How Hong Kong's egg and beef sandwich became so beloved and the best places to eat it
The Hong Kong-style egg and beef sandwich is not just a sandwich, but a testament to how a seemingly simple snack, served quickly and conveniently, can stand the test of time and become a collective memory among busy city dwellers.
Many restaurants have made it their own by adding salted (corned) beef and various inventive ingredients, infusing even more 'Hong Kong-ness' into the dish and increasing the reverence it receives from locals and tourists alike.
It has been speculated that the Hong Kong egg and beef sandwich was a product of British colonisation, similar to how the Vietnamese banh mi was influenced by the country's French colonial history.
Corned beef and egg sandwiches were a popular snack among the British Army during World War I and II, while some of the earliest mentions of canned corned beef place its origins in the British agricultural revolution that took place between the mid-17th and late 19th centuries.
An egg and corned beef sandwich at Australia Dairy Company in Jordan, Hong Kong. Photo: Joseph André
'The use of salted beef in Hong Kong cafes probably had something to do with the British, who were already making salted beef sandwiches,' says Michael Lui Ka-chun, a veteran food writer and author of the 2023 Chinese-language book, The Taste of Hong Kong.
'Although salted beef cans were already quite popular when I was growing up in the '80s, they were not a household item. They were used only, and widely, in cha chaan tengs [Hong Kong-style diners], as convenience is key in those kitchens.'
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