The Greater Bay Area | Bay Area Rich Taste New Year Cuisine economy

A pre-cut chicken for Hong Kong is being processed in the processing line. (Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Guangzhou fax)

(Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter Lu Jingyi reporting in Guangzhou) "No chicken, no banquet" is a major food culture feature in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. From billionaires to ordinary people, there is always a plate of chicken on the table. As the mainland's largest "vegetable basket" base for Hong Kong and Macao, Guangdong contracts 75 per cent of the chickens that Hong Kong people put on their tables every day. With the gradual formation of the one-hour living circle in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the cold chain distribution has made the food supply to Hong Kong more and more diversified. With the increasingly mature cooking and processing techniques, many chickens have been transformed from chilled chickens for Hong Kong to white cut chicken, salt baked chicken, soy sauce chicken and other prepared dishes for Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the fast pace of life and the high cost of food and beverage, "Cantonese" prepared dishes, which can be heated in a few minutes, are becoming the "new favorite" of the public. And Hong Kong people are famous for being fussy, paying attention to the "chicken taste", especially the taste of chicken. So, what kind of journey has a chicken gone through from Guangdong to the dining table of Hong Kong citizens?

In the constant temperature workshop of Hong Kong Tong shunhing Group's supply farm in Huizhou, every chicken is marked with a traceable label. There are sensors here to monitor the ambient temperature in real time, from feeding water, to temperature control light control, to cleaning, sterilization and disinfection, are fully automated. The chickens will spend 180 days in the farm area, and when they grow to 4 to 5 pounds, they are sent to the automatic processing line in the processing plant.

One out of every three chickens consumed in Hong Kong comes from Tong shunhing

Every morning, Tong shunhing's production line of Hong Kong-style roasted wax-prepared vegetables in Huizhou starts to run. The chickens brought from the breeding base to Hong Kong are slaughtered, cleaned, sterilized, cooked and packaged into a batch of precooked vegetable products with attractive colors. Shortly thereafter, the container trucks of the Cold chain will respectively carry chilled poultry, roasted meat semi-finished products and cooked cooked vegetables to Hong Kong via the Shenzhen-Hong Kong land control point, a three-hour drive to Hong Kong. Within 12 hours, these fresh meat and poultry products can be delivered to nearly 1,000 businesses and restaurants in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Tong shunhing Group in Huizhou farm. (Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Guangzhou fax)

"The whole supply chain is link by link." Tang Zhenfeng, general manager of Hong Kong Tang Shunhing Group Co., LTD., told Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter that the company supplies about 40,000 chickens, 30,000 squabs and 8,000 ducks to Hong Kong every day, of which the supply of Hong Kong chickens accounts for about 30% of the Hong Kong market share. In other words, for every three chickens consumed by Hong Kong people, one is produced in "Tang Shunhing". Tang Zhenfeng looks young, is already at the helm of the family business, knows the number of poultry each breed to supply Hong Kong, full of confidence.

As he is engaged in the supply business to Hong Kong, Mr Tang Zhenfeng often needs to travel between Hong Kong and Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, and he has personally felt that the traffic between Hong Kong and the Mainland is becoming more and more accessible, including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge crossing point, and the customs clearance points for products supplied to Hong Kong are constantly increasing. "The prepared dishes exported to Hong Kong and Macao in the Greater Bay Area are locked and fresh using freezing technology. They can be refrigerated at 0-4 degrees Celsius without any preservatives." Tang Zhenfeng said that such fresh prefabricated dishes only have a freshness period of 7 to 10 days, which is suitable for short distance and rapid operation, and there is no pressure to sell within the one-hour life circle of the Greater Bay Area.

The restaurant with seasoning cooking space can create unique flavors

"The acceptance of prepared dishes in the Hong Kong market is also increasing." Tang Zhenfeng told Hong Kong Wen Wei Po that Hong Kong's land is gold, and all kinds of costs such as hiring people and renting are very expensive. In order to save the process, many restaurants use semi-finished prefabricated dishes. "We have completed 70 to 80 percent of the processing of the chickens for the prepared dishes we provide to the restaurants. The remaining steps such as epithelium, firing and seasoning are left to the chefs of different restaurants." In this way, the steps are simplified and the labor is reduced, and the processing speed of the kitchen in the restaurant or restaurant will be increased by two or three times.

Tang Zhenfeng, general manager of Hong Kong Tang Shunhing Group Co., LTD. (Photo by Lu Jingyi, Wen Wei Po Reporter, Hong Kong)

Many people worry that prefabricated dishes will make different restaurants produce the same, Tang Zhenfeng said that the company's prefabricated dishes supplied to Hong Kong restaurants are still semi-finished products, restaurants can be processed according to needs, or immersed in wine to make carved chicken, or made into Hong Kong-style Hainan chicken. "Prefabricated dishes just allow the chef to focus more on the final process, ensuring that the product is produced, and not distracting." He said that the pre-prepared chicken dishes for Hong Kong will not be involved in the final step of seasoning and cooking, and Hong Kong restaurants can maintain their own flavor characteristics while having high-quality ingredients. "The last 20 percent of the production, we definitely leave to the chef."

Dishes development to advance with The Times to popularize the convenience store

Prepared dishes have become increasingly popular in Hong Kong in recent years. Buying preheated food in the convenience store, or buying preprepared food at home and heating it in the microwave oven has become one of the eating habits of young people. Tang Zhenfeng told the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter that they will also keep pace with The Times when developing prefabricated dishes. "We are not static, we will develop different reduction methods based on different ingredients and new appliances." Air fryers have exploded in popularity in recent years to meet the needs of home-made, oil-free, healthy, savory foods. "We have developed a crispy squab, which can be cooked in an air fryer for a few minutes and you can have a delicious crispy squab." This year, they also introduced about 100 grams of small-sized packages of "mouth chicken" and "lemon chicken", which members of the public can eat by biting them in the microwave oven for one minute before pouring them directly into the prepared sauce.

Tong shunhing's prepared dishes are being transported across the border to Hong Kong by truck. (Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Guangzhou fax)

"Our next step is to develop products that can be sold in convenience stores, where customers can help themselves." The pre-made dish is positioned as a "snack" for a voracious audience, Mr. Tang said. "In the past, you might have to go to the street market to buy food. Now, after the popularization and convenience of prepared food, you can drop it downstairs and pay for it at 7-11."

Hebei takes "Guangdong flavor" prepared dishes to sea to open the Southeast Asian market

Tong's prepared dishes are shipped to supermarkets, wet markets, restaurants and self-owned outlets across Hong Kong. (Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Guangzhou fax)

Hong Kong is not the final stop, and "Cantonese" prepared dishes, including white cut chicken, will go further in the future. This year is the 10th anniversary of the "Belt and Road" initiative, Tang Zhenfeng said that the next step is to open Southeast Asia's prepared food market with roasted meat, so that overseas Chinese can eat authentic Hong Kong-style roasted meat. "With the help of cold chain transportation and deep processing technology, the promotion of prepared dishes can make it easier for authentic Cantonese tastes to go abroad, and Hong Kong is the best springboard."

Cantonese prepared dishes for Hong Kong

Guangdong tender and smooth white cut chicken from Hong Kong's Tang Shunhing Group. (Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Guangzhou fax)

[1. Guangdong Tender and smooth White Cut Chicken of Hong Kong Tong shunhing Group] Mahuang chickens fed with grain in Hong Kong breeding base grow naturally for 180 days, without adding antibiotics and hormones throughout the whole process. Fresh slaughter and fresh production, no resistance production workshop 72℃ constant temperature brine. Designed for children to develop a boning process, and no preservatives added. Breeding clean, production clean, vacuum cooling clean, traceability system can query each link. Cook in 5 minutes.

Shatin crispy pigeon from Tong Shun Hing Group in Hong Kong. (Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Guangzhou fax)

【2. Shatian Crispy Squab from Hong Kong Tang Shunhing Group 】 "Crispy Squab" is a local snack in Cantonese cuisine. Squab skin is tender, red and fragrant, and can be heated in an oven or air fryer.