The story
This cold Sichuan dish is named after a married couple, Guo Zhaohua and Zhang Tianzheng, who sold dressed beef slices from a stall in Chengdu in the 1930s. Their carefully cleaned, braised and thinly sliced beef and offal, tossed in chilli oil and Sichuan pepper, won a loyal following. The story goes that local children stuck notes reading 'fuqi feipian' on the pair as a joke, and a happy customer later gave them a gilded sign bearing the name. Despite the 'lung' in its English name, the dish rarely contains any; the word may once have meant offcuts. It is now a Sichuan classic worldwide.
Also known as 夫妻肺片, husband and wife lung slices, fu qi fei pian, couple's lung slices.
On the Meridish menu
Fuqi feipian (husband-and-wife lung slices) was the starter course on menu No. 21 on October 21, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Thin slices of beef and offal in chilli oil and numbing peppercorns, served cold. A married couple who sold it here in the 1930s gave it its name.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
