In Chinese, the Fujianese Wonton Soup is called bian rou (扁肉), which literally means “flat meat,” because a knife is not needed to make the dish, but instead, a special wooden stick is all you need in order to beat the meat into a paste. As can be seen from the English name, the dish originates from Fujian, China, and although it may not be a very well-known dish, I believe it is worthy to be among the top specialty dishes of Fujian, which is why I chose it for this project. Bian rou is a simple yet tasty dish that is a great choice for those omnivores who want a warm and light meal to those who are simply looking for a quick and delicious snack on the go, especially if made by master cooks who have spent years perfecting the dish. It doesn’t take long to prepare and cook a bowl of “flat meat,” so it is suitable for busy people. The ingredients are always prepared the day of and cooked when ordered for people who want a fresh and warm bowl of light soup. Bian rou can be eaten at any time and any day, as breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a quick snack, so everyone can order a bowl no matter when and what time they are free from work.

Bian rou is not very well known, so I could not find any historical or cultural information online, and there is no tradition of eating the dish on specific days or at a specific time of the day. “Flat meat” is becoming less known and fewer people know how to make the perfect bowl of bian rou, as the Chinese economy is developing and as the older generation is retiring, while the younger generation (in mostly larger cities) do not have any interest in carrying on restaurants that serve these foods. Those who start up restaurants either serve more modern food or alter the traditional food to make it more appealing. Some stores that sell bian rou may add various vegetables or even noodles to make the originally simple bowl of soup more elaborate. With the economy developing, more and more people are adapting an on-the-go attitude towards food, but bian rou is a dish that is still doing well for those people because it takes only 3 minutes to cook and serve the food and it takes maybe 5 minutes for fast eaters to finish a bowl of “flat meat.”

I first encountered this dish during the summer of 2013, when my parents decided to take the family on a vacation after working over 360 days for 10 years straight. We traveled all over China, but the most memorable place was my hometown, Tingjiang, which is located in Fuzhou in the Fujian province. We went straight to my paternal grandfather’s house when we landed that night and immediately went to sleep to recover from jet lag. The next morning my dad took us a few blocks from our house to a tiny store that didn’t have a door and simply had a roof with only two walls, and I remember thinking that the store run by the elderly couple was such an old and shabby place. I never would have thought that the food there would become my favorite dish, bian rou, and that I would be writing an essay about it. Although the appearance of the store was not the best, one could tell that the food served was popular in the town because they were always busy, from early in the morning to late at night. Most adults drove a scooter there and small teenagers would ride a bike over to get a bowl of “flat meat” within three minutes, finish within five, and immediately leave for work or school. Some parents would bring their children and sit to eat in the hot summer while watching a random show on a tiny television about the size of a laptop, or chatting with family and friends.

Ever since returning to America, I have been asking my parents to make bian rou at home, but we can never create the same taste and texture because we don’t beat the meat into paste, but simply chop it halfway to a paste, and the skin we use is also different, as we have not yet found a good alternative after trying many types of wonton skins. During the process of making my own bian rou, I realized how much I regretted not savoring the one I had in Tingjiang, especially since the old couple have probably retired after so many years. On the bright side, I realized I could spend time learning how to perfect my own bowl of bian rou. From this cooking project, I have realized that cooking to quickly fill one’s stomach is easy to do but cooking to make the perfect dish using perfect ingredients is not as easy to master. In my opinion, the masters of cooking “flat meat” are the old couple who have served the dish for over twenty years in the same store. Their cooking is able to satisfy all kinds of customers, from those who are always on the go to those who want to sit in a comfy place while having a bowl of warm and refreshing soup to start the day or to end the night.