豉油小碟裡的香港：從生曬醬油到港製頭抽

本文討論香港醬油產品近百年的歷史。香港人慣用以粵語「豉油」（chiyou）稱呼醬油。如果說香港人吃不起豉油，可能聽起來有點誇張。但，早年在香港本地生產的豉油大都是輸出歐美也是鐵一般的事實。早在20世紀20年代後期，豉油廠在香港相繼成立，並透過商會的組織聯繫，使生曬豉油成為香港的本土工業；在5、60年代，為香港賺取外匯，之後仍陪同香港經歷多個社會的艱難時期；到90年代，大家開始對本地豉油－特別是頭抽－另眼相看；直至今天，豉油不管在品質或在地生產方面，皆得到香港消費者的認同。港產豉油見證了香港社會近百年的滄桑，而本文將從生產和消費的角度，探討本地豉油的製造、以及飲食消費模式的互動，希望能進一步為文化認同和本土意識的建構提供一個生活實踐上的個案。

關鍵字

豉油；醬油；口味；社會變遷；香港

並列摘要

If we say Hong Kong people cannot afford soy sauce, it might sound a bit exaggerated. However, most of the soy sauce produced domestically in Hong Kong during the early years was exported to Europe and the United States. Historically speaking, many soy sauce manufacturers started their business in Hong Kong, beginning around the 1920s. With the establishment of a guild association, local sun-dried soy sauce became one of Hong Kong’s home-grown industries. In the 1950s and 1960s, Hong Kong seized the opportunity to earn foreign revenue because of the Korean War, which limited exports from many Asian countries to Europe and the United States. However, by the 1990s, consumers began to look differently at local soy sauce products, especially first-brewed soy sauce. Today, Hong Kong producers get recognition not only for quality but also for something produced locally. So soy sauce produced in Hong Kong in fact has witnessed many social changes in Hong Kong over the last century. This article explores the changing meanings of local soy sauce and consumption patterns of Hong Kong consumers, and provides a viewpoint on the construction of cultural identity in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.