In Search of Beef Offal (North Point) 牛雜 北角篇

North Point is home to the famous Sister Wah 華姐清湯腩, but we are not exploring that genre of beef brisket but the traditional beef offals stew.  

Origins of Beef Offals Stew

Hong Kong-style beef offals stew, aka “ngau zap” 牛雜, paired with a rich, flavourful secret sauce, delivers a complex and satisfying taste that brings back memories of Hong Kong street food. Whether enjoyed as a main dish, served with noodles or rice, or as a standalone appetiser, this classic delicacy is sure to satisfy your cravings.

Due to the wars in the mainland, a wave of migrants from mainland China flooded into Hong Kong as refugees, some coming from Guangzhou, and they all brought their food culture along. Street food became an accessible food option, and beef offals, or “ngau zap” as they are called in Cantonese, became popular in Hong Kong.

Offals have a very elegant name in Guangzhou. They are called 下水 “into the water”. Whole set of offals simmers away in large vats of sauce which are reused over and over. Connoisseurs will seek the shops that have the perennial old stew. These stewed offals are cut in equal bite sizes before serving to extract the maximum tastes from the stewing.

With the economic boost in the 1970s, street food was considered unhygienic, and the government of the day decided to stop issuing these street vendor licenses. These street vendors, which were a common sight at night markets and the business districts after dark, was another unique feature in Hong Kong that has disappeared. 

You can only eat beef offals in noodle shops and restaurants, like these ones in North Point.

Lok Tak Restaurant 樂德粉麵茶餐廳

I arrived really late one evening into Hong Kong and this was the only noodle store that was still opened around my hotel in North Point. It sells my favourite beef offals noodles, so I ordered one without any hesitation.

The standard version had before brisket, lungs, tripes and intestines. What was missing was the beef tendons 牛筋. They have a faint five spice taste, but it still sticks to the traditional recipe using “chu hou” sauce 柱侯醬.

Because their stock was the clear brisket type, the noodles did not have any flavours in them. I had to ask for more broth and kept pouring them into the noodles.

It came with a bowl of soup with some stewed radish in them. The radish was well cooked and soaked up all the flavours of the stock.

The beef balls were much crunchier than the cuttlefish balls, which was surprising. Overall a good eat for that late night noodle fix.

Lok Tak Restaurant 樂德粉麵茶餐廳
80 Java Rd, North Point, Hong Kong
Tel : +852 2562 8775

Proper 9 Beef Brisket Noodles 正九清湯腩

The next shop we had beef offals is a proper chachaanteng 茶餐廳, although they call themselves “bing sutt” 冰室. The “bing sutt” 冰室 in the traditional sense is a Western-style Cantonese cafe that offers pseudo-Western snacks.

We ordered their signature assorted beef brisket in soup 全家福 that included the sandy brisket 崩沙腩, pit brisket 坑腩, tripe 金錢肚 and tendon 牛筋. It also came with a serving of stewed radish 白蘿蔔 underneath the beef, soaking in the delicious broth.

The noodles were the least flavourful of the three, I have to ask for some oyster sauce. This was because the style was clear broth brisket like Sister Wah, so you would need a stronger sauce to give the noodles flavour.

The chachaanteng 茶餐廳 offers a proper Chinese quick meal. We ordered some sautéed Venus clams, which was OK.

The steamed minced pork patty was delicious. A good ratio of lean and fat meat, the steamed patty was quite savoury and needed a nice bowl of plain rice.

Proper 9 Beef Brisket Noodles 正九清湯腩冰室 (美輪大廈)
Shop 12&12A, G/F, Maylun Apartments, 442-456 King’s Road, North Point
北角英皇道442-456號美輪大廈地下12及12A號舖
Tel : +852 2345 6777 

Fu King Noodle Shop 富景清香麵家

The last one was the least tasty among the three stores, but in terms of value-for-money, it was the best CP value. The serving was really large and the braise sauce was delicious. The noodle was factory made and had a very strong alkaline aftertaste.

It was the lowest score because the brisket was dried out. But they had the beef liver and small intestines, which is missing from the rest. And the sauce was the traditional heavy sauce with an intense “chu hou” sauce 柱侯醬 taste.

We added a wonton soup, thinking that they would not provide a soup. It turned out that both our orders came with soup. The wonton was not nice, so just give it a miss.

But the surprise was this braised chicken rice 秘汁滷雞飯; it tasted like the braised chicken I missed so much when I was in secondary school that was served with the lor mee 滷麵. Again the portion was huge and it came with a bowl of Teochew fishcake and seaweed soup.

Fu King Noodle Shop 富景清香麵家
132 Java Rd, North Point, Hong Kong

Visited Nov 2024, Jan 2025