The Hakka people have a marked cuisine and style of Chinese cooking which is little known outside the Hakka home. There is a mistaken view that Hakka cuisine is pragmatic and based on preserved foods due to the harsh environment that the Hakka people endured. Whereas this may hold true for preserved meats, it is not accurate to typecast Hakka food as pragmatic food, preserved to survive hardships. Hakka cuisine concentrates on the texture of food - the hallmark of Hakka cuisine. Whereas preserved meats feature in Hakka delicacy, stewed, braised, roast meats, 'texturized' contributions to the Hakka palate have a central place in their repertoire.

The Hong Kong Hakka Chinese people who settled in the harbour and port areas placed great emphasis on seafood cuisine. Hakka cuisine in Hong Kong is dominated less by the more expensive meats but by an abundance of vegetables. Pragmatic and simple, Hakka cuisine is garnished lightly with sparse or little flavouring. The Hakka style of food also reflects the simpler cuisine style of a people in the more rugged landscapes of the New Territories of Hong Kong and their origins from mountainous Northern regions of mainland China.

Hakka restaurants that exist around the world are more a reflection of the transmigration tendencies of the Hakka people, rather than a testament to the popularity of Hakka cuisine among non-Hakka Chinese and non-Chinese people, unlike the popularity of Cantonese Chinese food in Hong Kong.