▲ Jiangsu cuisine, the most complex and diverse cuisine in China. Figures/MarketMap
-Fengwujun Language-
War on the tip of the tongue
Jiangsu, across the Yangtze River, HuaiHe River, across the north-south boundary of China's geography and culture. Between the three geographical regions of Jiangnan, Jianghuai and Huaibei, there are four major cultural branches of Wu culture, Jinling culture, Jianghuai culture and northern Central Plains culture. The economic differences between southern Jiangsu, central Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu and Ningzhen have brought about an economic zoning method.
▲What to eat on the winter solstice? What to eat during the Spring Festival? There are very different answers in the north and south of Jiangsu. Figure/Figureworm Creative
The superposition of historical, geographical, cultural and economic factors has jointly created the status of China's first "province of infighting". Jiangsu cuisine, which was born in this land, is like a war on the tip of the tongue.
▲ Before Jiangsu bites open the bun/steamed bun, you never know how sweet it will be? How salty? Figure/Figureworm Creative
The four gate schools that participated in the war were: Huaiyang cuisine, which was popular in Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang, and covered Taizhou, Nantong, and other regions; Subang cuisine, which was popular in Suxichang and other places, featuring fresh sweet and delicious and thick oil and red sauce; Jinling cuisine, which was centered on Nanjing, did not go out in the east, and affected Anhui and even Jiujiang in Jiangxi in the west; and Xuhai cuisine, a northern flavor from Xuzhou to the east along the Longhai Railway to Lianyungang.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > between Jianghuai and Huaibei: suitable for both north and south, salty and sweet</h1>
When it comes to Huaiyang cuisine, it is always indispensable to the glory of the first banquet of the founding of the country and the cuisine of the state banquet. At the banquet after the founding ceremony on October 1, 1949, four cold, eight hot and four dim sum - all Huaiyang dishes.
▲ Round lion's head, there is also the sweetness of crab meat inside. Figure/Figureworm Creative
What are the characteristics of Huaiyang cuisine to win the first banquet of the founding of the country? I am afraid that I can't get rid of a soft word, and the gourmet said that Huaiyang cuisine is "suitable for both north and south, salty and sweet, roasted and stewed, and nutritious". Compared with the spicy of the four major cuisines of Zhongchuan cuisine, the heavy mouth of Lu cuisine, and the fierceness of Cantonese cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine is based on the philosophical concept of advocating lightness and cleanliness, and the unity of heaven and man, so that the soup juice is either thick but not greasy, or fresh but not thin, advocating "a table and a half fast", fresh wild vegetables, refreshing and pleasant.
▲ There is no eel in Huai'an, only a delicacy called soft pocket. Figure/Figureworm Creative
As a highly concentrated consumer city with high wealth, capital and high social prosperity in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Huai'an and Yangzhou produced a large number of service industry practitioners who were attached to Caoyun and salt merchants, giving birth to Huaiyang's unique and exquisite food and leisure culture. In order to cater to the leisurely mouths of the south and north on the Grand Canal, Huaiyang cuisine is moderately and softly seasoned, even if it is used to taste hemp, spicy, sour and so on, it is also seemingly nothing, extremely restrained.
▲ The eels are neatly served on the table, and the appearance is a little scary but the taste is extremely beautiful. Figures/MarketMap
It is said that the eel that Jiangsu people like to eat, the ingredients themselves are quite fishy, if in the Sichuan and Hunan cuisine is mostly dry sautéed, braised, will be marijuana spicy to suppress the fishy taste. In Huai'an, a "stewed tiger tail" is only cooked in boiling soup, neatly arranged, poured with a little sesame oil soy sauce cooking wine mixture of soup, garlic and a little pepper is the limit of seasoning. Four or five inches long wide strips, lined up like tiger tails, have a smooth, tender, refreshing taste, and there is no trace of fishy taste in the soft salty and fresh taste.
▲Hongze Lake provides Huai'an with abundant fishing products and livestock, and has the reputation of "sunrise fighting gold". Photography / Jin Jie
Huai'an as the ming and qing dynasty of the three major political centers of he, Cao, Yandongnan, the imperial court set up two governors of Nanhe and Caoyun, Fucheng, Hexia Town, Banzha Town and Qingjiangpu composed of tens of miles of huge belt-shaped cities for here to leave a "luxurious diet, exquisite system, city of hundreds of products, exaggerated river watch" reputation. Pingqiao tofu, Wenlou soup buns, crab yellow soup buns, and Qingong meat balls are still silently inheriting the prosperity of the past on the banks of the Grand Canal.
▲ A table of morning tea, opening a day of immortal life for Yangzhou people. Photography / Zhang Zhuojun
Wrapped around 100,000 yuan, riding a crane to Yangzhou. As another important town of Huaiyang cuisine, in the life of the water bag in the morning and the water foreskin in the evening, wander on the shore of the Slender West Lake, eat morning tea, and soak in the bathhouse. Swimming in the ocean of Yangzhou morning tea blanched dried silk, boiled dried silk, tofu skin buns, three-ding buns, and emerald roasted wheat is the basic respect for this 2019 "World Capital of Gastronomy".
▲ Wensi tofu, legend has it that a pound of tofu can cut out more than 1,000 shredded tofu. Figures/MarketMap
Chinese cuisine is broad and profound, but when it comes to the softness of the dish, I am afraid that there is no one who can compare with Yangzhou Wensi tofu. Qing Ren Yu Fan's "Tea Fragrant Room Cong Banknote": "Wen Si Zi Xi Fu, Gong Shi, and good for tofu soup sweet pulp porridge." Those who have followed its example so far are called Wensi tofu. "Under the fine knife work, the solid tofu can be made soft and tender, and the entrance can be said to be unique."
▲ Knife fish is not uncommon, but the special fish fat aroma of authentic migratory river knives in Zhenjiang, Jiangyin and Jingjiang is incomparable to lake knives and sea knives. Photography / Jia Yizhen
Although Huaiyang cuisine is named after Huai'an and Yangzhou, it is mentioned that Huaiyang cuisine must have a place in Zhenjiang. Zhenjiang is famous for cooking the "three fresh dishes of the Yangtze River" - puffer fish, anchovies and knife fish. As the most famous anchovy producer, Zhenjiang steamed anchovy fish is silver and white, fat and delicious, refreshing but not greasy. When eaten, it is dipped in Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar and ginger minced, which is even more flavorful. However, due to overfishing, it is difficult to find wild anchovies in the Yangtze River today, and now we can only recall the delicious tastes of the past by tasting distant relatives such as the long-tailed anchovy in Southeast Asia or the American herring on the other side of the ocean.
▲A slice of pork on the lid of the pot is the most Zhenjiang flavor. Figure/Figureworm Creative
In addition to the three fresh, traditional dishes such as boiled silver carp head, stewed crab powder lion's head, cooked crab oil, crab yellow soup buns, large boiled dried silk, and various snacks such as roasted and sold are also worth trying Zhenjiang flavor. Of course, the most famous specialty food in Zhenjiang City is also the "Three Monsters of Zhenjiang" - "boiling pot lid in the noodle pot, balsamic vinegar is not bad, dish meat is not suitable", Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar and crystal meat. A bowl of pork pot lid noodles can taste the thousand-year-old wind of Jingkou.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the sweetest cuisine in China</h1>
Southern Jiangsu has been one of the richest and most culturally prosperous regions in China since ancient times. Su Bang cuisine is not precious for curiosity, but is new and innovative, according to the material. Zhao Yun's "Wumen Bamboo Branch Words" Yun: "The best products are all Wudi has, and they are sold new throughout the year." Everything is expensive when it should be, and cheap when it is lost, "five days and more than one product".
▲The famous Hairy Crab of Yangcheng Lake is produced in Suzhou. Figure/VCG
The ancients called Su bang cuisine "thick without stomach, light without tongue". However, in the eyes of outsiders, "sweet" is the biggest feature of Subang cuisine, and on the territory of the three cities in southern Jiangsu, sweet feasts will be encountered anytime and anywhere.
Suzhou, in ancient times, was known as "paradise on earth". Gusu is prosperous, A is in the world. Suzhou people eat a fine.
▲ A pot of pickled tuk fresh shows the Jiangnan people's pursuit of freshness. Painting / Q Year from "Wind Andi Sub-City"
When you first arrive, order a piece of snail shrimp, and outsiders will often be surprised by the small size of the shrimp. The shrimp peeled out of the fresh river shrimp are no more than the size of fingernails, and a dozen shrimps are worth a large shrimp in the north. But Suzhou people will tell you that stir-frying is nothing, and "three shrimps" is a greater respect for small river shrimp.
▲One breath can lay a whole plate of snail shrimp. Painting / Q Year from "Wind Andi Sub-City"
The so-called "three shrimp" refers to the most fertile small river shrimp in the summer, through the efforts of women who specially dismantle shrimp and crabs, they become shrimp brains (yellow) in the shrimp head, shrimp seeds in the shrimp belly, and peeled shrimp kernels. The chef first sautés the shrimp seeds with shallot turmeric wine, then the shrimp in cooked oil, and finally the three shrimps are sautéed together. In China, I am afraid that only suzhou people will make every millimeter of things so fine.
▲ Yu Xingji's three shrimp noodles, dozens of river shrimp shrimp brain, shrimp seeds, shrimp how much effort to separate one by one?! Figure/Figureworm Creative
The delicacy of Suzhou cuisine also conquered the Qianlong Emperor. Due to the emperor's favor, during the Qianlong period, in the Qing Palace, a special Suzhou cuisine kitchen "SuZao Shop" appeared. Jiangnan chefs entered the palace and brought a series of dishes such as "Su-made cake, Su-made sauce, Su-made elbow, Su-made meat" and so on.
▲ With the popularity of Cantonese mooncakes, Su-style mooncakes with puff pastry often face the question of whether outsiders "count as mooncakes". Figure/Figureworm Creative
Among the various Suzhou snacks such as Suzhou-style mooncakes, Suzhou-style shortbread, pine nut sugar, and jujube mud cakes, the suzhou people's preference for sweets can best be reflected. But when it comes to eating sugar, the sugar-eating devil in southern Jiangsu is also said to be Wuxi people and Xibang cuisine.
Xibang cuisine is traditionally characterized by sweet, salty and thick oil and red sauce. The special dishes in ChuanXibang cuisine include sauce ribs, Liangxi crispy eel, crispy silver fish, fermented milk meat, meat stuffed bran, meat stuffed gluten, cream crucian carp, etc., in addition to the "Taihu Lake Boat Dish" with Taihu Sanbai (white fish, white shrimp, silver fish) as the main food.
▲ Because there is enough sugar, the traditional Wuxi sauce ribs can be stored at room temperature. Figures/MarketMap
How sweet is Wuxi cuisine? The traditional process of Wuxi sauce pork ribs accounts for one-tenth of the amount of sugar. And the practice of stir-frying greens and adding sugar is enough to make outsiders collapse.
Wuxi local snacks are the first to promote small cage steamed buns, Wuxi people love to eat small cage steamed buns, there are "not eating small cages, just on the way to eat small cages" jokes. However, the traditional practice of Wuxi Xiaolong 5 kg of meat filling will be put on 1 kg of white sugar, outsiders often feel too sweet to eat, no blessing to consume.
▲ In Jiangsu, every city has its own eel dish. Wuxi's representative player is undoubtedly Liangxi crisp eel. Figures/MarketMap
The three brothers of southern Jiangsu must not forget Changzhou.
▲ Special tianmu lake fish head stew lion head, this dish is made head is the tao. Figures/MarketMap
Changzhou cuisine is also a kind of Subang cuisine, commonly used in distiller's lees, sweet and sour, soy sauce seasoning, good at all kinds of poultry meat, aquatic products. The flower color is fine, thick and sweet, especially fresh and crispy.
▲Located in Jiangnan Water Town, Changzhou is rich in large dishes and snacks. Photo/MarketMap Network, Figureworm Creative
Changzhou's large dishes include bamboo fragrant wind goose, Shahe Lake fresh, rice fragrant wind chicken, Liyang za liver, Tianmu Lake fish head and so on. Snacks have both local traditional characteristics, as well as Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other places of flavor, a wide range of ingredients, stuffing salty and sweet, meat and vegetarian, fine production, enjoy a high reputation, the most common snacks are crab dumplings, cannabis cake, shrimp cake, sesame sugar, crab shell yellow, Changzhou silver silk noodles, wine brewed Lantern, horseshoe crisp, three fresh wontons, dried radish and so on.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > a vulgar Daya Jinling dish</h1>
Nanjing, also known as Jinling, has left cultural monuments of the "Capital of Ten Dynasties" for more than 2,500 years and nearly 500 years of capital construction. The profound cultural accumulation has created the classical style of traditional Beijing-Suzhou cuisine.
▲How much do you know about Nanjing cuisine. Figure/VCG
The raw materials of Jingsu cuisine are mostly aquatic products, pay attention to freshness, fine knife skills, and make good use of cooking methods such as stewing, stewing, roasting, simmering, etc., with a peaceful taste, fresh and fragrant and tender. The dishes are meticulous and exquisite, with elegant style.
Originating from the pre-Qin Jingsu cuisine, the Sui and Tang dynasties have become famous, and by the Ming and Qing dynasties. Jingsu cuisine is good at cooking small fresh, squirrel cinnamon fish, egg roast selling, beauty liver, anchovy shrimp and other colorful dishes, local vegetables are more Jinling characteristics. Wild vegetables such as "Jinling Sancao" (chrysanthemum brain, goji berry head, malan head) and "early spring four wilds" (mustard greens, maran heads, reeds, wild garlic) are the health care methods of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties.
▲Chrysanthemum brain egg soup with duck eggs, the taste is only understood by Nanjing people. Figure/Figureworm Creative
In addition to Daya, Nanjing cuisine also has a wild side. The varieties of traditional Nanjing snacks are relatively rich, including wang eggs, live beads, beef vermicelli soup, kaiyang dried silk, chicken juice back to the brine, small dumplings, glutinous rice root, spiced quail eggs, plum blossom cake, osmanthus sugar taro seedlings, tofu waterlogging, osmanthus red bean lantern, cold powder, spiced beans and so on.
▲ The mouth-watering Nanjing pastry is enough to defeat the fear of gaining weight. Figure/Figureworm Creative
Nanjing is one of the first cities where the original Crawfish of the United States landed, and the crayfish was transplanted from Japan to the Nanjing area in 1929. In the 1990s, Xuyi crayfish encountered thirteen spices in Nanjing. The confluence of fates made the crayfish on the table of the Nanjing people, and since then from Nanjing to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and then occupy the night food stalls throughout China. In Nanjing, individuals eat lobster in kilograms, and lobster in the whole city is counted as tons. The madness of every lobster season bears witness to the wild side of Jinling cuisine.
No duck can swim across the Yangtze River alive, and no crayfish can get out of Nanjing alive. Figure/Figureworm Creative
Speaking of Nanjing, how can there be few ducks. There is a folk saying here that "don't eat duck for three days, walk to be slippery", which is evident in the love of ducks in Nanjing. The saltwater duck, Nanjing plate duck, roast duck, duck blood vermicelli soup, dried duck gizzard, roast duck buns, and duck fat shortbread sold in ordinary alleys bear witness to the nanjing people's enthusiasm for duck.
▲ "Duck Capital" Nanjing is full of shops selling saltwater duck and roast duck. Figure/Figureworm Creative
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > classical Xuhai: the softest northern taste</h1>
Xuhai cuisine is a local traditional flavor that runs from Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province to the east along the Longhai Railway to Lianyungang. Legend has it that Peng Zu, the earliest chef in China, was a native of Xuzhou. Yiya five-flavor chicken, Bawang Bieji, Mandarin duck chicken, onion roasted lone goose, Lotte duck, Yu hot fish, Ji Fei with Long Yan, Gu Pei Guo family roast chicken, Liang Wang fish and other famous dishes, the name shines with the glorious history of Xu Hai cuisine.
▲ Overlord Bieji, behind the name of literature and art is a straightforward dish form. Figures/MarketMap
Xu Hai cuisine can be said to be a light version of northern cuisine that goes deep into Jiangsu. Xuhai cuisine is used for meat and five animals, and aquatic products are won by seafood. The dishes are thick in color, salty in taste, and they are still five spices, and they use cooking, frying, frying, etc., which are quite close to the Jinan school in Lu cuisine, but they should be restrained a lot in using oil and salt. Noodles are the staple food in northern Jiangsu. Qilu famous products such as meat and pancakes are also the favorites of some counties and cities in Xuzhou, Lianyungang and Yancheng.
▲ Xuzhou people's ability to eat spicy is unique in Jiangsu. Figures/MarketMap
Among Xuhai cuisine, Xuzhou cuisine is the most distinctive, Xuzhou is not only one of the few areas in Jiangsu that eat dumplings during the Spring Festival, Xuzhou people have heavy tastes, love to eat mutton, and drink well, which is also incompatible with the impression of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the public's cognition.