“Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” was originally called “Fushouquan”. Its raw materials include sea cucumbers, abalone, shark’s fin, scallops, fish lips, fish maw, razor clams, ham, pork belly, sheep elbows, hoof tips, tendons, chicken breasts, duck breasts, chicken gizzards, duck gizzards, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, etc. 18 So many species. Before putting the vegetables into the altar, the raw materials must be fried, stir-fried, cooked, and deep-fried respectively… The production process is very complicated. It brings together a variety of meat dishes in one bowl, borrowing flavors from each other while maintaining their original taste. It is regarded as a signature dish of Fujian.
The Legend of Buddha Jumping over the Wall 1
Legend has it that in the late Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty, an official from the Fuzhou Official Money Bureau wanted to curry favor with Zhou Lian, the Chief Secretary sent from the capital. He didn’t dare to hold banquets outside in a big way, for fear that his colleagues would read him if they saw it. So, he ordered his private chef to cook his specialty dishes and host a banquet for Zhou Lian at home.
The cook felt that it was not easy to make good dishes that could please the Chief Secretary, so he simply cooked all the ingredients and made a hodgepodge. So he simmered more than 10 kinds of raw materials such as chicken, duck, mutton, and sea cucumber with seasonings, then put them into Shaoxing wine jars and presented them to Zhou Lian.
By the way, Zhou Lian is also a good eater. There are several famous chefs at home. What rare delicacies have you not tasted? Looking at the wine jar that was served, Zhou Lian looked disdainful. After opening the lid of the altar, Zhou Lian was attracted by the aroma wafting from the altar and couldn’t help but take a few breaths. Regardless of the image, Zhou Lian picked up the chopsticks and ate it all.
Looking at the empty wine jar, Zhou Lian asked the cook: “What kind of dish is this?” The cook casually replied: “Fu Shou Quan.”
The Legend of Buddha Jumping over the Wall 2
There are also legends that in the Qing Dynasty, a group of poets went to the outskirts of Fuzhou for a spring picnic. They put more than 20 kinds of different delicacies from the mountains and seas they brought with them in a wine jar, and slowly simmered them while reciting poems. After the vegetables in the wine jar were cooked, they smelled extremely fragrant.
The aroma drifted to a nearby Zhonggu Temple, attracting a group of monks to come over the wall to have a taste of the strange smell. When one of the scholars saw this, he couldn’t help but write a poem and said: “The fragrance of vegetables in the altar is floating everywhere, and the Buddha jumps over the wall when he hears it.” “Buddha jumps over the wall” gets its name from this. Today, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall has become famous overseas along with overseas Chinese in Fujian.
