Buddha jumps over the wall

Description

Fó tiào qiáng, or Buddha jumps over the wall, is a complex soup and stew from the Fujian region made by simmering numerous high-end animal products and vegetables in a clay wine jar. The extensive cooking process takes one to two full days and involves layering up to thirty main ingredients. A typical pot contains quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallops, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, fish maw, chicken, Jinhua ham, pork tendon, ginseng, mushrooms, and taro. People place these ingredients into a large clay jar previously used for holding Shaoxing wine. Adding broth and extra Shaoxing wine creates the liquid base. A large lotus leaf tightly seals the mouth of the jar, trapping the steam and flavors inside as the stew simmers over low heat. Historical accounts trace the origin of the meal to the Qing Dynasty around 1876 in the city of Fuzhou. A local official hosted a banquet for a government superior named Zhou Lian. The official's wife prepared a rich meat and seafood stew in an empty wine jar, naming it Full of Blessing and Longevity. Zhou Lian praised the aroma and flavor of the meal. Zhou Lian ordered his personal chef, Zheng Chunfa, to learn how to make it. Zheng Chunfa modified the mixture by adding more seafood and less meat to lighten the heavy fat content. Zheng Chunfa later opened the Ju Chun Yuan restaurant in Fuzhou and put the stew on his menu. The name of the meal changed after a group of poets visited the restaurant. One poet wrote that the smell emerging from the opened jar was so irresistible that a vegetarian Buddhist monk would jump over a monastery wall to taste the meat. The name Buddha jumps over the wall became the permanent title. Modern environmental and ethical concerns have changed how people consume the meal today. Many restaurants substitute imitation shark fin and farmed abalone to replace the original controversial ingredients. Because of the vast amount of costly meats and prolonged heating time, the soup is an exceptionally expensive luxury item.