A deep-fried snack shaped like horse ears. The preparation process is basically the same as that of youtiao (Chinese fried dough sticks), except that it is filled with brown sugar paste in the middle.…
Made from cooked taro mash and sweet potato starch, shaped into triangles, and deep-fried until golden brown. Locals in Gutian typically enjoy them as a breakfast dish or street snack.…
The wrapper is made from mashed cooked taro mixed with sweet potato starch, filled with sweet peanut powder or bean flour. It is a popular everyday dish among the people of Gutian.…
The Beginning of Summer is an important solar term. On this day, the sun reaches 45 degrees of celestial longitude, which the ancients regarded as the start of summer. After the Beginning of Summer, temperatures rise noticeably, hot weather approaches, thunderstorms become more frequent, and crop growth enters its peak season. This solar term gave rise to various folk customs as early as 3,000 years ago, such as “egg-fighting”…
When the Dragon Boat Festival arrives, every household in Gutian makes zongzi. Gutian zongzi are well-shaped, neither too big nor too small, both attractive and delicious. The zongzi come in sweet, red bean paste, and meat varieties. The sweet and red bean paste zongzi are pleasantly sweet without being cloying, offering an excellent texture. The meat zongzi are filled with Gutian mushrooms, where the flavors of meat and mushrooms blend perfectly—each bite leaves a lingering aroma and is incredibly tasty.
Gutian Oil Cake is a beloved snack among locals in Gutian, often enjoyed for breakfast with soy milk or guobianhu (a rice noodle soup), or even sandwiched inside guangbing (flatbread) for an especially delicious treat. The method of making oil cake is simple, using rice, soybeans, and a bowl of cooked rice ground into a rice batter, then mixed with salt, chopped scallions, and more. As for the Fuzhou version...
Hibiscus flowers come in both white and red varieties. Locals in Gutian call them "rice soup flowers" and typically cook them with rice soup to make a savory soup. They can also be coated with flour and deep-fried. Before cooking, it's necessary to remove the flower stems, centers, and the outer green-tinted petals, as these parts are tougher and less pleasant in texture. The cooked rice soup flowers are smooth and have a texture that’s somewhat…
Dragon-Phoenix Soup is a famous dish commonly served at grand and sumptuous banquets in both urban and rural areas of Gutian County. According to local legend, there was once a wealthy man in Gutian who was celebrating his sixtieth birthday. His eldest daughter prepared a “bear’s paw banquet,” his second daughter a “bird’s nest banquet,” but the youngest daughter, whose family was poor, worried about not being able to afford a proper feast. One day, her husband was fishing and caught a snake that weighed nearly…
“Rat (Glutinous) Rice Cake” refers to Qingming cake. It is an exquisitely crafted snack delicacy made by the people of Gutian. Mouse ear grass, also known as rat ear grass or white-flowered anemone in traditional Chinese medicine, is a wild plant that grows in winter fields and uncultivated land. Its tips bear small white flowers, and both flower buds and leaves have cotton-like white fibers. After being collected from the fields, the tips are carefully...
“Clang, clang, clang... Sugar for trade, sugar for trade, delicious maltose, old sandals, old plastic buckets for trade...” Whenever I heard that familiar clanging and hawking voice in the courtyard, I’d dash out of the house as fast as I could, clutching the broken old sandals (plastic ones), toothpaste tubes, or other plastic items I had saved up during the week...
Fried dough sticks are the most common snack in Gutian, usually eaten for breakfast along with congee, soy milk, or milk. The history of fried dough sticks is long-standing — as early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the scientist Jia Sixie documented methods for making deep-fried foods in his book "Qimin Yaoshu" (Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People). According to the "Qing Bai Lei Chao," it is also recorded: “Deep-fried Gui (Fried Dough Sticks), about a person’s length, made from pounded dough...
Selecting premium white flour as the main ingredient, supplemented with salt, potassium alum powder, and cooking oil, all mixed evenly. It undergoes up to nine hours of manual processing, including seven steps such as dough kneading, strand pulling, noodle loosening, stringing, and stretching. The noodles are as fine as 0.5 millimeters and can reach lengths of 5.5 to 6 meters. Their characteristics include not becoming mushy when cooked, being tender and smooth, and not sticking to the teeth when chewed…
Tian Shan Clear Green: A premium variety of Min Dong Tian Shan green tea, named for the clear, emerald-green hue of its brewed liquor. It is produced in areas such as under Tian Shan Ridge in Xi Township, Central Tian Shan in Zhanghou Township, Tiepingkeng, and Liping Village in Jitou Township. The finished tea boasts a fragrant aroma reminiscent of the fresh, invigorating scent of stephanotis; its taste is rich and full-bodied, with a lingering aftertaste akin to that of fresh olives; the liquor is emerald green, clear and bright, complemented by tender, vibrant green leaves. The leaf flesh is thick and plump, offering exceptional endurance through multiple infusions—its flavor remains even after three or four brews. Ningde has a tea-producing history spanning over 700 years. Around the year 1781, the “bud tea” produced in Tian Shan was already listed as a tribute tea.
Gutian Black Muscovy Duck is a specialty of Gutian County, Ningde, Fujian. The *Gutian County Annals* also record that the Gutian Black Muscovy Duck is known as the “knobbed duck.” It boasts advantages such as fast growth and high-quality meat, and is regarded by locals as a nourishing delicacy. The feathers of the Gutian Black Muscovy Duck are black with an ink-green sheen, and some of its primary or secondary wing feathers have a small number of white feathers; the knob on its head has a color that is black tinged with…
Making "Egg Noodles" is very simple. Just mix sweet potato starch with water, add some eggs and a bit of salt, stir everything together, then heat a pan, control the heat, add a little oil, pour in an appropriate amount of the prepared sweet potato starch mixture, fry it into pieces, and then cut them into strips. The key to making delicious Egg Noodles lies in the soup...
Commonly known as guangbing, it is round in shape, about the size of a small bowl, with a tiny hole in the center that allows it to be strung on a thread and hung up—hence it is also called "hanging bread." Legend has it that during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates frequently raided the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang. General Qi Jiguang led his troops to the coast to suppress the pirates. Since the pirates came from the sea, Qi’s army set up ambushes along the shore. The local people made large quantities of hanging bread to hang around the soldiers’ necks...
Gutian Rice-Roasted Rabbit (preserved rabbit meat) is a special delicacy made during traditional festivals in Gutian. When visiting Gutian, guests are sure to try this dish. It is both visually appealing and delicious, with the glossy rabbit skin taking on a light beige color, while the meat exudes a rich aroma of rice that makes your mouth water before you even take a bite. The preparation of Rice-Roasted Rabbit involves a unique technique: first, rice is placed in an iron pot, then a bamboo rack is used to hold the slaughtered rabbit...
Gutian Fire Qilin is a dessert served at banquets. Its name is quite unique, and so is the way it’s eaten — truly a delicacy of eastern Fujian. To make it, the skin is peeled off taro, which is then boiled and mashed into taro paste. Pork lard, white sugar, and roasted black sesame seeds are added to the paste. The taro mixture is then scooped onto a round plate and piled high, forming a small hill-like mound. Finally...
Ningde Zhuhan features thin shells, thick and tender meat, a delicious taste, and rich nutrition, making it an excellent choice for banquets. Among them, Erdu Zhuhan is a seafood variety known for its thin shell, tender meat, plumpness, rich blood content, bright red color, moderate size, and exceptionally fresh flavor. It is exported in large quantities to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and other Southeast Asian regions.…
Among the hundreds of local snacks in Fuzhou and Ningde, Guangbing is the simplest and most humble one. Its ingredients consist only of flour, alkaline flour, salt, plus a little sesame, and it is about the size of a silver dollar. Compared to Beijing’s sesame paste-coated scallion pancakes or Jiangsu’s Huangqiao baked cakes, which are brushed with oil and seasoned, Guangbing lacks both sophistication and flavor. …