Fujian is one of the southeast coastal provinces of China and has a rich food culture. Fujian food, also known as Min cuisine, is a unique and diverse cuisine that reflects the rich cultural heritage of Fujian province in China. It is characterized by its use of seafood, a focus on soup dishes, and a blend of sweet, sour, and salty flavors.
Characteristics of Fujian cuisine
Fujian province is renowned for its abundance of seafood resources, which makes seafood dishes a crucial element of Fujian cuisine. Moreover, the mountainous regions of Fujian are famous for their tea plantations, so the tea ceremony culture forms an integral part of Fujian cuisine culture.
Fujian cuisine is distinctive for its refined cooking techniques, delicate flavor, and focus on maintaining the original taste of the ingredients. They like steaming, stewing, and boiling, which ensures that the dishes retain their natural flavor while enhancing their taste.
Fujian cuisine emphasizes the proper pairing and use of seasonings and commonly employs condiments like Huadiao wine, sugar, and vinegar to enhance the flavors of the dishes. Furthermore, Fujian cuisine also stresses natural seasonings, such as seafood stock, to augment the taste of the dishes.
Generally speaking, Fujian province can be divided into three distinct food and custom areas: southern Fujian, western Fujian, and Fuzhou. Each of these regions offers its own unique flavors and culinary traditions, reflecting the geographical, climatic, and historical differences within the province.
Southern Fujian Food:
This region is known for its emphasis on seafood and unique seasonings and spices. Southern Fujian cuisine pays attention to the fresh and delicate, with a strong focus on preserving the original flavors of the ingredients. Dishes from this region often feature a balance of sweet, sour, and salty flavors, with a pronounced use of rice wine and sugar.
Shacha sauce (satay) has become an indispensable delicacy on the dinner table in southern Fujian. Southern Fujian people use satay to dip all kinds of food and combine it with the most common seafood and noodles to form a bowl of delicious satay noodles.
In addition to satay noodles, southern Fujian cuisine also includes seafood soup, sipunculid worm jelly, ginger duck and so on.
Western Fujian Food:
The west of Fujian is the main settlement of the Hakka people, so its food is also mainly Hakka flavor, and people eat delicacies from the mountain and eat less aquatic products. Western Fujian Hakka cuisine has always been famous for its original flavor. Whether it is a bowl of chicken soup or a stir-fried seasonal vegetable, its raw materials must come from the countryside and mountains.
Fuzhou Food:
Fuzhou cuisine is the mainstream of Fujian cuisine. It features a light taste, fresh aroma, sour and sweet flavors, a fine selection of ingredients, rigorous knife work, and careful attention to soup preparation.
Typical Fujian cuisine
Fo Tiao Qiang (佛跳墙）
The Fo Tiao Qiang (Buddha jumps over the wall) is the most popular food in Fujian. It contains more than 30 ingredients, including sea slug, shark's fin, abalone, chicken breast, duck, pig's trotters, dried scallop, mushroom, pigeon egg and other unique ingredients. It's said that after the dish is cooked, the air is heavy with a strong fragrance.
Kejia meatballs (客家捶圆)
It is actually meatballs. The main kinds are pork, beef, fish, prawn and chicken. The beef and pork meatballs have the best reputation. In Chinese culture, meatballs also indicate a sense of togetherness, which makes it a popular part of family meals.
Fuding pork（福鼎肉片）
Fuding pork slices are made of refined meat, starch and other raw materials. It is a famous local traditional food in Fuding City, Fujian province. The whole bowl of meat is moderately spicy, with a hint of coriander, and the rice vinegar and chilli are perfectly matched.
Satay noodles（沙茶面）
Satay noodles, a famous traditional dish in Xiamen, can be seen everywhere in the streets of Xiamen. Known for its cheap price and spicy flavor of satay, is nutritious and good for appetite, body metabolism, and eliminating wind chills. The recipe for satay noodles is very simple. Boil the noodles in boiling water for a few seconds, remove them, and pour the spicy satay soup into a bowl while still hot. A bowl of rich-flavored satay noodles is complete.
Chongwu fish roll（崇武鱼卷）
Chongwu fish roll is a traditional characteristic snack in southern Fujian Province and one of the top ten snacks in Quanzhou. Its main raw materials are selected high-quality fish, among which the best and high-quality fish rolls are mackerel, eel, shark, etc. It is soft and crisp at the entrance, and the cheeks are chewy when chewing. There is no fish or astringency, and there is a unique taste.
Putian lor mee（莆田卤面）
Putian lor mee is a special food in Putian, Fujian Province, with noodles and mushrooms as the main ingredients. It tastes salty and fresh. The production method is to boil the pork belly for 3 minutes, remove it to cool and slice it, stir-fry the oil of the pork belly, add ginger, garlic, mushrooms, oysters, boil the water, add shredded Chinese cabbage and noodles to the soup, boil it to the boil, add leek, celery and salt.
