Bouncy Fishballs of Aberdeen

Aberdeen (香港仔）used to be a fishery so it's famous for fishballs. And the best place to eat fish ball noodles is Tse Kee (謝記山窿魚蛋) on Aberdeen Main Road (香港仔舊大街). Tse Kee used to be a hawker stall and set up tables on the street. It was next to a huge boulder that the kitchen was next to, and it made the eatery look like it was in a cave. The restaurant is run almost entirely by family. Tse Kee is also famous for their fish cakes (魚片), fried fish skin （炸魚皮), deep fried dumpling wrapped in fish skin (魚皮餃） The fish balls are famous for their bounciness. There is a myth that the best fish balls can bounce up and down on the table.


They have two types of fish balls, both pictured above. Fried is golden and not fried is gray. If you just buy fish balls or a block of fish cake, it's very expensive and can cost over HKD$100. I like to eat it with thin yellow noodles, but most people like to eat it with the thick white vermicelli. Tse Kee is also one of the last places left that still serve bottled cream soda (pictured up top). I think it tastes better than canned cream soda, not sure if this has been proven though so it's probably just psychological. Glass bottles are actually very environmentally-friendly because you can reuse it.

The bowl of noodles was around HKD$16 but I was sort of bored with what was in the bowl. No doubt it's of a higher quality, but nothing I can't find in the rest of Hong Kong. Passengers, if you ever find yourself craving noodles in Aberdeen, go for the less healthy but much more delicious options like the fish skin dumplings. It's deep-fried but guilty good.

Aberdeen is dear to my heart. My grandpa made a living making fish sauce in Aberdeen, and my mum went to primary school there. This was also a hang-out spot for many an afternoons during high school days. Aberdeen, which in Chinese means Little Hong Kong, is like a mini city that seems to have minimal Western influence, which is rare to find on Hong Kong island.

Bon voyage,
Jenny Cheng