chinese cusine: Buddha jumps over the wall

Buddha jumps over the wall is an umbrella term for a type of highly complex Chinese soup or stew consisting of many ingredients of non-vegetarian origins and requiring one to two full days to create.

The name of the soup implies that it is so appealing, even a vegetarian monk (Buddha) himself could not restrain himself and would sneak out of the monastery ("jump over the wall") to taste it。

A typical recipe requires many ingredients including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallop, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, Jinhua ham, pork tendon, ginseng, mushrooms, and taro. When served in restaurants, the more expensive ingredients are emphasized to justify the lofty price normally charged for this soup。

Buddha jumps over the wall is a traditional Fujian cuisine that has approximately two hundred years of history. It came from a chef from one of the government official in Fujian. At first, he used about twenty ingredients, primarily chicken, duck, other meats, and Shaoxing wine. Later, he also added seafood.