Cook and Eat the Freshest Seafood on a Fishing Boat | City Bites Hong Kong Edition Ep1

So right now it's only 6.30 in the morning and this market is already full of people and the only reason for people to come here is to get the freshest fish. China and its cuisine are incredibly diverse. We travel from city to city to uncover the local food scene and meet the people behind it. This is City Bites. This time we'll go to Hong Kong. We are in Aberdeen, a neighbourhood that's home to one of Hong Kong's largest fish markets. Stores here open at 4am after the first batch of fish arrive, straight from the sea. There are so many types to choose from. There's goldfish here. We can sell goldfish here. We can make night fish here. This is grass carp. We can use it to make soup. These are called blackfish. We'll fry them once they're cooked. So everything is different. Hong Kong is a financial hub. But Hong Kong is also a place for immigrants. It's a fishing village. Hong Kong's passion for fish stems from its history as a fishing village. Back in the 1960s, over 80% of the city's population worked in the fishing industry. Cheung Chau used to be one of Hong Kong's busiest fishing ports in the 60s, with hundreds of fishing boats docked here. Only a few dozen remain today. Captain Po is one of the few fishermen left. My name is Po Kim Phuc. I've been an immigrant for about 40 years. I grew up with my father. I watched my father work, and I learned from him, bit by bit, through my father's experience. This is called a fishing net. It's a fishing net. You use a hook and a fishing net. Then you pull out the two ends and pull the net out. Then you put the two ends together. Then you pull the net out. The bait is all inside. When I go out, I rely on these two machines to catch the fish that I need and put them in the net. Yellow croaker, shrimp, lionhead fish, squid, roe fish, and many more. Most of the fish in Hong Kong are from this area. The best part is the fish. Steamed yellow croaker, garlic, oil, and soy sauce. I'm waiting for the fried squid. Put a little oil in the wok and stir-fry it. The sugar in the soy sauce is done. It's fast and delicious. If it's fresh enough, you can eat it right away. These fish don't need a lot of cooking oil. Usually, there are about 10 people who eat together and go fishing. My wife, my brother, my son, my nephew, and my nephew go fishing together. The fish I catch are wild. They are not man-made. So many people don't eat our fish. For decades, we've been catching fish from Hong Kong and serving it to Hong Kong citizens. A huge catch is great, but how do you keep all that fish? If you catch fish, if it's fresh fish, you can't eat that much. So you have to heat it up and dry it. That way, you can keep it for a long time. You can eat it day and night. My sign name is Lai Shui Jiao. Usually, customers call me Jiao. I'm only 70 years old. I've been doing this for more than 20 years. When I was young, I saw my father ordering salted fish. When I was young, we already knew how to do it. We didn't have to learn. We knew how to do it as soon as we started. Like other fishermen, she moved onshore as the fishing industry started to decline in the 80s. She used her experience preserving fish to start her own shop. What I'm doing now are octopus, cuttlefish, whatever we have, we can use it for cooking. This is called Bawala. It's not good when it's fresh. It's healthy when it's fresh. I'm making a salted fish sausage. I'll take the green onion out. This is called char sien. After you put it in, you have to leave it overnight. We have to wrap it with this ugly paper. It's to prevent flies from getting in. The first day when the weather is good, you have to wait a week before you can sell it. It's healthy when you eat it. If you eat it, you'll come back to me Salted fish is still a local staple. It's used to give various dishes fragrance and umami. But folks say the best way is to eat them plain. A lot of Hong Kong customers come to buy salted fish from me. You can make meatloaf, you can make eggplant soup, you can even make porridge. It's delicious. We just need to steam the ginger and the oil. We steam the dried shrimp with the fish. It's more chewy and sweeter. It's more flavorful and simple. It's fast and convenient. Why is yours dry? Okay, okay. Okay, cheers! Let's eat! How does it taste like? It reminds me of cheese. It's like pungent cheese, parmigiano. Is it your first time? Yeah, but it's really good. Of course, I believe no one will give up after I'm gone. None of my six kids like this job. But not everyone such a dirty job. If I can do a good job, I think it's a good thing to give up. It's very important for Hong Kong immigrants to maintain their identity. When I was a teenager, I really wanted to do this, but I couldn't. I hope my kids will be the next generation. Hi everyone, this is Angie, the producer of City Bites Hong Kong Edition Episode 1. In this episode, I really wanted to show you guys the side of my home, Hong Kong, which is very different from what you usually see like this. This time, when I really get to speak to the fish folks who still maintain a very traditional lifestyle of the fishing village, I was very moved by how passionate they are. Not just to the food, but also to their identity and culture. I hope that you guys will also enjoy this slow-paced and old-fashioned version of Hong Kong. Please stay tuned for our coming episodes. Thank you! Next on City Bites, we hunt down some local comfort food in cha-san-tings, also known as Hong Kong-style cafes.