The allure of Hong Kong's famed dried seafood

Sheung Wan’s ‘Dried Seafood Street’ features over 200 stores selling dried seafood in all its iterations. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star

In Hong Kong’s famed Des Voeux Road West in the Sheung Wan area, over 200 stores are filled to the brim with dried seafood. Consequently, you’ll find bamboo trays loaded with dried scallops, bottles heaving with large gossamer sheaths of fish maw; sharply rotund, plump abalone in plastic casings as well as tiny little dried shrimp, among a motley assortment of aquatics.

The variety of what’s on offer can seem mind-boggling to tourists and visitors unfamiliar with the importance of dried seafood in Cantonese cuisine. But the sheer fact that many of these shops have rich histories dating back over a century ago is testament to the pivotal role these ingredients play in traditional Chinese meals.