The first glimpse of the old Hong Kong- Sheung Wan Cultural Trip

         Sheung Wan, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island , is part of the Central and Western District. The name can be variously interpreted as Upper District (occupying relatively high ground compared to Central and Wan Chai). It is a district with long history as it was one of the earliest settled places by the British, and belonged to the historical Victoria City. The early development of economy and trading business had turned Sheung Wan into a well-known trading district.

Back in the 1850s, Sheung Wan had been a place for commercial land use. Due to the adjacency to the sea, it had been developed into an entrepot. The Connaught Street West was the wholesale market of rice business while Des Voeux Road West (德輔道西)was concentrating on dried seafood and preserved food wholesaling. Throughout these hundreds of years, the original large sea port has been changed into large piece of flatland for commercial use due to reclamation. Today, you can still found the old trading firms in the inner part of Sheung Wan.

         Wing Lok Street (永樂街) is a street in Sheung Wan. The street is a marketplace for Chinese medicine and many varieties of dried seafood - especially shark fin. It is commonly known as Ginseng and Birds' Nest Street, sells an array of stores selling dried seafood, high end tonics and traditional medicine recipes. A hundred years ago, much of the food trade between the north and south of the island took place here, which explains the area’s alternative name 'South North Store'(南北行).Ginseng, Chinese medicines, dried seafood, rice, sugar and rubber – you can find it all here. Between the crowds and the tall buildings, a passer-by will still be able to spot some old landmarks, such as Kwon Yue Woi Painting shop, Yuen Kai Lum Box Tea House, Sing Woi Tong and Park Cheong Tong Ginseng & Herbs. The original decorations, aging owners and friendly staff all can tell their long stories and illustrious history.

1. Wing Lok Street永樂街
2. Bonham Strand East文咸東街
3. Bonham Strand West文咸西街
4. Ko Shing Street高陞街  

Before exploring Sheung Wan, you are suggested to have a meal at a renowned traditional Chinese Restaurant. You make have the opportunity to experience the culinary culture of the old Hong Kong. The traditional Chinese Restaurant we recommended is called Lin Heung Kui (蓮香居)

Traditional Chinese Restaurant may even strange to teenagers 

Undoubtedly, the freshly make Dim Sum is the most attractive food in the restaurant

Indeed, the walking tour can be divided into three major parts,

A. Dried Seafood   B.Chinese Traditional Medicine  C.Salted Fish

ITINERARY:


A. Dried Seafood
1.Tim Lap Hong + Hoi Lee Store
2.Cheung Lung Dried Seadfood Inc
3.Chiu Kwong Lee Ginseng Firm 
B. Chinese Traditional Medicine
4.Ko Shing Street Three Hing Company
5.Tai Tong Trading Company 
6. Hoi Cheung Ho
7.Tong Hing Tai Kee Dried Seafood
C. Salted Fish
8.Sang Wo Ho 
9.Yuen Tsuen


1st Stop a) Tim Lap Hong (天立行) b) Hoi Lee Retail Shop (海利店)

The first shop we visited was Tin Lap Hong and then we visited Hoi Lee Shop. 

Both sell a wide variety of dried seafood and dried sea cucumber is one of them. 

Dried Sea cucumber which is preserved with lime was harvested and dried for the use in Chinese cuisine as Hoi sam. 

Tin Lap Hong (天立行)

Hoi Lee Shop offers both retail and export services

There are over 650 species of sea cucumber, while only  about 10 of them have commercial value

When facing such a stone-like element, you may ask : How to cook it ?

Since it is dried for preservation purposes, it has to be rehydrated by boiling and soaking in water for several days.  Preparing dried sea cucumber can be time consuming and requires a lot of work.  The steps are as follow: 1.  Remove the skin of the sea cucumber 2.  Reconstitute it in water and drained it daily for 4 days; occasionally wash it under running     water 3.  Boil it with slices, ginger, or pineapple skin to remove ‘fishy’ odor. 4.  It expands to several times its original size and becomes soft again. 5.  Drain and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Once thing to remind, the sea cucumber will have a rubbery-tough-to-chew texture if it is not prepared properly.

The dried sea cucumber is described as "tasteless and bland" but it is prized for its slippery gelatinous texture.

Efficacy of sea cucumber

The dried sea cucumber is also used for traditional Chinese medicine due to different efficacy. Firstly, it attributes to male sexual health and aphrodisiac (催慾的) qualities according to Chinese folk belief. It is also considered a restorative for tendinitis (腱炎)and arthritis. Thirdly, it can help with preventing cancer and dealing with diabetes.

Dishes made by sea cucumber

There are a number of dishes made with sea cucumber as it has a strong cultural emphasis on health. Common ingredients going with sea cucumber dishes include winter melon, dried scallop (瑤柱), and Chinese cabbage(小白菜). It is mainly used as an ingredient in Chinese cuisine soups or stews with the flavorful stock in your mouth.. The sea cucumber can be cooked in many ways - stewed with ribs, stir fried in black pepper sauce, or boiled in chicken stocks . Its ability to absorb and accentuate the flavors of the ingredients makes it the best to be cooked in rich broth.

2nd stop Cheung Lung Dried Seadfood Inc. (昌隆海產有限公司)


The second retail shop we visited was this Cheung Lung Dried Seafood Inc. Dried Octopus and dried squid were the highlights at that time. Could you tell the difference between dried octopus and dried squid? It might be a challenging question to many people. Squid have two tentacles and eight arms while octopuses just have eight arms.


Dried octopus is fairly cheap and it is usually used to favor what the Chinese call "old fire" soup (long cooked soup) like lotus root and pork bone soup. If it is more costly, it can be soaked to reform and cut up for stir fry. Normally it is sold at more ten dollars a pound. 


Procedures to cook soup:
1. Cut the octopus up into small pieces (no bigger than 1 cm square)
2. Soak it in warm water to soften;
3. Put a handful of dried octopus into the soup

Dried Octopus

Dried squid
    Dried squid is sun-dried. Having a strong smell and chewy texture, it is used to add a distinctive flavor to soups and other dishes. It must be firstly soaked in water overnight to soften before using. Some cooks add baking soda to make the squid expand and soften further.

Dried Squid

3rd stop Chiu Kwong Lee Ginseng Firm 趙光利蔘茸行

This building can truly reveal the development of the dried seafood industry in Sheung Wan.

This whole building was initially owned by the Chiu family for storing inventories and wholesales. Gradually, it was sold to developers to earn money when the price of land kept increasing. Not only has the land use in that “Dried Seafood Street” changed over time, but also the operation mode. In the past, the majority of the sales is in form of Wholesaling. For local market, their major customers were the Chinese restaurants. Regarding international market, products were exported to Southeast Asian countries, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Mainland China. In contrary, there were only little shops provide dried sea food in form of retailing

Owing to the occurrence of Korean War(1950-53), the United States has set up an embargo towards Hong Kong, this made the “Dried Seafood Street” changed its operation mode from wholesaling to retailing.

Currently, most of the shops in “Dried Seafood Street” nowadays involve both wholesaling and retailing business. Some self-guided trip tourists from Mainland China will choose to purchase in “Dried Seafood Street” directly instead of buying in their mother land. Thus the export business of some shops in the “Dried Seafood Street” is greatly affected, and some of them may change from a wholesale to a retailer. Facing the downturn in business, some shops are trying to strike a balance between the price and the quality of the dried seafood products.

The only thing that remain unchanged is that the shops are still very care about their reputation, unless there is a continuous rise in food price, they have tried their best to maintain the quality of the dried sea food products.

4th stop Three Hing Company 三興行

The Three Hing Company is located at Ko Shing Street which is aslo called the Chinese Medicine Street

The fourth place we visited was the Three Hing Company selling items such as Eucommia and Flower Tea. The chrysanthemum that has not yet blossomed is of better quality because it is less air-polluted.

Three Hing Company

Medical uses as Chinese medicine:

The chrysanthemum is used in Chinese Traditional Medicine as an aid in recovery from influenza, acne and as a "cooling" herb. It prevents a sore throat and reduces a fever. Those who have eye pain, diminished vision, and dizziness can be prescribed this. Its another function is to clear the liver.

How to prepare the chrysanthemum tea?

1.     chrysanthemum flowers (usually dried) are steeped in hot water (usually 90 to 95 degrees Celsius );

2.     rock sugar is often added

3.     The resulting drink is transparent and ranges from pale to bright yellow in color, with a floral aroma.

   
 In Chinese tradition, once a pot of chrysanthemum tea has been drunk, hot water is typically added again to the flowers in the pot (producing a tea that is slightly less strong); this process is often repeated several times.

Eucommia(杜仲)

    Eucommia, also named Du Zhong in China, is a small tree native to China. Nearly threatened in the wild, it is widely cultivated in China for its bark of high content of Vitamin E, and highly valued in herbology such as Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Efficacy of Eucommia

  It is capable of reducing blood pressure, calming the fetus and preventing miscarriage in pregnant women by soothing the uterus. Those who have back and leg pain, or arthritis problems may try this as this can treat them all. Some may take Eucommia to build strong bones and a flexible skeleton. It also wows people by its ability to heal tissues that are slow to mend after an injury or due to aging.

5th Tai Tong Trading Company (大同貿易公司)

Tai Tong Trading Company is  famous for its chenpi and zǎo(棗).

Chenpi陳皮

Chenpi is sun-dried mandarin peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine. They are aged by storing them dry. They have a pungent and bitter taste. As mentioned by the shop owner, chenpi’s taste is best matched with Chinese tong sui desserts such as red bean soup(紅豆沙) and the delicious taste is really unforgettable. The longer the time to store the Chenpi, the more valuable it is. In Tai Tong shop, there are chenpi stored for more than 51 years which can be sold at $2300 per catty. Chenpi contains Vitamin B and C. It can be used to treat phlegm(化痰).

Chenpi陳皮

Zǎo棗
Jujube(zǎo棗) are commonly used in Chinese traditional medicine, where they are believed to alleviate stress. Ziziphin, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet taste in humans. The fruit, being mucilaginous, is very soothing to the throat and decoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats. Jujube tea , juice , vinegar and wine can be produced. It is said to be helpful in aiding the common cold.

The freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or with tea. They are available in either red (hóng zǎo紅棗) or black ( hēi zǎo黑棗). The black one had being smoked(煙燻) to enhance their flavor. For this shop, they sell jī xīn zǎo(雞心棗) which is produced in a way of Indian smoking.

Zǎo棗

6th stop Hoi Cheung Ho (海昌號)
    This shop had a very long history by which it started its import and export business of dried seafood many years ago. Later, it changed into wholesale of a wide variety of goods including dried seafood, Chinese medicine, in other to diversify the products, as well as lower the risks. Now, it operation mode includes both wholesale and retail selling and is famous for the high quality of abalone. The shop owner, a very old man, is willing to share his experience and stories of the shop with the customers. 

Hoi Cheung Ho (海昌號)

There is a wide variety of Abalone in the shop

Abalone
Abalone (Bào yú) Bào yú is the common Chinese name given to abalone and also the dried seafood product produced from the adductor muscle of abalone. In dried form, it is a highly prized and expensive ingredient used in Chinese cuisine. In certain regional Chinese cuisines, its status ranks with such prized ingredients as shark's fin, sea cucumber and bird's nest.
Fresh abalone is rarely used in Chinese cuisine. It is often purchased in dehydrated form and rehydrated prior to cooking. Recently, the use of canned abalone in recipes has risen in popularity.
Places of origin include Northern Japan, north-eastern China, west coast of North America, South America and Australia. The best dried abalone is from Japan, while the best canned abalone is from Mexico. The larger the ‘head value’’, the more expensive the abalone, by which the ‘head value’ is measured by weighing the abalone, see how many abalone are there in one catty. Another way to qualify the abalone is to see whether the abalone with liquid core(溏心) or not.

7th stop Tong Hing Tai Kee Dried Seafood(同興泰記海味)


This dried seafood shop is famous for its long history and unique, old-styled design. It is there since 1919 and it witnessed the changes of Sheung Wan dried seafood street. The shop owner showed the old accounting books to us by which they still use Chinese brush to record the transaction today. Many tourists like taking photo in this traditional dried seafood shop.

Tong Hing Tai Kee Dried Seafood(同興泰記海味)

Chinese brush for recording the transaction

 

8th stop Sang Wo Ho(生和號)
    
Salted fish is the dried fish that is being pickled by salt before. Originally, the production of salted fish is to preserve the fresh fish from perishable. Salted fish can be divided into several categories , they are in Chinese called 梅香、實肉and 蒜子蓉, which are completely different in their texture. The most famous type of salted fish is the Cantonese fish called “馬友”. In recent years, the sources of fish are from Bangladesh and India due to the rapid decrease of fish amount and law restriction in Hong Kong . Salted fish is usually used for soup and fried rice in Hong Kong.

There are three major method of the preparation of salted fish

9th Yuen Tseun Ho(袁全號)

    This shop is located right next to Sang Wo Ho, which also mainly sells dried fishes. The shop owner recommended their dried stock fish (柴魚), which is dried without pickling by salt. They can tear the stock fish by hands which means their stock fish is in high quality. Stock fish is especially used in Chinese congee and soup.

9th Yuen Tseun Ho(袁全號)

Appendix: The future development of Sheung Wan and the dried seafood street

After the Construction of the West Island Line and urban redevelopment, Sheung Wan was more accessible so it will attract more tourists and foreigners who have interest in old-styled shops. The sales will be higher as a result.

Nonetheless, this lead to a surge in middle-income residential and commercial land use and so does the land price. Business tenants who cannot bear the high rent burden may sell their shops and fewer shops of historical value can be kept.