3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Café de Coral seeks heritage status for iconic pork chop rice
Hong Kong fast-food chain Café de Coral has applied to have its signature dish, baked pork chop rice, included on the city's list of intangible cultural heritage.
To celebrate this application, the restaurant group has launched limited-edition discount coupons. These coupons allow customers to enjoy the dish for HK$20 (US$2.60), which is less than half its usual price.
Café de Coral announced its application on May 30, just ahead of Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department's first Intangible Cultural Heritage Month.
Baked pork chop rice is typically made by baking a mixture of cheese, tomato sauce, pork chop and vegetables atop a bed of fried rice.
It is a classic dish from Hong Kong's 'soy sauce Western' cuisine. The cuisine blends Cantonese and European ingredients. This style of cooking developed in the mid-20th century during British rule in the city.
Café de Coral's more down-to-earth local cha chaan teng-style interpretation has become the standard since around the 1990s.
Founded in 1968, Café de Coral has updated its baked pork chop rice recipe several times over the past few decades. The restaurant has tweaked the tomato sauce, the amount and kinds of vegetables in the dish and the thickness of the pork chop.
