On Suwei Road near Guxi Road
There is a humble fish ball shop
You can sell two or three tons of fish balls a day
It is the hometown flavor that is secretly hidden by the old Fuzhou people
The owner of the shop is named Li Jinguo
As a chef from "Cobain"
33 years
He chose to make only one Fujian dish, Fuzhou fish balls
33 years of making only one dish The old craft of the heart
As a traditional mom-and-pop shop
It's more than 4 o'clock every day
Li Jinguo and Lin Xueying got up and began to work
This has been the case for decades
Kill fish, beat fish puree, wrap balls
The family is busy
Everything is just before 6 o'clock
Hurry up and produce the first fresh food
Fish ball shop, front shop after workshop, six or seven customers can "fill" a shop in one stop. Every day at less than 7 a.m., the small shop begins to get lively. Old patrons have come to the door one after another, some dine-in, some take-out, three meals a day people come and go. Two or three tons of fish balls are made and sold out in no more than 12 hours. In the era of online shopping, fish balls can also be sent to all parts of the country through express delivery.
"Old acquaintance, old Fuzhou."
Li Jinguo described his largest customer base this way
Li Jinguo began selling fish balls at Wangzhuang Market in 1988. At that time, as a chef in a state-run restaurant, he came across the old craft of making fish balls that had been handed down by his father-in-law for three generations, and he remembered it in his heart, and in order to learn the art, he volunteered to help in the fish ball shop for 3 years.
A small fish ball
Let the old Fuzhou people who "mouth to diao" become repeat customers
It's a big deal to do
Li Jinguo once stood out from more than 200 catering enterprises with the "Seven Star Pills in Winter" (fish balls made of blackfish meat) and won the "Silver Award Fujian Cuisine" in the 2016 Fuzhou Min Cuisine Cooking Skills Competition.
"Good fish meat is the key to making good fish balls." Li Jinguo believes that compared with freshwater fish, eel meat and shark meat produce better flavor.
Li Jinguo said that eel balls are his family's signature product because they use Qinghai eel meat. Fresh Qinghai eels have a unique aroma, fish tendons, the size of 7 kg to 10 kg is the best. Replacing it with yellow eel fish meat is not OK, and the old customer will know it as soon as he eats it.
Li Jinguo's wife handling Qinghai eels (photo courtesy of interviewee)
Today, there are always a few days a month when Li Jinguo needs to leave at 3 a.m. to send the deep-sea fish caught in the ocean to the cold storage, process it and then take it back to his shop as a raw material for fish balls.
Get up early and be busy with fish balls that can't be abandoned
In 2000, Li Jinguo's fish ball business was introduced into a large chain supermarket, a store of two or three tons of fish balls, every day as soon as it opened, about 2 hours sold out.
At the end of the one-year cooperation period, the supermarket side proposed to expand cooperation by purchasing supermarket miscellaneous fish surimi as raw materials for fish balls, but Li Jinguo refused. Because if the ingredients are uncontrollable, the fish balls made are bottomless in his heart.
"According to the most traditional wedding fish balls in Fuzhou, the fish and meat are used the best, and they will naturally be delicious." Li Jinguo's words said the "secret" of Li Ji's fish balls, and also expressed his persistence in his heart.
This persistence and intention to win by quality has made Li Jinguo a famous supplier of fish balls in Fuzhou, many public kindergarten dim sum are supplied by him, and well-known hotels have also sought him long-term cooperation.
In 2014, he founded his own fish ball brand - "Li Ji Green Eel Fish Ball", which won many medals with high gold content, including "2014 Fuzhou Flavor Snack Shop" and "2021 Fuzhou Fish Ball Recommended Experience Store".
Li Jinguo introduced the medals won by the small shop
last year
"Li Ji Green Eel Balls" on Tatou Road
Opened a third branch
It was run by Li Jinguo's son
Today, Li Jinguo is 59 years old, and he is working hard to get up early and greedy, and he admits that he is very tired and has fallen into occupational diseases. However, the couple enjoyed it. They make fish balls not only to make money, but also to give up the feelings. In their words: "Whether it is a regular customer or a new customer, they are very happy to eat, and naturally we are very happy." ”