Food and Beverage
After successfully locating restaurants serving seven of China’s Eight Great Cuisines, I hit a roadblock. There didn’t seem to be any restaurants in Shenzhen serving dishes from the province of Fujian.
Fujian style noodles with sliced pork and vegetables in soy sauce and sesame butter at the Sha Xian Cook Shop in Shenzhen, China. Photo Credit: Accidental Travel Writer.
I did come across a couple of dimly sit places with signs indicating that they served Fujian food, but none of them looked very appealing. I had no desire to try any of them, let alone recommend them to others.
I enlisted the help of the concierge at a five-star hotel, and he offered to help me locate a Fujian style eatery.
He came back a couple of hours later with an address written in Chinese. It was on the other side of town, and it took me more than an hour to get there.
Boarded Up Storefront
When I arrived at the address, however, there was nothing more than a boarded up storefront. Asking a security guard at the building next door, I learned that the restaurant had closed down a few years earlier. I had lunch at a Hunanese restaurant instead.
Disappointed, I decided to head back to Hong Kong without having accomplished my Foodie Challenge: To Eat My Way Around China Without Leaving Shenzhen.
Before leaving Shenzhen, however, I had a massage. Then I stopped for a snack at my favourite noodle and dumpling shop, which is located next to the massage parlour.
I had been going there for more than two years, but I had never bothered to determine what type of food they served. All I knew was that it was yummy – and very, very cheap!
As I tucked into my steamed dumplings, I decided to ask the owner’s wife where they were from.
“Fujian Province,” she declared proudly.
“Really?” I asked. “What kind of food is this?”
When she replied that it was Fujian food, I knew that I had successfully – and accidentally – reached my destination. My culinary tour of China – all within the city limits of Shenzhen – was complete.
That is when I started thinking of myself as the Accidental Travel Writer. Because most of my coolest travel discoveries have been made entirely by accident.
Copyright: Michael Taylor
China’s Eight Great Cuisines: an Introduction
Foodie Challenge: Can I Eat My Way Around China Without Leaving Shenzhen?
Eight Great Cuisines of China (中国8大菜系 )
Cantonese Cuisine: China’s Most Popular Cooking Style (粤菜)
Chiu Chow Cuisine: Regional Cantonese Food (潮州菜 )
Hakka Cuisine: Regional Cantonese Food (客家菜)
Shun Tak Cuisine: Regional Cantonese Food (信德 菜)
Hunanese Cuisine: Chairman Mao’s Favourite (湘菜)
Sichuanese Cuisine: Famous for Numbing Peppers （川菜）
Jiangsu Cuisine: Huaiyang Food (Part 1) （蘇菜）
Zhejiang Cuisine: Huaiyang Food (Part 2) （浙菜）
Anhui Cuisine: China’s Best Kept Culinary Secret? （徽菜）
Shandong Cuisine: This Is Where Peking Duck Originates （魯菜）
Fujian Cuisine: Popular in Taiwan（闽菜）
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