'雞煲'

The awesome thing about Hong Kong- the familiarity and how all of us have plenty of friends living there. Our friends took us out to dinner at Smithfield for a chicken pot/claypot at '雞煲', on the top floor of Smithfield Market where it's an air-conditioned food court with different stalls.

Apparently this stall '雞煲' (literally 'chicken pot') also serves up a crocodile hotpot that includes lots of herbs, chicken and innards cooked for eight hours. We weren't so adventurous, and stuck to its regular dishes, and of course those famous soy chicken that came in a claypot. It could be ordered spicy too. But note, most dishes are over-salted and oily, in that typical zi char style. Except for the prawns. Those giant prawns were quite delicious. It's kinda fun eating in a group because I get to pick at the dishes I want to eat. Plus the hosts aren't familiar with all our dietary preferences and it's easier to go with majority. Absolutely fascinated with their beer. Sonderberg, brewed by Oriental Brewing in Seoul. It was a super light beer that tasted like...soda. Drank lots of that.

Many of the dishes could be tweaked spicy, and I regretted biting into some of those. Like some of those fried squid or vegetables were sprinkled with Sichuan pepper. ARRRGH. I HATE SICHUAN PEPPER AND THAT NUMBING FEELING ON THE TONGUE. Needless to say, the one dish I ate lots was the pot of fried rice. It was quite tasty as they had used seaweed for flavor. No wonder in many Chinese cities, I tend to tell my hosts that I don't take spicy food. Most of the spiciness come from the dreaded Sichuan pepper.

A pity the wet market on the lower floors had closed for the day. Otherwise it would be bustling with smells, people and activity. Colorful. Smithfield ( 士美菲路), off Kennedy Town, used to be a cattle quarantine station and slaughterhouse (named after Smithfield in London which was a cattle station then), it's now a market and food centre, and also houses a building for municipal services. I was really fascinated with the building and the residential area. Wandered around for a bit.

雞煲 
Shop 9, 2/F, Smithfield Cooked Food Centre, 
12K Smithfield Road, Sheung Wan, 
T: +852 2816 2098 (dinner only; reservations preferable)