Xiapu Seafood 霞浦海鲜

Xiapu Seafood (霞浦海鲜) is the fish, shellfish and seaweed of Xiapu County (霞浦县) in Ningde (宁德), Fujian. The county has 510 km of coastline and wide shallow tidal flats, and it is known as the 'city of a thousand fresh things' (千鲜之城). The China Cuisine Association (中国烹饪协会) named Xiapu a food landmark city for tidal-flat seafood in 2024.

Ingredients

The Xiapu county government counts more than 700 kinds of sea fish and more than 300 kinds of tidal-flat life. The main bulk products are kelp, laver (紫菜), sea cucumber, large yellow croaker and abalone. Other prized products include oysters, mudskippers (弹涂鱼), whiteleg shrimp, the seaweeds longxucai (龙须菜) and jiangli (江蓠), swimming crabs and razor clams (剑蛏). The Guanjing Yang (官井洋) sea area is a spawning ground where large yellow croaker return to breed, and the Dongwu Yang (东吾洋) waters are a natural sea-farming area.

Flavour and texture

Cooks in Xiapu work to four words, 'fresh, tender, clear, original flavour' (鲜、嫩、清、原味): the aim is to keep the natural taste of the seafood. A run of promotion events has made dishes such as sea cucumber braised with quinoa (藜麦烧海参) and Guanjing large yellow croaker (官井大黄鱼) more widely known.

How it is eaten

In the county town, Taikang Road (太康路) is a food street lined with seafood stalls (海鲜排档) that stay lit and busy after dark. The county's 2023 tidal-flat seafood festival launched a recipe book, Qianxian Xiapu (千鲜霞浦), and named ten signature dishes, ten traditional famous dishes, ten seasonal dishes and ten famous snacks.