have 7 Million people after all and even if only 1% came on the weekend, that works out to be 70,000 People.
Semi-Fried English Muffin Sandwiched with a Fried Egg,
Minced Pork Meat and Grilled Corn -
Seriously what the frog of a smart concept is that? People are still talking about primitive fried Mars Bar and Oreo and I am staring at this amazing concoction. This coming from a decades old annual Night Market in Hong Kong ! No wonder the line snakes all the way around the market fence…
Definitely Annihilates your average McMuffin version, with an External Fried Crispy Edge and Extra Corns and Pork. Who ever invented this fusion British-Hong Kong dish should be put down into the permanent awesomeness Records !
Chili Home Made Dumplings with a Vinegary Spicy Sauce – $27
This is also so popular, the line was nearly 200 people. For me this was interesting because the Dumpling shape is more Southern-Cantonese or even Chiu Chow. It’s not as fat or curly as the Northern China versions. It looks almost like a Fan Go but with a more shiny smooth skin and with a chili sauce and coriander instead. Micro-differences between them all. This is very unique within HK context for me.
Grilled Fresh Abalone Skewers with Shell-on – $25
The line for this again was almost down to the other side of the space and curling back. 3 Pieces for only $25 is beyond reasonable bargain. It just depends on how long and desperate you want to wait for them. In fact this is ingenious once again. How many Abalone Skewers have you had in your life?
Taiyaki with Red Bean Filling and Ice Cream -
The recent craze in HK. Surprised to find them here too!
Ice Cream on French Toast! Twisted Fries with Cheese Powder -
Have to say this was pretty inventive in HK Context in general and all of the above. In fact there were also lots of older dishes like Chili Chicken Wings, Stinky Tofu, many other Traditional HK Desserts. Overall it was a great mix of New, Good and Old. Very surprised to find this spread actually… Tomorrow is the last day of the 1st Session. The next event will be from 18th May 2015 onwards. Got to say this May Night Market totally blew me away with some of the smart offerings. But if you don’t like the Hot Weather nor Queuing, it can be off-putting too in the end.
Price: $25 to $30
Food: ♕♕♕ to ♕♕♕♕♕
Address: 青衣青綠街38號
38 Tsing Luk Street, next to Tsing Yi Market, Hong Kong
Operating Hours: 7:30 pm to 12:00am. Locals recommend come at 5:30pm
Looks like fun...and yummy blogs.GOOD......sharing.
ReplyDelete