Fo Tiao Qiang

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is Fujian's most storied banquet dish, a slow-braised masterwork so irresistible that — according to the Qing-dynasty poet Zheng Chunfa — even a vegetarian Buddhist monk would leap a wall to reach it. Traditionally assembled in a Shaoxing wine jar and cooked for two days, a careful home cook can approximate its soul in one long Saturday.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 300 g (10 oz) pork belly, cut into 4 cm (1½ inch) cubes
• 200 g (7 oz) chicken thighs, bone-in
• 150 g (5 oz) sea cucumber (rehydrated), cut into pieces
• 100 g (3½ oz) abalone (canned), drained, liquid reserved
• 100 g (3½ oz) dried scallops (conpoy), soaked 2 hours
• 80 g (2¾ oz) quail eggs (8–10 eggs), hard-boiled and peeled
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and stems removed
• 50 g (1¾ oz) dried lily buds (optional)
• 200 ml (¾ cup) Shaoxing rice wine
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) oyster sauce
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) light soy sauce
• 10 g (2 tsp) rock sugar
• 500 ml (2 cups) superior stock (or chicken stock)
• 20 g (4 tsp) fresh ginger, sliced
• 3 spring onions, knotted

Instructions

1. Blanch pork belly and chicken in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain and rinse. This removes impurities and is essential for a clean braise.
2. In a clay pot or heavy Dutch oven, arrange ingredients in layers: pork belly on the bottom, chicken, mushrooms, sea cucumber, dried scallops, abalone, and quail eggs on top.
3. Combine stock, abalone liquid, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and rock sugar; stir to dissolve sugar. Pour over the layered ingredients. Tuck in ginger and spring onions.
4. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce to the lowest simmer possible. Cover tightly — traditionally the lid is sealed with dough — and braise for 3 hours. Check at 90 minutes; add water if the level drops below half.
5. Carefully remove the spring onion knots and ginger. Taste the broth and adjust salt.
6. Ladle into individual serving bowls, ensuring each person receives a piece of each ingredient.

Cook's Notes: Dried sea cucumber must be rehydrated over 3 days in cold water, changed daily — plan ahead. Conpoy (dried scallops) add irreplaceable umami depth; do not substitute. The dish improves dramatically the next day after the flavors marry overnight in the refrigerator. Skim any fat from the surface before reheating.