Fuding Meat Slices

Fuding Meat Slices

　　Fuding Meat Slices is a famous traditional Han Chinese dish from Fuding City, Fujian Province. The entire bowl of meat slices delivers a spicy and savory flavor with a hint of cilantro. Xiyang Village in Guanyang Town, Fuding City, is the authentic birthplace of Fuding Meat Slices, where the taste is the most genuine. The entire production process is done by hand. It uses premium ingredients, features ingenious craftsmanship, and has a unique taste. From Fuding, it spread across various snack hubs throughout Fujian and has received high praise from many.

　　Snack History

　　Legend has it that in the early Ming Dynasty, there was a young man named Wu Wangsan who got to know a girl surnamed Su from a neighboring village. The girl was beautiful, intelligent, virtuous, and kind. Over time, the two developed feelings for each other. When they reached marriageable age, Wu Wangsan asked a matchmaker to propose to the girl’s family. Unexpectedly, another young man named Dong Qi also fancied the Su girl. As a result, on the day of the engagement, both families showed up and neither would back down, creating a tense situation. At this moment, the girl stepped in to mediate, saying that both families had good intentions and she didn’t want to offend either. So she came up with a challenge: whoever did better would win her hand in marriage. Her challenge was simple—each family had sent a pig’s trotter, and she took one jin (500g) of lean meat from each, asking the two young men to make a dish on the spot to serve the seven or eight guests who were coming to her home that day.

　　One jin of lean meat for seven or eight people—if even chopped into cubes, each person would get only a tiny piece, so how could it serve the guests? Dong Qi was clever. Without hesitation, he cut the lean meat into cubes and boiled a pot of meat porridge. This meant Wu Wangsan could no longer make a dish in the same way. But Wu Wangsan remained calm. He minced the lean meat finely, mixed it with regular starch, effectively turning one jin of meat into two jin. He then pinched small pieces by hand, boiled them in water, added some seasonings, and served them in small bowls—managing to make about ten servings.

　　It was the first time people had eaten something like this. The texture was tender and smooth, and everyone praised it highly as they ate. Even Dong Qi, after tasting it, was left speechless and had to leave dejectedly. Later, when people asked Wu Wangsan what the dish was called, he thought for a moment and said it was called “meat ball,” because it had “rounded” his path to marrying the girl. Since the local pronunciation of “round” and “pill” is the same, over time people began calling it “meat pill,” and later also “meat slice.”

　　Features

　　Fuding Meat Slices must be served with sour and spicy flavors to be truly delicious. The combination of Fuding Meat Slices with locally made rice vinegar and chili peppers is perfect. A bit of cilantro should also be added—either directly into the bowl before pouring the soup or sprinkled on top after serving the meat slices. This keeps the cilantro from getting too soggy. In this way, the entire bowl of spicy and savory meat slices carries a subtle hint of cilantro, making it a heavenly delicacy that is absolutely unforgettable.

　　Common Pairings

　　Meat Slices with Gua Soup: The “gua” here refers to water gua (translated from the local dialect), which is completely different from the usual white gua. Fuding meat slice stalls usually have small pieces of water gua available, and customers can add them when ordering meat slices.

　　“Liuliu” Meat Slices: “Liuliu” is a transliteration of a Fuding dialect word. It is a type of noodle-like food made from sweet potato starch. At Fuding meat slice stalls, besides water gua, “liuliu” is definitely another essential companion to the meat slices.