| Luk Kam Kee |  |
Proudly naming itself “King of Melon Seeds”, what claims does the shop have? It is bestselling certainly; during Lunar New Year long queues form at the door to get in. Every single day they sell several thousand catties of melon seeds. Their prices can be three times the usual market prices. It is something remarkable!
The founder Mr. Luk Kam Lee is a native of Zhejiang Province. He came to Hong Kong in 1949, and at first he sold spiced dry beans (“Ng Heung Dou’s”) as a street hawker. He saw the market opportunities for Shanghai food, so he specifically went to Shanghai to be an apprentice, after coming back to Hong Kong, he started a shop in Tsuen Wan and so, that was how his Melon Seeds Kingdom started.
Making and selling melon seeds seem to be small-fry business, but to really prepare seeds properly, a lot of skills are needed, from washing the seeds, frying and packaging - the whole process is closely attended to by staff, and there is nothing like this produced anywhere else.
Upon entering the shop, one will find that besides the renowned red melon seeds and black melon seeds, there are all kinds of traditional snacks – very salty dried plums, dried apricots, dried sweet potato slices, liquorice olives, pistachios, walnuts.... also brittle fried sweet dough sticks, dried beef slices, cloud-chip cakes, all the imaginable salty, sour, fragrant, sweet old tastes, adhered to for decades, truly capturing the hearts and taste buds of customers.
The second generation owner is Mr. Luk’s son, Simon Luk, who began to fry melon seeds when he was a boy, learning from his father. He took after the business after his father retired and changed the management style from traditional family business to contemporary styles to adjust to the changing market demands.
| Date founded: | 1949 |
| Founder: | Mr. Luk Kam Lee, and now managed by his eldest son Mr Simon Luk |
| Address: | 5 Tai Ho Road, Tsuen Wan |
| Telephone: | 2492 2251 |
