West Lake Vinegar Fish

You can see from the dish name "West Lake Vinegar Fish" that it's original from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Actually it's a famous local dish with a long history, first made in Song Dynasty. It's indeed a classic dish with well-deserved reputation. No wonder that tourists travelling to Hangzhou must order this dish so that they feel the trip is complete.

There's a touching story behind the dish. A long time ago, two brothers (surnamed Song) lived by the West Lake. They had abundant knowledge through experiences in learning but desired for a simple and quiet life, thus making a living by fishing. The wife of the elder brother is so pretty that one official in the city wanted to occupy her. Then he had the elder brother murdered.

The younger brother hurried to yamen (the local government office) to accuse the evil officer, but he was severely beaten by the corrupt officials. To protect the younger brother, his sister-in-law asked him to flee from hometown. Before he left home, his sister-in-law cooked a large bowl of fish with sugar and vinegar, saying:" The fish is of both sweet and sour taste. Like in life, you will undergo sweet things and bitterness or sufferings. I hope you will never forget your elder brother's being murdered. One day when you have capability, you must do something for him."

Later, the younger brother studied hard, won a success during the imperial examination and became an official. He returned to his hometown in glory, ridded the people of evils and avenged his brother. Then he made utmost efforts to look for his sister-in-law, but failed. One day, he was invited to a dinner banquet by a family. At the dinner, he found a fish dish with the same taste as the one his sister-in-law had prepared for him. Hence, he invited the chef out, and it turned out the chef was his sister-in-law. He was excited and took her home.

After that, the way of cooking West Lake Vinegar Fish was spread widely among people and passed down until nowadays.

Fried Shrimps with Longjing Tea

Fried shrimps with Longjing tea is a mixture of the best green tea and shrimps in rivers. The emerald-green Longjing Tea is presented with jade-white shrimp along with a stream of tea lingering around the shrimp. This dish embodies the splendor of spring in West Lake and the spirit of river and lake regions simultaneously.

Well, this dish has something to do with the Emperor Qianlong. It rumored that Qianlong disguised himself to travel to South China with only one imperial bodyguard. And he arrived at a village called Longjing near Mount Lion, the place where the well-known Longjing existed. Strictly speaking, the Longjing was not a well but a spring whose name was Longhong at the very beginning. The spring was discovered in the Three Kingdoms period and ran from a cave all the year around. In an extreme draught year in Ming Dynasty, the villagers dug the spring into a well and found a Dragon-shape stone at the bottom. So they named it Dragon Well. Therefore, Longjing indicated the name of a tea variety, a village, and a well. Beside this, a temple nearby and some tea tree in it were called Longjing coincidently. What a name!

Let's talk back to the Emperor Qianlong. He was deeply impressed by the beautiful scenery of green mountains and tea trees. It was something similar with what had been described in poem:" Under the white cloud, stream of smoke rises besides the spring; water babbles along the clear creek and mosses." Qianlong strolled to the Longjing temple and was served with a cup of tea made by the water from Longjing Well. The tea leaves were dark green and looked quietly elegant in the cup. Taking a sip of it, Qianlong was caught by its freshness. As he looked around at the eighteen tea trees, he acclaimed the tea as tribute. Since then, the tea went to the Palace in Beijing every year.

Common people had no chance to taste the Longjing tea at that time. When Qianlong was about to leave, he picked some fresh tea to his temporary dwelling palace and ordered the royal chef to make tea for him. The chef came up with an idea when he was exposed to these lovely tea leaves. He put some tea leaves into the royal dish-white-jade shrimp. Much to his surprise, the green tea and white shrimp brought the best flavor to each other, leading to a fresher flavor of the shrimp without any fishy smell. Qianlong was greatly pleased by this dish and commanded that this formula be fixed since then.

That's how fried shrimps with Longjing tea made itself the Emperor's favorite dish in Palace. Gradually, it was spread to the folks so that we can enjoy this tasty dish at any time if you wish now.

Dongpo Pork

Su Shi (1037-1101), the prominent literateur in North Song Dynasty, is the first person that comes into our mind when Dongpo pork is referred to. Su Dongpo, another name of Su Shi, had been the local official in Hangzhou twice and was respected and admired by the local because he always put people's needs on the top list and got things done. Specialized in literature, Su Dongpo was also a gourmet, devoting particular care to the delicacies. It was said that the spread of Dongpo pork was closely related to the building of Su Causeway.

Holding different political views with the Prime Minister Wang Anshi, Su Dongpo requested that he be transferred to be a local official. Later, he was impeached into prison due to Wutai Poem Case. When he was discharged from prison, he was relegated to Huangzhou (today's Huanggang, Hubei Province). It was hard for Su Dongpo to accept his status and situation at first. He led a miserable life and few would like to pay a visit to him, except some of his best friends. Fortunately, the pork in Huangzhou is relatively cheap and Su Dongpo cooked pork by himself and shared with his friends. He even composed a poem to introduce his experience of cooking pork. "Fine pork in Huangzhou is rather cheap. The rich won't touch it while the poor keeps cooking it. Less water, slow fire, it smells good when cooked to a certain point." From this we can see, Su Dongpo not only possessed a profound literary knowledge, but also showed wisdom from his life experiences and dealing with tough time.

Su Dongpo was appointed as the local official again to Hangzhou in 1090. He launched a water-conservancy project to build dam and causeway for the benefits of the people. To show their gratitude, the civilian gave Pork and Shaoxing rice wine to him as presents. Su Dongpo asked his folk to cook the pork and bring the wine together to the construction site and distribute to the workers. Much to their surprise, his folk mistook it for cooking the pork in the rice wine! However, it was even more delicious than ever. The pork cooked in wine was tastier with a peculiar flavor. This story was handed down as a popular topic among people. Su Dongpo's praises were being sung everywhere and people even imitated his way of cooking pork in rice wine. Thereafter, Dongpo Pork became a household name in classic cuisine, famous all over the world.

With the change of the modern diet and people's need of preserving life, many local restaurants in Hangzhou have made innovations on this dish to lead a healthier and fashionable diet-cooking the Dongpo Pork with vegetables. Due to the pervasive spread of Buddhism and Buddhist temples in Hangzhou, many local people have faith in Buddhism. Further more, many tourists visit Hangzhou because they are attracted by its Buddhist culture. May be these are the reasons why so many local restaurants begin to make vegetable Dongpo Pork. The major ingredients are wax gourd and bean products. It is fresh, tender and nutritious, overcoming the shortcoming of high fat in the original Dongpu Pork, more aligned with the idea of a healthy diet.

Fried Stuffed Bean Curd Paste

The famous "Fried Stuffed Bean Curd Paste", essentially is the fried stuffed bean curd pastes, which did not look like what it is today long time ago, neither was it named "bells". Once upon a time, there was a hero ordering this dish at a restaurant to accompany his wine. Yet unfortunately, the restaurant just run out of the bean curd pastes. The hero learnt that the tasty bean curd pastes were purchased in Fuyang. So he rode his horse toward Fuyang to buy some. He gave some pastes as a gift to the restaurant owner, who was deeply moved and thus made some delicate dish for the hero-the owner made the bean curd pastes into the shape of horse shoe in order to appreciate the hero's quickness and bravery. This was the initial form of "Fried Stuffed Bean Curd Paste". Later, with the improvements made by one generation after another, it has now become one of the most classic food in Hangzhou.

Someone says that there are three stages when one enjoys Zhejiang Dishes: at the first stage, one might enjoy the appearance and scent of the dish; at the second stage, one would appreciate the taste of the dishes; when it comes to the final stage, one would comprehend the artistic conception of the dishes. Artistic conception is the most aesthetic state in the long-term practice of food and drinking of the Chinese people. Take a look at the "Fried Stuffed Bean Curd Paste"-the wrap is as thin as the cicada wing, the color is golden yellow, and the taste is crispy and tender. The stacking layout in the dish is quite in order, with an conspicuous implication of progressing steadily and striving for the top level, which is the last stage.

West Lake Water Shield Soup

West Lake Water Shield Soup, also known as Chicken, Ham and Water Shield Soup, is cooked with West Lake water shield, ham shreds and shredded chicken breast. Only one sight of these ingredients would arouse the appetite. It's not difficult to imagine how tasty it will be! It was said that water shield soup was a must for the Emperor Qianlong when he made his inspection tour to South China in Hangzhou. Every time, he enjoyed his soup beside the West Lake.

It's prevailing to make West Lake Water Shield Soup by water shield, chicken shred, chicken soup and fish ball. With the development of times, the materials are evolving. Furthermore, many Chinese who lived or traveled abroad would like to have this soup when they visit Hangzhou. They deem it an expression of their miss for Motherland.

Victory Cake

Victory Cake (Dingsheng Cake for Chinese characters) is a snack popular in regions south of Yangtze River, which has been the gift for celebrating friends' moving into new houses, birthdays and other jubilant days and holidays. The cake was called Victory Cake not only for its meaning of the good omen that "Victory is certain", but also for its shape similar to that of "tenon". That's the reason why Victory Cake was firstly called "Tenon Cake".

Speaking of it, there is a story about bravery and wisdom. It was said that in the year of Jianyan in Song Dynasty, Jin Wushu invaded Lin'an, was to be defeated by the army and people of Hangzhou. Jin had to retreat to Pingjiang and invaded Suzhou. At that time, a prestigious army leader Han Shizhong was on garrison along Songjiang. On hearing that the army of Jin was withdrawing to the North, he ambushed his army around Taihu Lake to cut the back of Jin. Be informed of Han Shizhong's deployment, Jin brought relief troops to fight against Han.

Brave as they were, Han's army couldn't win the battle when faced up with ten thousand enemies. Han Shizhong racked his brain about beating Jin day and night without enough time to eat or rest. He became weak and fragile. Late at one night, Han's wife brought him some dessert and said, "General, the locals gave several baskets of dessert to encourage our soldiers and this was prepared for you out of their respect." Han picked up the dessert curiously and found the dessert very special. The two ends were much bigger than the middle, just like a tenon.

He tore a piece of the dessert and found a note in it. It said "the enemy camps are just like a tenon, the two ends were well-guarded but the middle not. If you attack the weak middle, the two ends couldn't help." In fact, the locals had acquired the enemies' situation for General Han because they were afraid that Han might break down. Encouraged by this, Han Shizhong deployed his army to attack the enemies' camps and gained a complete victory.

Congbaohui'er

Select the top-quality flour to make it into the wrap of spring roll, put inside the appetizing fried bread stick and chopped green onion, flatten the spring rolls against the pan until the rolls are cooked to appear golden yellow, and then spread the sweet or spicy sauces to individual tastes-there you just make the "Congbaohui'er", a shallot stuffed pancake local to Hangzhou. This cuisine is crispy outside with yummy stuffing, and it is quite tasty without too much negative effects to human bodies. As what the gourmands would put to comment this snack, "Congbaohui'er is a dish of appetizer that can solve the problem of hunger with limited consumption of appetite and allow the patrons to continue the rest of the feast."

An passionate historical story is related to Congbaohui'er. It was in 1142 when the national hero Yue Fei was persecuted by the treacherous Qin Hui on the name of groundless crime. People in Hangzhou hated Qin Hui and his wife, but they couldn't do anything to them. One day, a stall holder who sold fried stuff made two dolls of Qin Hui and his wife. He pressed the two dolls together with his rolling pin and put them into the boiling oil. He murmured "burn Qin Hui, burn Qin Hui" when the dolls were being fried. This was the origin of fried bread stick.

Later, the Wang Er Fried Pancake Shop by the Wangxian Bridge was famous for the delicious Fried Hui'er across the city, and consequently many people came to this shop for this snack. Many began to follow suit before a lot more shops selling Fried Hui'er emerged. Once in a while, some Fried Hui'ers that could not be sold out were kept by Wang Er. Instead,he would heat the already cold Fried Hui'er in pot, roll the stick with chopped green onions and sweet flour sauce in spring rolls, then flattened by iron plate, and cook the spring rolls on medium fire until the rolls appeared golden yellow. The spring rolls were cooked to let some steam out and to smell really good while they were creaking in the hot oil. When one picks one up and tastes it, the flavor of green onion will be really palatable. As time passed, Congbaohui'er, this kind of shallot stuffed pancake is continuously preserved till today and becomes the most popular breakfast in Hangzhou.

Thick Soup of Osmanthus Flowers and Chestnuts

Thick soup of osmanthus flowers and chestnuts is a traditional snack of Hangzhou. Legend accounts that during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the bright moonlight flooded the earth on the night of Mid Autumn Festival. The lonely moon goddess, Chang E, stared at the earth from the Cold Palace. Seeing the picturesque West Lake and the people immersed in happiness, she couldn't help spreading her ample sleeves to do dancing. Wu Gang beat the laurel tree to accompany her, making the osmanthus flowers falling continuously.

At this moment, Monk Deming of the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou was preparing the chestnut porridge in the kitchen with the pot wide open. Numerous small fragrant osmanthus flower petals fell into the porridge. After tasting the porridge with osmanthus flower petals, all the monks of the temple spoke highly of it. Monk Deming was very delighted. Hence, he picked up some seeds from the ground and planted them on the mountains nearby to make more monks able to eat such style of porridge constantly.

In the Mid-autumn day of the following year, osmanthus flowers came into full bloom. Since then, green laurels, silver laurels, red laurels and four-season laurels have grown lushly around the West Lake. With the passage of time, Osmanthus Flower and Chestnut Porridge was gradually developed and innovated into the thick soup of osmanthus flowers and chestnuts nowadays.