Choose Well, Eat Well

Shopping for cod in Hong Kong? Learn how true cod, sablefish and toothfish differ, what to check on the species label, and which cooking style suits each fillet.

Buying hotpot meat slices in Hong Kong? Decode fatty beef, short rib, pork ribeye, belly and collar; compare thickness and fat ratio; then build a more interesting four-plate table.

Choose Japanese autumn persimmons and pears by variety, texture and visible quality. A Hong Kong guide to Tone Wase, Fuyu, Shinkansen and Akizuki.

How to choose caviar in Hong Kong: the species ladder from Beluga to Siberian (Baerii), what grain size and colour really tell you, how to read the six-part CITES code on the tin, the checks you make once it is open, storing and serving, and how many grams a person actually needs. A culinary buying guide.

How to choose dried abalone: what head count (頭數) really measures, the 604.8g catty behind every number, telling 網鮑 from 吉品鮑 and 禾麻鮑, and why it's a size — not a grade.

How to choose Hokkaido scallops in Hong Kong: dry vs wet scallops and how to read the ingredient line, what sashimi grade and cooking grade labels really mean, seabed-sown vs rope-grown, a scallop size chart for 2L and 11/15, how to thaw frozen scallops and how to sear them properly.

How to choose lobster in Hong Kong: the four different animals sold under one name, cold-water vs warm-water tails and how to tell them apart on sight, hard shell vs soft shell and the price-per-pound-of-meat arithmetic, the tail ounce ladder, reading glaze and phosphates on a frozen pack, what black spots actually mean, and how to thaw and cook a 7-8 oz tail. A culinary buying guide.

Every answer you want about a Japanese peach or Shine Muscat is already printed on the carton it arrived in — variety, grade, size class, net weight, and who inspected it. An importer's guide to reading a JA fruit label in Hong Kong: what 特秀 really certifies, why a lower 玉数 means bigger peaches, what 3L actually measures, whether the white bloom on grapes is pesticide, and what is genuinely at its peak in late August.

You cut it open and the flesh is dark. In most cases that is normal avocado behaviour, not a bad fruit. An honest Hong Kong guide to the six things dark avocado flesh can be, a five-second "is it still good?" chart, how Hass, Shepard, Reed and Fuerte each brown, and how to judge ripeness properly.

Why 燕盞, 燕條, 燕角, 燕餅 and 燕碎 are one material in five states of intactness, why the flawless white cup is the suspicious one, the 斤-versus-兩 pricing trap, and nine checks you can make with your eyes.

Mont-Saint-Michel AOP bouchot mussels — grown on wooden poles in the bay with Europe's biggest tides, chilled and air-flown to Hong Kong for one short window. The story, the AOP spec, two recipes for a 700g pack, and the pre-order terms: cut-off 3 Aug 10am, arrival 7 Aug.

How to choose dried fish maw (花膠) in Hong Kong: the type ladder, what head-count really means (fewer head = bigger), male vs female (公乸) and which suits braising vs soup, how to spot bleached and plastic fakes, plus soaking and storage. A culinary buying guide.