Skip to content
The Rogan Coles Photo Archive
Showcasing some impressive photography of people, places and events around the world
  • Home
  • PEOPLE
    • Bands
    • Performers
  • PLACES
    • Hong Kong
    • Macau
    • Philippines
    • Shanghai
    • Singapore
    • South Africa
  • EVENTS
    • Hong Kong Events
    • Canadian Events
  • About
    • About this website
    • Artist’s Statement
    • Price Guide
    • Archive Privacy Policy
    • Archive Terms & Conditions
    • Archive Comments Policy
  • Journal
    • From Hong Kong with love“From Hong Kong with love” is a kind of spoof thing, as in something going back to the days of picture post cards.
    • Notes from the FieldNotes from the field – as in notes made about the photography featured in this archive.
    • Where in the World“Where in the world is this”? is a kind of general knowledge quiz thing.
  • Contact Us
Search:
  • Home
  • PEOPLE
    • Bands
    • Performers
  • PLACES
    • Hong Kong
    • Macau
    • Philippines
    • Shanghai
    • Singapore
    • South Africa
  • EVENTS
    • Hong Kong Events
    • Canadian Events
  • About
    • About this website
    • Artist’s Statement
    • Price Guide
    • Archive Privacy Policy
    • Archive Terms & Conditions
    • Archive Comments Policy
  • Journal
    • From Hong Kong with love“From Hong Kong with love” is a kind of spoof thing, as in something going back to the days of picture post cards.
    • Notes from the FieldNotes from the field – as in notes made about the photography featured in this archive.
    • Where in the World“Where in the world is this”? is a kind of general knowledge quiz thing.
  • Contact Us

Food preparation

You are here:
  1. Home
  2. Where in the World
  3. Food preparation


Where in the world is this?

Preparing lunch boxes at a dai-paai-dong near Graham Street
HONG KONG – APRIL 15: Workers preparing lunch boxes at a dai-paai-dong (a traditional and informal outdoor restaurant) just off Graham Street in Central, Hong Kong on April 15. (Photo by Rogan Coles)

If not unique, you could say this scene is pretty specific to Hong Kong. This is the preparation and cooking area of a local dai paai dong or street side eatery. Simple enough. All the food has been prepared beforehand, a central tenant of most Asian cooking.

The lady nearest to camera is packing flat noodles into lunch boxes – the staple of office workers who usually stop by to pick up a lunch box and a drink of their choice. The chef will cook up a selection of meals – either to order to as part of prepacked lunch box. His cooking actions are typically fast and furious – wash down the wok, slop in some oil, slop in some sauce and then, the ingredients, stir up, toss up and dispatch, slosh out the wok and start all over again. The roar of the kerosene fired cooker seems to add to the urgency and fury of his actions.

These street eateries are usually family run businesses – husbands, wives, mothers and fathers and, from time to time, the children if they’re not at school or studying.

A health hazard? Hardly. No worse than any closed kitchen elsewhere. At least here you get to see what you’ve ordered, watch it get cooked and then, get to it whatever you chose in view of all. There’re no fridges here. The turn over here is too fast for anything to spoil. At the end of the meal period – breakfast, lunch or dinner – everything is usually cleaned and packed up and, if you didn’t know it, you wouldn’t even know if there was a restaurant here. Besides, if there were any health issues, word would spread quickly enough to put the operation out of business – such is life on the streets of Hong Kong. Enjoy…


You can find out more about Rogan and why he does what he does here on his ‘Artist Statement’ page.


strong>TECHNICAL NOTES: This image was taken using a Fujifilm X-T1 digital capture device coupled with a Fujinon Super EBC XF 18-55 f/2.8-4 R LM OIS lens.


Print Sales & Image Licensing: Interested in buying a print or licencing this image? You’re in the right place. For the time being, please contact me using our contact form. For prices, please check out our print price guide. Commercial use image licensing starts at US$250/image/usage. We could come to some arrangement for personal downloads. If you’re interested, please let me know.


originally written and posted on 140419 – reposted on 190119

Category: Where in the WorldBy Rogan Coles2019-01-19
Share this post
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook TweetShare on Twitter Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn Pin itShare on Pinterest

Author: Rogan Coles

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:Where in the world is this?NextNext post:Wow, what’s with that gross watermark?

Related posts

Lunch time - Hong Kong
Lunch
2019-01-20
Restaurant workers at a dai-paai-dong near Graham Street
Things happen
2019-01-20
Geomancers at work
Out with the old and in with the new…
2019-01-20
Rainbow over Lamma Island
Chasing after rainbows…
2019-01-20

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment

Search
Categories
  • Back in the Shack (2)
  • From Hong Kong with love (5)
  • Notes from the Field (12)
  • Where in the World (15)
Recent Posts
  • Reclamation Street gallery update… 2020-05-06
  • Mahjong Players revisited 2020-03-06
  • “We’re on the move…” 2020-02-11
  • Ian Gillan 2019-12-12
  • New Gallery – Commuting in Shanghai 2019-07-20
Tags
Canada Causeway Bay commuting CVG5 DDs omnibus cycling Daimler ecommerce flower market Flower Market Road FujiFilm Hong Kong Ian Gillan live performance markets Matt Bellamy Montreal moped Muse music music photography nature omnibus Pedder Street Philippines print sales rainbows Reclamation Street Rogan Coles sales selfies Shanghai South Africa street life street photography transport Victoria Harbour Victoria Peak web-store X-T1
ABOUT
Welcome to the Rogan Coles Photo Archive. Here you'll find a wide genre of photography covering my street and social documentary work as well has my music and portrait photography. Most of the photography featured here is my personal work. My commercial and commissioned photography is located elsewhere.

Find us on:

Facebook page opens in new windowTwitter page opens in new windowLinkedin page opens in new windowInstagram page opens in new window500px page opens in new window
RECENT POSTS
  • Reclamation Street gallery update…
    2020-05-06
  • A small group of people playing mahjong on the streets in Shanghai
    Mahjong Players revisited
    2020-03-06
  • “We’re on the move…”
    2020-02-11
  • Ian Gillan
    2019-12-12
  • Commuting in Shanghai
    New Gallery – Commuting in Shanghai
    2019-07-20
EMAIL US

Submit

FROM THE ARCHIVE
Cooked food shop, Shanghai Street, Yau Ma TeiJewellery store in Causeway Bay, Hong KongChun Yeung Street wet marketVictoria Harbour, Hong Kong #6231St Patrick's Day Parade in Montreal #061The Drakensberg, South AfricaFlying kites on The Bund in Shanghai.Margaret Atwood - author #7054Avenue of the Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
2022 © Rogan Coles - All Rights Reserved * Dream-Theme — truly premium WordPress themes

The Rogan Coles Photo Archive