Fujian Province shows up a lot in wuxia novels, but it also has one dish that’s famous even in Korea: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. So I went to a Chinese eatery whose style might feel somewhat familiar to Koreans too.

Menu

Shaxian is the name of a county in Fujian. A quick search told me Shaxian Xiaochi is a franchise with thousands of branches across China. That said, it’s not some grand operation; as usual, it was a cheap eatery with a single cook turning out the dishes.

Sauces

No matter how run-down the place, you pay with Alipay. The catch is that at a place like this, you can’t actually order through Alipay…

Soup

A warm soup, filled right to the brim.

Soup

There’s a good variety of ingredients inside too.

Soup

Apparently these long-simmered soups are the hallmark of Fujian cuisine, and I could feel how Buddha Jumps Over the Wall grew out of that tradition. It really warmed me up.

Dumplings

Nice for a quick bite…

Noodles

The sauce is rich, so they’re pretty good.

Fried rice

Since I’d only had noodles, I ordered a rice dish as well.

The kitchen

I never expected such a varied menu to come flying out of that tiny space at super speed… It may be called a franchise, but it clearly wouldn’t run without the owner’s skill.

Red bean porridge

There was a dessert menu, so I gave it a try.

Inside

It’s got some chew to it, and the portion is generous.

Dessert

This one tasted good too.

Dumplings in sauce

Freshly fried, piping-hot dumplings tossed in peanut sauce, and this was another treat. Though it was a bit odd that it came out after the dessert…

I ordered all these dishes and it still came to under 100 yuan. That’s less than 20,000 won in Korean money… Sure, part of it is that it’s mostly carbs, so it’s cheap, but if this is the price in a city, I wonder how cheap it must be out in the countryside…

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