Hainan Quanjiafu Assorted Claypot 海南全家福煲

Hainan Quanjiafu Assorted Claypot (海南全家福煲) is the mixed banquet dish of dried seafood, meat and vegetables that Hainan people call quanjiafu (全家福), 'whole-family blessing'. It opens wedding and village feasts in the island's northeast, and in 2018 the China Cuisine Association (中国烹饪协会) named it one of Hainan's ten classic dishes in its 'Chinese Cuisine' (中国菜) list of regional dishes.

Where it comes from

Hainan Daily explains that in Wenchang (文昌) the dish was first called the 'first-plate dish' (头盘菜), after its place as the opening course of a wedding banquet; the lucky name quanjiafu came later. In the northeast of the island, including Haikou (海口) and Wenchang, it is the first dish at village feasts, and a saying in northern Hainan holds that if the quanjiafu is good, the whole feast will be good. China News Service reported in 2024 that when overseas Wenchang families return for the Qingming (清明) festival, the feast held for them always starts with quanjiafu.

Ingredients

The dish uses from ten or so to twenty ingredients. They shift with climate, season and place, but Hainan Daily sets three rules: local produce, a mix of meat and vegetables, and an eye for colour. The traditional version in Jinshan town (锦山镇), Wenchang, has 16: dried shrimp, dried squid, lean pork, dried pork skin, carrot, shiitake, wood-ear fungus, onion, celery, sausage, dried tofu skin, bottle gourd, dried enoki mushrooms, spring onion, fresh tea-tree mushrooms and green pepper. Newer versions add fresh shelled shrimp, fresh enoki or fresh pork tripe. A 2024 Wenchang feast described by China News Service used more than twenty ingredients, among them pork belly, snow peas and cauliflower.

How it is made

At Wenchang village feasts, cooks stir-fry quanjiafu in large iron woks set over wood-fired stoves. Hainan Daily notes that frying more than ten kinds of seafood, vegetables, meat and dried nuts together is a real test of a cook's skill, and peanuts and cashews go on top at the end.

Flavour and texture

Shiitake, tofu skin and wood-ear fungus give a rich aroma, dried squid and dried shrimp bring a pronounced taste of the sea, and sausage and lean pork are well matched. The Wenchang food writer Li Zi (李子) describes a large plate heaped to a peak, steaming, in red, gold, green, black and white.