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A View of Xiamen: The Beauty of Perseverance

chinadaily.com.cn| Updated: May 24, 2019

In southern Fujian, another name for wontons is "bianshi" (flat food). Owner of Laicuocheng Wonton House, Huang Guobao said, in 1946, his mother carried a shoulder pole and peddled along the street. Laicuocheng Street was the most prosperous food street in Xiamen. The wonton house moved here in 1948. Until now, nothing has changed. 

One of the ingredients of Huang's wonton is the wild sea shrimp from the shores off southern Fujian. It tastes very sweet and delicious, but the preparation process is rather complicated. They always choose the best shrimp. To get rid of the sand in it, the sand vein in each shrimp must be removed. 

With a little additive in the minced wonton meat, one kilo of meat can become several kilos, but we shall never do that. My father used to tell me, you would rather shut down your wonton house, than change the wonton for the sake of profit.

Laicuocheng Wonton House still still faces the challenge of successfully passing on the know-how of creating this traditional delicacy to the next generation. He and his wife been retired. He said, "Health permitting, we will continue our wonton house. If our child is interested in it, then we'll pass it on to him. If not, there are many people out there who want to cooperate with me and we'll pass it on to whoever loves Xiamen's food culture."