Fujian (Min) cuisine

What defines Fujian cooking

Fujian (Min, 闽菜) is one of the eight canonical cuisines. The province sits on the southeast coast facing Taiwan and is heavily seafood-influenced. The defining trait is soup — Fujian banquets are organised around clear and complex broths, including the famously elaborate Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Pillars: - **Fresh seafood** — fish balls, oyster omelettes, dried-seafood broths. - **Red rice wine** (红糟) — a Fujian-specific fermented rice wine used as a marinade and seasoning. - **Soup as the centrepiece** — Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is one example; many family meals revolve around a careful soup. - **Sweet potatoes** as a staple historically.

Canonical dishes

• Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙) — a complex slow-simmered soup of dried abalone, sea cucumber, scallop, ham, mushrooms, quail eggs and 20+ other ingredients in one casserole.
• Oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) — beach-side staple; also definitive Taiwanese street food.
• Fish-ball soup (鱼丸汤) — translucent fish balls with a meat-stuffed centre.
• Red-wine fish stew (红糟鱼) — fish braised in fermented red rice wine.
• Eight-treasure rice (八宝饭) — sweet glutinous rice with mixed fruits and nuts.

Where to eat

Fuzhou and Xiamen are the two major cities. The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys district in Fuzhou and the Zhongshan Road area in Xiamen are dense with local restaurants. Outside Fujian, Min restaurants are more common in Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities than in mainland China.

Style notes

Fujian is the parent cuisine to much of Taiwan's culinary tradition. The two share oyster omelette, fish-ball soup, peanut soup, sweet-savoury balance.