From decades-old holes in the wall to multimillion-dollar businesses, Hong Kong’s noodle scene is a moneymaker in a territory that runs on quick and affordable comfort food.
Steaming bowls are served up 24 hours a day, often in clear richly flavored broths and topped with fish balls, beef tendon or pork knuckle.
Other favorites come with Spam and fried eggs, an echo of the territory’s British colonial past.
Photo: AFP
Lau Fat-cheong (劉發昌) is one of the last traditional noodle makers in Hong Kong, preparing them fresh each day for customers at his three Lau Sum Kee restaurants in the bustling working-class neighborhoods of Sham Shui Po and Cheung Sha Wan.
In an old method rarely used now, he sits at the end of a 1.5m-long bamboo pole, nimbly bouncing on it to pound balls of dough on a workbench underneath.
Lean and wiry, in his mid-40s, Lau started working for the family noodle business at the age of 11.
His grandfather founded it in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in the 1940s before Lau’s father took it on, moving to Hong Kong and selling shrimp dumplings and noodles from a street cart.
“We’ve been doing this for all these years and have developed an emotional connection to it,” Lau said, explaining why he adheres to traditional methods. “There’s a satisfaction in the work.”
Customers across his restaurants slurp more than 500 bowls of fresh egg noodles at about HK$30 to HK$40 (US$3.83 to US$5.11) each day.
The best-selling dishes come with wontons — shrimp and pork dumplings — or tossed liberally with dried shrimp roe, harking back to Hong Kong’s origins as a fishing community.
“It’s fresh, you feel it’s much better than anywhere else,” said student Gavin Lee, 17, who prefers Lau’s creations over food from Hong Kong’s noodle mega-chains.
However, despite the steady stream of loyal visitors, Lau said that rising rent and stagnant wage are levels a challenge.
He fears the next generation will not take up the mantle, admitting the work can be “hard and tedious.”
There is also pressure from Hong Kong’s lucrative noodle empires, which have branches all over the territory.
Popular Tam’s Yunnan Rice Noodles chain, known for its variety of spicy broth bases and customizable toppings, was recently sold to Japanese restaurant operator Toridoll Holdings Corp for HK$1 billion.
Tsui Wah, which started as a small cafe in 1967, has also grown into a multimillion-dollar mega-chain, serving Hong Kong staples alongside more modern alternatives.
However, food writer Janice Leung Hayes (梁幗婷) said independent businesses like Lau’s still survive because of a sense of nostalgia and classic flavors.
“They have never gone out of fashion, so I do feel like even though there are big chains trying to dominate, the small ones still have a chance,” Leung said.
Hong Kong’s noodle culture reflects its history as a melting pot of migrants from all over China as well as its colonial history, which has led to Western-style noodle toppings from cheese to canned tomatoes and luncheon meat, first imported in the 1950s.
A quick, filling bowl also appeals to Hong Kong’s fast pace, with office workers often grabbing one on their breaks, a cheap option in a territory where the cost of living is sky-high.
“Hong Kong people love things that are efficient,” Leung said.
Ho Shun-kan’s shop, Kan Kee Noodles, perched on a sloping street in the heart of Central district, is a linchpin of the territory’s noodle scene and has been serving customers for 70 years.
Stacked with cabinets of noodles made to Ho’s family recipes, the store supplies 200 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as individual customers.
Buyers pick from a variety of flavors, including spinach and abalone, preferring them to the mass-produced brands ubiquitous in supermarkets.
“You can no longer taste the shrimp roe in the [big brands] — and you can’t get these traditional flavors elsewhere,” customer Ami Wong said.
Ho inherited the shop from his father and has worked there since he was 18, when the store supplied neighbors, local eateries and even a church in the community.
“We have preserved all the measurements [for the recipes],” Ho said, as he compressed sheets of dough with a machine at the back of his store, alongside his son who is in his 30s.
The gentrification of Hong Kong’s traditional neighborhoods has raised concerns that small businesses like Ho’s will be pushed out.
He has outsourced the production of noodles that require baking to a factory in the territory after he was told the oven in his store could be hazardous to a luxury apartment complex to be built nearby.
Ho hopes the next generation, like his son, will keep the old techniques alive.
“If you want to stay in this business, you can’t do it without the younger ones taking over,” he said.
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