my thoughts on macaroni soup

99 years.

That’s how long Hong Kong was handed over to the British for colonial rule.

Claude MacDonald, the British representative during the convention, picked a 99-year lease because he thought it was "as good as forever."

Little did they know how that 99 years would shape the landscapes, cultures and the people — people like me, who grew up on this tiny island off the coast of China.

A lot of what makes Hong Kong what it is today came out of that period of colonial rule. But today, I want to talk about Hong Kong-style macaroni soup.

If that sounds weird to you, you aren’t alone.

Macaroni in soup is a weird concept to both my Chinese relatives and my Canadian friends.

I found it to be a bit strange as well when I was first introduced to it, but I fell in love with it after finding out the history of how this unique breakfast item came to be.

Here is that story:

Italian cuisine was brought over to Hong Kong with the British, but imported Italian ingredients were expensive and a luxury most locals can’t afford.

So, local chefs improvised. They used ham instead of Italian cured meats, canned cream of chicken soup instead of dairy, and created a dish that scratched the itch for pasta, even if it looked nothing like the original.

This humble dish that came from a lack of choice somehow stuck.

It is still loved by many locals and found in cha chaan tengs across the city.

---

As I returned to visit Hong Kong on my summer break, one thing that came up in conversation with my girlfriend A was how much the food scene has changed.

One shift we both noticed was the rise of these buffet-style takeout spots — the kind where you pick two toppings over rice, pack it up in a container, and eat it at your desk.

These places popped up during covid time, when dine in was restricted.

But they’ve stuck around, probably because they just make sense — they’re cheap, fast, and practical, given that the economy is slowing down.

In that conversation, I brought up how I thought these new takeout places were kind of great. It was creative and came about because of a constrain — kind of like macaroni soup.

Covid hit, people couldn’t eat out, the economy was shaky — so someone came up with a model that worked. Simple food, fast turnaround, low overhead. It made sense.

But A had a different perspective — one I hadn’t really considered.

She pointed out how, because of these new spots popping up everywhere, a lot of the older local restaurants have started shutting down.

The ones with history, character, stories built into the walls.

The ones that have been around for decades, serving the same regulars.

The ones that became a pillar for their communities.

And yeah, she’s right.

It is sad to see that go. It’s not just restaurants closing. It’s a small part of culture fading away.

I’m not totally sure why I felt the need to write about all this, but I guess there’s something in that moment that stuck with me. Something about how change works. How some things emerge because they have to. And how, at the same time, other things quietly disappear.

Maybe the only real takeaway here is that change is always coming, it is simply something we must accept.

And maybe it’s this understanding that change is coming that what makes what we have right now so special.

So, lets all remember to take a moment to appreciate what we have right in front of us, like the next time when we have a bowl of warm macaroni soup.

Love,

David