At the end of 2025, we finished the last foodway trip of the year in Wenzhou.

Wenzhou, located on the coast of the East China Sea, is one of the most economically developed cities in Zhejiang Province. When it comes to cuisine, this place is also very distinctive. Unlike the iconic soy-saucy flavor in the north, the sweetness in Shanghai, and the chili spice in Sichuan, Wenzhou prefers fresh and light taste, especially rich in seafood.

The head chef of the Chinese restaurant at the Wenzhou Sheraton Hotel is a renowned chef of Wenzhou cuisine. At the first dinner there, we enjoyed two interesting local meal: Pancai Raw and Fishball soup.

Pancai Raw, is a traditional cold dish. It looks quite resembling radish and mustard greens, with a crispy and tough texture. The taste is a combination of sour, sweet and spicy, very appetizing.

And this fishball soup is another comfort food for us. In those days in Wenzhou, every breakfast we each had a bowl of delicious Fishball soup or add some fishballs to the local snack Wenzhou Wonton. We loved it so much!

To find the ingredients of these two gourmet, we decided to visit a very lively local market called ‘Well Well’.

This is a market located at a narrow alley hidden in the old city area. Unlike indoor markets in modern big cities, it maintains a natural state, making it very interesting to stroll around. We were deeply fascinated by it:

There was no spacious and bright hall, only a narrow and crowded street; There were no neatly arranged stalls, but filled with basket vendors; The goods are abundant, the people are crowded, the ground is wet, and the sound is noisy… It is exactly the same as the food market in memory.

We walked through it curiously, identifying various meats, seafood, and vegetables, some of them we have never seen before.

As for the Pancai, at first, we didn’t distinguish it from anything like radish. It wasn’t until a local woman took it out of the basket and showed it to us with a smile that we realized that this flat and round guy was everywhere in the market!

More important, we found how Pancai Raw made here! Pancai Raw is actually a local pickled vegetable popular in Winter. In fact, there are various similar pickled small dishes all around China. As for what vegetables to use for pickling, the method and flavor, it depends on local conditions.

In Wenzhou, people cut Pancai into slices, soften and dehydrate them with salt, and then mix and marinate with sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil.

The market has the largest variety of seafood, after all, it is a city by the sea. There are many stalls that not only sell fresh fish, but also make homemade fish cakes and fishballs.

However, these fish cakes and fish balls are different from others places: the fish cakes here are processed into long strips; while Fish balls, on the other hand, have no shape and sell in form of seasoned fish meat fillings.

This fish ball filling is made of fresh local carp. The fish meat is boneless and chopped into a paste. Salt, ginger, cooking wine, and an appropriate amount of sweet potato flour are added and mixed evenly.

When making soup, simply squeeze it with your hands or scrape it into boiling water with a spoon until it floats, which is a unique and homely delicacy in Wenzhou.

It is so simple and casual, just like small fishes swimming in the bowl. With the deliciousness of the soup and the tenderness of the fish meat, it successfully won our love.

Strolling on the market till sunset, we gradually forgetting the identity of a tourist. Thanks for the Pancai Raw and fishball soup, we fall in love with this warm city.