Kam Tung Kitchen is a beacon of authentic Tanka food and its owning family is striving to keep their knowledge and traditions alive
In Hong Kong’s Clear Water Bay Peninsula, there is a small U-shaped bay flanked by mountains. Within it lies the little-known Po Toi O fishing village – so named for the cove’s physical resemblance to a cloth sack – where generations of Tanka people in Hong Kong have settled over the past century.
Tanka are an ethnic group from South China who have largely acculturated to the dominant Han Chinese community. Their specific origins are somewhat ambiguous, but history indicates that they were aboriginals who were pushed into boat-living during the Qin dynasty (221BC-207BC) due to the Han’s territorial expansion from the north.
In the centuries since, the Tanka – also called “boat dwellers” or “boat people” – have lived on boats along the southeast China coast and made their living through fishing, all while being ostracised from Han Chinese subgroups. That said, encountering a Tanka on their houseboat today would be difficult, as most have moved onto land and abandoned their fishing traditions.
There are, however, still surviving traces of the boat dwellers in Hong Kong. In particular, Po Toi O is home to a number of such inhabitants.
