The charms of Xiamen
- By Wei Yao
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E-mail China Today, March 9, 2017
Traditional Food
In addition to the beautiful environment and fascinating history and culture, Xiamen's traditional food is also a kind of heritage. Both at home and abroad, food is one of the most important ways for a traveler to experience a city. Travellers can get a stronger impression of the city through their tastebuds, while they digest the culture of the local food.
Xiamen's culinary culture has absorbed many different styles over its long history. Min Cuisine, of which Xiamen cuisine is representative, is one of the eight main cuisines in China. Due to geographical and historical context of the city, the culinary culture of Xiamen has many features of Chaozhou and Taiwan cuisine. It also amalgamates Malaysian and other Southeast Asian flavors, since it has long been a commercial hub on Southeast Asian trade routes. Xiamen cuisine primarily consists of seafood.
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The observation deck of Nan Putuo Temple on Wulao Peak commands the whole view of the Shimao Building, a landmark of Xiamen and Gulangyu Island. |
Thanks to Xiamen's coastal location, seafood forms the staple for local residents. Locals like to stir-fry seafood with soy sauce and a little chili – the specialty of local food stalls. This wonderfully fragrant and mildly spicy "soy-fry" is particularly good to eat while drinking beer and chatting with friends. "Tiny Squid" and "Tiny Glasses" are two local food stalls which have gained Internet fame. The word "Tiny" epitomizes the down-to-earth nature of Xiamen's cuisine.
The most famous vegetarian food is dished up at temples, including South Putuo Temple, Guanyin Mountain Temple and Hongshan Temple. In southern Fujian people traditionally follow Buddhism, so there are many vegetarians and vegetarian restaurants. This light, plant-based diet is quite different from stir-fried seafood.
Local snacks are Xiamen's calling-card. In this respect, Xiamen is similar to Taiwan, with a huge and varied snack culture. At one market alone there are over 200 different snacks, including the famous bamboo shoot jelly, fried oyster omelettes (a bit like the Taiwanese oyster pancake), noodles in satay sauce, spring rolls, roast meat dumplings, peanut soup, noodle congee, deep-fried snacks with Chinese Five-Spice, and Xiamen pancakes. Noodles in satay sauce are a typical example of imported food, from Southeast Asia – "satay" derives from the Indonesian word "sate." In addition to noodles, this spicy, aromatic sauce can be used to complement seafood, tofu and meat dishes.
Wei Yao is a staff reporter for Beijing Review.
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