Snack Shop Kwan Kee to Close

Kwan Kee will be shutting its doors for good later this year

It's sad to hear the news that the snack shop Kwan Kee in Sham Shui Po is closing after over 60 years, as the owner is looking to retire.

The open-air shop is right next to the MTR station (Exit B2), and while the shop sold magazines, bottled water and candies, people went there to buy freshly-made puddings, like put chai goh (a caramel-coloured pudding with red beans solidified in a small bowl and then was eaten on wooden skewers.

Another that I liked was the black sesame pudding cut up in giant cubes, the same could be said for red bean pudding, and coconut jellies that are placed in thin plastic bags.

Its best seller is put chai goh pudding

Not only is this place patronised by locals, it was also given Michelin approval in 2015, in a list promoting Hong Kong's street foods. That designation led to even more people flocking to the shop to try their treats.

The owner, Fu Wing-cheung, told the media in 2018 that if it wasn't for the puddings which bring in the revenue, the shop would have closed ages ago if it just relied on groceries.

"[Puddings] are our main selling point now. The money we make from groceries is only a supplement that can barely cover the electricity bill, Fu explained.

Kwan Kee is a see-dor, or a shop, which were very common in the 1960s and 1970s before supermarket chains sprouted all over the city. 

"We are pretty much the only see-dor left in this district," he said almost five years ago.

His father started Kwan Kee in the 1960s, steaming the puddings in their shack in Sham Shui Po, and then they were sold on the streets by his wife. Fu took over the business in the early1980s and setting up the shop on Fuk Wah Street since 1984.

Black sesame is popular and coconut puddings

Fu's younger brother starts making the puddings at 2.30am, as they need several hours to cool in order to sell, while Fu himself shuttles between the kitchen and shop until 11pm at night. 

He says making the puddings is not complicated, but time consuming.

In 2018 Fu, then 63, said his children were not keen to take over the business "because they are too educated to do this kind of toiling work".

"If the day comes when I reach a certain age, and my children have all grown up then I will simply retire," Fu said. "Don't say I'm shutting this place down; I'm just letting it retire too."

Word on the street is that Kwan Kee will retire in May... 

Kwan Kee

115-117 Fuk Wah Street

Sham Shui Po

(next to Sham Shui Po MTR Exit B2)