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Local fruity dishes healthy as autumn nears
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Though the memory of searing summer heat is still fresh, it won’t be too long before autumn weather starts to seep into the city, and with it the season to eat more fruit to adjust to cooler and drier weather.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, summer’s end does not mean the human body gets cooler inside, but the dry autumn generates heat and dryness trapped in people’s lungs, which can cause a cough and other lung disorders.
Eating fruit and seasonal vegetables in early autumn is perfect to help the human body resist pathogenic dryness affecting the lungs, skin and digestive system.
Grapes, for example, are considered to alleviate dryness and enrich the blood; oranges clear away heat and enhance blood circulation; lotus root helps nourish the digestive system and relieve dryness and tomatoes can clear away the summer heat and relieve thirst.
In China, fruit is not only eaten fresh but often preserved, boiled into soups and congees, and even sautéed in dishes.
In Hangzhou, where people make mild and light cuisine, fruit dishes are considered a delicacy. Today Shanghai Daily introduces three Hangzhou fresh dishes that can be found at local restaurants.
Crab brewed in orange
This is the most famous fruit dish in Hangzhou and has a long tradition that goes back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), when the city was the capital and seafood and freshwater fish were sent to the imperial court to serve the royal family.
Historical books recorded that crab was at the top of the tribute list, and crab cuisine headed the imperial banquet menu.
Crabs are usually steamed, boiled or fried, yet some clever cooks figured out a novel way of make crab: stuff fried crab meat inside an orange and then steam the orange.
It is considered a graceful, luxurious way of enjoying crab since diners do not have to struggle with dissecting the crustacean and pulling out the meat. Instead, they can use a spoon and take their time to savor the flavor from inside an orange.
When the dish is served, the orange, with its top cut off, is placed in a glass cup or a bowl.
The sliced white crab meat and the golden crab roe inside the orange are mixed with the fruit’s flesh.
Generation after generation, the recipe has been adapted.
Now the stuffing contains crab, pork, water chestnuts and egg.
The seasonings often include ginger, pepper, salt, vinegar and alcohol.
So when the tender crab meat is steamed with creamy roe and orange flesh, the flavor is delicate and complex — sweet at first, then a bit sour before turning sweet again.
Lotus root slices fried with pork kidney
It’s time to harvest lotus roots, which are considered a “cold” food in TCM that alleviates autumn dryness in the body.
The root vegetable can be eaten raw and has a crunchy and refreshing texture. When cooked, it can be crispy, soft, starchy or glutinous, depending on the variety of lotus and cooking style. There are lots of recipes to make lotus, sweet or salty, in soups or in desserts, powdered or deep fried.
Lotus root slices fried with pork kidney combines a fresh, brisk rhizome and a pungent organ meat.
The secret is that lotus root tones down the kidney’s smell and enriches its mouth feel — the teeth first sense crispy lotus root and then sinks into the kidney. The lotus root juices mix well with the kidney slices, generating a refreshing and savory taste.
This is a classical Zhejiang dish and popular among Hangzhou natives, who have a tradition of eating kidney and liver, because cooks have invented many ways to highlight the meats’ tenderness while balancing the strong smell and taste.
Sizzling rice with shrimps and in tomato sauce
The slices of white rice crust look plain, like square biscuits. But the sound effects impress when a bowl of hot tomato sauce mixed with peeled shrimp is poured onto the slices, which sizzle as the dense tomato sauce infiltrates the crispy crust. The fruity tomato sauce also injects the plain squares with sweet and sour tastes.
This dish, also called “sudden thunder,” a renowned Chinese dish that can be found in the Chinatowns of many foreign countries, was identified as one of the top 10 Hangzhou dishes in 1956.
Tomatoes were introduced into China in the late 19th century and widely accepted by Chinese and Hangzhou cooks, who have made efforts to incorporate the fruit and make it their own.
The sweet-and-sour taste is great for serving the dish as an appetizer. The rice crust is crispy and contributes to the diner being satisfied, and shrimp adds savory unami taste.
The effect is kind of like tomato-flavored potato chips, yet the rice crust is thicker, and becomes softer when the hot red liquid is poured on it. Finishing the dish quickly is recommended so the crust doesn’t get soggy.
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