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| Yangzhou
Local Flavors and Snacks |
Local
Cuisine:
Yangzhou is the birthplace of Huaiyang cuisine, one of the four major
components of Chinese cuisine combining the three styles of Yangzhou,
Zhenjiang and Huaian food. It is widely known for its unique history
and characteristics. This cuisine is enriched by seafood and Also
its vegetarian dishes make good use of the ample fruits and vegetables
of the region. Yangzhou cuisine stands out from the other three major
components of Chinese cuisine for its meticulous selection of ingredients,
consummate skill, exquisite shaping and rich cultural connotation.
It is special in its own feature in cutting, different ways of cooking
for different material and beautiful color. Rich in variety and prepared
with meticulous care, Yangzhou food is probably the most popular Chinese
food. |
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Huaiyang
is the home of "red cooking," a method of cooking food in
a marinade made of soy sauce, water, sugar, ginger and white wine.
Its flavors are light and moderate, palatably sweet and salty, nourishing
but not greasy. The Yangzhou kitchen technique is noted for its exquisitely
crafted arrangements and presentations. Yangzhou chefs use stir-frying,
braising, steaming and red-stewing a lengthy braising with soy sauce
and wine and a bit of sugar. |
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dishes include crab-roe dumplings, which are filled with pork, crab
meat and roe; steamed Mandarin fish in vinegar sauce; "Lion's
Head" meatballs flavored with crab roe; fatty yet fresh, deep-fried
whitebait and boiled shreds of pressed bean curd with chicken, ham
and pea leaves; and triple combo duck with salty dried duck placed
within a fresh duck. There is a Food Festival held here each year.
Master local cooks offer various tasty dishes and traditional banquets
such as Imperial Qianlong Banquet and The Red Mansion Banquet. |
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Yangzhou
Style Fried Rice:
Rice is the main ingredient in this dish. It is first pounded and
then stir-fried with shrimp, ham, egg, peas and seasonal vegetables.
Because a variety of seasonal vegetables are used, you taste a variety
of wonderful flavors and textures!
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“Lion-Head"
Meatball with Crab Roe:
This dish is the symbol of Huaiyang cuisine and it requires very complicated
procedure. First mix the ground pork, egg white, crabmeat, rice wine,
salt, scallions and ginger into a rather stiff mixture. Then divide
it into 4 portions and roll each portion into a meatball. Add cabbage,
chicken broth together with meatballs into casserole and place on
low heat and simmer for long time until its done. It has the fragrance
of the pork and crab and the color of the dish is as bright as orange.
It tastes rich but not greasy. |
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Yangzhou Snacks:
Huaiyang snacks include at least 500 different kinds, such as noodles,
dumplings, steamed buns, rice porridges, cakes, bean products and
stewed meat. Most famous are the “Three Wonders" of Yangzhou
snacks. |
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The
delicious Steamed Bun of Five Ingredients (sea cucumber, chicken,
pork, bamboo shoots and shrimp) is served in the Tea House. The Qing
Dynasty emperor Qianlong profusely praised it during his inspection
tour to Yangzhou. |
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| The Thousand-layer Cake, actually 64 layers in all,
with sugar and oil in between, is semi-transparent, and very crisp
and tasty. |
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| The Jadeite Steamed Dumpling, made of a thin wrapper
stuffed with green vegetables and chopped ham on top, temps everyone
as its aroma sweetly assails the nostrils. |
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