Take a walk on the wild side with this very unique recipe! You are guaranteed to try at least one thing you never had with this diverse recipe!
The mysterious and noble, legendary and imaginative creation is here. Making the entire family try to “find a way over the wall.”
What kind of dish can last forever from hundreds of years ago to our present modern day, and successfully become the highest standard of the state’s feast for the country’s dinner?
Let me introduce you to…
The Buddha Jumps Over The Wall (佛跳墙)- the head of the Fujian cuisine. The historical records reveal this meal as the official dish for private representatives.
Its origins can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. Many high-grade ingredients are gathered together in the jars of Shaoxing rice wine for a long time, and served to an officer named Zhou lian.
Due to the variety of tasty and delicious ingredients used in this recipe, Zhou Lian had become amazed by its taste.
He later took private Chef Zheng Chunfa to go to the official house to study and visit.
Zheng Chunfa carefully researched and reformed the materials so that the taste of this soup would be extremely delicious.
Later, Zheng Chunfa opened a restaurant and The Buddha Jumping Over The Wall soon became famous, however it was not called this just yet.
On a particular occasion, when the dish was served, a scholar was intoxicated by its overflowing fragrance and said that the Buddha had jumped over the wall to try the dish.
And since then, the “buddha jumps over the wall” got its very name.
The procedure of making the traditional Buddha Jumping Over The Wall is very tedious.
However today, I am going to share with you a simple way to make this delicious dish that was enjoyed by high ranking officials, and both Presidents Reagan and Bush!
To make the recipe clear, I divide the ingredients into groups.
Ingredients
-Soup ingredients A:
- 1) 200g Lean pork leg
- 2) 1 Pigs Foot
- 3) 200g Pig’s stomach
- 4) 100g Duck kidney
- 5) 300g Beef tendons
- 6) A chicken
- 7) A duck
- 8)200g pork rib
-Soup ingredients B:
- 1) 3-5 large scallops
- 2) 100g ham
- 3) 2 Fresh bamboo shoots
- 4) 100g Shitake mushrooms
- 5) 4 flowers of Hericium
- 6) 10 Jujube
-Other Ingredients:
- 1) 300g Dried Fish maw (soaked in water)
- 2) 3 Dried Abalone (soaked in water)
- 3) 2-3 Dried Sea cucumbers (soaked in water)
- 4) 4 Dried Bird’s nests (soaked in water)
- 5) 200g of Quail eggs
- Seasoning:
- 1) 45g Ginger
- 2) 10g Salt
- 3) 1000g Shaoxing rice wine
- 4) 50g Soy sauce
- 5) 20g Rock sugar
- 6) 500g Stock Soup
spices:
- 7)1 small piece of Cinnamon
- 8)2 small pieces of Bay leaf
- 9)21 small pieces of Star anise
Method
(Foods that need to be prepared in advance)
Abalone:
To be processed 3 days in advance.
Sea cucumbers:
To be processed 3 days in advance. With regards to sea cucumber soaking – refer to the article.
Winter bamboo shoots:
Before cooking the soup, split the bamboo shoots in half, peel and slice them in boiling water for 10 minutes until they are astringent and then add them to the soup.
The following will need to be soaked overnight with clear water:
⦁ Scallops
⦁ Fish maw
⦁ Bird’s nest
⦁ Shiitake mushroom
⦁ Hedgehog mushroom
⦁ Jujube
Soup Procedure:
Step 1: Cut the soup ingredients A into smaller pieces. Also, score the duck kidney with a knife.
Step 2: Allow the raw materials for blanching and remove.
Step 3: Under the wok oil, ginger and spices, add the above ingredients to the stir fry.
Step 4: Add x3 tablespoons of Shaoxing rice wine, salt, sugar and light soy sauce for seasoning. Add the Stock Soup and boil.
Step 5: Place all ingredients into a pot, plus the soup material B covered with lotus leaf, cook on low for about 4 hours.
Other food preparations:
⦁ Abalone and Fish Maw:
Put the abalone and fish maw into another pot with the rice wine, some of the stock soup, and light soy sauce. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
⦁ Sea cucumber:
Add two spoon of cooking oil to the pan, pour the sea cucumber and stir fry for about 1 minute. In another pot, add the sea cucumber, some of the stock soup, and simmer for about another 1-2 hours.
⦁ Bird’s nest:
Steam bird’s nest for 30 minutes in a stew cooker.
⦁ Quail eggs:
Boiled and shelled.
When finished cooking, add Abalone, sea cucumber, bird’s nest and the other ingredients into the original pot used for making the stock.
Notes:
1. As I said before, the shark’s fin of today’s Buddha Jumps Over The Wall was changed into a bird’s nest by me, which is easier to find in a specialty store. Pigeon eggs are harder to find in the United States, so I use quail eggs instead.
2. The amount of rice wine used in the original recipe was very large. I do not add more than half a cup on each step, otherwise the soup will not be as good as it will be too strong from the wine.
3. There are many ingredients in the original soup. My home soil sand jar is not large enough to hold that many ingredients. I switched to a cast iron pan with a larger capacity.
(Soaked abalone, fish maw and sea cucumber, boiled abalone, fish maw and fried stewed sea cucumber.)
(Prepare Raw materials in Group A displayed above.)
(Blanching.)
(Prepare original B group ingredients.)
(Mix in the two groups of ingredients to make the broth.)
(Cooking Quail eggs.)
(Soaking and steaming stewed bird’s nest.)
Today’s Buddha Jumping Over The Wall is rich in ingredients and flavor. During the Chinese New Year, this makes a great dish to share as it is such a large amount of food.
This is the main dish when the whole family is together. When you and your guests take a bowl of this, the words jumped over the wall will leap into your imagination, and best of all – tops off the new year meal!
Buddha Jumps Over The Wall
Ingredients
- Soup ingredients A:
- 200 g Lean pork leg
- 1 Pigs Foot
- 200 g Pig’s stomach
- 100 g Duck kidney
- 300 g Beef tendons
- A chicken
- A duck
- 200 g pork rib
Soup ingredients B
- 3-5 large scallops
- 100 g ham
- 2 Fresh bamboo shoots
- 100 g Shitake mushrooms
- 4 flowers Hericium
- 10 Jujube
Other Ingredients
- 300 g Dried Fish maw (soaked in water)
- 3 Dried Abalone (soaked in water)
- 2-3 Dried Sea cucumbers (soaked in water)
- 4 Dried Bird’s nests (soaked in water)
- 200 g Quail eggs
Seasoning
- 45 g Ginger
- 10 g Salt
- 1000 g Shaoxing rice wine
- 50 g Soy sauce
- 20 g Rock sugar
- 500 g Stock Soup
spices:
- 1 small piece Cinnamon
- 2 small pieces Bay leaf
- 21 small pieces Star anise
Instructions
- Soup Procedure:
- Cut the soup ingredients A into smaller pieces. Also, score the duck kidney with a knife.
- Allow the raw materials for blanching and remove.
- Under the wok oil, ginger and spices, add the above ingredients to the stir fry.
- Add x3 tablespoons of Shaoxing rice wine, salt, sugar and light soy sauce for seasoning. Add the Stock Soup and boil.
- Place all ingredients into a pot, plus the soup material B covered with lotus leaf, cook on low for about 4 hours
Other food preparations:
- Abalone and Fish Maw:
Put the abalone and fish maw into another pot with the rice wine, some of the stock soup, and light soy sauce. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. - Sea cucumber:
Add two spoon of cooking oil to the pan, pour the sea cucumber and stir fry for about 1 minute. In another pot, add the sea cucumber, some of the stock soup, and simmer for about another 1-2 hours. - Bird’s nest: Steam bird’s nest for 30 minutes in a stew cooker.
- Quail eggs:Boiled and shelled.
