NIGHTLIFE is an epitome of a city's worldly culture, and night snacks play an indispensable part in which local cuisine culture gets to shine. In Hangzhou, the abundance of night snack stalls offering fare served up in disposable trays or iron plates, has no lack of eager eaters waiting in long queues.

And the most authentic local night snacks are not found in luxury hotels or high-end restaurants but hide on street corners that many non-locals may be unfamiliar with. So Shanghai Daily reveals a few of these favored food places, who have built their legendary status over dozens of years, or have lured thousands of fans online.

Supreme scallops

Bo Le Seafood Barbecue, a newly opened store that mainly sells barbecued scallop, oyster and abalone, enjoys the reputation as "Hangzhou's King of Scallops."

However, the "king" is no more than a small store covering some 20 square meters, while its predecessor was actually a booth on a tricycle parked under a streetlight on the bustling Pinghai Road.

But its owner and cook, a 25-year-old man surnamed Jiang, has made his dish stand out among peers. It's hard to describe how good his dishes are, but his rise to popularity goes some way to explaining it.

Before Jiang opened the current store, a remarkable scene could be witnessed on Pinghai Road every day. At around 10:30pm each night, half an hour before the tricycle arrived, dozens of people were already forming a line in anticipation of Jiang and his food.

Customers' comments were largely spread online, leading to a swarm of more diners whose number far exceeded the booth's capacity. This surge in popularity made the chance to get some scallops more rare.

In May, Jiang started his microblog (Chinese equivalent of Twitter) and today it has more than 4,000 followers.

Three weeks ago, Jiang opened his first store on Kaixuan Road, which operates from 7pm to 3am, and every day a line of people forms outside even before the store has opened.

As a result, we have some special advice for those keen to sample Jiang's famous scallops - bring some water and a fan as you could be waiting for one hour.

Other options for barbecued seafood in Hangzhou include the Huanglong Food Stall Market on Huanglong Road, the Xinyifang Seafood Stall Market at the west end of Xinyifang Street, and a store at No. 108 Baishaquan block, which is known as "Baishaquan's King of Scallops."



Bo Le Seafood Barbecue

Address: 262-15 Kaixuan Rd

Tel: 132-1681-6807

Microblog: weibo.com/2044479624

Average cost: 100 yuan (US$16)

Champion chicken feet

The thought of eating chicken feet is a strange concept to many foreigners, even though many would be reassured to know Chinese don't simply throw the cut feet into boiling water, the preparation involves a lengthy process which includes peeling off the crust of the feet first.

In China, chicken feet can be served as a beer snack, cold dish or soup. The food is very gelatinous due to most of the edible meat on the feet consisting of skin and tendons, so it features a distinct texture unlike the rest of the chicken's meat.

Ways to cook chicken feet vary, and the longer they are stewed, the more tender they become.

For the uninitiated who dare to try chicken feet, we recommend Xinlong Chicken Feet, a store that has won much public praise and is considered "Hangzhou's King of Chicken Feet," selling more than 3,000 chicken feet everyday.

The store situated on Shengli River Food Street sells various chicken feet, such as marinated chicken feet, spicy chicken feet, chicken feet stewed with fish head, soup of chicken feet and tofu.

Its chicken feet stands out among others due to its own special recipe. After cooking, the chicken feet are kept in the pot for four hours to make sure the taste of seasonings can fully infiltrate the skin and meat, while its skin and tendons remain al dente.

Though the store was only established three months ago, it has already sealed its reputation with stories about one company ordering 300 chicken feet for a festival to benefit employees, and a non-local who has driven all the way from a nearby city simply to buy hundreds of their chicken feet.



Xinlong Chicken Feet

Address: west end of Shengli River Food Street

Opening hours: 6pm-3am

Price: 10 yuan for 3 chicken feet

Star stinky tofu

Stinky tofu, a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor, is another Chinese food that foreigners are likely to turn their nose up at. But it is a classic staple of Chinese night snacks, usually found at night markets or roadside stands, or as a side dish in lunch bars rather than in restaurants.

Fat Sister is the person in Hangzhou who is renowned for making the best stinky tofu - even Shen Hongfei, one of the country's best-known food critics, testifies to this claim.

Twenty-eight years ago, Fat Sister stood with her pan in front of West Lake Cinema, running her small stinky tofu business from 10pm to the early hours of the next day. People remembered her wonderful cooking skills, but didn't remember her real name, which explains why over time she has come to be known simply as Fat Sister.

Watching the process of stinky tofu cooking, one may assume it is an easy job as the cook only puts the tofu in the oil and fries it, however, the timing, the amount of oil and the tofu's quality all matter.

Fat Sister makes her own stinky tofu rather than buying it from the market, and her 28 years of experience have allowed her to get the timing perfect. Her stinky tofu is crispy outside, tender inside, and in accord with the slogan "smells smelly, tastes tasty."

Besides stinky tofu, the store also sells other meat and vegetables.



Fat Sister's Stinky Tofu

Address: 118 Dongpo Rd (behind West Lake Cinema)

Opening hours: 7pm-4am

Average cost: 10 yuan

The best banchuan

Banchuan is a local food that blends braised noodles (without soup) with a variety of ingredients, such as dried bean curd, pork, beef and offal.

At the crossing of Hefang Street and Laodong Road, a plain-looking store that only opens when night falls is considered "Hangzhou's King of Banchuan," which, as such a small store, even needs to issue a number to everybody waiting in line.

Run by a local couple, the wife cooks and the husband serves. They have operated the store for a dozen years, and the couple has their own recipe for making and cooking noodles.

Their bestseller is banchuan with shredded pork, which they typically sell more than 100 pieces of every night. And the banchuan with pig kidneys and banchuan with pig liver deserve a try as well.



Banchuan restaurant

Address: crossing of Hefang Street and Laodong Road, opposite Qingbo Police Station

Opening hours: 8:30pm-5am

Average cost: 10 yuan