The secret street food destination you've never heard of

Keith Flanagan, Special for USA TODAY 8:55 p.m. EDT June 19, 2016

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With no set menu, customers choose from skewered fish balls to hunks of tofu, which are then boiled in a savory broth with noodles.(Photo: Shannon Troy)

On Macau's Rua do Cunha, a pastry case looks onto the street, stacked with golden cookies pressed against the glass. Pressed against the other side, a line of travelers eye the curiosity for which the century-old Fong Kei vendor is known: Almond biscuits made with seasoned pork. Down the block, a smaller — but no less curious — line waits at Mok Yi Kei for ice cream and puddings made with golden, surely stinky, durian fruit.

It might surprise you that Macau, a tiny peninsula with two islands along China's southern coast, even has street food worth mentioning, not to mention worth waiting for. Yet both purveyors on Rua do Cunha, in fact, were among the first street foods to score a Michelin rating worldwide.

Crispy pork chop buns, flaky egg tarts, silky sweet tofu puddings and steamed sponge cakes are part of an overlooked lineup of street-level finds that mark Michelin's wider list of Macanese vendors.

Macau isn't known for its culinary treats, because our idea of Macau is largely obscured by just two decades: Gargantuan casinos popped up after the turn of the century, turning Macau's relatively sleepy streets into a circus of sorts. The indwelling culture was overshadowed with sky-high casinos and glitz. One casino in particular, The Venetian Macao, an American company and the largest casino on earth, boasts no need to venture outside at all, with a fabricated remake of Venice, Italy under its roof.

But long before these casinos pooled, ships docked: Macau was a Portuguese colony in the 15th century. The once insular outpost received exotic flavors shipped in from the sprawling Portuguese empire, from Brazil to Africa and India. As a result, Macanese cuisine developed with a jumble of ingredients like coconut milk, cinnamon and curry — even red wine. It was fusion food without all the fuss.

It's a bit of a cultural smorgasbord, and an eclectic one at that. What else is there to eat on Macau's streets? Browse the gallery above to see.

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