Health-conscious Hongkongers eating instant noodles less often, like rest of world
Food safety scares and concerns about the snacks’ high fat and salt content have hit consumption, but instant noodles are still a food favourite, with fans in Asia but worldwide too
There’s a standing order that Bosco Li Chun-yu makes whenever his brother makes one of his many trips to Japan: instant noodles.
“I always tell him, ‘You don’t need to get me any souvenirs, just go to a 7-Eleven or supermarket and get me a lot of different kinds of noodles’,” he says.
Instant noodles are something of a comfort food in Hong Kong, the classic combination being a topping of fried egg and luncheon meat. But some Hongkongers like Li, a 29-year-old reporter at Commercial Radio, have acquired such a taste for the plethora of flavours now on offer, they’re happy to slurp down a bowl every couple of days.
To Ting’s passion started as a childhood love for cup noodles, the type packed in foam or cardboard containers.
“Because my family cooks at home, I would only get to eat them when I go to a friend’s place, and we’d hide in the kitchen and eat cup noodles. That’s how I developed a taste for them,” To says.
