More than 700 years ago, when Kyle Poirot visited Taizhou, he praised: "This city is not very big, but it has many earthly pleasures."
Taizhou is an auspicious place, which wraps the characteristics and soul of the whole city in "water". It has a delicate and gentle water town in the south of the Yangtze River, and there is no shortage of heroic generosity in the north. It has its own charm and characteristics, and is very elegant in food culture:
The pursuit of original flavor, freshness and harmony is the biggest feature of Taizhou cuisine.
Taizhou's unique and splendid food culture has given birth to countless delicacies. Today, I will take you deep into Taizhou and taste several unique Taizhou cuisines.
Lion head meatballs
Taizhou cuisine belongs to Huaiyang cuisine. Speaking of this dish, there is one dish that can't be ignored. This is the famous lion head.
This dish has a long history. According to legend, Yang Di passed by Yangzhou when he went down to the south of the Yangtze River, and he was obsessed with the four scenic spots in Yangzhou. Later, he ordered the chef to cook four dishes from these four scenic spots. Chefs have racked their brains and finally developed the dish "Sunflower Chopped Meat" (lion's head), which has been passed down to later generations.
There are many ways to make "lion head": braised lion head, stewed crab powder and Yifeng lion head. There are expensive ways to eat and cheap ways to eat. For example, Grandma Zhang Xiaoqin, who lives in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, has her own unique "Taizhou Lion Head" practice.
Pork belly with three parts fat and seven parts thin is an essential ingredient for making lion's head. The yam is chopped into mud and added to it, bringing a thick and moist taste. The shell is slightly brittle, and the Q bomb inside is moist, which is an authentic Taizhou delicacy.
Dried silk soup
Dried silk soup is one of the traditional local snacks and morning tea spots in Yangzhou and Taizhou, Jiangsu Province. When talking about Yangzhou, Zhu Ziqing once praised it as "elegant in color, soft and delicious, and meaningful."
The traditional dried silk soup is exquisite and complicated, and it is difficult to get started without professional skills: it is difficult for many people to cut dried silk into the thickness of matchsticks.
Taizhou dried silk is also called Taizhou Wuwei dried silk. There are two main meanings. First, there are five kinds of ingredients in the early five-flavored dried silk in Taizhou, namely, yaorou, coriander, mustard tuber, mushrooms and shredded ginger. Second, it shows that dried silk has a unique taste. Later, the name of Wuwei dried silk has been used to this day.
For Taizhou natives, dried silk soup is an essential "necessity". Because one of the famous "three big pieces" of Taizhou morning tea is dried silk soup.
Tofu barbecue
Bean skin barbecue, a home-cooked dish in Taizhou, is not well-known, but it firmly occupies the fireworks stove around the homes of ordinary people. Unknown, but there is no shortage of temperature.
This dish was once an essential hard dish for local weddings and funerals. It combines Taizhou people's favorite bean products and precious meat. In the past when the material was not rich, eating meat was a happy moment for ordinary people only once or twice a year.
Bean skin roasted meat has a strong sauce flavor, bright and oily color, which makes people drool. The sweetness of bean skin and the oily taste of pork belly are blended together, and the fragrance is overflowing, with a strong intoxicating oily fragrance. Whether it's home cooking, toothache or entertaining guests, it's a good meal.
steamed turtle
It has been a simple idea in China since ancient times to rely on mountains to eat water, but there is a famous saying about eating in Jiangnan water town: "Carp eats meat, turtle drinks soup", which means that the purpose of eating carp is to eat its meat, while the purpose of eating turtle is to drink soup. Because turtle is rich in nutrition, it is too wasteful to eat directly, so cooking soup is the most suitable.
Turtle soup contains little methionine in general food. The soup is nutritious and is a good tonic for all ages.
Its soup is fresh, attractive and crisp and sweet. It is a special food in Jiangnan water town, and it is also a food business card displayed by Taizhou, an ancient city with land and water, and a gathering of north and south.
Asphyxiating shrimp
If you ask a Taizhou person what he likes best in summer, besides the essential "three big pieces" of morning tea, someone will definitely mention this choking shrimp.
Choking shrimp is a famous dish in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and it is an appetizer with food in summer. Featured wild shrimp, thin shell and thick meat, eaten raw and pickled, has a tender and smooth taste. Take a sip of good wine, eat a few shrimps, and exhale a long breath of alcohol. This smell is the most intoxicating.
According to records, the history of eating drunken shrimp can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. Liu Yao recorded in the book Ling Biao Ji: "Southerners buy more shrimps, cut lettuce, such as Polygonum viviparum, and then pour the live shrimps with thick sauce vinegar and cover the lettuce ..." As can be seen from the records here, this kind of eating method existed at least 1000 years ago.
There is also a legend that Yan Song, a traitor in the Ming Dynasty, was the first person in history who dared to eat drunken shrimp alive. In the 11th year of Jiajing, Yan Song went to Zhejiang to inspect government affairs and was warmly received by the governor. During the dinner, the waiter served raw shrimp as a cooked dish with strict sauce, which was greatly appreciated. Yan Ping, a master, was fascinated by his livelihood and created drunken shrimps with fresh vegetables.
Later, this unique dish was also recorded in Zhu Yizun's Redmi, the Immortal, and Gu Zhong's Yang Xiaolu in the Qing Dynasty. And Mr. Lu Xun once said, "The fresher the shrimp, the happier and more carefree the people who eat it." It can be seen that life shrimp is a favorite dish in ancient and modern times, and its eating method and taste can be described as a must.
More than 2000 years of splendid history and culture and unique geographical environment have created Taizhou's rich and colorful food culture.
Exquisite and elegant, pursuing original flavor, fresh and peaceful. Taizhou cuisine has an unbearable temperament, just like a white-headed old man who is used to seeing the surging clouds. Anyone who has tasted it can't help but want to stop and slowly experience the delicate and gentle happiness in the world.