Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020 | Page 56

Fiction – Group 3
Her expeditions in Guangzhou was even better. She, for the first time in her life, had the
famed Long Hu Dou — a famous Cantonese dish made of snake and wild cat. Never in her
life had she ever thought of eating snake or wild cat, nor has she ever seen her fellow food
writers write on the topic. Turns out, Guangzhou restaurants are known to make the best
Long Hu Dou on the planet.
She also gave Shuang Pi Nai a try, and it was love at first taste. She loved the creamy
custard so much that she had five bowls at different food streets and restaurants. Much to her
surprise, not all stores pair the custard with the same garnish. Some stores top the custard
with lotus seeds, some with raisins and some even with jequirity.
She even had Kao Ru Zhu — an entire roast suckling pig. She absolutely adored the way
the crisp skin melted in her mouth at contact, how the pork meat was fragrant with oil but
not at all greasy, how she couldn’t stop eating the pork. She heard from a neighbouring table
that Kao Ru Zhu was an important part of Cantonese cuisine and culture, given how it is
often used as a prized offering to the dead in traditional families.
As a food writer who has tasted countless delicacies in countless countries, the Greater
Bay Area is a dream come true for her. There are a hundred thousand things to see and it was
a whole new world much different from Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou as individual
regions. Divided, they are good; together, they are exquisite.
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