The allusion of eight-treasure taro paste

There is an interesting story behind its fame. In the 17th year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1839), Lin Zexu went to Guangzhou as an imperial envoy to ban smoking. In order to ridicule Chinese officials, the consuls of Britain and the United States specially prepared Western cold dishes in an attempt to make Lin Zexu look embarrassed when eating ice cream. Afterwards, Lin Zexu hosted a sumptuous banquet to "return the favor". After several cold dishes, a plate of dark gray and shiny, dark brown and smooth, not steamy, like cold dishes was served. A foreign consul took a spoonful and put it into his mouth. His eyes were so hot that the other guests were shocked. At this time, Lin Zexu casually introduced that this is a famous dish in Fujian, China called taro paste.