Four Seasons (Chinese dish of pork, shrimp, chicken and beef)
“Four Seasons” is a Chinese dish combination of—usually, but not always—pork, shrimp, chicken and beef. “Four seasons Fried Rice—Mounds of fried rice combined with diced chicken, shrimp, barbecued pork and Kum-wah ham” was printed in the San Francisco (CA) Examiner on September 17, 1969. “An entree called four seasons contains chicken, beef, lobster, and shrimp in a Chinese sauce” was printed in The Record (Hackensack, NJ) on February 6, 1970, and “Four Seasons—prime steak, lobster, chicken, and roast pork blended with assorted Chinese vegetables” was printed in The Record on October 1, 1971. “For entrees we chose a Four Seasons blend of lobster, roast duck, pork and chicken with snow peas, sprouts, green and black mushrooms” was printed in the Madison Eagle-Chatham Courier (NJ) on April 12, 1973.
Similar Chinese combination dishes include “Double Wonders,” “Dragon and Phoenix,” “Three Musketeers,” “Triple Crown,” “Triple Delight,” “Triple Harvest,” “Four Precious Jewels,” “Hawaii Four-O,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Happy Family” and “Happy Together.”
17 September 1969, San Francisco (CA) Examiner, “President Nixon’s $200 Chinese Dinner” by Helen Civelli Brown, pg. 38, col. 2:
(Imperial Palace Restaurant.—ed.)
Four seasons Fried Rice—Mounds of fried rice combined with diced chicken, shrimp, barbecued pork and Kum-wah ham.
6 February 1970, The Record (Hackensack, NJ), “They’ll Feast In a New Year” by John H. Kuhn, pg. B-25, cols. 3-4:
(Tiny Lin’s Restaurant, 598 Main Street, Hackensack, NJ.—ed.)
An entree called four seasons contains chicken, beef, lobster, and shrimp in a Chinese sauce.
13 March 1970, The Record (Hackensack, NJ), “Dinner From Polynesia And Old Canton” by Joh Kuhn, pg. D-10, col.
(Jade Fountain at Route 17 in Paramus.—ed.)
Special Cantonese entrees include one called the four seasons entree, which has steak, chicken, lobster, and roast pork blended with Chinese vegetables.
1 October 1971, The Record (Hackensack, NJ), “Chinese Food, Cantonese-Style” by Mark Howat, pg. D-8, col. 5:
(Jade Fountain in Paramus.—ed.)
So perhaps you’d rather order a platter of Jade Fountain barbecued pork ($5.50), or something called the Four Seasons—prime steak, lobster, chicken, and roast pork blended with assorted Chinese vegetables ($6.75).
22 October 1971, The Record (Hackensack, NJ), “Choice Samplings—From Yee to You,” pg. B-16, col. 7:
(Henry P. Yee of the Bamboo East Restaurant in Fair Lawn.—ed.)
FOUR SEASONS—A combination of prime steak, lobster, breaded chicken and roast pork, blended with an assortment of fresh Chinese vegetables.
6 September 1972, The Home News (New Brunswick, NJ), “Spun Sugar Bananas Are Banquet Finale” by Marian Burros, pg. 22, cols. 1-2:
(Port of Manlarins restaurant in Washington, DC.—ed.)
... Four Seasons Dumpling which contained Chinese cabbage, shrimp, pork and seasonings in a hot water dough.
12 April 1973, Madison Eagle-Chatham Courier (NJ), “Dining Round & About” by Ken Haynes, pg. 20, col. 5:
(Canton Low in Livingston, NJ.—ed.)
For entrees we chose a Four Seasons blend of lobster, roast duck, pork and chicken with snow peas, sprouts, green and black mushrooms; ...
24 December 1976, The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, NJ), pg. 28, col. 1 ad:
LUM CHIN INN
525 BROADWAY, BAYONNE
(...)
Four Seasons…per tray $18.00
12 November 1977, Atlanta (GA) Journal and Constitution, “Chinese Gourmet Inn Spiced With Variety” by Michele Ross, pg. 20T, col. 3:
For contrast we tried the “four seasons” dish, a blend of lobster, shrimp, chicken and pork, sauteed with black mushrooms and vegetables. Someone had bland and a heavy hand with the sauce, but the dish was a nice contrast to the spicy entrees.
9 September 1978, Atlanta (GA) Journal and Constitution, “Go International This Weekend; Try Mexican And Chinese Food” by Michele Baird, pg. 38T, col. 2:
(Jimmy Cong’s Chinese Restaurant—ed.)
For an entree, I tried one of the specialties, four seasons wor wire ($6.50).
A combination of chicken, lobster, shrimp and pork had been sauteed with vegetable and served over sizzling rice patties.
Twitter
🌱 Marissa 🌻
@naturalhairmama
Replying to @carissagan
@carissagan Four seasons from Fu Lin. Beef, jumbo shrimp, chicken and pork sauteed with broccoli, Chinese veg, in brown sauce. 😊
7:37 PM - 15 Jan 2011
Twitter
JordPhil ❕
@JordPhil
Four Seasons 😍 the perfect combination of shrimp,beef,pork, & chicken with a garden of vegetables. W/ a pint of rice
8:35 PM - 31 May 2014
Twitter
DineHere.us
@dine_here
Try http://dinehere.us/chinawokpc Four seasons 13.95 shrimp, chicken, Beef, Pork, Vegetables 13.95 #shrimp #menu
3:05 PM - 22 May 2016 from Panama City, FL
Twitter
MrDaftPrawn ❄️
@MrDaftPrawn
Replying to @doilys @MrsDaftPrawn
Hi Mai. I had something called Four Seasons, it was chicken, roast pork and shrimp with broccoli, carrots and snow peas. I was very good 😋
9:12 AM - 15 May 2017
Quora
Tuck Emswiler, retired cook, and active foodie
Answered Jan 16, 2018
What’s the “Four Seasons” dish on Chinese restaurant menus?
Four Seasons is one of a group of entrees on a Chinese menu that are just one recipe but with different meats. Triple delight usually has chicken, beef, and pork. Seafood Delight usually has shrimp, scallops, lobster, and crab. Four Seasons adds shrimp to the Triple Delight. Happy Family adds crab meat and scallops to the Four Seasons. I’ve also seen either 5 Stars over the moon and Hawaii 5-O that have 5 types of meat. They are then stir fried with brocolli, carrots, chestnuts, bamboo shoots, celery, and other veggies and then a sauce made to cover it.
(...)
Ken Woytisek
Ken Woytisek, Chef Instructor at the Culinary Institute of America
Answered Aug 25, 2015 · Upvoted by Tilman Ahr, trained chef with a borderline obsessive interest in food history and science
Chinese “Four Seasons” dish is a combination of pork, shrimp, chicken ,beef broccoli, carrots,and water chestnuts served in a brown sauce. There are several variations of this dish including a vegetarian dish that uses broccoli cauliflower, carrots, and baby corn.