Today was a peek inside the food culture behind the door of a Hong Konger’s home. I went to go eat lunch with my host student, Ben Fong around 1:30 pm at his home.
Upon arrival, we took off our shoes and placed them outside of his front door. When we stepped inside, we chose a pair of house slippers to wear inside the home. Ben’s apartment home was clean and snug as its size was about 400 square feet. Most homes in Hong Kong are small and are in tall buildings due to limited space with a large population.
We immediately said “hi” to Ben’s father and brother and was told to sit at the dining table while the father was finishing up his cooking. While waiting, we handed Ben a thank you gift and he was honored to accept it by grabbing it with two hands and saying “thank you” while a nod and a smile.
Ben poured everyone puh-er, which is a traditional Chinese tea that cleanses all the oil and grease from the food in the body. In addition, he also provided us lemon tea juice boxes in case we preferred a sweet beverage.
When Ben’s father was done cooking, Ben scooped everyone a bowl of white rice. Ben’s father was the last one to sit down and everyone was ready to eat the boiled prawns, steamed fish, boiled Chinese Broccoli, braised pig hand with lotus root, steamed egg with chicken meat, and a box of fried duck that lied in the center of the table.
Lunch is ready!
The dining etiquette was not as formal as I thought it would be. Everything was causal as we picked the food onto our bowls of rice with the same pair of chopsticks that we eat with. Although it was casual, Ben mentioned that everyone present in the home usually eats together for family meals.
After the meals were finished, we were served papaya soup with black-eyed peas.
I enjoyed eating lunch with a family from Hong Kong because I felt like I got a chance to experience what it feels like to live in Hong Kong with a Chinese culture. Although most homes in Hong Kong are small, I can tell that love for family is bigger than anything because everyone was so kind to each other and I felt a family-oriented vibe ever since I stepped foot into the home.
Ben’s family said that today was the most people they ever had in their home and my group and I was honored to be there to join a family meal.