Feasting in Tuen Mun

Hong Kong is a renowned foodie destination, with speciality gourmet delights spread across the city. Tuen Mun District is no exception, delighting visitors and locals alike with its abundance of fresh seafood and produce.

Famed for its super-fresh catches is Sam Shing Hui Seafood Market, where a wide variety of fish and shellfish are caught on the day and eaten by the evening. Located inside Sam Shing Hui, a historic fishing village named after a nearby Chinese temple, the spot used to lie on the Tuen Mun coastline before land reclamation pushed it further inland.

For chef Keith Leung, a Tuen Mun native whose family has lived in the neighbourhood for two generations, Sam Shing Hui is where the family goes for a feast. “Whenever there’s a reason to celebrate, be it birthdays or Chinese New Year, the entire family always go to Sam Shing Hui,” he says. “As a child, I loved watching the fishes swim around the tanks while my parents picked out the menu for the night. Now that I’m a chef, I’ve become the one in charge of picking the seafood for my family.”

What used to be makeshift seafood stores on anchored fishing boats have turned into a full-blown wet market, strategically lined with seafood stalls and tanks filled with catches on one side, and Chinese seafood restaurants on the other. In scenes unique to Hong Kong’s wet markets, red plastic lamps hang over tanks and trays overflowing with all sorts of seafood (watch out for some slippery critters making a jump for freedom), while shoppers haggle with vendors for the best deals. Diners can handpick their ingredients here before bringing them to their restaurant of choice for preparation — be it steamed with garlic, wok-fried with black bean sauce or deep-fried with salted egg, to name a few of the most requested cooking methods.

These grounded wood-fire ovens are the last of their kind in Hong Kong, as the government stopped issuing licenses for them back in 1986, and Red Seasons is the only place left where you can sample this dish.