Fujian Cuisine Restaurants Are Included in "Black Pearl", Creating a Perfect Opportunity for Fujian Cuisine to Go Global
Two restaurants from Fuzhou made a debut on "Black Pearl." (Photo courtesy of Meituan)
On January 25, the "2024 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide" was released in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. A total of 341 restaurants from 30 cities around the world were shortlisted. The guide was launched simultaneously on China's on-demand service platform Meituan and the food-rating platform Dazhong Dianping. Fuzhou was one of the two new cities included in the "Black Pearl" in 2024, and its two local restaurants, Xuanheyuan (Huaqiao New Village) and Zheng Chunfa Fotiaoqiang (Sandi Center), successfully made the list.
According to introduction, since its inception in 2018, the “Black Pearl Restaurant Guide” has been popular with catering practitioners and consumers. The inclusion of two Fuzhou-based restaurants with local characteristics in the "Black Pearl" not only shows the strong vitality of Fujian cuisine in the catering market, but also brings more opportunities for Fuzhou to further promote Fujian cuisine in China and even the world, and build a city of gastronomy.
Amazing the world: Fujian cuisine goes global with exquisite production and delicate flavors
The Analects of Confucius has these words, “He was never tired of having his rice finely cleaned, or his minced meat cut quite small.” Catering, as an important part of daily life, has always enjoyed a broad consumer market.
In recent years, with the vigorous development of the catering industry, fine dining services that focus on diners and aim to achieve emotional resonance through the five senses of taste, sight, touch, hearing and smell as well as better experience of diners, are growing rapidly with the continuous pursuit of consumers for a better life.
"Culinary skills, service environment, inheritance and innovation are important contents of our selection system." "We hope that the 'Black Pearl' is not just a simple display of 'high-priced dining,' but a list with a high price-to-quality ratio, which consumers can trust and belongs to the Chinese people themselves."
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Although the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide has not published any quantifiable assessment standards, we have learned about the local practice of Fuzhou restaurants in order for making the list of "Black Pearl" restaurants from the content shared at the event site.
"As long as we want to eat Fuzhou dishes, we will come here because of its good taste and elegant environment." "Whenever my friends come from out of town, I bring them here for dinner." … For many picky diners, Xuanheyuan is a good choice for them to introduce Fuzhou cuisine to their friends from other places. Either the authentic dishes with pure flavor, or the classical and elegant restaurant layout silently tells the story of Fujian cuisine that remains relevant and up-to-date.
"We are very glad to be included in the Black Pearl. This not only puts new pressure on us, but also gives us new motivation. We will use food as an important carrier to better showcase the extensive and profound aesthetics and culture of Fujian cuisine," said Gao Feng, founder of Xuanheyuan.
As a common saying goes, the greater hermit lives in seclusion in the city. Xuanheyuan as a “greater hermit” in Huaqiao New Village shows the exquisiteness and delicacy of Fujian cuisine culture incisively and vividly. In the Sandi Center, Fotiaoqiang, the No. 1 dish of Fujian cuisine, integrates ingredients from mountains and seas and features a rich and savory taste, allowing the fine gene of "inclusiveness" in the inheritance of Fujian cuisine to persist.
“Its aroma was so tempting that it could entice even a vegetarian monk to forsake his vows and jump over the temple wall for a taste.” More than 100 years ago, Zheng Chunfa, a Grade-6 official chef, created Fotiaoqiang. It integrated the essence of delicacies from mountains and seas, with overflowing fragrance, thus enjoying a good reputation in the world as the "No. 1 Soup in China." Zheng Chunfa Fotiaoqiang (Sandi Center) pursues innovation and excellence while maintaining the original flavor. Its Fotiaoqiang smells great and tastes fresh and delicious, making it a quality choice for diners to enjoy the charm of Fuzhou from the taste buds.
"We are very surprised and confident about the future!" Although his restaurants have won many awards, it is still very special to be on the list of “Black Pearl” for Zhang Jianming, founder of the brand of Zheng Chunfa Fotiaoqiang.
"Some people who don't know Fuzhou cuisine may think it's not fine enough. We are included in the 'Black Pearl' this time. This proves that Fuzhou cuisine is a high-end, fine cuisine which has a very strong vitality." Zhang Jianming said, "Seeing that various regions are breaking the limitations of cultural tourism to attract wide attention and drive local development, we also hope to take the opportunity of being included into the 'Black Pearl' list to further establish a benchmark of fine dining in Fuzhou, promote the high-quality development of Fujian cuisine, and make positive contributions to the cultural tourism and urban economic growth in Fuzhou."
"Last year, high-end Fujian cuisine restaurants grew by 103% in the fine dining industry. Consumers are paying more attention to regional attributes and cultural meanings of dishes," said Chen Yue, Meituan's dine-in service analysis head. Nowadays, the local cuisine represented by Fujian cuisine is growing rapidly, playing an important role in the diversification of fine dining in China.
Fuzhou made a debut on "Black Pearl." (Photo courtesy of Meituan)
Zheng Chunfa Fotiaoqiang (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
Flourishing: All kinds of Fujian dishes are in full bloom
As one of the eight major cuisines in China, Fujian cuisine is a collection of delicacies from mountains and seas, with a rich and savory taste. Fuzhou, as the birthplace of Fujian cuisine, has given birth to a great number of unique local dishes.
However, good wine still needs bush. How should we make local cuisine flourish and be known to millions of families? This has always been an important direction for Fuzhou to keep promoting the development of Fujian cuisine.
"Two restaurants in Fuzhou made the list of 'Black Pearl' this time. In addition to their own strength, the full efforts of the relevant departments in Fuzhou were also indispensable," Huang Lyubing, chairman of Fuzhou Catering and Cuisine Industry Association told the reporter. In September last year, under the promotion of the Fuzhou Municipal Government, the new city plan of Meituan’s "Black Pearl" was launched in Fuzhou, thus the judges had the opportunity to visit various restaurants in Fuzhou, laying a foundation for Fuzhou restaurants to be included in the "Black Pearl" list.
In fact, in recent years, in order to build an international consumption center city and bid for “City of Gastronomy”, Fuzhou has spared no effort to carry out a series of targeted measures to promote the development of Fujian cuisine:
Fuzhou has introduced a series of new policies successively, such as the Three-year Action Plan for Promoting the Prosperity of Fujian Cuisine, the Three-year Action Plan of Fuzhou City for the Protection and Development of Fujian Cuisine and the Work Plan of Fuzhou on Bidding for “City of Gastronomy”, providing strong support for the development of Fujian cuisine;
Fuzhou has been active in building big platforms, including the 16th China International Catering Industry Expo, the 23rd Chinese Food Festival, the 32nd China Chefs Festival and other important platforms, and set up the first Fujian cuisine culture museum in China. Fuzhou is becoming more and more influential in the catering industry;
Fuzhou has won a number of new honors. Last year, Fuzhou was awarded the "International City of Gastronomy (Fujian Cuisine)" by the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry, and included in the list of "Fujian Cuisine Landmark City" by the China Hospitality Association. Its golden sign of City of Gastronomy has been increasingly brighter;
Fuzhou has continued to expand new space. Last year alone, Fuzhou held the Fujian food promotion "Fuzhou, the City of Gastronomy" in Shanghai, Yangzhou, Chengdu and other cities, and held the "Fujian Food Carnival," Fuzhou Fotiaoqiang Cultural Festival, Fuzhou Fish Ball Cultural Festival, etc. on a regular basis. Fuzhou cuisine is spreading more and more widely …
Now, the booming Fujian cuisine market is the best proof. According to the statistics of the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, currently there are a total of more than 50,000 catering market players in Fuzhou, with more than 500,000 employees and more than 800 Fujian cuisine masters. Fuzhou has a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of Fujian cuisine making skills. Juchunyuan Group's Fotiaoqiang making skills have been included in the list of the national intangible cultural heritage. In addition, Fuzhou has built 12 municipal food experience demonstration streets (towns), and set up 84 provincial "Fujian cuisine restaurants," effectively driving the growth of catering consumption.
According to statistics, in 2023, the sales of enterprises above the limit reached 20.841 billion yuan in the whole city, a year-on-year increase of 17.4%, and the sales of the whole industry reached 51.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%.
Today, a number of steaming Fujian dishes with overflowing fragrance, such as the stir-fried pork liver that tastes tender and crisp and smells fresh and mellow, instant-boiled sea clam in chicken broth that tastes fresh, sweet and delicious and integrates flavors of mountain delicacies and seafood, fish balls and pork wonton which are unique and boast a fresh, savory taste and a bouncy texture, make Fujian cuisine more attractive and vibrant, tickling the taste buds of people.
Leadership of benchmark: Promote Fujian cuisine to go global
"We believe that fine dining will return to local characteristics. We will use local ingredients, focus on the combination with local characteristics, and tell local stories," said Zhang Chuan, senior vice president of Meituan, at the event site. In 2023, China's catering revenue exceeded 5.2 trillion yuan, which means that fine dining still has broad prospects. In his eyes, "return" is the key word.
This view coincided with that of Wu Rong, owner of Yanyu Restaurant. He was born in Fuzhou, grew up in Xiamen, and promoted Fujian cuisine to Shanghai. At the event, Wu Rong not only won the first "Dish of the Year Award" of Black Pearl with a dish of Baked Lipu Taro with Scallion Sauce and Gravy integrating local characteristics of Fujian, but also won the 2024 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide "Chef of the Year Award," becoming the first Grand Slam chef in the history of "Black Pearl."
"I cook not only Xiamen dishes or Fujian dishes, but also Fujian dishes." Wu Rong's restaurant not only uses Fujian cuisine cooking techniques to cook high-quality ingredients from all over the country and even abroad, but also uses advanced foreign cooking concepts to cook Fujian local ingredients.
Not long ago, Fujian Province issued the Three-year Action Plan for Accelerating the Innovation and Development of New Fujian Cuisine, proposing to continuously promote the branding, specialization, standardization, large-scale and international development of Fujian cuisine. Now, with Fuzhou's participation in the "Black Pearl," Fujian cuisine enjoys more development opportunities. It is said that in 2023, the search volume of "Black Pearl" increased by 49% year-on-year. It has become a trusted choice for fine dining consumers.
"Fujian cuisine is extensive and profound. We hope that led by the listed restaurants as a benchmark, the peer restaurants can start with the details of dishes, service experience, environment design to jointly promote more restaurants in Fuzhou and even Fujian to make the list of ‘Black Pearl’ and expand the fine dining market," said Huang Lyubing.
A relevant responsible person of the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce said, "In the future, under the guidance of the Three-year Action Plan for Accelerating the Innovation and Development of New Fujian Cuisine issued by our province, we will take the opportunity of being included in the 'Black Pearl' list to further build a new brand of high-end catering consumption, drive the inheritance and protection of Fujian cuisine on this basis, continue to promote the Fujian cuisine cultural exchange 'Fuzhou, the City of Gastronomy,' create a new scene of prosperous Fujian cuisine consumption, and promote the high-quality development of the catering industry."
Zheng Chunfa Fotiaoqiang (Sandi Center) (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
Xuanheyuan (Huaqiao New Village) (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
Related links
Xuanheyuan (Huaqiao New Village)
As one of the two Fuzhou-based restaurants debuting on the list of “Black Pearl,” it was rated as the One-Diamond Restaurant of “Black Pearl” in 2024.
Fujian cuisine dates back to the Song Dynasty and boasts a thousand-year charm. Founded in Fuzhou in 2005, Xuanheyuan is committed to creating a catering cultural space that integrates Fuzhou cuisine, Wuyi tea and traditional Chinese aesthetics. Xuanhe Yuan's Fotiaoqiang is made on the basis of traditional Fotiaoqiang, combined with modern ingredients and techniques. It uses the ingredients of abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin and fish maw, together with thick but not greasy broth, striving for a balance that is "gorgeous but not gaudy." It created the dish "Yanyun Fotiaoqiang" which features a unique flavor of rock tea, because of the addition of Wuyi rock tea.
Xuanheyuan's Instant-boiled Sea Clam in Chicken Broth is made of the chicken that has been free-ranged for more than a year, without adding any chemical condiments like chicken essence or monosodium glutamate. The chef removes the grease of chicken broth and blanches local sea clam in the broth, which makes the sea clam fresh and sweet. Xuanheyuan is committed to using natural and traditional techniques to present Fujian cuisine culture to its customers.
Zheng Chunfa Fotiaoqiang (Sandi Center)
As one of the two Fuzhou-based restaurants debuting on the list of “Black Pearl,” it was rated as the One-Diamond Restaurant of “Black Pearl” in 2024.
Known as "the No.1 Soup in China," "Famous Dish of State Banquet" and "the No. 1 Dish of Fujian cuisine," Fotiaoqiang was first created by the Grade-6 official chef Zheng Chunfa in Fuzhou during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, and is now inherited by the 5th-generation inheritor of intangible cultural heritage skills who is also a registered Chinese culinary master.
Using 28 kinds of ingredients from mountains and seas, Zheng Chunfa's Fotiaoqiang is made through 108 procedures in 72 hours. It smells great and tastes fresh and delicious. Besides, it is supplemented with seasonal vegetables of the 24 solar terms, thus containing the health culture of "sowing in spring, growing in summer, harvesting in autumn, and storing in winter." Diners can enjoy not only a wonderful dining experience here, but also a discovery of the origin of Fotiaoqiang culture. The design of the restaurant integrates the cultural elements of lanes and alleys in Fuzhou, and uses the courtyard of the Ming and Qing dynasties, saddle walls, bodiless lacquerware and other scenery for landscaping, which embodies the profound culture, reflects the low-key simplicity and charm, and vividly shows its "inclusiveness" from the senses of taste and sight.
Black Pearl Restaurant Guide
The “Black Pearl Restaurant Guide” is the first food guide released by Meituan that proposes a standard for Chinese food and aims to create a restaurant guide with a unique Chinese perspective. All restaurants are evaluated based on culinary skills, service environment, inheritance and innovation. Since its launch in 2018, the "Black Pearl Restaurant Guide" has been committed to continuously meeting consumers' pursuit of delicious food, and helping the local catering industry improve its attention and quality through an open review system, increasing cities, and industry exchanges.
(Fuzhou Daily Reporter: Wu Huazhen; Intern: Fu Yijing)