Fujian | Sybaritica

2008: Hippocrene Books  ISBN-13: 978-0781811835

Most Chinese cookery books available for purchase (and most in my own collection) deal with Chinese cuisine as a whole and I like it when I come across books that specialize in a particular region. There are quite a lot of Cantonese cookbooks around, and in the last decade or so, Sichuan cookery books have become quite numerous, but this book is the first I have come across that focuses only on Fujianese cuisine.

Fujian, once known as ‘Fukien’, is a province about the size of England on China’s southeast coast right beside Guangdong (Canton). The Fujian people, like the Cantonese, also emigrated in large numbers, particularly to North America, and many have become owners of, or workers in Chinese restaurants. Despite this, one doesn’t often see restaurants that advertise themselves as specializing in, or offering Fujian cuisine. They exist, of course, and New York City seems to have a fair number, but I have yet to come across one myself. Luckily, with this book, I can do a little exploration of this interesting cuisine on my own…  Read more