Excelling at fusion

Visitors should also try Nanping city's signature bamboo shoot feast, featuring shredded winter bamboo shoots with dried shrimp and mushrooms, which showcase the mountain flavors, while smoked classics, such as Jian'ou pressed duck, incorporate some of neighboring Jiangxi province's spicy influences. Those regional tastes still interact with and influence one another, so Fujian cuisine has never been static, Huang says.

"Just as Fujian people venture to the sea while remaining attached to the mountains, our culinary traditions continue to absorb the gifts of both mountain and sea on the foundation of Fuzhou cuisine through never-ending fusion and innovation," he says.

Yang considers Fuzhou cuisine the foundation of Fujian cuisine, as it has gathered ingredients from all over the province, including Gutian county's mushrooms and Nanping city's bamboo shoots.

But Fuzhou excels at fusion — beef with satay sauce uses southern Fujian's seasonings, smoked goose hand roll is adapted from western Fujian methods, and oyster omelet evolves from southern Fujian, he explains.

"This inclusivity reaches its peak in fotiaoqiang, where mountain treasures and sea delicacies all harmonize in this single jar," Yang concludes.