[Explanation] Shapowei is one of the oldest ports in Xiamen. It not only has a profound historical heritage, it is also a popular landmark for young people to take pictures.
Born in 1988, Zhang Shuipo came to Shapowei and worked as a chef at the top-floor restaurant of a gourmet city transformed from an old factory building. With 20 years of cooking experience, he is striving to innovate and retain the traditional cuisine of southern Fujian. "Ancient taste".
[Explanation] Chefs may not be the hardest job, but they rarely have holidays and often accompany oily smoke.
Zhang Shuipo, who entered the industry at a young age, doesn't mind. He has developed a keen interest in the chef industry since he was a child. In his opinion, cooking is not so much a technique as an art.
[Concurrent] Zhang Shuipo, the chef of Xiamen Shapo Weiyun Hai Ya Banquet
I think cooking is a bit like artistic creation, that is, it must go through repeated trials, such as failing, and then adjusting the proportions, and then presenting what I imagined in my mind to the table. This process is very painful. But if it is really presented on the table, the effect is the same as in your mind, that is a sense of accomplishment.
[Explanation] It is made by hand-made dishes based on historical heritage. Food with a nostalgic taste is the "old taste" in the minds of South Fujianese.
Zhang Shuipo, who has been around for many years, has never forgotten the Yongchun old vinegar whole pig from his hometown from the Qing Dynasty. The taste of this dish is too strong and it is not suitable for everyone. Therefore, he led the team through more than three months of trial and error to preserve the tradition Under the premise of "ancient taste", new elements have been added.
[Concurrent] Zhang Shuipo, the chef of Xiamen Shapo Weiyun Hai Ya Banquet
Traditional Hokkien cuisine may not have that high recognition among the eight major cuisines, which will lead to a stereotyped prejudice. It seems that Hokkien has nothing to be on the table, but we just take the roots or elements of our Hokkien tradition. Keep it, making it more in line with contemporary aesthetics.
[Explanation] Once entering the kitchen, there is a state of excitement similar to that of athletes on the field. Zhang Shuipo, who has been trying to study, hopes to share the "old taste" of southern Fujian with the guests from all over the world through his own efforts.
For this reason, Bole Yang Huiyan from Zhang Shuipo also felt the same way. She pushed for drastic spatial transformation of the top floor of the old factory building and supported Zhang Shuipo's ingenious creation, only to better spread the Minnan culture.
[Concurrent] Yang Huiyan, the person in charge of Yunhai Ya Banquet, Shapowei, Xiamen
Many young people like to chase new things, so we just want to say that we still want to inherit our traditional Minnan culture, and inherit our very original Minnan cuisine, through our improvement and innovation of Minnan cuisine With integration, it can be said that we better inherit our Southern Fujian culture.
[Explanation] It is understood that, as the only sheltered dock in the busy city of Xiamen, Fujian, Shapowei is now renewed. The factories and old buildings here have been renovated and restarted. There are dozens of authentic southern Fujian delicacies and become a tourist attraction in Xiamen. New business card.
Li Siyuan and Qian Xiaoyun report from Xiamen, Fujian
Editor in charge: 【Luo Pan】