A vanishing culture

Food stalls in Hong Kong struggling to survive
Food stalls, known as “Dai pai dong”, are a type of traditional open-air restaurants which serve cheap and fast food for local people.

All the time, food stalls are considered as one of the representatives of the food culture in Hong Kong, but they are now on the verge of disappearing since there are less than 25 of them left in Hong Kong while back in the heyday between 1950 to 1970, some say there were more than 3,000 food stalls across the city.

And the pandemic further threatened food stalls’ living space.

History

The uncertain future of food stalls

Stories of Oi Man Sang's staff
It was a busy Friday night in Oi Man Sang, a 65-year-old food stall in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong. People, most of whom just got off their work, chatted and laughed with their companions. Smoke continuously drifted from the outdoor kitchen, along with the mouthwatering smells from the dishes.

But Woo Wai Yan, one of the owners of Oi Man Sang, didn’t seem to fit into the noisy atmosphere. Sitting at the small counter, she had been lost in thought several times. Serious looks could be constantly seen on her face, contrasting the happy faces of the customers.

“The future of this food stall is full of uncertainty,” Woo said, adding that the dominant concerns are the licenses and the impact of COVID-19.

Woo Wai Yan is falling into deep thought.

Embracing new trends

Founded in 1956 by Woo’s grandmother Chan Oi, who is now in her nineties, Oi Man Sang has experienced enormous changes. From Chan’s perspective, size and the operational pattern are dramatically different from the previous time.

Back in the 1950s, there was no physical storefront for the food stalls. Usually, the customers would squat beside the roads, with their meals placed on the boxes. For Oi Man Sang, most of the customers were nearby dockers. The kitchen was outdoor, which was one of the distinctive characteristics of food stalls.

Chan said she succeeded in operating the food stalls by herself, doing various things, including purchase, preparation, cooking, and cleaning. Besides, she managed to raise her six children on her own.

“Others called me a superwoman.”
 
Chan said so, with a proud smile on her face. She added that she couldn’t figure out why so many people are hired in Oi Man Sang nowadays.

While due to government regulations and concern for hygiene, many owners have moved their food stalls indoor contemporarily.

Oi Man Sang is not an exception. Unlike what it was like more than 60 years ago, Oi Man Sang now has a physical storefront. “More than 60 tables can be placed both inside and outside the store,” Woo said, adding that an indoor kitchen is set apart from the outdoor one.

Also, the customers have no longer restricted to people nearby. Woo said many people attracted by Oi Man Sang’s reputation would drive a long way for meals.

The styles of the dishes had changed as well. Chief Tang Kwok Keung, who has been in Oi Man Sang for more than 20 years, witnessed the changes.

Food stalls have evolved to adapt to the fast-developing society. But for some, including Oi Man Sang, the efforts seem to be feeble.

Struck by the pandemic

Woo said it was really a tough time last year, with an expression of pain. “We only had 10% of the normal business during the beginning of the pandemic.”

COVID-19 has considerably influenced people’s lives, and this is especially true for food stalls. The ban on eat-in issued by the Hong Kong government last year and the constant restrictions on the time and scale for dining have struck food stalls, which relies heavily on eat-in and night snack.

According to the latest regulations, the eat-in time can reach midnight if all the staff has received at least one jab of vaccination and all the customers use the app LeaveHomeSafe. And the maximum number of people for one table is six.

Woo said her family had tried hard to survive their business last year. Starting the takeaway services was a significant step. Meanwhile, the employees had to take turns to take unpaid leaves to save human costs. Woo herself also negotiated the rent with the landlord.

Efforts have paid off and they have come through. For now, the business in Oi Man Sang has revived to a large degree, although it still can’t compare to the one before the pandemic.

“We had never thought of giving up.”
 
Woo said so. “Instead, we had tried hard to find ways for adaption to the circumstances.”

But the ongoing pandemic has made the prospect of Oi Man Sang cloudy, Woo said, adding that she will regain the optimism towards the development of Oi Man Sang if everything can go back to what it was like before the pandemic.

Customers are eating

Discouraged by the unclear licensing system

Woo said so helplessly. And the biggest reason leading to her pessimism is the existing licensing system. 

For one thing, Woo and her family are lucky, as they had gained the license of operating the food stall several years ago when gaining a license was far more easily than today. Hong Kong has stopped issuing licenses since the 1970s. Meanwhile, it is easy for them to update the license if they obey the regulations and own good reputations.

For another, Woo and her family have encountered difficulties when changing the owner of the licenses, which has been Chan since the 1950s.

The Hong Kong government allows eligible people, including Immediate family members or others with valid reasons, to inherit the license from the owners who can’t operate the food stalls for reasons including aging and passing away. The licenses should be issued before May 21, 2021. But the concrete process and the standards are unclear and not transparent.

“We don’t know where to check the process and we have to access many departments,” Woo said. “And I think maybe the officials don’t know how to do either.”

Woo said she and her family are still not sure if they can inherit the license from Chan. Oi Man Sang will not survive if they fail to do so.

Woo expressed her frustration and helplessness, as she and her family could do nothing but wait. “I can’t be optimistic towards the future of my food stall as the regulations and standards for the licensing system are still vague,” she said.

“We don’t know where to check the process and we have to access many departments.”
 
Woo said so. “And I think maybe the officials don’t know how to do either.” Woo also said she and her family are still not sure if they can inherit the license from Chan. Oi Man Sang will not survive if they fail to do so.

Woo expressed her frustration and helplessness, as she and her family could do nothing but wait. “I can’t be optimistic towards the future of my food stall as the regulations and standards for the licensing system are still vague,” she said.

“I can only do as much as I can do,” Woo said. The future with Oi Man Sang is unclear, so does the future of the overall food stalls industry in Hong Kong.

THE CHANGE OF FOOD STALLS

Stories of old customer
“When I was a child, having a meal in a food stall is a luxury,” said Lau Tat Ki, 57, a current freelancer. Sitting in Oi Man Sang with his old friend Raymond Wong who was born in Sham Shui Po in the same year as him, the pictures of childhood came to cross Lau’s mind

In the 1960s, food stalls were not like what they are like now. At that time, customers to food stalls always sat or even squatted down on short stools and had a cup of coffee or milk tea on the “table” piped by foam boxes. Adults were chatting with each other on “tables”, and children were running on the streets.

Lau said his mother only cooked congee porridge for him at home. But at food stalls, he could order sliced fish porridge or beef porridge, which gave him a permanently joyful impression.

I don’t think the current food stall like Oi Man Sang is the real food stall.”
Compared with what it was like approximately 40 years ago, Oi Man Sang is three or four times larger than before. And to avoid make obstacles to traffic, most customers must sit indoors though one of the kitchens is still set outside.
Compared with what it was like approximately 40 years ago, Oi Man Sang is three or four times larger than before. And to avoid make obstacles to traffic, most customers must sit indoors though one of the kitchens is still set outside.

With the increasing rents and other costs, the price of the dishes in Oi Man Sang also gradually increased. Lau said 40 years ago, Oi Man Sang sold Mantis Shrimps that came from Aberdeen with the price of one HK dollar per kilogram. But nowadays, according to the menu of Oi Man Sang, the price of Mantis Shrimps is 160 HK dollars per kilogram.

That is no wonder that some people said nowadays the food stalls no longer provide a diet for the common people in Hong Kong. But it doesn’t mean that food stalls have lost all its’ charm.

 

Food stalls still have unique charm

Lau said he has not been to food stalls for a long time. This time why he came to Oi Man Sang was it provided a place where he and Wong can speak very loudly while drinking beers. If they went to have a buffet in a restaurant, they couldn’t enjoy the quiet and elegant atmosphere there.

Though the price of food increased, the taste of the dishes in food stalls is still unique and unforgettable for the local people. “I like spicy and hot food that I can only eat in food stalls,” said Wong.

According to the current Covid-19 policy in Hong Kong, all the restaurants should not allow the customers to eat dine-in after 10 p.m., but food stalls like Oi Man Sang could keep open until midnight. Probably because semi-indoor space in food stalls would decrease the risk of infection, the food stalls obtain such a “privilege”.

If you walked on the streets in Sham Shui Po at midnight, you would find until 11:30 p.m., there were still crowds of people gathering in food stalls. They drank, shouted, and laughed, throwing all their pressures to the noisy night.

Sham Shui Po is a place that is closed to harbor. In the past, customers were workers or staff working in the harbor with relatively low incomes. With the help of advertising, food stalls are more and more well-known after more and more tourists, especially tourists from the mainland of China come here.

Will food stalls die?

I also think food stalls are the witnesses of the history of Hong Kong, but with the development of the society, it will disappear, said Lau.  

The existence of the food stalls brought some problems and concerns. People living in neighborhoods complained about the hygiene situation and noises of food stalls, said Wong. So, the government restricted the license of food stalls strictly, he added.

“People who are at my age prefer to have meals at home because our old stomachs must be protected by bland food,” said Lau. And only when you eat with a crowd of friends in food stalls, can you get special happiness. But for us at such an age, it is so difficult to go outside with a crowd of friends till midnight.

Lau said nowadays he couldn’t find the sense of overwhelming excitement that he always had when he arrived in the food stalls at a young age, though he sometimes would come to Oi Man Sang to discern himself in the air of nostalgia.

“The food stalls will die, and the cultures behind them will also die. It is following the natural discipline,” said Lau.“I was born in Hong Kong and the food stalls seem like a mark of my childhood. My sons and daughters were also born in Hong Kong, but the food stalls did not play a role in their childhood.” 
Credit
 

 

Video: Rose, Cheng Jiemin; Yvonne, Lai Mengping; Cecilia, Zhu Jiang

Text: Rose, Cheng Jiemin; Yvonne, Lai Mengping; Cecilia, Zhu Jiang

Edit: Rose, Cheng Jiemin; Yvonne, Lai Mengping; Cecilia, Zhu Jiang

Tags: Food Culture, Food Stalls, Hong Kong Culture, JMSC