Hong Kong's newest obsession isn't viral pastries, it's bland and boring cottage cheese
High in protein and low in salt and fat, it was often suggested as an accompaniment to that other ghastly anti-gourmet product: rice cakes.
Not the deliciously savoury, soy-glazed roasted rice crackers you might buy in a Japanese snack aisle, though – we are talking those squeaky, puffy discs of what could otherwise pass as styrofoam.
Yet, in 2025, I found myself a convert to cottage cheese. After decades of eschewing these lumpy curds, I was influenced to go buy a pot by a friend who swore by it – it is worth noting that this friend enjoys actual salt and flavour – after she texted me her latest recipe: 'New cottage cheese creation – balsamic, salt, halved cherry tomatoes, anchovy pieces. Am calling it Pleb Burrata.'
Cottage cheese on toast with cherry tomatoes and bacon. Photo: Charmaine Mok
She was onto something. Like the soft and creamy Italian cheese, cottage cheese is a gentle base for an array of flavours – I have recently taken to mixing in a bit of fermented, salted green chilli and slathering the mix on hot sourdough, before topping it with tangy cherry tomatoes and a bit of cheeky bacon.
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