🍽️ Buddha Jumps Over the Wall

Simmered abalone, sea cucumber and shark fin, the top Min dish.

Buddha jumps over the wall is the foremost dish of Fujian's Min cuisine, centered on Fuzhou. Dozens of prized ingredients, abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, scallops, fish gelatin, quail eggs and ham, are layered into a Shaoxing wine jar with stock and more wine, sealed with lotus leaves and slow-simmered for hours. When opened, the aroma of wine and broth rushes out; every ingredient is tender and intermingled, the broth rich, golden and deeply savory. Its legend says the fragrance was so tempting that even Buddhist monks leapt over the wall for it. It anchors grand Fuzhou banquets and is the essential showpiece for visitors seeking the opulence of Min cuisine.