Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙)

中文简介

佛跳墙是福建福州的名菜，被誉为"闽菜之首"，也是中国最著名的传奇菜肴。名字来自一个传说：一位秀才在福州聚春园品尝此菜后赋诗"坛启荤香飘四邻，佛闻弃禅跳墙来"——连佛祖闻到香味都忍不住跳墙来尝。做法：以鲍鱼、海参、鱼翅、干贝、花菇、蹄筋、鸽蛋等数十种山珍海味为主料，分别处理后层层码入绍兴酒坛，用荷叶密封，文火慢煨数日，让各种鲜味充分融合。成菜汤浓味醇、鲜香扑鼻，每一口都是极致的奢华。因用料昂贵、耗时极长，通常需要提前预订。

English

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙, Fótiàoqiáng) is the most famous — and most legendary — dish in Chinese cuisine. The name comes from an 1876 poem celebrating Fuzhou's Juchunyuan restaurant: "the aroma wafting from the opened jar stirs all the neighbors; even the Buddha abandons his meditation and leaps over the wall." The dish is a supreme slow-cooked soup: dozens of luxury ingredients — abalone, sea cucumber, dried scallop, shiitake, ham, chicken gizzards, pigeon eggs — are layered into a sealed Shaoxing wine jar and simmered over low heat for hours or days until they collapse into a single, impossibly deep broth.

Where to eat: Juchunyuan (聚春园) in Fuzhou invented it and still makes the classic; many upscale Min (Fujian) restaurants offer scaled versions. Prices start around ¥298–398 ($42–56) per serving, with premium sets well beyond.

Pro tips: Book ahead — it takes time to assemble. The broth is served one small bowl at a time; savor it like a tasting menu course. Some modern kitchens offer a vegetarian version; the classic is emphatically not. It's the ultimate special-occasion order.