A month ago, I was invited to visit Putian, a city in Fujian province with PUTIEN team together with a team of Singapore media. It has been an interesting brand trip experience where I got to understand where ingredients used at PUTIEN restaurants in Singapore are being sourced from.
We flew to Xiamen and took a 2-hour bus ride to Putian. The main objective of this trip is to join the founder of PUTIEN, Mr. Fong Chi Chung (a.k.a Uncle Fong), visiting the Putian farms where the restaurant source their ingredients from.
Putian’s freshest and finest ingredients
On our first night, we had the taste of authentic Putian cuisine at the hotel. There’s a strong emphasis on the use of fresh ingredients, in particular seafood. The dishes are generally light in flavours, non-spicy and not greasy at all. They taste very different from the cuisine of other parts of China like Sichuan.
Xinghua Fu Historic District
After dinner, we visited the ‘intangible cultural heritage street’ in Xinghua Fu Historic District. It was a maze of ancient streets and alleys. We did not spend much time there to check out the stores but it is quite a pleasant tourist site for taking photos.
Interestingly, Putian is also known for their shoe manufacturing production. It is literally a hub of China’s footwear industry. There are many shoe production factories here and there’s even a shoe street called Anfu E-commerce Shoe Street where you shop for shoes.
They also have their own house brand of shoes which are also produced there. There’s a shoe shop located along the ancient alleys where you can browse the shoes in person and scan the QR code to purchase them online.
PUTIEN Duotu Razor Clam Festival
The next day, we visited Duotou Village where we get a chance to dig for Duotuo or razor clams in the clam fields. They provided us with the overalls and gloves so that we can step into the clam fields to dig for clams under the hot blazing sun. Like the farmers, we had to dig the clams by hand instead of using machineries.
This small fishing village has been around for more than 600 years! The farmers have been harvesting razor clams in the shores of black mud which is rich in minerals.
It’s no easy task! Farming is a really tough job and harvesting fresh ingredients from the earth is a back-breaking task. This has definitely made me more appreciative of the use of fresh ingredients by the restaurant.
Right after getting soaked in the mud, we had lunch by the farms. They served us trays and trays of salt-baked razor clams.
No words can describe all fresh these Duotuo clams are – the meat was sweet and plump. I am not sure if it was taste this good at their restaurants back in Singapore but over here, the clams are at its freshest.
Pingpan Village Loquat Orchard
In the afternoon, we drove to the loquat orchard to pick fresh loquats! The 3 lovely ladies in the photo above are owners of the farm and they were there to guide us on picking the loquats.
PUTIEN team has also prepared some loquat drinks and jelly for us to try and there were so yummy.
It was my first time eating the loquat fruits which is so juicy and slightly tangy. There are different varieties and one of the variety we harvested has a sweet pear aroma.
Xianyou Specialty Dinner
For dinner, we had dinner at this restaurant that offers Xianyou cuisine. Xianyou is a county located within the municipal region of Putian. We had dishes included stuffed intestines, white-cut lamb, red mushroom tofu soup, oyster omelet and more.
Yellow Croaker and oyster farms near Huanggua Island
The next day, we visited the Yellow Croaker fish farm. Apparently, the Yellow Croaker fish is prized for its light, soft and tender meat.
We also get to enjoyed a steamed Yellow Croaker fish for lunch that day.
Putian Salt Farm
After lunch, we visited the Putian salt farm. It is the largest salt production site in Fujian.
The salt crystals are pretty large and coarse. We had a taste of the fresh unrefined salt which has this slight umami taste. Unlike table salt, it is not overly salty and has more depth in flavour.
Dinner Banquet at Uncle Fong’s House
For dinner, Uncle Fong brought us to his home for dinner. He shared with us his story on how he started Putien and we also got to explore this house.
He invited this team of PUTIEN chefs to whip up a feast for us along with the other invited guests.
Truth to be told, it was my first time eating PUTIEN’s food and it was my most enjoyable meal of this trip in Putian. My favourite is their pan-fried buns or Sheng Jian Bao. The meat filling is delicious and it is not too greasy.
We also get to try other PUTIEN’s signature dishes as well as local delights in Putian.
Overall, it was a very fruitful trip. It now hits different when I dine at PUTIEN after learning how they source their ingredients. And I can’t wait to try the Duotuo clam and other dishes at PUTIEN Singapore.
Read more of our food reviews here.
