Teochew Daa Laang and the argots of  The Heaven and Earth Society Part III
The Source and Development of "Daa Laang" Culture in Hong Kong

As the living conditions improved, Teochew restaurants sprung up like mushrooms in the 1960s, and congee became one of the popular night snacks in Hong Kong. The period between 1960s to 1970s was the peak of triad gangs activities. To fight against the trials, the British Hong Kong government amended the Societies Ordinance in December 1964, A former agent of OCBT (Organized Crime and Triad Bureau) recalled "The members of trail societies were active in Tsz Wan Shan (慈雲山), Mong Kok (旺角) and Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀), they called "Ziah⁸ Zog⁸" (食粥) as "Da² Neng⁷" (打浪), "Ziah⁸ Bung⁷" (食飯, means dinning) as "Dan¹ Sua¹" (𢵧砂). "Dog⁸ Bue³ Zig⁴" (篤背脊) and "Deng⁶ Zian³" (斷正) means "Betrayal" and "under arrest", and some of the argots have become the daily expression now, The Triads' argots were widely spread among the grassroots. Local people especially liked to patronize the Teochew congee stall for night snacks, People always enjoy Teochew Congee with marinated delight, Teochew frozen fish (凍魚), red sausage (紅腸), cuttlefish (墨魚) and other side dishes. The pronunciation of "打浪" and "啪唥" has the same pronounce "Pah⁴ Neng⁷" in Teochew dialect and similar with the pronounce "打人" (pronounce Pah⁴ Nang⁵, means hitting people), so Hong Kong people pronounced "Pah⁴" (打) as "Daa²", which is the pronunciation of "打" in Cantonese. This pronunciation was source from the habit of ethnic groups and gangs—they always have congee together for night snack after group fighting. "浪" is pronounced as "冷" or "唥" (Neng⁷) and the pronunciation is similar with "人" (means people, pronounce Neng⁷) in Teochew dialect. This related to the fact that locals often called Teochew people as "Diê⁵ Ziu¹ Neng⁷" (潮州冷), and Teochew people call the person who has a close relationship with themselves as "Ge³ Gi² Neng⁷" (架己冷). Therefore, the local people mixed pronunciation of "打" in Cantonese (Daa²) and pronunciation of "冷" in Teochew dialect (Neng⁷), then created a new world "Daa Laang" (打冷, the pronunciation of Laang5 is similar with Neng⁷).

Thus, originated from Hong Kong. Since the 1960s, the word "Daa Laang" became a buzzword when eating Teochew congee as night snack. At first, "Daa Laang" was just used by Hong Kong people to describe the Teochew snack booth (潮州大排檔) which sells marinated delight and Teochew salty snack and called as "Daa² Laang⁵ Dong³" (打冷當), after then, the Teochew people in Hong Kong embraced this word. Hong Kong people prefer to enjoy congee with “Daa Laang” at Teochew snack booth, spiced goose (鹵鵝), marinated pork and goose intestines (滷豬腸、鵝腸), red sausage with cuttlefish(紅腸墨魚), “Big Eye”(大眼雞, pronounce "Daai⁶ Ngaan⁵ Gai¹", a type of salted fish, Teochew people call it as "He⁵ Bung⁷"魚飯 and Hong Kong people called as"Dung³ Yju²"凍魚), Chinese chives with pig blood (韭菜豬紅), Teochew Oyster omelet (蠔烙), Teochew spring vegetables with ribs (春菜煲) is the favorite side dishes of Hong Kong people. In addition, the salted seafood are always the specialty dishes, such as salted blood cockle (醃血蚶) and salted stomatopod (醃蝦姑). In the 1990s, the competition among Teochew restaurants became fierce and the term "Daa Laang" was gradually used in Teochew restaurants. Till then, "Daa Laang" translated from the side dishes of congee to haute cuisine such as frozen coral crab (凍紅蟹), frozen lobster and frozen fourfinger threadfin, which is well received by the gentlefolk.

The stalls of Teochew "Daa Laang" features a variety of braised and salty foods marinated delight and Teochew salty snacks displayed in a conspicuous place in front of the store to attract customers. With the development of the society, the operation pattern of Teochew "Daa Laang" stalls gradually transformed from Da Pai Dong to restaurant, and to maximize the space of restaurant, the traditional display pattern of food was changed to display foods by display case. 

The upper part of the case used to  display marinated goose, frozen crab, red sausage, cuttlefish. The other side dishes, such as marinated duck gizzard, bean curd in spiced sauce (鹵豆腐), braised meat (滷肉), brine duck palm (滷鴨掌) were displayed on the lower part. The form of the food display case of Teochew restaurants without unified standards, it depends on the demand of different owners. some owners of Teochew restaurant with narrow space, would like to set the food display case inside the restaurant now.

Conclusion

With the social development, the term "Daa Laang" has taken on different forms and meanings in different eras. In the early days of Hong Kong, the Triad transformed from a secret society which against the Qing government to a trade association that protect the right and interest of labors, in this way the argot of triad became the buzzwords of working class. In those years, Teochew congee was the staple in the diet of Hong Kong labors and called "Ziah⁸ Zog⁸" (食粥) as "Pah² Lang⁶" (打浪). So, "Daa Laang" initially referred to the dietary habit of the local working class. In Hong Kong, Teochew congee with Teochew snack is the staple of Teochew labors in Hong Kong, which called as "Pah⁴ Neng⁷" (啪唥) in Teochew dialect. With the improvement of society and living conditions from the 1960s onwards, Teochew congee stalls provide a wide variety of Teochew side dishes with a good deal. In this way, eating congee with "Daa Laang" as a dietary habit of Teochew people has spread to the society of Hong Kong. During 1900s, as the competition in catering industry was cutthroat, "Daa Laang" (means the genuine Teochew dishes at that time) were provided by Teochew restaurants to attract customers.

Reference:

書籍

1. 余繩武、劉存寬：《十九世紀的香港》（香港：麒麟書業有限公司，1994年）。

2. 章盛：《香港黑社會活動真相》（香港：天地圖書有限公司，2021年）。

3. 鲁言：《香港掌故》（香港：广角镜出版社，1977年）。

4. 喬·英格蘭（England, Joe）著，壽進文、唐振彬譯：《香港的劳资关系与法律》（上海：上海翻譯出版公司出版社，1984年）。

5. 廖子明、孫衛中：《驚濤歲月中的香港黑社會》（香港：網上電子出版社，2003年）。

6. 蕭一山：《近代秘密社會史料》（上海：文藝出版社，1991年）。

論文

1. 沈仲平：〈香港三合會的源流、演變及刑事政策〉（中國政法大學博士學位論文，2005年）。

2. 蘇耀昌：〈民族主義和階級鬥爭：上世紀二十年代香港工人階級的形成〉，《香港社會科學學報》第2期（2011年），頁2-16。

報刊

1. 〈潮州巷仔潮州味〉，《大公報》，1953年11月20日。

2. 〈最廉潔的潮州食檔〉，《華僑日報》，1959年10月10日。

3. 〈打冷宵夜竟引起打架 鐘澤森意外受傷〉，《華僑日報》，1963年10月20日。

4. 〈洛克道血案〉，《大公報》，1975年4月12日。

5. 〈帝都百勝閣資助晚餐推出迷你潮州打冷檔〉，《華僑日報》，1990年4月23日。