Daa Laang
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''Daa laang'' () refers to a night-time meal in
Hong Kong cuisine Hong Kong cuisine is mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine, European cuisines (especially British cuisine) and non-Cantonese Chinese cuisines (especially Hakka, Teochew, Hokkien and Shanghainese), as well as Japanese, Korean and Southeast ...
. First emerging in the 1950s, ''daa laang'' includes hot and cold Chiuchow dishes.


Origins

''Daa laang'' originated in Chiuchow ( Modern Chinese spelling: Chaozhou) and is therefore also called ''Chiuchow daa laang'' (). In the 1950s, the cuisine was introduced to
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
by Chiuchow immigrants. The traditional way to order ''Daa laang'' is to choose the dish of one's choice in front of a server, who then marks it down for the customers. The ''daa laang'' is then made and sent to the table. The trend of ordering such late-night meals is expanding outside of Hong Kong and into mainland China, particularly the city of
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
.


Etymology

The term is
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
and originated in Hong Kong. There are several proposed etymologies: # In the fiction of the
Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
and Yuan dynasties, terms such as ''da tsim'' ( zh, c=打尖, cy=dá jìm, j=daa2 zim1) and "da dim" ( zh, c=打店, cy=dá dim, j=daa2dim3, labels=no) refer to going to a restaurant for dinner while traveling. Hence, the word ''daa'' (; ) can refer to eating at a restaurant. In the Chiuchow dialect, the word ''lang'' means 'people'. Thus, Cantonese refer to the Chiuchow people as ''lang lo'' ( zh, c=冷佬, cy=làang lóu, j=laang5 lou2, labels=no). Over time, ''lang lo'' became a slang term, referring to Chiuchow food stalls. Then gradually, the term ''daa laang'' referenced dinner at Hong Kong’s Chiuchow stalls. # In the 1950s, the sellers carried baskets with poles on their shoulders. They were called ''basket carriers'' ( zh, c=擔籃, cy=, j=, labels=no, p=dān lán). The pronunciation of this term in the Chiuchow dialect is similar to ''daa laang'' (打冷), so Hongkongers began to call them the ''daa laangs''. The term ''basket carriers'' became ''daa laang'' (打冷) because the basket carriers would shout the foods they were selling to the buyers. The pier workers in Triangular Pier would shout back "basket carriers". The majority of Hongkongers could not understand it and mistaken the expression ''basket carriers'' as ''daa laan''g. # During that period, many gangs dined and dashed at Hong Kong's Chiuchow stalls. A Chiuchow gang formed in response to watch for the rival gangs. Once they found someone who came for a meal, they would yell "hit them!" to alert others. As ''daa laang'' in the Chiuchow dialect sounds like "hit them", people gradually associated ''daa laang'' with Chiuchow people. But this may not be true. In Teochew dialect, “hit them” is pronounced as pah4 nang7 and “hit them with fist” is dêng3 nang7. Both pronunciations are not similar to “hit them” in Cantonese. However, the term "Daa laang" as it was originally translated to mean “hitting someone” or “beating someone up” is actually wrong. The mistake was made because the translator who was likely a Cantonese speaker didn’t know the Teochew language well. In Teochew, to “hit” or to "beat" is "pah" (啪). Teochew people never use the Cantonese term of “hit” (daa, 打) to mean “beating someone up”. As most Cantonese speaking people do not know Teochew language well so the wrong translation out of misunderstanding became a set term in Hong Kong.


Dishes

Dishes include a variety of
cold cuts Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, delicatessens, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in ...
and spicy dishes originating from the food stalls in Chiu Chow.
Marinated Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. This sauce, called the marinade, can be either acidic (made with ingredients such as vinegar, lemon juice, or wine), or enzymatic (made with ingredien ...
food,
seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...
, pickled products, and cooked dishes are the four main types of ''daa laang''. One dish is the marinated or Chiu Chow soy-sauce
goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...
. A common style of
fried food Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are generally turned over once or twice during cooking to make sure that the food is evenly cooked, using tongs or a spatula, whilst sautéed foods are ...
is referred to as "salt and pepper" style. This type of food is served with chili, and prepared by deep frying the food first (usually a light food like tofu or
squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
) and then
stir-frying Stir frying ( zh, c= 炒, p=chǎo, w=ch'ao3, cy=cháau) is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries ...
it with pepper and salt. Popular cold items include iced cockle, made by first boiling and then freezing and served with a sauce made with
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...
,
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
, and
vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...
, and iced
crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...
, which is first boiled and later frozen.


References

{{reflist Hong Kong cuisine Chinese cuisine