iShop Kwong Heng Long

‘Kwong Heng Long’ is one of the original local shrimp paste and oyster sauce makers in Taipa, it has been in operation for more than 100 years and is still going strong. They manufacture their own brand of oyster sauce on the premises from locally cultivated oysters. The products date back to the days when Taipa’s fishing industry was thriving and these sauces and pastes were a method to preserve the abundant catch and prevent it from being wasted.

Taipa’s silted and unpolluted waters make for great quality oysters. The oysters are simmered slowly in water into a green brownish sauce. Shrimp paste is made from sundried shrimps processed with alcohol and salt and fermented in large clay jars for months into a thick paste.

The owner Mr Pun worries about the future of this sunset industry. He said: “I think the prospect of making shrimp paste in recent years is not very optimistic, shrimps need to be bought from Hong Kong, transportation, time and weather have changed a lot. I hope to maintain this old brand, and see if there is a way to continue to do so.”