The Dried Foods Market part 1

Today we went on an organized tour of the city of Hong Kong. We were first taken to the Hong Kong dried foods market which represents a part of Hong Kong Ancient history. In the olden days people in Hong Kong used many forms of dehydration to preserve their food.

One of the many reasons I love Asian food is because of the dietary variety. Asians not only take advantage of the obvious regional produce and resources but also tend to find nutritional value in just about anything from the sea, the earth and the sky.

Historically, this has been a clue about how people from different geographical regions of the world have dealt with hunger and famine. Hong Kong has seen its fair share of wars, regional conflicts and terrible dictatorships. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong, people in Hong Kong died by the hundreds of thousands because of hunger and poor food distribution. Thus, they found food where most wouldn't and came up with innovative ways of storing, transporting and distributing a ridiculously huge variety of food.

Be the first one in your class to make a short (2 min) presentation about the Chinese Cultural Revolution and earn 8 extra credit point toward your next test!! Simply email me your intentions before you begin your research to claim you spot. Good Luck!

In the two pictures above, you see a jar of pickled jelly fish and a barrel of of smoked sardines.

For 80 Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), you can walk away with one pound of these tiny guppies. These are a delicacy where I come from (Spain) as well. In Spain we call them chanquetes. They are ridiculously good and when deep fried, they taste like really tasty french fries with a slight fish after taste. Here in HK, these are used as fish broth or soup base.

Here is a picture of a variety of sea creatures that most of us would simply pass up in our search for food. There are a couple of different sea sponges and two varieties of the famous sea cucumber. These 3-5 inch long varieties of sea cucumbers grow to about a foot and a half when rehydrated. Although they do not taste like much, they do provide very high levels of protein and folic acids that are fat free and cholesterol free. They are very ugly...down right rude looking...