 |
| Jiangsu Cuisine |
|
Jiangsu cuisine, also known as Su Cai for short, is one of the major
components of Chinese cuisine, and consists of the styles of Yangzhou,
Nanjing, Suzhou and Zhenjiang dishes. It is very famous in the whole
world for its distinctive style and taste. It is especially popular
in the lower reach of the Yangtze River.
Known as "a land of fish and rice" in China, Jiangsu
Province has a rich variety of ingredients available for cooking.
Jiangsu cuisine has the characteristics of strictly selected ingredients,
exquisite workmanship, elegant shape, and rich culture trait.
The typical raw materials are fresh and live aquatic products.
It highlights the freshness of ingredients. Other cooking ingredients
are often carefully selected tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms,
pears, and dates. Its carving techniques are delicate, of which
the melon carving technique is especially well known. Due to using
the methods of stewing, braising, quick-frying, warming-up, stir-frying,
wine sauce pickling and adding some sugar as condiments, Jiangsu
dishes taste fresh, light and mellow.
Jiangsu dishes can be classified into that of Suzhou-Wuxi style
and Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style. The feature of Suzhou-style dishes
is their natural flavor in original stock and a mixture of salty
and sweet taste. The characteristics of Zhenjiang-Yangzhou style
food are best described by the saying that "the soup is so
clear that you can see the bottom of the bowl and the sauce is
so thick that it turns creamy white".
Typical courses of Jiangsu cuisine are Jinling salted dried duck
(Nanjing's most famous dish), crystal meat (pork heals in a bright,
brown sauce), clear crab shell meatballs (pork meatballs in crab
shell powder, fatty, yet fresh), Yangzhou steamed Jerky strips
(dried tofu, chicken, ham and pea leaves), triple combo duck,
dried duck, and Farewell My Concubine (soft-shelled turtle stewed
with many other ingredients such as chicken, mushrooms and wine).
Huai-Yang Cuisine
Huai-Yang Cuisine originated from the Pre-Qin Period (221-206BC),
became famous during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties,
and was recognized as a distinct regional style during the Ming
(1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. This cuisine includes
dishes from Huai'an, Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai.
Raw materials of Huai-Yang dishes include fresh and live aquatic
products. The carving techniques are delicate, of which the melon
carving technique is especially well-known. The flavor of Huai-Yang
cuisine is light, fresh and sweet. If Shandong cuisine is characterized
by stirring and frying over a hot fire, Huai-Yang cuisine is characterized
by stewing, braising, and steaming over a low fire for a long
time. Famous dishes cooked this way are chicken braised with chestnuts,
pork steamed in lotus leaf, duck stewed with eight treasures,
meatballs with crab meat in Yangzhou style, and butterfly sea
cucumber (sea cucumber cut into butterfly shapes and cooked with
flavorings). Other famous dishes include stewed crab with clear
soup, long boiled dry shredded meat, crystal meat, squirrel with
mandarin fish, Sauteed Eel Shreds and Liangxi crisp eel.
The vegetarian banquet is a special feature of Huai-Yang cuisine,
and the vegetarian dishes in Beijing cuisine are mostly variants
of Huai-Yang cuisine.
Huai-Yang snacks and refreshments are exquisite, such as boiled,
shredded, dried bean curd; steamed dumplings with minced meat
and gravy; steamed meat dumplings with dough gathered at the top. |
|
