8 grand traditions of chinese cuisine: fujian

So, I have about 3 weeks before I leave, and I'm already almost halfway done with the 8 Grand Traditions of Chinese cuisine.  I am very impressed with myself.  

Fujian food was good, but didn't eclipse Anhui.  We had a broad range of dishes, ranging from Iron Pan Chicken Balls to Jellied Seafood.  The Iron Pan Chicken Balls--balls of Chicken meat, I'll have you know--were served mixed with onions, peppers, and oil.  This was a dish that I have had and enjoyed before, without realizing that it was Fujian dish.  

The Jellied Seafood was a bit disappointing.   The texture was very provocative, but as an American, with a somewhat limited appreciation for what the Chinese call and I translate as, "mouth-feel", it wasn't very flavorful.  However, it was served with a delicious sweet chili sauce that was very reminiscent of Thai food.  Is eating sauce with a spoon wrong?   

My favorite dish of the night was the sweet and sour pork balls.  Like most Americans know, the balls were served fried under a bright orange sauce.  It reminded me of Tasty-Goody's 2 lb. meal deal, but of much better quality.  The sauce, although it didn't look subtle, had a nuanced taste that I have yet to experience in an American restaurant.  In addition, the pork balls were stuffed with water chestnuts, which added texture to the dish, something I often find lacking in its American counterparts.

One of the more bizarre dishes was a tofu and egg dish (upper lefthand dish in the photo).  It was simple--cubed tofu and egg in clear sauce--but I have never had an egg prepared this way.  The egg was unrecognizable to the foreigners at the table, tough and lacking flavor.  It could have been soft cartiledge, for all I knew.  Again, it's a question of mouth-feel versus the tastebuds.  In my mouth, the tastebuds always win.

Another chicken dish (the lower lefthand dish), this one cold, was served in a red sauce, with a hint of baijiu.  There were guesses at the table that the flavor came from fermenting either the sauce or the chicken. That hint of baijiu was enough to bring back many a night (and terrible, terrible mornings-after) in Ningxia, getting drunk on baijiu with officials and heads of ngos.  It was at the cusp of putting me off, just due to my history with the infamous alcohol, but I decided it was good, and ate the majority.  I wonder how someone who had never had a baijiu hangover would feel about the dish.  I imagine pretty good.

But all in all, it was a delightful dinner.  Next up, Guangdong (Cantonese) food.  

(photo credits Adam Hines)