Fuzhou's iconic dish showcases rich culinary heritage

A recent episode of Intangible Cultural Heritage in China, focusing on Fuzhou, Fujian province, has drawn wide attention on CCTV by weaving culinary and artisanal traditions into narratives of everyday life.

The episode connects the warmth of Fuzhou cuisine with the delicacy of bodiless lacquerware and the aesthetic refinement of Shoushan stone carving, showing intangible heritage as something lived and practiced in everyday life, not confined to museum displays.

The episode featured fotiaoqiang (Buddha Jumps Over the Wall), often regarded as the pinnacle of Fuzhou cuisine. Yang Weihua, the eighth-generation inheritor of Juchunyuan fotiaoqiang, a national intangible cultural heritage, demonstrated the dish on site, offering viewers insight into its enduring appeal.

Originally known as fushouquan, the dish was created during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1871-1908) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by Zheng Chunfa, founder of Juchunyuan, and has been refined for more than a century.

Combining premium ingredients from land and sea — including poultry, fish maw, abalone, sea cucumber, and dried scallops — fotiaoqiang is defined less by the cost of its components than by the labor-intensive process behind it. More than 20 cooking techniques are employed to meld main and auxiliary ingredients into a single, aromatic casserole.

Juchunyuan fotiaoqiang was inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. Over the decades, the dish has appeared at state banquets and international events, giving global audiences a glimpse into the depth and sophistication of Chinese culinary culture.