Hakka, Chiu Chow & other regional Chinese cuisines

Hong Kong's food identity is overwhelmingly Cantonese, but several other regional Chinese cuisines have deep, long-established roots in the city, each tied to a specific migrant community rather than being a recent addition.

Chiu Chow (Teochew)

One of the most visible regional cuisines beyond Cantonese, known for cold crab, braised goose, and a distinctive style of clear-broth cooking — strongly represented in Kowloon City (see our Kowloon City guide), reflecting the district's Chiu Chow community.

Hakka

The Hakka people have a long history in Hong Kong's New Territories, particularly in walled villages — their cuisine tends toward preserved and salted ingredients and heartier, slow-cooked dishes, reflecting a historically more rural, agricultural lifestyle.

Shanghainese

A wave of Shanghainese migration in the mid-20th century brought soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), braised dishes and a noticeably different flavour profile, sweeter and richer than Cantonese cooking — well represented across the city, particularly in longer-established restaurants.

Why this matters for a visitor

Assuming all Chinese food in Hong Kong is Cantonese misses a genuinely rich layer of the city's food culture — each of these cuisines reflects real migration history rather than being a modern trend, and each is worth trying in its own right rather than as a variation on Cantonese.