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| Huangshan
Local Flavors and Snacks |
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Anhui
cuisine, one of the eight most famous cuisines in China, features
the local culinary arts of Huizhou.The highly distinctive characteristic
of Anhui cuisine lies not only in the elaborate choices of cooking
materials but also in the strict control of cooking process. Most
ingredients in Anhui cuisine, such as pangolin, stone frog, mushroom,
bayberry, bamboo shoot, etc., come from mountain area. Mt. Huangshan
has abundant products for dish cooking. Huangshan Chukka has tender
flesh and a sweet taste. It can be boiled in clear soup or braised
in soy sauce. The dishes help relieve internal fever and build up
vital energy. The white and tender bamboo shoots produced on Mt. Huangshan
can be made into very delicious food. Xianggu, a kind of top-grade
mushroom grows on old trees, is also very tasty. |
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Anhui dishes preserve most of the original taste and nutrition of
the materials. The food here is generally slightly spicy and salty.
Some master dishes usually stewed in brown sauce with stress on heavy
oil and sauce. Ham is often used to upgrade the freshness and taste
of the dish. High up on the menu are the turtle stewed with ham, steamed
rock partridge, Huangshan Braised Pigeon, the steamed stone frog,
stewed the fish belly in brown sauce, stir-fried eel slices and Wenzhengshan
bamboo shoots |
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Stewed
Soft Shell Turtle with ham:
One whole soft shell turtle, pork, ham, bamboo shoots, a clove of
garlic, shallot, ginger, soy sauce, salt, rice wine, black pepper,
lard are all stewed together in a pot on charcoal fire. The dish is
not greasy and can lead diners to endless aftertastes.
Stewed Rock Cod with Three kinds of Leaves and Ground Glutinous Rice:
There are many streams teemed with rock cods in Huizhou Area. Prepared
with the local rock cods, the dish is fresh, tender and nutritious.
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Bamboo
Shoots from Mt. Wenzheng Cooked with Sausage and Dried Mushroom:
One traditional flavor in Huizhou mountainous area. Cooked with sausage
and dried mushrooms, the bamboo shoots are more fragrant. It is delicious,
and noted for its good color, juicy meat and thick soup. |
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Steamed
Stone Frog:
Inhabited in caves, stone frog is a special product in Mt. Huangshan.
It weights 250 gram or so, whose belly is white and back black with
stripe. Stone Frog is abundant with protein, calcium and so on. It
has the functions of clearing heat, improving vision and nutrition.
It is one of the best exotic dishes from mountains. |
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Li
Hongzhang Hotchpotch
Li Hongzhang hotchpotch is a popular dish named after one of Anhui's
famous personages. Li Hongzhang was a top official of the late Qing
Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). When he was in office, he paid a visit to
the US and hosted a banquet for all his American friends. As the specially
prepared dishes continued to flow, the chefs, with limited resources,
began to fret. Upon Li Hongzhang's order, the remaining kitchen ingredients
were thrown together into an impromptu stew, containing sea cucumber,
squid, tofu, ham, mushroom, chicken meat and other less identifiable
food materials! Thus appetites were quenched and a dish was created.
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Caocao
Chicken
Caocao chicken, strange as its name sounds, is essentially a chicken
cooked with traditional Chinese herbal medicines. It was so named
because this dish was first invented by a chef of Caocao, the notoriously
devious warlord that lived mostly in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220AD).
After seeing his master buried in fighting almost everyday, the chef
applied numerous kinds of nourishing herbs and spices in the stewed
chicken. After sampling this specialty for a few days, Caocao became
much healthier, which might have been a major reason for his success
in unifying all the small warring states around into the powerful
Wei Kingdom (220-265 AD). |
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