Published : 2025-08-17
Ginger vinegar is a traditional tonic food for postpartum women in China's Guangdong Province. When you smell the sweet and sour aroma of ginger vinegar in residential areas, you know a new life has arrived.
Pat Chun (八珍) is Hong Kong's most famous ginger vinegar brand. In 2025, the Hong Kong Government announced the development of nine major tourist hotspots, with Pat Chun leading the way in industrial brand tourism.
As early as the third quarter of 2025, visitors will be able to tour the Pat Chun factory, experience the vinegar-making process, and savour the cultural essence of "Made in Hong Kong".
Pat Chun once launched vinegar ice cream and ginger vinegar cookies
Although Pat Chun has a 90-year history, its brand image is far from outdated.
Pat Chun's specialty store in Mong Kok sells unique products such as sweet vinegar ice cream, ginger vinegar cookies, and ginger vinegar gummies. It incorporates traditional sauces and vinegars into trendy snacks, making it fun and innovative.
Looking back at the brand's history, Pat Chun was founded by Ng Wai Sum (伍偉森) in 1932. His father, Ng Tong 伍棠), was a renowned chef in Shunde (順德) of Guangdong, and Ng Wai Sum inherited his father's culinary skills, cooking excellent dishes.
Although he founded Pat Chun during the post-war economic depression when life was difficult and resources were scarce, Ng Wai Sum would make various traditional festive foods to gift to family and friends during festivals.
These included taro shrimp balls for the Lunar New Year, mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and ginger vinegar with pig's feet for celebrating new births.
Due to their high quality, they were highly praised. Many people began requesting these delicacies, and over time, Ng turned his culinary expertise into a business, thus Pat Chun Store was born.
Sweet vinegar of Pat Chun is the most popular among customers
Pat Chun is currently one of the few Hong Kong brands that has a local manufacturing plant and has been a significant presence in Hong Kong for nearly a century.
They offer a wide range of traditionally hand-fermented sauces, including their signature sweet vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, bean paste, chili sauce, as well as innovative flavours such as nut pepper sauce and sakura shrimp spicy sauce, with over 100 types of sauces in total.
They also sell seasonal products like Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes and Lunar New Year delicacies.
Pat Chun's sweet vinegar is so famous that virtually everyone in Hong Kong knows about it.
In an interview in 2020, Ng Sheung Kwan (伍尚鈞), the 3rd-generation successor of Pat Chun, mentioned that sweet vinegar, as Pat Chun's flagship product, accounted for one-third of the brand's income, holding over 50% of the market share in Hong Kong at the time.
However, producing rich and flavourful sweet vinegar is actually more complex than brewing wine.
"First, rice or other grains are fermented with koji mold to convert them into sugar. Yeast then turns the sugar into rice wine, and finally, acetic acid bacteria convert the rice wine into rice vinegar. Generally, the brewing starts in winter and the process lasts for nine months," explained Ng Sheung Kwan to the government's Trade and Industry Department.
Pat Chun insists on traditional brewing and hand fermentation
As the saying goes, "haste makes waste", and this is especially true for sauce brewing.
To bring out the multi-layered flavours of natural ingredients, Pat Chun has always adhered to traditional brewing and hand fermentation. Hence, the fermentation of beans and grains takes several months, with the aging process lasting several years.
It's no wonder that Pat Chun's sauces are "exceptionally aromatic". Those who have tasted them can immediately tell the difference from mass-produced industrial products laden with preservatives, additives, and flavour enhancers.
Additionally, the effective advertising strategy of Pat Chun deserves credit, particularly the slogan "Pat Chun Sweet Vinegar, Exceptionally Fragrant" sung by Fong Yi Kei (方伊琪) in the 1990s, which made the brand well-known.
Furthermore, endorsements by celebrities have propelled the brand's reputation to its peak.
Read more: HK brand Lee Kum Kee was born from accidental overcooking of oyster broth?
Deborah Tse and Nicholas Tse's star power boosted Pat Chun's fame
Ng Sheung Kwan has mentioned in TV interviews and on Pat Chun's social media that the wide recognition of Pat Chun's sweet vinegar ginger pig's feet is linked to Hong Kong artist Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒).
It turns out that when Nicholas Tse was born, his mother, Deborah Lee (狄波拉), hired Pak Chun to make ginger vinegar and distributed it to others.
"At that time, we didn't usually cook ginger vinegar for others. Deborah was the first one. She didn't know how to cook it herself, so she came to our shop and asked our staff if they could help and it turned into a business deal... Once, by a strange coincidence, I had a meal with Nicholas Tse. The first thing he said when he saw me was about this story, asking me to confirm it. His mother told him this, and my father told me this as well, so the story was true!"
The endorsement of the star mother and son made Pat Chun's reputation even stronger and opened up the business of cooking ginger vinegar for others.
Read more: Nicholas Tse is the first Hong Kong singer to perform at the Kai Tak Sports Park
Pat Chun embraces traditional fermentation methods and modern production techniques
Pat Chun initially operated as a family business in Mong Kok. In the 1950s and 1960s, the factory was moved to Kwai Chung and then Sai Kung.
In 2012, they further modernised the production processes by relocating to a new factory in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate. Over 90 years and three generations of leadership, this steadfast Hong Kong brand has continually kept up with the times.
"We believe that traditional manufacturing methods result in better-tasting products, so we still maintain natural fermentation. On the rooftop of our Tseung Kwan O factory, we naturally sun-dry the sauces. Inside the factory, automated machines are also set up to ensure quality assurance in terms of sterilisation, packaging, and product safety," said Ng Sheung Kwan.
In the third quarter of this year, Pat Chun will open its Tseung Kwan O factory to visitors ahead of schedule. The main attraction will undoubtedly be the giant vinegar jars taller than an adult.
Ng Sheung Kwan recently told the media that they are considering allowing tourists to observe the Chinese vinegar brewing process of Pat Chun, learn about the fermentation knowledge and history of traditional sauces, and even participate in the vinegar-making process.
This will provide insight into the cultural heritage of ginger vinegar for postpartum care and experience the charm of "Made in Hong Kong".
