A Bite of Fuzhou | Xing Na: Fotiaoqiang for One Person
After living in Fuzhou for several years, I’ve finally mustered the courage to write about Fotiaoqiang. To be honest, I’m not even sure where that courage came from. About a month ago, I was at a stand-up comedy show and overheard a funny exchange. The host asked, “What’s good to eat in Fuzhou?” An audience member casually replied, “Fotiaoqiang!” The host followed up: “Have you had it?” And everyone responded in unison, “No!”
Every friend who visits Fuzhou asks me about Fotiaoqiang. “Where’s the most authentic version?” “Which restaurants do locals go to?” I end up digging out all the food rankings and presenting them one by one. Then comes the inevitable question: “If you could recommend just one place, which would it be?”
The truth is, even though Fotiaoqiang is the most famous Fujian dish, it’s not a part of everyday meals for the average person, much like Peking Duck in Beijing. It is one of the city’s most iconic dishes, but what it truly represents is the Fuzhou way of treating guests. So today, I’d like to share a very personal, very subjective, entirely my own perspective on Fotiaoqiang.
From Golden Broth to Clear Broth
The first time I ever had Fotiaoqiang was in Beijing, where I tasted Golden Broth Fotiaoqiang. I vaguely remember it being at a grand, bustling, and festive opening celebration. When the lucky hour struck, the host ceremoniously opened the clay jar, releasing a fragrant aroma. I don’t recall exactly what I ate, but the sense of ritual left a deep impression. In early 2000s Beijing, Fotiaoqiang was often marketed as “imperial court cuisine”, usually prepared by chefs from Guangdong or Hong Kong. The restaurants that served it were lavishly decorated in gold and glitter.
During those years, the Fotiaoqiang I tasted in Hong Kong eateries also came in golden broth. Each elegant little bowl was topped with a cheerful Buddha figurine, but the flavor never quite lived up to the charming container. I just thought it was nourishing and ceremonial. Later, as I delved deeper into the world of food, I discovered clear broth Fotiaoqiang, which comes from Fujian.
That was the moment when the door to the world of Fotiaoqiang truly opened to me.
“Once the jar is opened, the meaty aroma wafts to the neighbors. Even the Buddha abandons his meditation to leap over the wall.” Where does the “meaty aroma” of Fotiaoqiang come from? Just how “clear” is the broth of authentic Fujian-style Fotiaoqiang? It’s like when someone asks me, while drinking tea, “Can you taste the mineral floral notes in this brew?” These questions can only be answered after visiting dozens of Fujian cuisine restaurants barely. What I can say is: “clear broth” is, in fact, an illusion. The clarity of Fotiaoqiang is incredibly rich, perhaps even more intense than Sichuan’s famous boiled cabbage in plain water.
The Highest Realm of Soups and Broths
Three years ago, I moved from Beijing to Fuzhou on my own. If I could choose again, I would regret not moving earlier. My initial impression of the city was that it was warm and gentle. I’d never seen a place with so much natural water: rivers, lakes, seas, and streams converging, and layered, undulating mountains all around.
I got to know the city through its dining tables. Nearly every new acquaintance would share small but telling details about Fuzhou over a meal, such as how vital soups and broths are to the local way of life. At any given meal, having three or four types of soup on the table is completely normal.
When I returned the favor and treated my northern friends to a meal in this way, they were stunned. “Why are there so many soups?” they asked. Clearly, it has to do with the skill of Fujian cuisine chefs in crafting broths and blending the flavors of the mountains and the sea. The ultimate expression of “harmonizing mountains and seas, mastering the art of soup” is none other than Fotiaoqiang.
Apart from Fotiaoqiang, I can’t think of any other dish that brings together ingredients from all over Fujian, and even the world, into one single jar. Abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw symbolize the love letters from the ocean to the land. Old Huadiao wine serves as poetry that time whispers to the taste buds. A clay jar of Fotiaoqiang, born of both mountain and sea, is steeped in the marks of time. In its amber-hued broth, time is the most generous seasoning of all.
Juchunyuan · Sanyouzhai
There is no shortage of learning material about Fujian cuisine. A documentary I’ve been watching recently is Chinese Fujian Cuisine, which features two of Fujian’s most renowned chefs. In preparing for this article, I read all 345,000 characters of the historical novel Juchunyuan, a powerful and lingering read. Occasionally, when I pass by Dongjiekou, I still see the couplet at the restaurant entrance: “Gathering nobles and officials, filling cups and goblets in spring,” and feel a deep sense of emotion. Reflecting on the 160-year journey of this establishment, I cannot help but marvel at how it is but a speck in the vast ocean of time.
When it comes to Fotiaoqiang, you simply can’t ignore Juchunyuan. The legendary master chef Zheng Chunfa emerged from this very establishment. Let’s go back to the year 1865, the fourth year of Emperor Tongzhi’s reign during the Qing Dynasty. At the northeastern corner of the crossroads at Dongjiekou in Fuzhou, Chen from Anmin Lane, Zhang from Meiliu Township outside the North Gate, and a Shaoxing adviser from the Fuzhou local government office co-founded a restaurant then known as “Sanyouzhai”.
In its early days, Sanyouzhai mainly served set dishes, wine, and rice, occasionally catered weddings and funerals, as well as offered private chefs for officials and wealthy households. The business gradually flourished. Later, the Shaoxing adviser withdrew his share to retire in Zhejiang. Through a friend’s introduction, Zheng Chunfa, then known as the “Number One Fujian Chef,” took over his share. In 1904, the 30th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign, Zheng Chunfa acquired full ownership of Sanyouzhai and renamed it “Juchun Tea Garden”. The following year, it was renamed again as “Juchunyuan.”
Zheng Chunfa, who had once served as the official chef of Zhou Lian, the former Surveillance Commissioner of Fujian, drew on the traditional cooking techniques of Fujian cuisine while absorbing the essence of Northern and Southern culinary styles, including those of Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. He formed his distinctive style and became a pioneering figure in the contemporary development of Fuzhou cuisine.
Sanyouzhai (Juchunyuan) focused on preparing Fujian cuisine and introduced numerous delicacies, such as Fotiaoqiang, instant-boiled sea clam in chicken broth, crispy crucian carp, cotton-paper wrapped chicken, and pig trotters with preserved fruit. The restaurant also offered lavish banquets like the “Manchu-Han Feast” and “Shark Fin Banquet”, drawing the attention of countless dignitaries, officials, and renowned merchants.
Its signature dish, Fotiaoqiang, became famous both in China and abroad. This dish combines more than 20 premium ingredients, including sea cucumber, dried scallops, and abalone. Featuring meticulously selected ingredients, precise cutting, careful cooking, and intense flavor, the dish is rich and aromatic, tender without falling apart, and layered in taste.
This Pot Pays Tribute to 1984
Back to the initial question: if you asked me to recommend just one restaurant to try, Fotiaoqiang, I would say: head to Juchunyuan·Sanyouzhai. There, you can choose a set menu called “Tribute to 1984”, which is based on the state banquet menu prepared by Juchunyuan’s famed chef, Mr. Qiang Mugen, for U.S. President Ronald Reagan at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Juchunyuan·Sanyouzhai is a Fotiaoqiang-themed restaurant specializing in refined Fujian cuisine. Through this menu, it seeks to pay tribute to the year 1984.
The year 2025 also marks the 160th anniversary of Juchunyuan’s founding. Here, glory and dreams, classics and legacy converge. Let me try to describe the pot of Fotiaoqiang before me: although I’ve had many versions of this dish over the years, this one still astonished me. Let’s peel back the layers and talk about this dish not with stories, rituals, or showmanship but by returning to the Fotiaoqiang itself.
The state banquet version of Fotiaoqiang is more exquisite than the restaurant’s standard offering. When the waitress gently placed the pot before me and lifted the lid, it felt as if a window to the world of Fotiaoqiang had just been reopened. The fragrance of the wine specially used for the dish wafted up immediately, and one could faintly distinguish ingredients like shark fin, abalone, sea cucumber, dried scallops, and flower mushrooms.
To me, Fotiaoqiang represents the taste of fusion. Why is it called the “King of Fujian Cuisine”? Because it is all-encompassing. Within this self-contained miniature world, one can see the brilliance of the entire culinary tradition of Fujian. It employs more than ten different cooking methods, including deep-frying, braising, stewing, and simmering, and takes eight days from preparation to presentation. The slow-simmering step alone takes six hours over low heat.
It feels as if the craftsmanship passed down through generations of Fotiaoqiang chefs is concentrated right here. When it comes to food, we often talk about what is authentic or pure, or about who created it first. But perhaps we could take a broader perspective and be objective, inclusive, and open-minded. Originating from Juchunyuan, Fotiaoqiang is a hallmark dish of Fujian cuisine that represents the culmination of culinary skill and food customs. The goal should be to grow and elevate it together.
When it comes to Fotiaoqiang in Fujian, the most common phrase I hear is “preserving tradition while embracing innovation”. It’s most fitting to end with a passage from Juchunyuan: “Traditional dishes are the hardest to make. Because they are famous, diners remember how they are supposed to taste. If you change too much, people will say it’s not authentic. Any refinement to such dishes must be undertaken with great caution. Above all, one must remember to preserve their true essence.”
Author: Xing Na
Veteran Media Professional
Lifestyle Writer
Manager of Model Bookstore