A visit to the wet market

Earlier this week, I brought my parents (visiting HK for a few weeks) to the nearest wet market, which is inside the Kwun Chung Municipal Services Building. Hubby and I discovered this wet market almost a year ago soon after we'd moved to this apartment, and even worked up enough courage to eat a super-cheap meal in the "Cooked Foods" level of the building (we drew quite a lot of attention as hubby was the only Caucasian in sight and our boy was the only kid in the area). We had our toddler with us at the time, so we didn't explore the wet market, but this week I finally got to see just how wet this wet market was. The wet market occupies the first two storeys of the building, and each level had been split into two to yield four levels. The first two sub-levels were for meat and fish, and the remaining two sub-levels were occupied by fresh fruit and vegetable vendors and packaged foods wholesalers.

It's called the wet market for a reason:

I spent the first decade of my life in Malaysia where I'd often accompany my parents to the wet market, so I am quite familiar with what they are and how they function, but I must be spoilt with the neat, air-conditioned and sanitised set-up in supermarkets because I found myself tiptoeing gingerly through the area and making sure I wasn't touching anything. I saw the furry hooves of some animal and the remains of a cow's head (at least I think it was a cow - kinda hard to tell with just the skeleton). And the floor was very wet - everyone I saw (but us) had rubber boots on, but I doubt that a sound OHS system is in effect here. My parents had previously been to the wet market in North Point and they said that the Kwun Chung market was definitely wetter.

Parents buying some kangkung from a vendor:

We saw some kangkung (aka water spinach, morning glory), and my parents had to buy some after finding out that it cost less than 1/6th than at the gourmet supermarket I usually get my groceries from. Except that it's usually not on the shelves at the supermarket. I let my dad make the transaction as his Cantonese ability is infinitely better than my non-existent one.

Our purchase on top of an old school weighing scale:

We also had a look at the street market stalls on the nearby Bowring Street, then my parents returned back to the Kwun Chung Municipal Services Building to have lunch at the same food court mentioned above while I went home to collect my son from the school bus. That night my mum cleaned, trimmed and cooked a simple stirfry dish of the kangkung using onion, garlic and chili flakes, and it disappeared very quickly off the plate.

I love vegetables, but kangkung the most of all: