Hong Kong Food Trucks Cook-Off For Licenses

Food trucks are big business, and a lot of food-industry veterans and hobbyist home cooks dream of starting one. Hong Kong is about to issue licenses to its first legal food trucks, and this week 51 would-be food truck owners will be competing in an official cook-off in the hopes of winning one of them.

According to the South China Morning Post, 16 Hong Kong food truck licenses will be given to the winners of the final cook-off in the contest, which takes place Tuesday. The initial applicants have already been narrowed down to 51 finalists, who will cook today for a panel of nine judges, who are reportedly tourism industry veterans.

Many of the contestants are veterans of the Hong Kong restaurant industry. One contestant wants to offer halal-certified Cantonese pastries like the ones that are popular at his local cafe. Another contestant boasts of a hot dog wrapped in instant noodles and fried.

The final cook-off will happen on Tuesday, and judges will rank the finalists' dishes and decide who will operate Hong Kong's new food trucks. The winners will be announced Wednesday.