中国·福州——热爱城市从热爱美食开始

Chefs focus on making dishes at the competition. (Photo courtesy of reporter Ye Xintong)

Fujian cuisine is famous for its delicacies from mountains and seas with a rich and delicate flavor. On the morning of the 27th, the 2023 Gulou District Bamin Food Carnival & Final of the Second Fujian Cuisine Innovation Competition came to a successful conclusion, with the theme of "New Taste of Fujian Cuisine in Gulou." This event was sponsored by the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce and Gulou District People's Government, and organized by Gulou District Bureau of Commerce, under the guidance of the Department of Commerce of Fujian Province. The winners of gold, silver and bronze awards of "New Fujian Cuisine in Gulou," Top Ten "Fujian Cuisine Restaurants," "2023 Classic Fujian Cuisine of Gulou," "2023 Innovative Fujian Cuisine of Gulou" and a number of other awards were selected on site.

Fushou Braised Pork Tripe, Braised Roche Shrimp with Garlic, Braised Pork Belly with Lemongrass, Braised Pork Meatballs in Yellow Croaker Broth … In the final competition, chefs from 20 restaurants displayed their skills to the full. Each of them made an "innovative Fujian dish" and a "classic Fujian dish" in just 50 minutes. They cooked ordinary ingredients into beautiful and mouth-watering dishes featuring a perfect combination of color, aroma and taste, with superb cooking skills.

The same ingredients can be made in different ways. So, what's new about traditional Fujian cuisine? As one of the most famous Fujian dishes, Instant-boiled Sea Clam in Chicken Broth is special dish unique to Fuzhou. "Traditionally, Instant-boiled Sea Clam in Chicken Broth uses Zhanggang sea clam and chicken as the main ingredients, supplemented by hot chicken broth, with a savory and fresh taste. At this competition, we innovatively added red mushrooms to the chicken broth to make it sweeter, tasty and more nutritious," said Chen Dong, a chef of Fuzhou Grand Hotel. Fuzhou Grand Hotel won the title of "Gold Award Restaurant of New Fujian Cuisine in Gulou" at the competition.

C&D Hotel Fuzhou made the dish of Instant-boiled Sea Clam, too, but it used jasmine chicken broth. "Jasmine tea is a specialty of Fuzhou. We used chicken broth as the main ingredient, and made an elaborate soup broth with extracts of hen flesh, pork tenderloin and beef, and filtered out all the grease, so that the broth was golden and transparent. We also added the jasmine tea that is unique to Fuzhou, to bring the chicken broth a light fragrance of team and jasmine flower," said Liu Zheng, manager of the Food Service Department, C&D Hotel Fuzhou. In addition to Instant-boiled Sea Clam in Jasmine Chicken Broth, C&D Hotel Fuzhou also cooked Braised Pork Meatballs in Yellow Croaker Broth, Avocado Crab Roll with Soy Sauce Caviar and Poached Lobster Balls with Lobster Bisque, and was successfully awarded "Top Ten Fujian Cuisine Restaurant in Gulou."

The chefs showed their skills at the competition and exchanged ideas after it. In front of the food exhibition, chefs from participating restaurants shared their opinions and experiences. Chen Dong said, "Through this competition, I learned more innovative ways of cooking."

"The works made by the chefs are perfect in their color, aroma and taste. The treatment and use of ingredients show their creativity and ingenuity." After tasting the dishes, the senior Chinese master chef Lin Liang spoke highly of them. "This competition provides a platform for the contestants to exchange their ideas about new Fujian dishes. In the future, we will pay more attention to the innovative development of new Fujian cuisine and create a new situation of high-quality development of the Fujian cuisine industry."

As the best area, Gulou District gathers a lot of characteristic Fujian cuisine restaurants. "The successful holding of the Second Gulou District Fujian Cuisine Innovation Competition has further helped Gulou build its brand image as the origin area, innovation area and consumption concentration area of Fujian cuisine." We hope that both foreign tourists and local citizens can find their favorite food in Gulou District, and the consumption of Fujian cuisine will promote the high-quality cultural, tourism, commercial and economic development," said the relevant responsible person of Gulou District Bureau of Commerce.

(Fuzhou Daily reporter: Ye Xintong; trainee reporter: Chen Junyi)