Mrs. So
The roasted chestnut street cart under Mong Kok East Station has more than 60 years of history. Owner Mrs. So sets up the mobile business every winter. She tells Yannie Chan about street life and the secrets of her trade.
HK Magazine: How’s business?
Mrs. So: The colder it is, the more business we get. When it’s warm, people don’t like eating roasted food as much. The winter’s quite warm this year. Coupled with the Occupy protests, business has been patchy. Thankfully, we have plenty of loyal customers, and they’re very supportive—a long-time customer who now lives in Canada bought dozens of pounds of chestnuts yesterday.
HK: What’s the history of your cart?
MS: This cauldron of hot cinders is over 60 years old. My parents were street vendors on Waterloo Road: After they retired, I took up the stall. I’m in my 50s now and I’ve thought about closing the stall—but my customers were very upset, saying that I simply cannot close because there is no other stall comparable to mine. I recognize all of my customers. To me this is really about more than selling chestnuts.
HK: Walk us through an average day.
MS: We only set up this stall for about four months. We begin roughly after Mid-Autumn Festival, when chestnuts are in season. Around noon, my husband and I push our steel cart here, and he fills the gas tank and starts the fire. I add chestnuts and sugar to this custom-made wok and start slow-roasting them. The chaan [spatula] weighs nearly 20 pounds, and my wrist hurts after a busy day—I’ve torn the tendon in my arm several times. We close at 10pm or whenever we sell out.
HK: What do you do the rest of the year?
MS: I work different jobs to get by, from selling jewelry to throwing out household garbage. It’s true! I’ll take up whatever job to pay for my children’s schooling. I love each of my jobs.
