HK people on the go are discovering the joys of cooking specialty cuisine at home, minus the hassles of chopping, de-boning and grocery shopping. But is the ready-to-cook meal an unmixed blessing? Wang Yuke reports.

For as much as we may love our food, mealtimes can be a hassle and so when new ways of avoiding all those minor annoyances become available people want to try it out.

The latest solution is the meal kits, delivered right to the door. They're an alternative to grocery shopping at the end of the work day, or picking up fast food from an eatery, or dining out.

Secret Ingredient is one of the growing services in Hong Kong. Founder Maximilian von Poelnitz claims prices of some premium ingredients are lower than what diners would pay in upscale restaurants, and even less than the cost of the basic ingredients at a supermarket.

Bargain bites

A cursory look through the selections on the site reveals several premium specialties like Australian grass fed beef, Wagyu beef, Aussie lamb leg, wild caught Pacific tuna and Burramundi fillet (Australian perch). The Wagyu beef is a particular favorite of Tommy Chan, 34, and his wife at HK$170 a plate. A serving consists of 300 grams of beef, sweet potatoes, spices, avocado salad and dressings. Wagyu beef runs at about HK$398 per 227 grams in local restaurants. As a specialty item sold at local grocery stores, Wagyu beef is listed at HK$350 per 100 grams.

The meal kit services usually sell on high quality, nutritional balance and freshness, says Poelnitz.

Chan and his wife are usually too tired to be bothered cooking at the end of the day. The fare offered at nearby eateries gets old, fast. They order ready-to-cook meals, two maybe three times a week.

Their favorite is Wagyu seared skirt steak with spiced pumpkin and avocado salad. It's the same as what they'd get at the Brickhouse, a Mexican restaurant.

The kit comes with two cuts of Wagyu steak wrapped in insulated paper, a packet of sliced avocado, a small container of spiced pumpkin cubes, and several tiny bottles of condiments and spices. The steaks are already seasoned. Along with the pre-measured and pre-chopped ingredients, there are cooking instructions telling the customer how to finish the meal preparation. With simple boiling, pan-frying, mixing, and presentation, the dish can be done in no more than 20 minutes.

"We don't have to walk to the restaurant. We can cook for ourselves and enjoy fine dining at home," Chan said.

Meal kit delivery services are on the rise globally. Hong Kong entrepreneurs are getting in on the action belatedly. But it remains a niche market here.

Here, in Asia's busiest city, people find cooking after work a struggle. Even having dinner at home is challenging. As a result, they grab a meal at a cha chaan teng, or walk in to a fast food restaurant just so they can say they've eaten. People often wolf down burgers and other sandwiches on the run. Quite a few white collar workers don't even have time to sit for a meal.

Before Chan discovered meal kits he and his wife would pick up ready-made sushi, or have dinner together at a corner restaurant, sometimes order takeout through mobile apps or from a restaurant on the way home. The food was not bad, Chan says, though often greasy, and sometimes it gave him heartburn. They knew it didn't make for a healthy diet, and might even pack on the pounds, but they stuck with it anyway because it was quick and easy. Cooking at home never crossed our minds, Chan said. Cooking at home seemed too much bother.

Dining out or getting takeout was not something he considered a long-term strategy, because "as you grow older, you'd find yourself more health conscious and eager to eat healthy and well," says Chan.

Time-saver

The couple started ordering meal kits three years ago. "We cut half the time eating outside or waiting for takeaways. When we were young, we spent 70 to 80 percent of the time eating fast food. Now, we've stopped fast food completely. That's a huge change." He says his heartburn is less frequent and he's begun to accept that eating is not something to be rushed.

Convenience is the main consideration for the couple who don't need to set foot in groceries to buy every single ingredient if they feel like cooking at home. "It shortens the time for looking for food, washing, chopping and cleaning up." Chan said. "Oh, yes," he added, "I don't have to eat leftovers!" Their refrigerator used to be full of doggie bags. His wife does not eat leftovers, so he had to finish them.

No food wastage and leftovers is another aspect Poelnitz highlights. "You have to buy one bulb of garlic when you just need a clove, or buy a pumpkin when you just need a small chunk or one whole thing of spices when you just want a little bit."

The company reviews and updates its menus every week. It adapts its dishes to seasonal ingredients, with seasonal eating habits factored in, says Poelnitz. Mushroom dishes, apples and cider are common items on the menu in fall, curry and soup are staples in winter, while in summer, lighter, low carbohydrate meals and fish dominate the menu.

Chan threw a party at his house three weeks ago. "We had four couples, eight people, gathered in our kitchen, busy around with each one's task, as opposed to lounging in the living room, tapping on the phone, chatting intermittently, and just waiting for the arrival of takeout. "No movie, mobile phone, no television, no Facebook, no Wechat" Everything was not planned, but it was lots of fun.

The company supports one-off meal orders. Chan says he can order whenever he and his wife have the mood and their friends or extended family come to visit thanks to the "a la carte" model.

With a pinch of salt

While meal kits are marketed as healthy and balanced, local nutritionists advise caution.

Mandy Sea Man-mei, manager of the Centre for Nutritional Studies at Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), says it is hard to assess whether the food in meal kits meets daily food requirements, or whether they contain high levels of sodium, sugar and unhealthy fat. "As ingredients in a meal kit are already marinated or seasoned, we never know how they process them, nor do we know exactly how much salt and sugar they throw in."

Her concerns are echoed by Ruth Chan, research assistant professor specializing in nutritional studies at CUHK. She explains that even though a dish may not be salty or contain high amount of seasoning in itself, if the customer prefers heavy taste, he/she may add additional salt, seasoning or oil during cooking.

Although experts cast doubt on certain issues, many welcome meal kits - convenient and easy home cooking which particularly fits Hong Kong people who work long hours. "Overall, the service increases the availability of relatively healthy food choices, home cooking is always healthier than eating out," concludes Chan, referencing a finding from the Centre for Food Safety that suggested dishes at restaurants or takeaways are in general high in fat and salt.

Contact the writer at jenny@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 07/07/2016 page1)