As one of the eight main cuisines of China, Fujian cuisine was a latecomer in southeast China along the coast. It emphasizes seafood and river fishes. The Fujian coastal area produces 167 varieties of fish and 90 kinds of turtles and shellfish. It also produces edible bird’s nest, cuttlefish, and sturgeon. These special products are widely used in Fujian dishes. Economy and culture of Fujian province began to flourish after the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, Fujian cuisine gradually became famous in China.
The most characteristic aspect of Fujian cuisine is that the dishes are served in soup. The cooking methods are stewing, boiling, braising, quick-boiling, and steaming. Cutting is another important skill in Fujian cuisine. Most dishes are made of seafood, and if they are not cut in a right way, the dishes will fail to display their true flavor. Fujian dishes are slightly sweet and sour, and less salty. When a dish is less salty, it tastes more delicious. Sweetness makes a dish tastier, while sourness helps remove the seafood smell. In Fujian cuisine, an important flavoring and coloring material is red distiller’s grain. It made of rice fermented with red yeast. After being kept in a sealed vessel for a year, the grain acquires a sweet and sour flavor and a rose-red color. Chicken, duck, fish, and pork can be flavored with the red grain as well as spiral shells, clams, mussels, bamboo shoots, and even vegetables. As many Fujian people have emigrated overseas, their cuisine has become popular in the world.
Hot Fujian Dishes
•Buddha jumping over the wall
The dish mainly engaged in 28 ingredients, including abalone, sea cucumber, fin, fish stomach, ham, mushroom and so on. Bring to the jug, add Shaoxing Wine, and then seal the jug with mud, simmer for 10 hours around and serve. As the description in a Chinese ancient poem, ‘while opening the lid of the jug, the delectable smell spreads to the Buddhists, who give up praying and jumping over the wall for the delicacy’, hence the dish got the name.
Buddaha Jumping Over the Hall
•Fish ball soup
Most cooking materials of Fujian cuisine come from sea or river. This dish mainly uses fish as cooking material. Chop and crush the fish meat into muddy flesh, add a little salt, ginger juice then make it into ball-shaped. The dish obey fish’s natural and original flavor. The fish ball is smooth and al dente. Besides, when Fujian people or even Chinese people eat hotpot, fish ball is an indispensable hotpot material.
Fish Ball Soup
•Spring rolls
Spring rolls, a widespread and popular dish in China. Although it can be found at many provinces, Fujian people regard it as Fujian cuisine. Spring rolls are made of flour wrapper and stuffing. Mushroom, chive, egg, bean sprout are common stuffing materials. Besides, people in Fujian would like to add some sea food like clam to the stuffing. Fry the stuffing then use the flour wrapper roll the stuffing. Spring rolls are in a long tube shape.
spring rolls