Real Hong Kong street food: how cart noodles have survived into the 21st century
- The Hong Kong street food classic, cart noodles, can no longer be found on the streets of the city
- Thankfully, there are still dedicated restaurants in Hong Kong, serving up big bowls of fast-food nostalgia
Cart noodle vendors used to be a common sight on the streets of Hong Kong. The fast-food dish of cart noodles, or che zia mian, reached its glory in the 1950s, and got its name from the small mobile carts pushed by vendors selling noodles with a wide selection of ingredients. Diners could customise their bowls by choosing the types of noodles and other ingredients, which were put into a container and topped up with hot broth, for an inexpensive, fast takeaway meal.
Man Kee, which has four outlets, all on Fuk Wing Street in Sham Shui Po, offers 62 cooked ingredients to go with the noodles, including braised chicken wings, spicy squid, shiitake mushrooms, and sweet and sour gluten. “In my childhood, cart noodle vendors hawked their wares on carts, usually in the back alleys,” she says. “Everyone could find a cart under their residence building, or around the neighbourhood, and everyone would vote their [neighbourhood] cart stall as the best. My friends would rave about their nominees, while I would brag about mine. They would bring me to savour their favourites, but I didn’t like them, and vice versa.”