Chinese dramas or C-dramas, according to Channel News Asia, are experiencing a surge in popularity both in China and internationally, particularly in Southeast Asia, reportedly because of several factors, including royal court drama.

One such C-drama-worthy plot twist is the story behind Fujian Sweet and Sour Pork.

Sweet and Sour Pork, said Edsa Shangri-La Manila hotel general manager Stanley Lo, might seem common; but Fujian’s take on this dish is steeped in culture and history.

According to him, “Sweet and Sour Pork has a unique story in Fuzhou, being the capital city of Fujian.”

Yang Guifei, one of the “Four Beauties of ancient China” and beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang dynasty, used to love lychee so much that the emperor used to have the fruit, which was only grown in southern China, delivered by the imperial couriers’ horses — in day and night shifts.

Yang Guifei, said Lo, “was recognized to be the best of the four beauties in the ancient times” of China, and “she always liked to have lychee, the most popular fruit in the southern part of China.”

“So she wants to have lychee even if it was not in season,” Lo narrated. “So the palace, in order to deliver what she wants, they make the Sweet and Sour Pork, that is a common dish, and changed its texture and resemblance, for the mouth feel of lychee, they added chestnut inside and the sauce that coated on that is also different compared to the traditional sweet and sour sauce that we commonly enjoy.”

He continued: “They used the ingredients of red rice that is used to make rice wine in China, but normally, there’s a choice of white rice or red rice to make the drinking wine of the ancient times. They used the red rice to put a distinctive flavor to finish off for the sweet and sour flavor that (mimics) the acidity of lychee. Yeah, so the shape, of course it looks like lychee.”

In true C-drama style, this Sweet and Sour Pork dish from the time of Yang Guifei in A.D. 700s is now available in the Philippines as part of the Fujian Min Special Menu of Summer Palace restaurant in Edsa Shangri-La Manila hotel, Mandaluyong City.

Filipino-Fujian connection

Founded on 8 December 1594, Binondo in Manila is the world’s oldest and biggest Chinatown. Many Filipinos of Chinese descent who hail from Binondo trace their ancestry mainly from Fujian, a coastal province in southeastern China and the Chinese province with the most access to the seas, enabling many Chinese to arrive to the Philippines through the galleons, Lo said.

“The Philippine community, especially those rooted in the Chinese community that came in the early years to the Philippines, a huge majority came from Fujian province,” Lo told DAILY TRIBUNE and other select press in an interview.

Among the famous Chinoys and other personalities from Fujian include SM malls magnate Henry Sy, who used to be the richest man in the Philippines; and Shangri-La Group founder Robert Kwok, the richest man in Malaysia, according to Forbes.

Fortunately, one does not have to go to a palace in Fujian or to brush elbows with the world’s richest to sample royal Fujian fare.

Summer Palace, the Chinese fine dining restaurant of Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, offers until tomorrow, 15 August, its Fujian Min Special menu that enables Filipinos and Chinoys to connect to their Fujian roots through food.

Fujian chefs, including Chinese executive chef Mike Chen of Shangri-La Fuzhou, flew in all the way to the Philippines to deliver authentic Fujian specialties — best enjoyed with a wine pairing from the restaurant’s extensive spirits selection.

Dinner could begin with the appetizer wine, Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label Brut. For appetizer, there is the trio of Pan-Fried Seaweed, Crispy Meat Roll and Drunken Prawn.

This can be followed by Traditional Buddha Jump Over the Wall, a Superior Seafood Soup — best paired with Terrazas de los Andes, a Reserva Chardonnay from Mendoza, Argentina.

“That is considered the soup with all the superior seafood, you have all the superior ingredients that you find like abalone, superior fish… and then scallops and sea cucumbers, among others,” Lo shared.

“These are the soups that are normally enjoyed in the palace because of the nutritious value inside with all the superior ingredients or for national hosting or a huge celebration, a milestone.”

Traditional Buddha Jump Over the Wall, said Lo, is “not quite accessible nowadays to many restaurants because it takes a lot of skills and ingredients that you have to put in at the same time.”

Another must-try together with Terrazas de los Andes is Deep-Fried Prawn with Chinese Tea Leaves.

For main course, there is Traditional Sweet and Sour Pork, which goes well with a glass of Terrazas de los Andes as well.

It is good to follow it up with Stir-Fried Conch Slices with wine lees and Stir-Fried Seasonal Vegetables, together with sips of Cloudy Bay, a Pinot Noir from Marlborough, New Zealand.

Cleanse the palate with Fuzhou Fish Ball with Meat Dumpling in Chinese broth, accompanied by gulps of Terrazas de los Andes, a Reserva Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina.

Finally, cap the night with a heavy but healthy gut, courtesy of the fiber-rich Sweet Mashed Taro for dessert, which is also rare among restaurants, Lo claimed, because this fiber-rich traditional dish is made by hand and sifted three times to achieve its silky texture.

“It’s also not a very common dessert that is served in many restaurants around us because of the time, the precision and the skill needed to be that,” he explained. “Yes, taro is a vegetable that has high fiber. In order to make it in such a very smooth texture, it needs a lot of processes, which is all hands.”

Since Fujian has a great exposure to the sea, the residents there were able to trade with so many people, including Filipinos, enabling them to enjoy a wide variety of ingredients that equipped them to cook really good food, said Lo.

“In those days of the 1900s, when the migration of the Chinese grew out of China during the Cold War, people were more family-oriented,” Lo said, pointing out that such Fujian characteristic of close family ties resonates very well among Filipinos. “That’s why the early Chinese migrants also blended well with the Philippine communities then.”

“Fujian also is a province that is really family-oriented. So our food at Summer Palace are good to share in family gatherings as well. Apart from individual portions, the a la carte menu offers a lot of family sharing,” he affirmed.

The dishes on the menu, he explained, are traditionally cooked by elder family members. “But over the years, many of these dishes take a lot of time to prepare, so we kind of lost the opportunity enjoy these dishes, unlike our ancestors that were able to just get these from their grandparents,” he said.

According to him, Summer Palace is rolling out several special menus, but “Fujian would be the first one that ever come to us because it’s really to let our majority loyal guests here that originated from this place to bring back the memory of the grandfathers and grandmothers that used to probably bring them to a restaurant like that before.”

As such, the Fujian Min Special is not just a menu, but as Lo said, a “lifestyle” designed to “also bring the family together.”