Dinner: She Wong Hei, Causeway Bay - Snake soup and more!
My Oriental trip happened to coincide with the start of the fall - Snake and Air Dried Preserved meat season. As such, I managed to fulfill yet another of my long awaited cravings….a meal of snake soup, snake juice marinated duck liver preserved sausages and air dried preserved duck! The latter, extremely hard to find in Toronto nowadays and if one does, super expensive! CA$24 or more for just two tiny drumsticks!
My go-to place in Hong Kong for snake soup used to be She-Wong-Yee in Causeway Bay. Not only was their price reasonable, their flavorful product was top notch and generously packed with authentic, traditional ingredients of shredded snake and chicken meat, tangerine peels, wood fungus, Shitake mushroom, fish maw, bamboo shoots … .etc in a great tasting soup base. However, what was even more amazing and delectable was their air dried preserved Duck Liver sausages infused with snake juice!
Sadly, the owner called it quits a few short years ago. Fortunately, the chef and part of his team, responsible for the day to day operation of the business as well as making some of the array of highly praised products decided to take his/their skill and knowledge with them and re-opened at a place just around the corner from the defunct location.
Time for another trek across the harbour to sample these nostalgic delicacies! Sadly, the overall result did not capture the yearning and reminiscent I hoped for. Experience was borderline disappointment with uneven and inconsistent results!
Yup! The snake soup was still as delicious as before. The price is still reasonable and the bowl, generously loaded-to-the-brim. However, the long anticipated duck sausage, used to be famous for its unique “ pop in the mouth “ sensation, was subpar in flavour and texture. The overly dense filling lacked the sweet, juicy profile of the past. In its place, a slight tannic, overcooked liver bitterness. The preserved duck tasted just one dimensional salty, the unique ‘preserved meat ‘ aroma barely perceivable. Result of their lack of use of special Chinese cooking liquor to infuse unique fragrance and taste. The salted duck egg that completed the combo however was marvellous, not overly salty and yolk, perfectly oily!!
To finish off the meal, a gorgeous ‘ Jumbo Blue Berry tart with buttery sweet shortbread crust ‘ to bring back and enjoy in the comfort of the AC hotel room!
Well, though the overall experience was less than perfect. But, when there’s nothing comparable like the above, in terms of price and quality, is available in Toronto……. I should be thankful to be able to savour the food and capture part of
the past, rather than complaining!
