Taiwan Banquet Delicacy-Buddha Jumps Over the Wall﹝御膳佛跳牆﹞

佛跳牆是中國閩菜的一道首屈一指的傳統菜肴。

民間傳說此菜源於清光緒年間，距今有百餘年歷史，為中國名菜。

此菜最初為一福州銀局官員在家中設宴宴請福建按察使周蓮時所制，主料為雞、鴨、肉，原料約為10多種，用紹興酒罈精心煨制而成。周蓮品嘗後讚不絕口，問及菜名，該官員說該­菜取「吉祥如意、福壽雙全」之意，名「福壽全」。 鄭春發為周蓮的廚師，是次宴會幫廚，後對此菜加以研究改進，口味勝於先者。

某次宴會上，賓客品嘗鄭氏改進後的「福壽全」感到極其鮮美，坐中文人即興賦詩道：「壇啟葷香飄四鄰，佛聞棄禪跳牆來」。從此，引用詩句意，普遍稱此菜為「佛跳牆」

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, or fo tiao qiang, is a variety of shark fin soup in Cantonese and Fujian cuisine.Since its creation during the Qing Dynasty (1644 -- 1912), the dish has been regarded as a Chinese delicacy known for its rich taste, usage of various high-quality ingredients and special manner of cooking. The dish's name is an allusion to the dish's ability to entice the vegetarian monks from their temples to partake in the meat-based dish. It is high in protein and calcium

The soup or stew consists of many ingredients of non-vegetarian origin and requires one to two full days to prepare. A typical recipe requires many ingredients including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallops, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, Jinhua ham, pork tendon, ginseng, mushrooms, and taro. Some recipes require up to thirty main ingredients and twelve condiments. Use of shark fin, which is sometimes harvested by shark finning, and abalone, which is implicated in destructive fishing practices are controversial for both environmental and ethical reasons