Chinese Food: Fujian Cuisine from the Perspective of a Chinese Cuisine Geek

[JP] Fujian Cuisine
[CN] |Fújiàncài|/|Mǐncài|

About Fujian cuisine, which is not very well-known but suits the Japanese palate.

Overview of Fujian

Fujian Province is located in the southeast of China. Its abbreviation is |Min|.

The provincial capital is Fuzhou, which is located in the northeast of Fujian Province, in a region traditionally called |Mindong|. The central city of |Minnan| in the southern part of Fujian Province is |Xiamen|. The region centered on Fuzhou and the region centered on Xiamen form two major economic zones.

Across the Taiwan Strait lies Taiwan, with which Fujian has strong ties. It has also sent many immigrants overseas, including to Southeast Asia, and maintains strong connections with the outside world.

The land area is 124,000 square kilometers. The population is 41.98 million (as of the end of 2025, Fujian Provincial People's Government).

Major industries include electronic information, equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, textiles, apparel, footwear, and stone processing.

It belongs to the tropical marine climate zone and is a major production area for Oolong tea. Famous teas include Wuyi Mountain's rock tea (Oolong teas such as Da Hong Pao, Shui Xian, and Rou Gui), black tea like |Lapsang Souchong|, and Anxi's Tieguanyin.

Major tourist attractions include the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys in Fuzhou, Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, the Tulou in southwestern Fujian, and Mount Wuyi in the north.

History of Fujian

In ancient times, Fujian was inhabited by the Yue-related Minyue people. During the Qin Dynasty, the King of Minyue, Wuzhu, surrendered to Qin, and Fujian was incorporated into the Qin territory as Minzhong Commandery. However, when the Qin was overthrown by the Han, the monarchy under the Minyue King |Zou Wuzhu| was restored. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the successor to the throne, |Zou Yushan|, rebelled but was pacified. The Minyue people were forcibly relocated to the Jianghuai region, where they assimilated with the local people, and the Minyue people disappeared. Fujian became a sparsely populated area, and although immigrants gradually flowed in afterward, the population remained small.

When the Jin Dynasty arrived and the Central Plains were attacked by northern ethnic minorities, leading to the fall of Western Jin, Han people with advanced technology from the Central Plains migrated to Fujian, becoming the ancestors of modern Fujianese. This is known as the "migration of the gentry to the south, and the eight surnames entering Min." Recent DNA research suggests that Fujianese retain a strong genetic heritage from the Central Plains. Development progressed around the Tang Dynasty, and the population began to increase. Fuzhou developed as the administrative center of Fujian, and Quanzhou, known as |Zaiton|, flourished during the Song and Yuan dynasties as a port at the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. However, during the Ming Dynasty, the port became unusable due to sedimentation, and the center of Minnan shifted to |Xiamen|.

Fujian is described as "eight parts mountain, one part water, one part farmland," meaning it is mountainous with limited arable land and could support few people. As the population increased during the Tang and Song dynasties, people migrated along the coast. As the population grew in these new areas, they migrated again, resulting in a distribution that spans from Fujian to Southeast Asia.

Fujian Cuisine

Cuisine in Fujian Province is mainly divided into three types: |Mincai|, |Gancai|, and |Hakkacai|. Within Fujian Province, the Min-descended population is overwhelmingly large, Mincai is widely distributed along the coast, and Fujian cuisine as a whole is called Mincai. Gancai is found only in a small part of northwestern Fujian adjacent to Jiangxi Province. Hakkacai is distributed in areas adjacent to southern Jiangxi and northeastern Guangdong. There is Wu-style cuisine in Pucheng County in northern Fujian, which is adjacent to Zhejiang. At street stalls, you may sometimes find dishes like black rice (Wumifan) sold by the ethnic minority |She| people (the She people assimilated with the Hakka, and the She language has disappeared within Fujian Province, though it seems about 1,600 speakers remain in Guangdong Province). In the north, there is also a very small amount of |Wucai| (Wu cuisine), which is related to Shanghai cuisine.

The distribution areas and characteristics of each cuisine are as follows. Min-style Fujian cuisine, Mincai, is further divided into Mindong, Minbei, Minzhong, Puxian, and Minnan. It is characterized by soups, and in banquets, soup is served multiple times between dishes.

Mindong cuisine (Fuzhou, Fuqing, Ningde): Excels in seafood dishes, and also has abundant meat dishes. The seasoning is light. Representative dishes include
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Lychee Pork, etc.Minbei cuisine (Nanping (Wuyi Mountain), Jian'ou): Mountain delicacies.
Minzhong cuisine (Sanming (Sha County), Yong'an): The home of Sha County snacks.
Puxian cuisine (Putian, Xianyou): Excels in seafood dishes, and also has many meat dishes.
Minnan cuisine (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou): Excels in seafood dishes, and also has abundant meat dishes. Representative dishes include
Soy Sauce Water, Ginger Duck, etc.Non-Min-style Fujian cuisine

Shaowu (Gancai) (Shaowu, Taining): Mountain delicacies, spicy.
Minxi, Minnan (Hakkacai) (Longyan, Sanming, Changting, Yongding): Mountain delicacies, salty. Many boiled dishes. Representative dishes include Salt-Baked Chicken, etc.
Pucheng (Wucai) (Pucheng County): Mountain delicacies, spicy.
She people (Shecai) (Mountainous areas of Ningde, adjacent to Jingning Autonomous County in Zhejiang Province): Black rice, etc.

Expansion of Fujian cuisine outside the province and into East and Southeast Asia

Min-style cuisine has spread further outside Fujian Province.
Taiwanese cuisine Based on Minnan cuisine, it incorporates elements of Hakka, local Taiwanese, and Japanese cuisine.
Teochew cuisine (Chaozhou, Shantou, Shanwei): During the Tang and Song dynasties, many Minnan people from Minnan and people from Putian who spoke Old Putianese, which is cognate with Old Minnanese, migrated there. Later, Putian was strongly influenced by Mindong (Fuzhou), and the Putian language, which was one of the roots of the Teochew people, changed.
Leizhou cuisine (Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong Province)
Hainanese cuisine (Hainan Island)
*Currently, Teochew cuisine and Leizhou cuisine are considered branches of Cantonese cuisine.

Furthermore, the cuisine of people with roots in Fujian Province is widely and complexly distributed throughout Southeast Asia.
Hokkien cuisine (Fujian)
Teochew cuisine (Chaozhou)
Hainanese cuisine (Hainan)
Fuzhou cuisine (Fuzhou)
Hockchia cuisine (Fuqing)
Nyonya cuisine (Peranakan cuisine): Creole cuisine of the Chinese immigrants called Baba, local women called Nyonya, and their descendants called Peranakan.
Hakka cuisine (Hakka)

Fujian cuisine was also introduced to Japan during the Edo period and became localized.
Originally, the Chinatowns in Yokohama and Kobe were mostly Cantonese, while Nagasaki was mostly Fujianese. Because of the strong ties with Fuzhou and Fuqing in Fujian Province, there were many Mindong-style influences, and dishes like Champon and Shippoku cuisine developed.
Fucha cuisine, introduced by the monk Yinyuan from Fuqing along with kidney beans, is also originally Fujian cuisine.
Also, the "Fujian cuisine" of the new Fujianese immigrants who came to Japan after 1980 is mostly Mindong-style, with many Fuqing dishes.

The Author and Fujian Cuisine

During my time as a corporate employee, I lived in Malaysia and Xiamen, where there are many Fujianese overseas Chinese, so I had many opportunities to encounter Fujian cuisine.

My first overseas assignment after getting a job was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is a city built by Cantonese overseas Chinese, and Cantonese is spoken among the Chinese community, but there were also quite a few Fujianese overseas Chinese, known as Hokkien, living there. In addition, the outer port of Klang/Port Klang, Penang in the north, Malacca and Johor in the south, and neighboring Singapore have many Fujianese people. I often went to these areas for both work and travel, and I frequently ate Hokkien dishes like Bak Kut Teh and Hokkien Mee, as well as Babi Pongteh (pork and potato stewed in miso), a Nyonya dish created by the creole culture of Chinese men and local women.

※ Bak Kut Teh and Hokkien Mee also exist in places like Singapore and Penang, but the preparation methods differ from those in Kuala Lumpur. What I am introducing here are the versions from around Kuala Lumpur.

After that, having gone through several countries, I was blessed with the opportunity to be stationed in Xiamen. Xiamen is an island with abundant seafood, and I spent my days enjoying seafood mainly at a type of street-stall-style seafood restaurant called 'Da Pai Dang'. It was extremely fun to point at fresh seafood placed on ice and ask the servers which cooking methods or seasonings would be delicious before ordering.

I was also blessed with frequent opportunities to go to Fuzhou on business trips. On weekends, I would extend my travels to neighboring Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, and take short trips to places like Wuyishan and Putian to enjoy the flavors of various parts of Fujian.

For me, Fujian is a land I have a deep attachment to, and being able to live in Xiamen, which served as my base, was a very good experience.