Header photo credit: spotthefood.com


Lockdown cooking featured prominently, but there wasn’t a sourdough or banana bread to be seen in the top Hong Kong food search terms on Google this year.

Top Hong Kong food searches in 2020

1) 醉鴨舌 (duck tongue)

醉鴨舌 - Duck Tongue

Incredibly, this is the #1 recipe search in Hong Kong according to Google search trends. We must admit we are a tiny bit suspicious of this list, but we aren’t Google, so what do we know?

As stated by the recipe at the top of the list in the search results, the tip of the tongue is tender and firm, with a hint of floral fragrance. Duck tongue was also included in this incredible Sichuan Moon degustation menu (come on, travel bubble – let us at least go to Macau), but we don’t trust ourselves to make it at home, though you can try if you dare with this drunk duck tongue recipe.


2) 氣炸鍋蛋糕 (air fryer sponge cake)

氣炸鍋蛋糕 - Air Fryer Sponge Cake

We had no idea air fryer cakes were such a big thing! This youTube video from Our Little Pantry was the top hit for this search query. This led us to wonder – what can’t you make in an air fryer?


3) 牛奶饅頭 (milk buns)

牛奶饅頭 - Milk Buns

This gorgeous step-by-step recipe from iCook in Taiwan is the top hit for milk buns (mantou), a basic staple in northern parts of China but served everywhere in the country. You can eat them plain, but there’s something about a soft, deep-fried mantou dipped in a generous amount of condensed milk that makes everything better.


4) 章魚小丸子 (octopus balls)

章魚小丸子 - Octopus Balls

小丸子 is a reference to Japanese manga character Chibi Maruko-chan, and the machine for this takoyaki is called the Octopus Chibi Maruko-Chan Machine on AliExpress. Check out the top-hit octopus ball recipe in Hong Kong by minibubble.


5) 爆谷 (popcorn)

 爆谷 - Popcorn

Happy Amy teaches us how to make caramel popcorn. It must be quite good as she is the top hit in the Google search for this term.


6) 400 次咖啡 (400 coffees aka dalgona coffee)

400 次咖啡 - 400 Coffees (Dalgona Coffee)

What’s better than a coffee? 400 coffees! We like this translation better than “dalgona coffee”. Shirin tried her hand at it back in April and wrote about it here, and this Chinese recipe from handler.travel is the top hit.


7) 苦瓜汁 (bitter gourd juice)

苦瓜汁 - Bitter Gourd Juice

“The magical effect of bitter gourd juice” is quite the introduction on this page by kknews, instructing us how to best prepare bitter gourd to extract the tastiest juice, which is supposed to lower blood sugar and help with weight loss.

8) 印度烤餅 (naan)

印度烤餅 - Naan

Mmmmm, garlic butter naan… Nothing beats a warming curry with naan bread after a long, cold day in a mask. Check out the recipes on Cookpad in Taiwan, which is the top (functioning) page in search results for Hong Kong. Why not accompany it with Saadia’s delicious recipe for baingan bharta?


9) Mr. CHEESECAKE

Mr. Cheesecake by Chef Koji Tamura Tokyo

How to make Mr. CHEESECAKE at home with Chef Koji Tamura is on their official blog. We haven’t tried it, but apparently, Mr. CHEESECAKE sells out in Japan in the first few minutes after opening their orders online. Very kind of them to share their recipe with us!


10) 芝士麻糬波波 (cheese mochi bobo)

芝士麻糬波波 - Cheese Mochi Bobo

This recipe on weekendhk.com promises a pontikege that is “super smoky and tough, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside”. You can also get these bad boys at A-1 Bakery branches throughout Hong Kong if you’re not willing to try making them yourself.

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