Finding Light

    Food is a basic human need. Hong Kongers always looks for food or restaurants that serve delicious food. I am one of them. When I am walking on the street in Hong Kong, I can always smell food. Hong Kong style food is a fusion with Chinese and western cultures. The impact of two cultures has created different dishes in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, I can find Cha Chann Teng, Hong Kong style milk tea and live sea food easily and Chicago changed my food style. After I came to the United States, it was hard to find a Hong Kong style restaurant that tastes good with various options. A Hong Konger searching for delicious Hong Kong style food in Chicago is like walking in the dark and searching for light. Due to this reason, I miss the taste of Hong Kong. 

When I lived in Hong Kong, the place that I loved to get my meal was Cha Chaan Teng. It is a Hong Kong style café or diner. In Cha Chaan Teng, I could order most of the Hong Kong style dishes like pineapple bread, clay pot rice and wonton noodle. Some cafés or diners have their own bakery, and they serve different buns or dessert. However, the Cha Chaan Teng I went to in Chicago has a bakery, but they only have a few options. Although Cha Chaan Teng in Chicago has less options, I could still find some common or famous Hong Kong style dishes that I love. In addition, one of my favorite things about Cha Chaan Teng in Hong Kong was the decoration, and I loved to sit in Cha Chaan Teng after my meal to enjoy the atmosphere. Cha Chaan Teng in Chicago has odd decorations from last century Hong Kong, but I still love it. However, something is missing, and these days my friends usually decide to leave as soon as they finish the meal. As a result, I stopped speeding time in the restaurant to enjoy the atmosphere. 

I used to be a Hong Kong style milk tea lover. I used to enjoy Hong Kong style milk tea in restaurants all over my city. The drink is made with Ceylon, black tea, and milk. Every shop has their own recipe, and they all taste different. Looking for Hong Kong style milk tea was my first task after I came to the U.S, but I only find a few store that sell it. Stores they put a lot of milk into the drink, and it covers the flavor of the tea. I asked the employee to put more tea and less sugar into the drink, but it still did not taste good. Recently, I found a store that sell Hong Kong style milk tea that tastes good. Their milk tea sells out all the time, but in Chicago it is easy to find Taiwan style milk tea, which is a good subtitle. Now I have started drinking Taiwan style milk tea instead of Hong Kong style milk tea. 

Finally, I have been a seafood lover since I was a kid. Hong Kong is a city that is close to the ocean, and everyday fishing boats arrived at the harbor. I could get seafood easily, and there was always various seafood for me to choose from in the markets. Nobody buys frozen seafood because Hong Kong has the best place to get fresh seafood, and it tastes much better than frozen. My family and I love seafood, and we ate fresh fish most days. It could be fish, scallops, crabs, or lobster. Every day was different. On the other hand, some seafood in Chicago, is frozen or does not have a lot of choices. Although fresh seafood is expensive in Chicago, I still buy some fresh seafood for holidays or frozen seafood. 

Since I moved to Chicago, my eating and drinking styles have changed, but I am still trying to find a light in the dark. I love eating at home more than at a restaurant. I have started drinking Taiwan drink instead of Hong Kong style milk tea, and I stopped eating seafood everyday instead of having frozen seafood. After all of this, I still miss everything in Hong Kong. Now, I have lived in Chicago for three years, and I started cooking to find the taste in my memory.