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Hong Kong’s pork fat-macerated rice wine is drawing new drinkers
Yuk Bing Siu, a Chinese delicacy made by macerating rice wine in pork fat, was a big hit in Hong Kong back in the 50s. Joyce Yip examines its efforts in getting back on the radar of younger drinkers.

Nestled in a street corner of Sham Shui Po – one of Hong Kong’s oldest and densest districts – is Kwong Yu Yee, a neighbourhood alcohol-cum-knick knack shop. Within its cupboards is an ancient ceramic urn housing rice wine and a white block of pork fat – a concoction known as “Yuk Bing Siu”. Customers must bring their own containers – glass mugs and ketchup bottles are both welcomed – and purchases are poured-to-order through an equally dated funnel.
Dating back to the 1800s in Foshan – a city located 133 kilometres north of Hong Kong that was then exempted from alcohol tax – Yuk Bing Siu is an amalgamation of jade (“yuk”), a homophone of “meat”; “bing” or ice, describing the appearance of the pork fat; and “siu”, meaning spirit.
Originally intended for ceremonial purposes, Yuk Bing Siu eventually made its way to Hong Kong – the 128-year-old Kwong Yu Yee, for instance, moved its shop from Guangzhou more than 70 years ago. It remains one of a handful of independent Yuk Bing Siu makers in Hong Kong. Today, the spirit is used for cooking, cocktails and drinking at meals.

The spirit, at 30% ABV, is transparent with a touch of amber and comes with an umami aftertaste as a result of the pork.
In its 1950s heyday, Yuk Bing Siu was sold across alcohol retailers, neighbourhood grocers and even apothecaries. But it soon saw its demise as its prime demographic aged. Preferences shifted towards imported wines and spirits and evolving health and safety regulations also lowered demand.
Kwong Yu Yee’s Wong, who declined to give his full name, says his shop used to house more than 10 macerating urns, and the spirit was sold in bottles to throngs of local and international customers lined up in front of his previously two-story shop.
However, its small batch production failed to compete with the commercial runs by Mainland Chinese food company Pearl River Bridge in the 1980s. Bottling therefore stopped and the spirit became pour-to-order.
Until now, Wong says, the one remaining urn has been serving the odd, curious customer.
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“Honestly, we don’t want to make Yuk Bing Siu anymore. It’s more a pastime. I’d love it if another independent brewer can continue this tradition, but we just don’t have the bandwidth nor the demand to keep making it,” he says.

However, recent interest in Hong Kong culture among young locals has prompted a renewed fascination in the spirit.
Taking a more innovative approach to surviving the Cantonese spirit is 140-year-old Wing Lee Wai, one of the oldest Chinese wine distilleries in Hong Kong, located just 30 minutes by car from Kwong Yu Yee. A few years ago, Wing Lee Wai renewed its Yuk Bing Siu recipe – which had been designed for cooking – with a creamy vanilla profile that has caught the eye of mixologists.
Though Yuk Bing Siu doesn’t pull in the big bucks at Wing Lee Wai compared to its other Chinese alcohols, its staff say interest from younger crowds has increased in the past few years thanks to the growing popularity of other Chinese spirits like baijiu.

Gavin Yeung is the co-founder of Hong Kong cocktail bar Kinsman. His obsession with Cantonese spirits started with his first bottle of Yuk Bing Siu from Wing Lee Wai.
“Its incredible notes of pandan, rose and vanilla cream catapulted me into Cantonese spirits,” he says, adding that its versatile flavour profile and manageable ABV complement most cocktails.

The spirit is currently featured in Kinsman’s best-selling ‘Milk & Honey’ cocktail – a concoction of milky oolong tea, lychee honey and pineapple rum. Yuk Bing Siu also features in the bar’s ‘Harvest & Sowings’ serve, a vegetal cocktail that pays homage to festive culinary traditions of the Hoklo people from the southern Fujian province.
“I’d consider Yuk Bing Siu to be a gateway Cantonese spirit for bartenders,” he says. “I guess you can call it a bridge between the base spirit and the rest of the ingredients.”
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