Minchi
Minchi is a signature Macanese dish. Comfort food at its best, combining minced beef with diced potatoes stir-fried with onions, and seasoned with Worcestershire sauce. It’s often topped with a fried egg and served with a side of steaming white rice. Minchi is a household favorite in Macau, but you can also find it on the menu at several Macanese restaurants in town. Try local canteen-style restaurant Riquexo.
Tacho
This Macanese take on a traditional Portuguese slow-cooked stew is a veritable feast of both European and Asian elements in one. Combining cabbage, with cuts of ham, pork and Chinese meats, including cured sausages and duck, it’s a warming winter stew that is true Macanese soul food. Try it at Restaurant Carlos.
Capela
Capela is a Macanese-style meatloaf. This popular family-style dish consists of beef, pork, chorizo, bread and olives. It’s topped with crispy bacon slices and grated cheese.
African chicken
Considered the quintessential Macanese dish, African chicken is essentially a Macanese take on chicken curry. Created by a local Macau chef in the 1940s, using spices he obtained from trips to Africa, it’s become a staple dish at local restaurants. It’s a moreish combination of chicken baked in a rich sauce made of peanuts, tomato, grated coconut, red pepper, a little chili, and sometimes a touch of paprika.
Pork chop bun
Sometimes referred to as ‘the Macanese version of a hamburger’. This signature Macanese snack combines a succulently marinated pork chop wrapped in a warm, chewy bun. Sun Ying Kei specializes in this Macanese specialty.
Braised pork in tamarind shrimp sauce
Another mouthwatering example of Macanese fusion cooking is stewed tamarind pork. A slow-cooked pork stew coated in a rich Macanese shrimp paste sauce. The sauce is a careful balance of sweet, sour and spicy flavors. It blends dried shrimp, brandy, salt and pepper, chilies and bay leaf.
Salted cod fritters (Pasteis de Bacalhau)
These delicious golden brown croquettes, filled with salted cod, mashed potato, onion, egg and parsley, are a staple of Portuguese and Macanese menus. Crunchy on the outside and creamily soft on the inside, they can be served either hot or cold. Try them at O Santos, a local Portuguese restaurant in Taipa Village.
Macanese chili prawns
Also known as gambas à Macau, Macanese chili prawns are stuffed with garlic, red chili, shallot and parsley before being fried and finished with a white wine and garlic sauce.
Macau egg tart
Arguably the city’s most famous snack, Macau egg tarts continue to sell quicker than proverbial hotcakes. Based on the Portuguese pastéis de nata and given a local spin, they combine crispy crème brulée tops, flaky pastry crusts and delicious egg custard centers. Best served fresh from the original Lord Stow’s Bakery, located in the heart of Macau’s Coloane Village.