"Quanzhou: The World Maritime Trade Center of Song and Yuan China" reflects the unique and outstanding spatial structure of the port city in a specific historical period, and the 22 heritage points contained in it cover many important cultural elements such as social structure, administrative system, transportation, production and commerce, which together contributed to the gradual rise and vigorous development of Quanzhou in the 10th and 14th centuries AD, becoming a maritime hub of East and Southeast Asian trade networks, and making great contributions to the economic and cultural development of East and Southeast Asia.
On 25 July 2021, at the 44th Session of the World Heritage Conference, "Quanzhou: World Maritime Trade Center of Song and Yuan China" was inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Quanzhou is a national historical and cultural city with a long history. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Quanzhou once became the world's largest port. Quanzhou is the only starting point of the Maritime Silk Road recognized by the United Nations, is one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities, and is included in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Pilot Zone of the national "Belt and Road" strategy, known as "bright support".
Quanzhou's special cuisine is varied and comprehensive, such as marinated meat rice, noodle paste, crystal buns, pig's blood soup, earthen shoot jelly and so on, each of which is mouth-watering. Let's share with you the most characteristic food in Quanzhou, ranking in no particular order, each one is recommended by local friends in Quanzhou.
Clay shoot jelly
Tuzhu jelly is a traditional snack in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, which is said to have been invented by the national hero Zheng Chenggong. The earthen shoots here are not really bamboo shoots, but a kind of soft-bodied small animal that grows in the mud and sand of the beach, called sea sandworm, because it looks like a small bamboo shoot, so it is called earth shoots.
This insect contains colloidal substance, two or three inches long, its appearance is coarse, the color is black and brown, the thick one is like an index finger, the thin one is like a rice stem, about the length of the thumb, and it also drags a "tail" that is one or two inches long, as thin as a matchstick, and stretches freely.
The earthen shoots are caught from the sand, stocked for a day to spit out the debris, then boiled in a pot, put out and put in a small bowl, and after it cools naturally, it solidifies into a small bowl of "soil shoot jelly". Their color is white and crystal clear, their flesh is clear, sweet and fresh, fragrant and tender, smooth and refreshing, and accompanied by good soy sauce, northern vinegar, sweet sauce, hot sauce, mustard, garlic, jellyfish and coriander, sour white radish shredded, pepper shredded, tomato slices, etc., it has become a flavorful snack with good color and flavor.
Jinghe big cake
Legend has it that The prince of the East Sea Dragon King, Xiao Bailong, was killed in the Jing River, and there was a kind person who sent the big cake he made into the river every day to make the little white dragon hungry, and the Dragon King was very grateful after learning about it, so he sent blessings to the people of the Jing River, and the Jing River cake got its name from then on. Although it is only a legend, but the selection and workmanship of jinghe cake is indeed very exquisite, the need to choose the unique glutinous rice and pure sugar of Jinghe, with high-grade preserved fruits and other accessories, carefully made according to the most traditional craftsmanship, with cotton, soft, sweet and delicious, entrance and other characteristics, loved by many locals and tourism enthusiasts.
White
White rice is carefully made of late rice after ten processes, the finished product is a uniform size round, the texture is white, the size is similar to silver dollars, so it is also called "silver". After cooking, the entrance is smooth and tender, the flavor is unique, sweet and salty, and it is one of the essential foods for Quanzhou people to relieve the summer. In Yongchun, it is on a par with Pangshe Turtle, Ma Jujube, Orange Red Cake and Kumquat, and is best made by the Ru Lin Gu clan of Wuli Street, which has a history of more than 300 years.
Hose chicken feet
Hongse chicken feet selection is very exquisite, each chicken feet must be white and tender, can not have a little black cocoon, this seemingly ordinary snack, but behind there is a set of rigorous production process, with dozens of natural precious Chinese herbal medicine carefully halogenated, halogen chicken feet color golden, rich flavor, look at people mouth-watering. Originally, it was famous for the brine chicken feet in Hongse Town, and today's Hongse chicken feet are the Quanzhou people's collective name for the taste of Hongse, including more than ten kinds of brine flavors such as brine chicken feet, brine pig ears, brine duck tongue, and brine duck intestines.
An Hai bundles hooves
Anhai bundled hooves are made by slow steaming the front feet of pigs with hooves, plus selected pork, accompanied by sorghum wine, spices and other condiments. When eaten, it is cut into thin slices with a knife, and its meat filling is bound into various patterns, which is very beautiful in the dinner plate, and its taste is mellow and non-greasy, and it is often used as a platter side dish with "soil shoot jelly".
Field snail meat bowl cake
Tianluo meat bowl cake is one of the famous pastries in Quanzhou, which is made by every household during the New Year. The appearance of the bowl cake is smooth, soft and tough, and the meat kernels in the bowl cake look very much like field snail meat, so everyone calls it field snail meat bowl cake. Meat bowl cake needs to go through "hair", that is, fermentation, when steaming, the bowl cake blooms around, also known as laughter, so eating meat bowl cake in Quanzhou area symbolizes auspiciousness, happiness and health.
Nine-fold kun
Nine-fold rice is made by grinding late rice into rice milk and steaming it with edible yellow pigment and red plate sugar. When you eat it, it is cut into a triangular shape and eaten together with condiments made of soy sauce, old wine, shallot oil, etc. The appearance is very beautiful, and it is tender and refreshing, which is quite distinctive.
Quanzhou brine duck
The reason why Quanzhou brine duck is a fine product among brine ducks is related to its selection of materials and production process. Quanzhou brine duck is made by using about 3 kg of tender duck, cooking in the brine soup, and then boiling for a long time with a brine package made of a unique secret recipe. Authentic finished brine duck is only about 1 pound, the color is golden and red, lubricated and juicy, eating fragrant into the bone, mouth and mouth, is a must-have gift for Quanzhou people to visit relatives and friends.
Full of pancakes
Legend has it that the appearance of "man pancake" is related to Zuo Zongtang in the Qing Dynasty. When the Taiping Army entered Fujian in the fifth year of Xianfeng, Zuo Zongtang founded a shipyard in Mawei and recommended the Han Shen Baozhen to preside. In order to feed the Qing soldiers and not disturb the people, he decided to improve on the pancakes, using fujian's abundant cane sugar and peanut kernels to make the traditional salty noodles roll scallions and dip peppers into sweets. So he crushed the sugar and peanut kernels and mixed it in the fermented and fluffy pancake rolls to make it a pancake, making it easier for soldiers to enter and carry after training at sea. There were also qingjun stationers in Quanzhou among the clan relatives, who still introduced "full fried cakes" as food.
Pancakes are made with flour, cane sugar, and peanut kernels as the main ingredients, and white sesame seeds, baking soda, baking powder, and water as accessories. Taste sweet and fragrant. This cake is conical in shape, like a honeycomb inside, soft in food, sweet in the sandwich, and is a good point in winter and spring. In the early morning, the appetite has not been fully opened, drink a cup of just right soy milk, with freshly baked and fragrant full of pancakes, the day is suddenly refreshed.
Plaster
The main raw material of gypsum is stone cauliflower, which is a kind of edible seaweed that grows on the reef of the middle tide or low tide zone in the Taiwan Strait, the algae body is flat, it is an irregular fork-like branch, and the shape also looks quite coral-like, very elegant. Gypsum is made by hand, first boiled in a large pot to make stone flowers, then filtered with gauze, cooled naturally solidified like jelly, transparent and clear, can be added to honey water, sugar water when eating. Hot food can cool down the fire.
In the past, the water of gypsum was generally well water, but now it is generally frozen water. Because the gypsum itself is tasteless, it is impossible to eat it raw, generally with honey water, so that it has a sweet taste. Honey is also a very good cool drink. The strength of gypsum has a great impact on the taste, so smart merchants have launched "five fruit soup" and "four fruit soup" to let everyone forget the pursuit of the taste of gypsum when eating gypsum. Authentic plaster gradually decreases due to the passage of time.
Salty rice
Salty rice is a traditional snack in the minnan region of Fujian province and belongs to the Fujian cuisine family. Most people in southern Fujian will make this kind of rice, there are many kinds, including pumpkin salted rice, radish salty rice, mustard salted rice, taro salted rice, pork belly salted rice and so on. Contrary to fried rice, salty rice is cool, the summer fire is suitable for eating, and a small bowl of rice can be cool, which is really amazing, and it is worthy of being a place with a strong seaside style. Salty rice, like Hokkien dialect, is generally accessible in the Minnan region. Specific ingredients can also be added or reduced according to personal taste, but generally squash and millet are essential, and salt is the soul of "salty rice", eat tired egg fried rice, to a bowl of "salty rice", really has a different flavor.
Roasted pork dumplings
Roasted pork dumplings are unique to Fujian's local traditional food, festival food customs. Roast pork dumplings are made in many parts of Fujian. Roasted meat dumplings have a long history, with sweet and tender, oily and not greasy, fine workmanship and other characteristics. Quanzhou meat dumplings are made of shiitake mushrooms, taro grains, chestnuts, pork or chicken glutinous rice as raw materials, mix the glutinous rice with brine soup, shallot oil, put it in a pot and fry it dry and loose, and then stir it well with meat and raw chestnuts, and wrap it in bamboo leaves and cook it.
Dough batter
Noodle batter is made with shrimp, oysters, oysters, mussels and other delicious and fresh seafood soup, and boiled with noodles to form a paste. When cooking, it is necessary to master the heat, so that the paste is not rotten and the paste is clear. In addition to seafood as an ingredient, the batter can also be added with duck intestines or pig blood or a large string of pig intestines into the batter to make the grease into it. Serve with fritters and seasoned with fried green onions and pepper for a stronger and tastier flavor.
Taste is the best nostalgia, Quanzhou food culture is colorful, with strong Southern Fujian cultural characteristics, but also has a unique maritime cultural imprint. If you have time, you must go to the ancient city for a walk and taste the authentic Quanzhou cuisine.