Fujian cuisine

Fujian cuisine (Chinese: 闽菜 POJ: Ban chhai or 福建菜 POJ: Hok-kian chhai) is derived from the native cooking style of the province of Fujian, China. Fujian style cuisine is known to be light but flavourful, umami, soft, and tender, with particular emphasis on showing off and not masking original flavour of the main ingredients.

The techniques employed in the cuisine are complex but the results are ideally refined in taste with no "loud" flavours. Particular attention is also paid on the knife skills and cooking techinque of the chefs. Emphasis is also on utilizing soup, and there is a sayings in the region's cuisine: "One soup can be changed in ten forms" (－湯十變) and "It is unacceptable for a meal to not have soup"(不湯不行).

tyles

Fujian cuisine consists of three styles:
* "Fuzhou": The taste is light compared to other styles, often with a mixed sweet and sour taste. Fuzhou is famous for it soups.
* "Western Fujian": There are often slight spicy tastes from mustard and pepper and the cooking methods are often steam, fry and stir-fry.
* "Southern Fujian": Spicy and sweet taste are often found and the selection of sauces used is elaborate.
** "Quanzhou": The least oily but with strongest taste/flavor of Fujian cuisine. Great emphasis is placed on the shape of the material for each dish.

easonings

Unique seasoning from the province and it regions include shrimp oil, shrimp paste, sugar, Shacha sauce, and preserved apricot. As well, wine lees from the production of rice wine is commonly used in all aspects of the region's cuisine. Red yeast rice(紅麴/紅槽醬) is also commonly used in the region's cuisine.

The province is also well know for its "drunken" (wine marinated) dishes and is famous for the quality of the soup stocks and bases used to flavour their dishes, soups, and stews.

Notable dishes

One of the most popular dishes is "Buddha jumps over the wall" （佛跳墙, POJ: hut thiau chhiun, Pinyin: fotiaoqiang), a complex dish making use of many ingredients, including shark fin, sea cucumber, abalone, and Shaoxing wine.

Fujian is also famous for "yenpi" (燕皮), a thin flour wrapper made with large proportions of lean pork. This wrapper has a unique texture due to the incorporation of meat and has a "bite" similar to things made with surimi. Yenpi is used to make "rouyen" (肉燕), a type of wonton.

Other notable dishes include:
*oyster omelette
*Popiah (薄饼)
*banmien bianruo: (noodles with dumplings).
*Filled fish balls (包心魚丸): Fish balls filled with meat
*Hongcao chicken (紅糟雞): Red yeast rice chicken
*Minshengguo (閩生果): Stir fried raw peanuts
*Dancao xiangluopian(淡糟香螺片): Snails cooked with wine lees
*Qīngjiāo ròusī (青椒肉絲): Green pepper and pork strips. In western nations this has been adapted to become Pepper steak
*Jitangcuanhaibang(雞湯汆海蚌): Clams cooked in chicken stock
*Cuipi yujuan(脆皮魚卷): Fried fish filled yuba skin
*Ganbei luobo (干貝蘿蔔): Radish steamed with conpoy and chinese ham
*Zuipaigu (醉排骨): Wine marinade pork ribs
*Dongbi longzhu (東壁龍珠): Meat filled longan fruit
*Huangmen tianji(黄燜田雞): Wine braised frog
*Wucai xiasong(五彩蝦松): Stir-fried diced shrimp and vegetables
*Wucai zenzhuko(五彩珍珠扣): Squid pearls braised with vegetables

There are many eating places around the province that sell these specialties for two yuan, and which are thus known as "two-yuan eateries".