Made in Macao | Chinese comfort food for ‘Macaoians’

Jenny Lao-Phillips

During an attempt to survey the local Chinese on what they believe are comfort foods for us – as Macaroni and Cheese is to North Americans – some interesting findings came up. While the concept of comfort food is nothing new to western people, especially for English speakers, I was surprised to realize that, after so many years of East meets West in Macao, there is no translation or even similar phrase for the concept in Chinese.

In fact, after consulting the mighty world-wide- web the only translation offered was a literal kind involving the two words ‘comfort 竭륩’ and ‘food 稼膠’, but putting these two together to say “comfortable food” makes no sense at all in Chinese.

So, to better communicate the concept, I explained to my interviewees, who did not understand the English concept of comfort food, that it refers to food that is usually something simple, which we would miss when we are away from home. And even when we are at home, whenever we are feeling down, comfort food is what we feel like eating to make ourselves feel good. With this explanation, I received a few suggestions for comfort food that fit the western definition of the concept, foods which provides nostalgic value and are often high in calories and carbohydrates.

At the top of the list is 겜綠+腸뢴, plain congee and steamed vermicelli roll, a popular choice for breakfast by people in Hong Kong and Macao. For those who haven’t tried this local comfort food, the steamed vermicelli rolls are made by rolling up a flattened piece of dough made from rice paste, and then are cut into small round cubes and served with thick sesame sauce and sweet sauce.

I remember when I was in primary school, there were a few small shops selling plain congee and steamed vermicelli rolls nearby, and many families would enjoy this super high calorie breakfast together before sending their children to school. They are a bit like fast food – the congee is often pre-made and the rolls of steamed vermicelli just need to be cut up and they can be served quickly. What’s more, customers can choose what kind of and the amount of sauce they want, enjoying customization. That’s probably why lots of people in Macao enjoyed a breakfast like this before going to work. Even convenience stores like the Circle K at commercial districts now sell plain congee and steamed vermicelli rolls at breakfast time.

The second most popular Chinese comfort food is wanton noodles. Noodles of any type have always been my comfort food, but to many people, it is not merely noodles they crave, but specifically wanton noodles that give them comfort. Wanton noodles are considered the classic noodles in Hong Kong, but in Macao, many people also consider it ‘the’ noodles, meaning when they go into a noodles shop, they order wanton noodles without a second thought. Perhaps the familiarity of choosing wanton noodles make one long for them when away from home.

Finally, and most surprisingly, a few people told me their comfort food is the egg tart, but not the Portuguese egg tart in Macao. The old-style steamed, sweet-eggs-on-the-inside, fluffy crust kind of egg tart often found in a traditional Hong Kong style café. With so many kinds of pastries nowadays, we have forgotten that the Chinese egg tart used to be one of very few choices available. And yet, after tasting different kinds of pastries and desserts from different parts of the world in the various shops and restaurants available in Macao, we long for the simple old-style egg tart. From the responses about comfort food, I think the Macanese are people who like efficiency, do not like too many choices, and yet, want a certain level of uniqueness.