Shopping in Hong Kong’s ‘Wet Markets’
Seeing my food live in front of me is taking time to get used to. Truthfully, at this stage I have looked but not bought. The thought of choosing something that is living and watching it killed so that I can eat it, isn’t very appealing. I know, I know – when I buy meat or fish at the supermarket it was living and then killed for me – but at least it is not done in front of me!
A wet market in general sells live fresh creatures from fish to turtles, from sea urchins to prawns. In some wet markets you can even choose which live caged poultry will be suitable for dinner tonight. However, it is not limited to live creatures – often there will stalls show casing freshly cut up meat from ‘normal’ cuts of meat to intestines, lungs and other unidentifiable ‘enticing’ meat…, vegetables and frozen fish. All of which are sold in different areas or floors to avoid cross contamination.
The wet market gets its name from the constant water being sprayed and splashed onto the floor, occasionally flooding the floor, during cleaning or refilling of tanks. The traditional rationale behind having wet markets in Hong Kong’s hot climate was to ensure food didn’t spoil or causing food poisioning, before refrigeration was invented. Because of higher standards brought in by supermarkets, wet markets now only operate within buildings and often supermarkets have a dedicated space for a fish ‘wet market’.
Wow, that would get taking used to!! Don’t think I’d spend too much time there!
Thanks for sharing