What is a good meal tonight?[1] One of the old restaurants in Tai Po

On Sundays, the children routinely go to Dali for training, and they can’t go home until it’s dark every time. Dinner is usually taken out. On the return trip last Sunday, I asked everyone which one would you like for dinner? The child sighed in annoyance.

"I have a few leisurely days when I go to houses and businesses, and I don't have any good wild food. How good was Tai Po in the past, and the shop opened on the left again, and there are new wild food all day long."[2]

"You're going back to Tai Po to eat tonight, okay? What about you!"[3] The white-eyed mother KOs the little boy in seconds.

When we lived in Hong Kong, in the Tai Po district, the choice of Chinese and Western food is really beyond imagination. Every time we want to eat out, we will have a headache because of the choice. Now, the same headache in the neighborhood of Taiwan is because there are too few choices. In the end, the child had no choice but to choose Bafangyunji, which he chooses every Sunday. In fact, this store also exists in Hong Kong, but unfortunately there are too many rivals. Without considering Bafang Yunji, there are already other options. I never thought that this store would become our Sunday canteen one day.

What the children said about "the shop is on the left and has opened again"[4] is an opportunity for him to taste new things, but for adults, it is a mixed taste. It is difficult to run a small shop in Hong Kong. The combination of rent, salary, water, electricity, gas, etc. is a fierce monster, chasing the shop owner desperately, and many small shops can’t escape the fate of closing their doors. Some old stores can survive, mostly because the storefront has been bought, and there is no pressure on rent. I just moved to Taichung and found that almost every store has one day a week as a regular holiday. Many stores are only open for two or three hours a day - only one meal a day. I couldn't help but ask my husband, "Hey, you're willing to play tricks, but Hong Kong is stubborn, and Taiwan is swaying?"[5] Mr. gave me a sideways glance, and replied, "Well, what is a typical Hong Konger who thinks about the law? Japan thinks that if you want to live or die, you need to maintain it first, and it is a good business to do business.”[6] Later, I found out that the rent in Taiwan is really cheap, most of the food does not need to be imported, and the salary is relatively low. A few hours have been enough to maintain it. The living pressure of Hong Kong people is abnormally high, and even the concept is distorted, thinking that life must be vomited until blood. Nowadays, the market in Hong Kong is even more cold and windy. Thinking of those old Dapu stores and beloved canteens that are like our old friends, I don’t know how many there are. I don’t dare to ask my Hong Kong friends. cry. When it comes to the old shops in Tai Po, I have already made a long list in my mind, so many that I don't know how to introduce them to you.

There is a congee shop downstairs in Haibao Garden in Tai Po called Kwong Kee. To be honest I don't like the fried dough sticks that I had in Taichung, the whole thing was fried to a crispy texture from the inside out. Hong Kong fried dough sticks are a bit like French Baguette. The surface is crispy, but the inside is slightly moist and full of pores. Tear a piece and soak it in the hot porridge. The inner layer quickly absorbs the delicious porridge liquid, and the outer layer remains crispy. It's like eating a crispy soup dumpling, the taste and texture are full of layers. The beef noodle cake is a unique fried food in the Cantonese area, like a donut in the shape of a cracked beef tongue, and the middle of the crack is covered with sweet and crispy fried dough. Sometimes when I see a freshly fried brisket, I can't help but buy one and eat it all the way home. Guangji also provides traditional porridge and rice rolls. Dried vegetables and ribs porridge is the first choice. The rice grains are boiled to a state where they seem to be absent, and the porridge is extremely soft. , every bite tastes like a traditional Cantonese porridge. What Kwong Kee sells is the taste of the old world, the taste that I haven't changed since I was a kid.

Exit from Kwong Kee, go to the left, go through the next Ma Junction, turn left and you will find Dayuan Market. Dayuan Market is a market for grocery shopping, as well as traditional grocery stores and delicatessens. Chaoxing Cuisine is one of the tea restaurants that sells porridge, noodles, and rice. There is a low-key glass cabinet next to the cashier counter that serves fried food. The fried dumplings are my favorite. The fried dumpling is a bit like the fried mochi in Taiwan. In Taiwan, it is steamed first and then fried, while in Hong Kong, raw glutinous rice balls are rolled with sesame seeds and fried directly in the pan. The frying process is similar to that of Taiwanese fried sweet potato balls, and it is necessary to keep pressing Round and let the dough aerate to form a puffy glutinous rice ball. The fried dumplings fried by Chaoxing are fragrant on the outside and soft and glutinous on the inside. If you squeeze the two ends of the fried dumpling and pull it, it will not be broken at will, but it will be drawn. My dad who was born in the 1940s once said that Chao Xing Jian Dui tastes exactly the same as what he had when he was a kid, so...it must be the same as what I had when I was a kid.

Walking a few steps from Chaoxing, there is a very small old shop with a plaque on the left that reads "Tai Po Market Tofu Flower Old Store". It mainly serves tofu flower. Given the modern water quality and soybean quality, I am not too fond of tofu flower. Expected, but liked the wantan noodles served by this restaurant, they have the traditional wantan noodles taste in my mind. The pure duck egg and the fine noodles that come out are fragrant, the soft and smooth cloud skin wraps the delicious inward, and the two float together in the clear soup based on the earth fish, and then sprinkle a handful of chives, a small bowl is My irresistible afternoon tea, compared to some traditional wonton noodle shops in Hong Kong that have been touted to the altar, this one's wonton noodles are not inferior, and the price is still very affordable.

When you come home from Tai Yuen Market, you will definitely pass through Tsui Lok Street. This street name is one of my favorite Tai Po street names, it brings me a sense of hope and joy. There are also many delicacies in the area of Tsui Lok Street, and one of the most special traditional restaurants is Xu Kee Noodles. The proprietress and the boss are both straightforward and lovely Hong Kongers, and what amazes me most is their strong memory. During the epidemic, I went to Xu Ji takeaway from time to time. Every time, a bunch of people waited at the door. Everyone who was waiting didn't have a number plate in their hands. The boss only handed the order to the kitchen, but the boss never made a mistake in the order. I can't make a mistake about what everyone ordered. When I make an order, I can immediately find the customer who placed the order from the waiting crowd, and then quickly hand over the meal. God, how can he remember So clearly, if I came to work for him, I would definitely be greeted by him for the eighteenth generation of my ancestors. Closer to home, what is the best thing about Xu Ji? Of course, it is the signature drunken chicken drumstick. The Huadiao sauce is sweet and wine-like but has no bitterness of wine. The drumstick meat is firm and elastic, and even the bones are soaked with wine aroma. A bowl of rice noodles in clear soup is mine. 's favorite. Xu Kee’s beef brisket and beef offal[8] are also quite outstanding. The braised fragrant is fragrant and the bite is just right. When dipped in the special chili oil in the store, heaven, it is definitely not inferior to the famous Qunji belly in soup in Dapu.

Write down my old taste of Tai Po. I hope that the old shop will not only live in memory, but also live down with the people of Tai Po. I also hope that my relatives and friends who stay in Hong Kong can eat well and be safe! The world is chaotic and people are sinister. Only by eating well can you have the strength to fight the wicked for longevity!

Postscript: I am so accustomed to the food in Tai Po that I always thought I would be able to taste it again after I woke up. As a result, after leaving Hong Kong in a hurry, I found that I couldn’t find a single photo in the album to prove that I had eaten it. These old shops, only use words to record the good taste in my memory. The accompanying picture is provided by Ximei@Wu Ming. Although it is not a fried food in Dapu, the appearance is the same. I believe the taste is as good as the one in Dapu. It belongs to the old taste of Ximei's own area.

Chinese-Cantonese conversion (according to brother-in-law @Red request , with translation)

[1] What to eat tonight

[2] Our family comes and goes from those few, and none of them are delicious. It used to be great to live in Tai Po. The store closed down and opened a new one. You can often eat new food.

[3] Then you can go back to Tai Po for dinner tonight, okay? It's useless to tell me this.

[4] The store closed down and opened a new one

[5] Hey, this business method will only close down in Hong Kong, can it continue to operate in Taiwan?

[6] This kind of thinking is typical of Hong Kong people. They feel that they have to work hard to keep from going bankrupt. They are very comfortable doing business here.

[7] Beef tongue

[8] Cow's internal organs