Like Tree1Likes

Where can you buy sorrel in HK?

Closed Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6

    Where can you buy sorrel in HK?

    Hello there! I am desperately looking for a place where I can find sorrel (fresh or frozen) in HK. Even the usual suspects like CitySuper, ParknShop, etc don't have it. Thanks a lot in advance! C


  2. #2

    Tried Kadoorie Farms?


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6

    No I haven't, I will try and call them. Thanks for the suggestion Alan! Any other ideas are welcome!


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    6,531

    Maybe try going to the market on Sundays at the Star Ferry Pier if you're free. Have you looked at wet markets? Central Market has several places that seem to specialize in different varieties of vegetables, so you might have more luck there. Do Chinese people make it typically? There are a lot of green leafy things out there. If you're looking for the flowers, that's quite common, too.


  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiaque:
    Maybe try going to the market on Sundays at the Star Ferry Pier if you're free. Have you looked at wet markets? Central Market has several places that seem to specialize in different varieties of vegetables, so you might have more luck there. Do Chinese people make it typically? There are a lot of green leafy things out there. If you're looking for the flowers, that's quite common, too.
    I don't think Chinese people use sorrel that much. The Sunday Market at the pier is also a good place, but you may need a translator.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6

    Hello there! Thanks a lot for all the good info. I went to the Sunday market at the Star Ferry Pier earlier today as you recommended. None of the farmers there grow sorrel (or even know what it is) as one of the project assistants of the Kadoorie Farm I met there explained to me. Luckily she grows it sometimes for her own consumption and offered to grow some for me and bring me pots of it in a month (once they are grown) to the market. She is very kind and speaks very good English. Let me know if you need her contacts as well and I can send them to you in PM. I hope it helps! Thanks a lot again for all your help richteralan and Elegiaque!

    richteralan likes this.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Posts
    6,531

    Tcath, glad something worked out! Also, at the flower market around Prince Edward, you can get seeds of almost anything (hah!), so you could grow your own possibly. I guess the lady from Kadoorie would know or have seeds already (is it easy to grow by seed? maybe not). Be careful, though, sometimes people here use English words for vegetables that don't correspond to our English word (like with kale). Just curious, why is sorrel so great? I can't say I've ever tried it. My mom used to call this little clover-like plant sorrel and it had a kind of spicy taste, but I assume you're referring to the big leafed spinach-looking plant.

    Last edited by Elegiaque; 10-02-2014 at 09:34 AM.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6

    I will try the flower market as you recommend. The lady from Kadoorie has seeds it seems so she was offering to grow a couple of small pots that I can then use to grow larger amounts at home. It's true, lots of people on the market showed me kale and other varieties of green leaves when I asked for sorrel even when I showed the Cantonese character for it + a picture. But this lady immediately translated to "sorrel" the character I showed her, saying that this did not exist in HK markets and that she liked it as well for its acid / lemon like taste when making a salad. Sounded like she knew what it was. Given it's a slightly acid leaf, sorrel goes very well as a side puree sauce for fish, but my favourite is the sorrel soup that you serve with eggs and cream. It's really nice! Some say sorrel is good to clean the liver but I never checked this info.


  9. #9

    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,733

    Interesting thread--the only sorrel I knew of was the kind that is used to make a sweet drink in the Caribbean, which isn't sorrel at all (even though they call it sorrel).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roselle_(plant)


  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    6

    Hi jayinhongkong! The confusion is natural. Both are called sorrel... The sorrel you are referring to is used for Hibiscus tea indeed:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus_Tea

    There is another plant called sorrel which is a green garden herb:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrel

    The wikipedia page does mention the possible confusion between the two: "This name can be confused with the hibiscus calyces or Hibiscus Tea and the drink made from this plant is also called Sorrel"


Closed Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast