Profound lessons from a simple meal at one of Hong Kong's last dai pai dong

HONG KONG - It was a steamy Saturday afternoon when I stopped by Sing Heung Yuen, one of the last dai pai dong left in Hong Kong.

Literally translated from Cantonese as "big licence-plate stalls", these iconic open-air cooked-food businesses have been around since after World War II, when the British colonial government issued permits for families of dead or injured soldiers to legally serve food on the streets.