Exploring Fujian Cuisine from Historical Data of Navy Yard, Naval Banquet of Navy Yard to Be Launched in the Year
Dishes of the Naval Banquet of Navy Yard (Photo/Fuzhou Navy YardManagement Committee)
Jelly Fish Head, Marinated Fish with Five Spices, Stir-fried Prawn with Vegetables, Stuffed Crabs…These traditional Fujian dishes will be presented at the “Naval Banquet of Navy Yard.”The reporter learned on October 19 that the "Naval Banquet of Navy Yard" will be launchedin the year to show the beauty of traditional Fujian cuisine a hundred years ago.
The Navy Yard seems to have nothing to do with Fujian cuisine, but it has written a unique chapter in the history of Chinese catering culture. More than 100 years ago, the Navy Yard was founded in Mawei, and Fuzhou people became the largest group involved in China's naval construction.As the navy stationed all over the country and communicated with other countries, Fujian cuisine appearedin many regions of China, and there were also records of Fujian cuisine in historical materials about the navy yard and navy.When the US Navy visited China in 1908, the then naval commander Sa Zhenbing prepareda banquet in Xiamen. According to the recorded recipes, mainly Chinese dishes were served at the banquet, supplemented by Western desserts in order for friendly relations. The “Naval Banquet of Navy Yard”was restored according to the “recipes” at that time.At the beginning of the last century, the Shanghai-based Shenbaopublished a report on the connection between the navy and Fujian cuisine. The article said, there was little Fujian food in Shanghai. ButShanghai became an important military port since the end of the Qing Dynasty, and a large number of Fujian navy soldiers came to Shanghai. Since then, Fujian cuisine restaurants emerged and developed, and even affected the taste of Shanghai locals.
According to reports, some dishes in the recipes have been lost due to complex procedures and rare ingredients. The restoration team visited the inheritors of Fujian cuisine and scholars of Fujian cuisine culture, studied the recipes, ingredients, and cooking techniques, and finally formed the "Naval Banquet of Navy Yard."
“It is of great significance for the promotion of Fujian cuisine and "Fu" culture to explore the story of Fujian cuisine from the historical data of the Navy Yard and restore the Fujian dishes that have been unknown for a long time,”said Chen Yue, chairman of Mawei Navy Yard Culture Research Society. According to reports, many traditional Fujian dishes have gradually been forgotten due tothe exquisite ingredients, complicated cooking procedures and difficulties in inheritance, but they have been fixed in the historical memory of the Navy Yard and modern navy, leaving a way for people today to explore the beauty of traditional Fujian dishes a hundred years ago.(Fuzhou Daily reporter: Ouyang Jinquan;Correspondent:Wu Danhong)