How Western tastes for Chinese food were shaped by Hong Kong restaurants

As numerous period memoirs from the mid-19th century onwards attest, European residents could live for decades in Hong Kong, or else­where in treaty port-era China, without ever being invited into a Chinese home for a meal. Habits of hospitality were too different, language barriers divided and cultural prejudices were too strong. So to sample the local cuisine, restaurants had to suffice. But that detour brought its own challenges.Until not so long ago, Chinese restau­rants in Hong Kong were…