Living in Philadelphia I have enjoyed the numerous food choices, especially from the different cultures that the city has to offer. One of my favorites has always been the authentic Chinese cuisine of Chinatown. Located a few blocks east of Center City, Chinatown is full of grocery stores, hotels, saloons, shopping, and restaurants all of which stay true to their culture. I think this rich culture within the city is a major asset to Philadelphia, but when a savory delicacy becomes a gourmet cruelty then it is time to rethink what our culture, as Americans and Philadelphians, chooses to support.
There are at least a half dozen known restaurants in Chinatown that serve Shark Fin Soup. I will point out that this is in no way illegal, but just because something is legal does not always mean it is right. Recently, Joseph Poon has received much attention for his Wok’ and Walk Tours of Philadelphia Chinatown. Poon is a Chinese chef and that has appeared on shows such as The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Food Network, receiving praise for his cooking and his book “Life is Short, Cooking is Fun”.
Chef Poon’s tour takes people through Chinatown and explains the different ingredients and cooking styles of the different restaurants and foods. One of the focuses are the “medicinal properties” of shark fin, found in both the Shark Fin Soup and shark fin cartilage pills of Chinatown. These ideas may seem fascinating and they are most definitely an accurate portrayal of Chinese culture, but it is simply not true. It has been scientifically tested and proven that shark fin has no medical purposes and in fact it can even be harmful. A tour with Chef Poon in Philadelphia’s Chinatown will not touch on this though, nor will they touch on the cruel finning practices that are used in order to obtain these “medicinal” shark fins.
Having a ban on shark finning in U.S. waters is a major hurdle that we have already crossed in efforts to save the sharks. Maybe it is time to take it one step further – Is it appropriate to ban shark fin soup, or the sale of shark fin in the U.S. without proper documentation of how it is obtained? Or would this be an unjustified suppression of Chinese culture in Philadelphia and the U.S.?
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I was just thinking about how our blogs always discuss shark fin in other countries, but we do it too! A lot of my Chinese-American friends have had the dish, and I not so subtly disapprove.
Mike, I’ve often wondered if they had here in Philly. I haven’t looked for it in Chinese restaurants and I regularly eat in Chinatown…I’ll be sure to keep my eye our for it and give the owner an earful if I see it on it the menu.