Fuzhou cuisine

Fuzhou cuisine is one of the four traditional cooking styles of Fujian cuisine, which in turn is one of the eight Chinese regional cuisines. Dishes are light but flavorful, with particular emphasis on umami taste, known in Chinese cooking as "xiānwèi" ( simplified Chinese: 鲜味), as well as retaining the original flavor of the main ingredients instead of masking them. In Fuzhou cuisine, the taste is light compared to that of some other Chinese cooking styles, and often have a mixed sweet and sour taste. Soup, served as an indispensable dish in meals, is cooked in various ways with local seasonal fresh vegetables and seafood. Distinctive snack foods are also an important part of Fuzhou culture. Production of raw materials according to classification can be divided into many classes: powder, starch, dry fruit, meat and seafood, etc., with rice, beans, and sugar as the main raw materials. Red and white rice cakes (年糕) during the Chinese New Year, stuffed yuanxiao (元宵) during the Lantern Festival, zongzi (粽子) during the Dragon Boat Festival, and sweet soy bean powder-covered plain yuanxiao during the winter solstice are just some of the traditional foods enjoyed by the masses of Fuzhou.