Shaxian chefs serve up a taste of home
2021-01-06 China Daily Editor:Mo Hong'e
A worker checks cured ducks in a workshop at a food industry park in Shaxian county, Fujian province, on Nov 18, 2020. (Photo/Xinhua)
The popular and affordable cuisine has spread, thanks to the efforts of cooks from the county
When people want to grab some food but can't be bothered going to a fancy restaurant, they can almost always find a Shaxian eatery in a corner of their city.
By last year, about 60,000 residents had left their homes in Shaxian county, Fujian province, to seek their fortunes running restaurants. China has about 88,000 Shaxian eateries, the county government said.
The most famous Shaxian dishes are steamed dumplings, soups, dried noodles with special sauce and wontons.
Mao Feilong, a 44-year-old Shaxian local, joined the exodus of cooks 23 years ago. He said that besides its affordability and good flavor, the secret of the Shaxian food's spreading popularity lies in the ability of people from the county to work hard.
"Shaxian people will work like crazy if they spot a profitable business opportunity," Mao said.
He closed his restaurant in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, in August so he could look after his mother while she underwent hospital treatment for a debilitating illness, and is now learning more Shaxian cooking skills at a training school set up by the county government.
Mao previously ran a number of Shaxian eateries in cities across the country, including Fuzhou, Fujian's capital, Jincheng in Shanxi province, Erdos in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Jiaxing and Huzhou in Zhejiang.
His customers were mainly workers from nearby construction sites, including forklift drivers and businesspeople from Fujian. Last year he earned about 20,000 yuan ($3,034) a month.
Chefs cook the special dishes at an eatery in Shaxian on Nov 18, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
Born into a farming family, Mao's parents couldn't afford his education and he quit school at the age of 16. He made a living as a construction worker until he realized that Shaxian food was becoming increasingly popular in big cities and could be a profitable business.
He opened his first eatery in Fuzhou in 1997. Eight years later he decided to leave because his customers told him that Fujian people working outside the province were eager for a taste of home.
In 2005, he moved to Jincheng and to his surprise, not only Fujian people, but also Shanxi people, had the taste for Shaxian food.
His eatery had 10 tables, and according to him customers needed to wait in line most of the time for a spot.
"Lots of businessmen liked to eat my food, especially after they finished a dinner party at which they just drunk wine without eating any food. They liked to eat a bowl of noodles to fill their stomachs," he said.
"I would call the next customer in as soon as one stood up from the table. Every day I started work at 8 am and ended 19 hours later at 3 am," he said.
An instructor carries a tray of Shaxian-style dumplings made by her students at a cooking school on Nov 23, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
After midnight, Mao began preparing the ingredients for the next day. Sauces and spices were sourced from Shaxian to ensure the authenticity of the flavors.
"As far as I know, my eatery was the first one of its kind in Jincheng because nobody dared to open a restaurant that just sold food to cater for southern people in a northern city," he said, "But my success proved that Shaxian food was able to make it in the city."
In 2011, Mao's landlord terminated his lease so he had to move. A friend had bought a Ferrari luxury car with the earnings from his Shaxian restaurant in Erdos, and Mao was encouraged to seek his fortune there from the large community of migrant coal workers hungry for a taste of home.
However, after the local government suspended some coal operations due to shrinking demand and environmental protection regulations, Mao lost his customer base and moved to Zhejiang in 2012.
His cousins ran Shaxian eateries there, and Mao said he felt guilty about losing contact with his family in Fujian. "Over the past 20 years, I've returned home once a year and stayed for just a week," he said. "I didn't stay with or comfort my wife during her pregnancy or see my father before he died 10 years ago.
"But what reassures me is that I've used the money earned from the eateries to pay for my mother's medical treatment, buy an apartment in my hometown and support my daughter."
His current plans is to improve his cooking skills while helping look after his recuperating mother. He eventually wants to open an eatery in his hometown.
Shaxian food enterprises that dispatch ingredients around the country have also increased work opportunities.
Last year, the per capita disposable income of the county's rural residents was 20,000 yuan, up from 2,800 yuan in 1997, the local government said.
Copyright©1999-2021 Chinanews.com All rights reserved.