The last of Hong Kong’s street food rebels
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
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Distinct, delectable, but disappearing: streetside hawker stands in Hong Kong known as dai pai dongs, and the classic comfort food they serve are an iconic part of the city’s history, offering up a striking contrast to the modern polished skyscrapers that throng the city skyline. While many have closed down over the years, others have adapted to the times. From the classic food stands to cooked food centres to mushroom pavilions nestled in public housing estates known as dung gu ting, this episode of Hong Kong Authentic explores the history behind the famed food stalls and the families that run them.
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I grew up with dai pai dongs and they are an essential part of Hong Kong's history and culture. It was truly a level playing ground where rich and poor would gather for all occasions to share a meal. I hope these stalls find ways to survive and continue the tradition.
What does the HK government have against these places? I don't get it...
@jamesfullwood7788 some reasons could be they are hard to regulate and modernise given their informal nature. I'm not sure what the leasing arrangement is in Hong Kong but in Singapore hawker centres are often built and managed by the government.
You can imagine as property value increases the harder it will be to have low cost informal commence around. As much as they add to the fabric of communities
@jamesfullwood7788 not entirely on the gov. Look at all the dai pai dongs. They're all old chefs. The young gens don't want to work there. Imagine cooking infront of a wok outdoor in the summer. Young generation rather be sushi chef or European food where they can earn more
@@jeffy5120 makes sense
@@jamesfullwood7788in Malaysia, street food hawkers can avoid paying taxes according to actual sales, every transaction is cash only. Some famous stall's owners has luxury car, sending children to study abroad
Street food stall culture needs to be preserved. Modernize and clean up a bit, but retain it as part of the social fabric. Their function in society is so important.
It's just a shame to eliminate these premises. I reside in Canada and left HK when I was 16. Yet I still remember the aroma of the cooking from a few blocks away. It is what makes HK different and something should be kept not getting rid of. The atmosphere is incredible and nothing can match the experience.
The civil and political problems in HK now reach far beyond the loss of the street food stalls. Tens of thousands of people have left HK in recent years and the depopulation will continue. HK will never be the same, even if all the street food stalls still remained today. But you can still find great hawker food though in Singapore, Thailand, S. Korea and some other parts of Asia where the spirit still lives on.
China 🇨🇳 is taking away of HK’s identity. I heard HK is now filled with mainland Chinese that it no longer resembles what HK used to be. I wouldn’t be surprised in 10-20 yrs that people there will be only speaking mandarin.
In malaysia and singapore this kind of culture is very much alive and still very common , glad to have those still around
It's so nostalgia for me after watching this, I used to live in Wong Tai Sin over the past 18 years, and seeing the dung gu ting I grow up with and the owner of it really just bought tears on my face.
It's truly a unique historic building and represent the daily life of the locals. Just hope I'll be able to see them still exist no matter how long.
😢
It also used to be big here in manila, chinatown in the 80s. These places are always very full and noisy and smokey but food is cheap and very delicious with strong wok hei aroma. We also call them Dai Pai Dongs. Most of the stalls were run by former HK chefs who immigrated to the country and some from guangdong china. All of them became very rich people and most moved on. There are still a few left though right now
It was common in the streets in Malaysia too, but now very few left. All their children prefer office jobs.
Which ones are still in Manila?
Dai Pai Dongs are crucial and integral part of Hong Kong in all essence across all industries.. HK society, commercial, music and movies need dai pai dongs
Yes
Always remember the alley where IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE where Mrs chaw buys her noodles in a traditional container.😊 Back then, they already knew plastic containers are bad for the environment 😅
They can't film all those triad films anymore without Dai pai dongs.
Triad organizations went out of business. 🤣
Triad business went white collar. No need to fight on the streets
@@bobbymoss6160they're still around. They're just under the radar now.
they’re still around collaborating with the cartels
@@bobbymoss6160
That’s a naive statement. They’re not necessarily gone, these days, most of them are mixed within legitimate corporations. They are businessmen at its core even during the old times.
I missed HONG KONG so much , I lived there for 4and half years. I wish i can take my holiday, The people are very friendly the streets foods are amazing.
Some advice: Please reconsider using white coloured fount for the translated words. The white is VERY DIFFICULT to read against white background.
Recommendation: The white needs a black outline around the font or use a contrasting colour like amber yellow.
Thank you for your heard work.
they are an authentic part of the culture that should be preserved not demolished.
This is the real meaning of street food, HK does it the best.
Thailand does it the best. Cheap and efficient. But HK is not bad either
During my first Chinese New Year visit to Hong Kong in 2010, the street food places had special surcharge 😅 I guess they were working on the most important holiday in Asia, so they charged extre service fees😅
I've been living in Guangzhou for the better part of a decade. They don't have the same outdoor layout of restaurants like this in the city centre, but if you move outside, you can still find some places like this. And my wife's home town has a lot of these types of places. I've always enjoyed the food there, and even if my Mandarin/Cantonese is horrible, the people I've sat with have always been super friendly. I'm not a major foodie, but as someone who loves history, seeing things like this being moved on to make way for the same cookie-cutter restaurant chains, or new skyscrapers, is depressing.
There used to be a lot of joints like these in Taiwan back in the days, eventually they either closed shop or moved indoors as the cities developed and modernized. A big incident in the '80s that propelled the new policy was a fire at a famous spot called "The Circle", a roundabout-like food center filled with stalls in a circle; a gas leak + exposed electric wires caused a huge fire that killed many people. This is inevitable as society progresses, lots of concerning factors come into play such as sanitation, safety, cleanliness and order. While Govt does have planned municipal centers for the stalls to move into, some owners refuse to move. But most will close up shop as their kids don't want to inheret the business.
If you miss this once it's gone extinct in Hong Kong, just come to Malaysia to reminisce it. We have plenty of this here. 😏
They are cultural treasures of hong kong. Imagine people not from hong kong but seeing the beauty of hongkong from old movies. You can see people eating in this street eateries.
lived inn Hong Kong from 2001 till 2019.... jeez I miss the hawkers, amazing amazing amazing!!!! so sad to see them go
I spend 1 night in Hong Kong or Macau every 30 days during 2012-2013. The small ESL language school was to cheap to apply for special teaching license for foreign teachers, so we had to exit China every 30 days for our 6 months visa. The streets were selling everything, i mean everything!!! It opens still midnight. Im glad i get to experience it
Enjoying dai, pai dons classic food😊
Gutter oil 😂
It’s a shame!
Dai Pai Dongs are not disrupting the pace and the progression of the country but they are essential in supporting it through its more than reasonable pricing and foods that feed.
A breathing space for the locals and it’s the heritage, the soul of HK!
Always glad to dine at one whenever opportunity arises to visit HK!
Was there in October with my cousins , was brilliant..❤
It's a beautiful bit of history. I hope it gets preserved.
Back in the 90s there were everywhere, curry fishballs, noodles, roasted chicken wings, corn on the cob, sausages in chilli curry, satay sticks, really delicous snacks you could enjoy before going home after a night out.
I never got sick not even once, now currently, you hardly see them unless you go to those specific areas. What a shame.
Guangzhou also had its share of Dai pai dongs when I was a kid there in the 1970-80s… I remembered stand there just watching the chefs toss their woks over the hot fires… how I missed those wok hei aroma… it’s all gone now in Guangzhou.. hope HK still preserves this culture & experience…
If Hong Kong wants to revive its tourism, they need to create a program to bring these backs. Invite young people. Similar to how Fukuoka, Japan is managing the Yatai.
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東邊門裏伏金劍，勇士後門入帝宮 = 擒賊擒王
Craig提供推背圖46頌細節：白羽不會死😁
😁勿忘2026收看CCTV🧸親自宣布廢除專政
👉「Faced with the overthrow of government, Xi jinping will agree to sweeping changes.」👈Craig Hamilton Paker網站2017公布／沒製作影片報告🙇恭請回憶蘇聯崩潰是否Gorbachev🧑🤝🧑Yelchin同場上電視官宣😇解散蘇聯＆蘇聯共產黨今後屬非法政党
🤣活捉一尊🔛U.K. clairvoyance
東邊門裏伏金劍，勇士後門入帝宮 = 擒賊擒王
Craig提供推背圖46頌細節：白羽不會死😁
😁勿忘2026收看CCTV🧸親自宣布廢除專政
👉「Faced with the overthrow of government, Xi jinping will agree to sweeping changes.」👈Craig Hamilton Paker網站2017公布／沒製作影片報告🙇恭請回憶蘇聯崩潰是否Gorbachev🧑🤝🧑Yelchin同場上電視官宣😇解散蘇聯＆蘇聯共產黨今後屬非法政党🤣活捉一尊🔛U.K. clairvoyance
東邊門裏伏金劍，勇士後門入帝宮 = 擒賊擒王
Craig提供推背圖46頌細節：白羽不會死😁
😁勿忘2026收看CCTV🧸親自宣布廢除專政
👉「Faced with the overthrow of government, Xi jinping will agree to sweeping changes.」👈Craig Hamilton Paker網站2017公布／沒製作影片報告🙇恭請回憶蘇聯崩潰是否Gorbachev🧑🤝🧑Yelchin同場上電視官宣😇解散蘇聯＆蘇聯共產黨今後屬非法政党
The problem is who wants to work outdoors in the summer in HK
I live in Japan, but I've only been to Fukuoka once, a quarter of a century ago. Back then and now, Fukuoka's food stalls are just places to eat and drink ramen, yakitori, etc., and have nothing to do with the lives of local people. When I went there, there were a lot of rip-offs from unsuspecting tourists, and the authorities were having a hard time. I love the hawker culture of places like Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. This is because hawkers are there as a place for local people to interact. Eating out in Japan is too expensive, so I can't go there every day. However, if there is a cheap shop like Hawkers near your home, you can go there every day, and it can also be a place for local people to socialize. I believe that the problem of lonely deaths, which is a problem in Japan, will be alleviated.
Thank you for filming this! Food looks awesome.
It's such a shame. Everybody got rich, and not visiting these establishments anymore because they think mall food is better.
In Singapore and Malaysia, many such similar hawkers and street vendors still widely exist though. Those that sell stir fried vegetable/seafood dishes are called zichar or 煮炒 stores in these countries
problem is, they are not cheap. HK$120-300 a dish is far from being economical.
@@japjungho4645 These dishes are more for sharing among a few people. Anyhow thats inflation anyway
@@peterseth3296 Don't be a killjoy. Life isn't utopia, like you're dreaming it is. Don't spoil it for everyone.
@@peterseth3296 Lol you dont even have half of their cooking skills. Stop talking like you know the world
Even for my country, Malaysia, always the classic the better.
The design, the taste, the everything from back then was way better.
Yes!~ Finally a long video SCMP
There are plenty of such food stalls here in SG. why is it "dying' in HK?
Are any of those "food stalls" as legitimate as the ones in HK?
There's a mistranslation at 3:46. The owner actually said "Before the border was opened, they were mostly locals"
Jimmy was right from the wok movement to the yellow wife beater shirt 😂😂😂😂😂 accurate af
I'm a chef and i also work the wok, the ladies always come by to peep at me wearing my tank top 😎
i've never been to hong kong, but my mom told me all the time as a kid how much there was to eat in hong kong
Hong Kong, much like Singapore, is one of the few southeast Asian countries where most of the locals speak English and the density allows for a short yet experience-filled visit. A definite must go!
Shame to see them go, they were always a place to go for great food and also meet people, I haven’t been to Hong Kong in almost 25 years, I hope to revisit within the next couple of years ❤️🇦🇺
We have a famous hawker centre in Malaysia Ipoh called Dung Gu Ting also! ❤❤
I miss these. Around 2006 when I worked at Hong Kong, I always bought lunch from them.
A fascinating story of the Dai Pai Dongs. It is a shame that the HK Government is phasing out the Dai Pai Dongs. A culinary street institution that will fade into history.
Excellent film! Thank You!
I live in thailand and took a day trip just to just eat street food regularly. sad to see many stall gone.
I love this kind of places and food.
Sai Kung was my favourite, fresh seafood directly from the sea, ate there many times between 93 and 2000,
Hong Kong street food is one of the best in the world, never fail me. Specially seafood
I'd probably travel to Singapore for better hawker centres. More varieties.
Remind me so much of my aunties and my uncle💛
My parents used to take us 3 kids for rice congee at the stalls before 1968.
I am still unclear as to why the government is so unsupportive of these small restaurants. Why make it difficult to pass on liscences? Why limit the number when demand will phase them out naturally if it subsides? Some will end because of global warming and the hard work this type of restaurant entails. If these restaurants are undesirable they will gradually fade on their own. But the government seems to be targeting them, to run them out of business. This piece never explains why.
bro, watch the video again. One of the interviewee literally explained. Sanitation, saftey hazard, and street impedement are the main reasons. The goverment doesnt want to get rid of them, they wanted them to relocate or move elsewhere. A lot of this has to do with city development and the goverment has done both support and drop support. Pay attention to what the interviewees say, this is a topic that spans nearly a century and isn't black and white. Some are just stubborn to move, and others adapted.
@@peterseth3296 poverty is poverty.
Food is food.
I had a friend, owned and ran a pizza place, worked hard, was not impoverished .
@@peterseth3296 he owned a stall in a food court, the same as one of the other cooks.
@@peterseth3296 My parents had a chippy in the UK. You might complain about the odors and smoke there. But they lifted us out of poverty with that smoke.
Never mind Hawkers stalls are booming in Singapore, Penang and many parts of South East Asia, only a short flight away from Hong Kong.
Come over to Malaysia, many dai bai tong style wok cooking happening here
As in most cases when government (anywhere) becomes involved ruin follows!
In some cases government interference is necessary when you serve public and in some cases involves poor sanitation.
Hygiene aside, these Tai Pai Tong food are certainly not cheap, especially if you are from South East Asia , where street food are really economical and affordable.
Glad to be mexican because of the street food. 😊😊😊
Pinto beans
@@alexyakobchuk4785 your mom in 4 azs
I saw a bunch of street tacos where I am living
this is still common in some chinese food centres in Indonesia.
Great Hong Kong Street food!
We love street food!
Fascinating ❤
wow didnt knew it is a dying breed in hong kong, what a shame, in singapore and malaysia we called it tze char, it is almost everywhere and it is always crowded
Dai pai dongs are a bit different from tze chars. Tze chars are usually operating from shophouses and food courts while dai pai dongs are literally on walkways or kaki lima in M'sia. Their reluctance to move indoor is one the reasons no new license is given anymore
ahhh got it, interesting to learn about diff cultures !@@notagain2856
Food stalls fed a large blue collar class working in the factories, and later tourists. Poor health standards led to mass closures, high rents, and Covid took care of the rest. Hope night markets are rebirthed elsewhere.
There are hundreds if not thousands of dai pai dongs in Malaysia, serving Cantonese food with Malaysian flavors.
Knowing cantonese is really fun
Excellent cultural record this story though I wish there was a deeper dive into the actual food
Being natural is better than being professional. Professionalism is robotic and it takes who you are away
I love street food, but honestly I think Hong Kong should set up hawker markets, like Singapore. Better for regulation and sanitation, plus all in a convenient location. (and Singapore has the best street food in the world) 😎
This chef is a legend his yellow, wife beater tank top
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The lady host with glasses: go have your glasses properly fitted at an ophthalmologist! Or add a larger bridge on your glasses.😅 You'll feel better afterwards!
Glasses not fitting well, sitting too low, forcing you to raise neck upwards while eyes look downwards, peering thru the low glasses.
Common in Malaysia and Thailand. Even Cambodia. Serving Cantonese style cooking.
Too much chatting instead of showing food
How do you storyboard a video project like this?
Everytime I visit HK we always eat at Dai Pai Dongs. Sad they are going away.
Interesting contrast that "street food" in HK is dying, while in N. America and Europe, it's taking off
The standards are much much higher in the US. Also, the costs are more balanced there.
Get rid of subtitles.
What a lovely voice from the narrator ❤
The government need maintain this premises
In Yuen Long, there is still alot of these places.
Funny how the HK Government doesn't do anything in spite of all the media/public scrutiny. It would do a lot for their credibility if they started acting on these infractions.
Traditional got to accept the fact that
Way cleaner then India that for sure 😂😂
Dude at 4:20 is definitely Filipino.
Dont understand why the HK government cannot be copied as Singapore hawker centres they can keep the Dai Pai Dongs style for their business and culture from full meals and drinks of local dishes and famous food to attack this area and tourists.
Really missed all the yummy food from Dai Pai Dongs .... this will become HK history.
Wow awesome foods
I like HK dai pai dongs, but they use a lot of vegetable oils which is really unhealthy, you always have to clear your throat afterwards.
I dare say cheap vegetable oil is used by many restaurants in HK and not just Dai Pai Dongs.
@@morechillis you don't have to dare say it, it's everywhere in every "HK style" restaurant, but I would say dpd use the most. The health conscience ppl tend to eat western/Japanese/Korean/homemade. HK style is only on occasion or none from what ppl tell me.
what clears oil? milk. Solution: order a milk tea
That glasses is voluptuous
Its a real shame that even though money & wealth has a major purpose in today's influence in new generation's futures and preserving history and it's own heritage now has no meaning and soon will be lost.
Private companies want a pristine image, but in doing so, they destroy the culture that makes that area unique.
Is there any documenter about it in 1980s?
It's not sanitary. They should not be allowed to operate.
HK need to learn from Singapore and revamp dai pai dongs into hawker food centers.
In my opinion Chinese food in Hong Kong is one best to eat aside from other Asian countries
You saying the service industry is failing?
辛苦工VS輕鬆工，你揀呀
11:29 problem is a lot of ppl in HK have a snob attitude
Come Malaysia .... It is still everywhere....
why would they want to eliminate it I dont get it?
they wont even get any profit from it
I always wondered why they named it "Sham Shui Po" when it's usually pronounced "Sam Sui Po". It's like a half-hearted effort to sound Mandarin, but changed their mind. The poor narrator sounds so weird reading it literally as spelt, or maybe I'm just not used to Hong Kong English. :)
all I can think about is the sewer oil
Just by the look of the first dish, sweet and sour chicken, I bet it must be delicious.
During Chinese new Year, there's extra surcharge from street food vendors 😅 for making they work during the most important holiday.
Look at the skills of the chef , their rigour , mouth watering dishes. Much better than the useless master chef winners sweating over few pieces of sea scallops