Gastronomic Exploration
Fabulous Flavors of Zhejiang Cuisine
ZHEJIANG, a coastal province in east China, boasts over 1,000 miles of coastline. To the east is the East
China Sea, and to the north is the famous Taihu Lake, which all makes the area rich in seafood and rare species of freshwater fish.
It is known as a fertile “land of fish and rice.” To the southwest sits the mountainous areas which are famous for wild delicacies. In the center, there is the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin, home to the world renowned Jinhua ham. It is traditionally produced with the hindquarter of a breed of pigs native to China known as the “two ends black.”
Hangzhou’s Dragon Well Tea and Shaoxing wine are also well-known for their high quality. Abundant foods and numerous specialties combined with exquisite cooking skills make the Zhejiang cuisine one of the outstanding component ‘s of Chinese cuisines.
Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), literati, gourmands, and celebrities had continued to gather around Hangzhou, then called Lin’an, the capital city of Zhejiang. It was here that the northern and southern cooking techniques became perfectly combined with different flavors, gradually forming the unique style of the Zhejiang cuisine.
The mouth-watering dishes include the fresh and tender beggar’s chicken at Louwailou Restaurant, the smooth-tasting and refreshing West Lake water shield soup, the aromatic Hangzhou-style duck pickled in soy sauce, and the delicious braised shredded chicken with ham and dried tofu.
West Lake fish in vinegar gravy is a traditional dish of Hangzhou. The most famous place for this cooking is the Louwailou Restaurant, a time-honored brand located at the southern foot of the Gushan Island in the West Lake.
According to legend, two brothers surnamed Ning once resided near the West Lake.
They supported the family by fishing. But then a local villain became attracted by the elder brother’s beautiful wife and murdered him to take her. Enraged by this atrocity, the younger brother sought justice by taking the matter to the local court, but was cruelly beaten and framed. Facing the danger of being imprisoned, his sister-in-law persuaded him to run away. Before his escape, she cooked a grass carp in the West Lake with sugar and vinegar, encouraging him to never forget the suffering of the common people in society. The younger brother later passed the imperial examination, and became a government official. Once in a banquet, he had a dish of a sweet-and-sour fish, and found his long-lost sister-in-law. The dish is handed down till present day.
When making the West Lake fish in vinegar, prepare 900g of grass carp, 50g of vinegar, 25g of cooking wine, 75g of soy sauce, 60g of sugar, some ginger and scallion, and 50g of starch. Cut part of the ginger into slices and chop the other part into bruised ginger.
Scale the fish and clean up the viscera. Use the carving knife to slightly move crosswise on the back of the fish, and then cut the fish into two halves from head to tail. Do not completely separate the two parts of the fish, but leave it attached at the head.
Pour in fresh water and slices of ginger and chopped scallion into the pan, boil the water and then fish out the condiments. Put the two large pieces of fish into the water with the fish skin upwards, and then boil it with the highest temperature for three minutes. Use a strainer to scoop out the fish onto a plate. Add soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, and bruised ginger into the boiling water, and then vinegar and salt. Add the starch and stir with a scoop until the soup is condensed. Pour the hot soup into the fish, and sprinkle it with bruised ginger. Then, it is ready to serve. C