In above drawing, 6.2.45 handwritten by the author's convention is 6 Feb. 1945.
To ordinary people, watercress may be mostly related to salad and western recipes by the 19th century(*), as showed on newspapers then.
It is interesting that Dr Herklots noted also in his book on vegetables growing in HK.
In the Colony large areas are devoted to the culture of this crop
which is highly nutritious and much liked by the Chinese who eat it
cooked with pork. (+)
The earliest record we could find watercress cited is most likely : HK Daily Press of 1865[1], and with price in China Directory (Shortrede & Co., 1867).
In one other notice to ship owners and masters on sea-scurvy[2], this advice is also read :
A full supply of such Vegetables as may be most easily procured, viz., Potatoes, Greens, Radishes, Watercresses;
the latter vegetable is a powerful antiscorbutic and easily procurable...
In between hotel banquet and clay pot soup, how watercress adapted into daily home dishes locally may be fairly interesting to find out more.
Below may be some snapshots on its course pre-WWII.
(*) supper menu by HK for the visiting Prussia Prince Henry, catered by Victoria Hotel, lists under Game, these vegetables :
tomatoes, celery, lettuce, watercress - Hongkong Daily Press 1898-3-31, p.2
(+) Dr Herklots may not have good chance in the 30s to taste the popular long-simmered watercress soup though (slow-boiled with pork and honey dates, e.g. link : a Chinese cook's 30-year experience; 1st published c.1954)
if to use the Michelin Hk classification, it is kind of slow-cooked soup
Stroll along the timeline
In 1901, some streets in Kennedy Town are mentioned about growing of watercress in the Sanitary Board meeting. It was few years after the Plague (1894).
I have been down to Kennedy Town to-day and found swampy ground and pools of
water on the waste land called Cadogan Street, immediately to the west of the old glass works,
while to the south of the remaining portion of the lot occupied by silk works is a
flourishing watercress bed which can only be traversed by brick stepping stones; to the south
of this again is the land marked on the map as Forbes Street, which is also water logged. [3a]
Dr Bell... He went down on Saturday and saw what he thought was the site mentioned by M.O.H.
He thought the man there had a squatter's license and was trying to grow vegetables.
Of course where there was water-cress there was a swamp. If they had seen that they
might have recommended... [3b]
In the year 1910, for example, watercress wholesale price is $4 to $6 per picul (~ 133 lb), which is more expensive than other greens except celery. [4]
By 1926, the sanitary issue of growing watercress is still noted by the Sanitary Board. [5]
In the 30s, we see some Kowloon areas named in one feature article of the Daily Press[6] :
From the Kowloon Dairy Farm as far west as Kowloon Tong, and to
a certain extent to the south of Kowloon City, there is a huge area
of level land at present under cultivation. Scarcely any of it is used
for growing paddi, and it is mostly under watercress and other vegetable
produce.
As some gwulo reader reminded us before, watercress is also a street's name, derived from Cantonese pronunciation - Sai Yeung Choi Street.
In fact, there is observed usage of the name Sai Yeung Choi (or, Choy) on HK English newspapers from 1902, or earlier.
Although a "20 Watercress Road, Mongkok" was addressed in a telegram received by the Post Office from Saigon in 1935[7], the former one has been the official name since 1924. [8]
By the way, her sister nearby 'Tung Choi' Street is also named after a vegetable. Its varieties in two forms detailed in Herklots' book. [9]
sources and notes
1. Hongkong Daily Press 1865-10-31 p.4, issued by Inspector of Markets
2. HK Gov't Gazette, Sept 1864
3. [a] Hongkong Telegraph 1901-2-6; [b] ibid, 1901-2-7
4. Blue Book 1910, p.U3
5. minute related to mosquito-breeding on watercress beds in New Kowloon; Hongkong Daily Press 1926-5-4
6. Hongkong Daily Press 1933-3-11 (among a series of feature articles on 'The future of Kowloon', started 2 Mar. 1933)
7. Hongkong Daily Press 1935-7-22
8. one of the seven streets in Mongkok stated in one go : HK Gov't Gazette, Aug 1924
9. water spinach (ipomoea reptans poir), a.k.a. Ung3 Ts'oi3 甕菜