“Four Precious Jewels” is a Chinese-American restaurant dish found on many menus in the section “special health and diet menu.” “Four Precious Jewels ... $8.95 Jumbo shrimps, scallops, fish fillet and beef slices with snow peas, baby corn and bean curd skin” was printed in the Daily Chronicle (DeKalb/Sycamore, IL) on June 30, 1996. Chicken sometimes replaces the crab meat or fish fillet.
The Avataṃsaka Sūtra of East Asian Buddhism describes “four precious jewels” at the bottom of the sea. This probably is the origin of the “Four Precious Jewels” name.
Similar Chinese combination dishes include “Double Wonders,” “Dragon and Phoenix,” “Three Musketeers,” “Triple Crown,” “Triple Delight,” “Triple Harvest,” “Four Seasons,” “Hawaii Four-O,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Happy Family” and “Happy Together.”
Google Books
A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese
By Samuel Beal
London, UK: Trubner & Company
1871
Pg. 46:
The Avatamsaka says—“There are four precious substances at the bottom of the sea, which absorb the contributions of the Rivers constantly flowing into the Ocean.”
30 June 1996, Daily Chronicle (DeKalb/Sycamore, IL), pg. 2, col. 1 ad:
Four Precious Jewels ... $8.95
Jumbo shrimps, scallops, fish fillet and beef slices with snow peas, baby corn and bean curd skin.
(Food Star Chinese Restaurant, 131 South 4th Street, DeKalb.—ed.)
28 January 1997, Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA), pg. 14, col. 1 ad:
Four Precious Jewels ... $8.95
Jumbo shrimp, scallops, crab meat & beef slices with snow peas, baby corn and beancurd skin
(Yong Hao Buffet, Valmont Plaza, West Hazleton.—ed.)
23 April 2010, The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville, TN), advertising supplement:
Four Precious Jewels ... 9.50
Jumbos shrimp, scallop, chicken & beef slices w. snow peas and baby corn, carrots, zucchini, asparagus
(No. 1 Chinese, 1790 Tiny Town Road, Suite C, Clarksville, TN.—ed.)
Bao’s Kitchen (West Haven, CT)
Four Precious Jewels $9.25
Jumbo shrimps, scallops, chicken & beef slices with snow peas, baby corn or bean curd skin
Cathay Gourmet (Richmond, VA)
Four Precious Jewels 11.45
Jumbo shrimp, scallops, chicken & beef slices, with snow peas & baby corn.
Lin’s Kitchen (Eastport, NY)
Four Precious Jewels 14.20
Jumbo shrimps, scallops, chicken & beef slices with snow peas, baby corn & bean curd.
Ming Moon (Middletown, RI)
Four Precious Jewels 12.45
Jumbo shrimp, scallops, chicken & beef slices, with snow peas & baby corn.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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