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Delicacies from Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou
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TRADITIONAL Zhejiang cuisine is comprised of four schools — Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou food. Though Hangzhou fare dominates Zhejiang’s cuisine, it hasn’t quite managed to steal all the limelight. Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou food each has its own characteristic taste and dishes.
Shanghai Daily takes a look at the three cities’ delicacies and tells you where to eat.
Like Ningbo, Wenzhou is known for its seafood. Yellow croakers, shrimp, crabs and oysters have been staples of the Wenzhou diet for hundreds of years. Fish fillet soup, in which the yellow croaker’s meat is sliced and coated with a layer of starch before it’s stewed with shredded ham, mushrooms and cabbage.
Unlike Ningbo people’s preference for preserved and stinky food, Wenzhou locals prefer pork and organs, like soupy vermicelli stewed with duck blood curd and pig intestines.
The intestines are marinated in sliced ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, soybean paste and spices for more than 60 minutes to remove the odor. Next, they are braised in duck blood curd until the broth turns thick. Noodles are then added and a pinch of minced shallots is sprinkled on top. The dish even made it on the city’s intangible heritage list due to its long history and popularity.
Where to eat the dish:
• Benjia Seafood Noodle Restaurant
Address: 397 Wenyi Rd W.
Tel: 135-8778-1011
• Hangzhou Tianhui Hotel
Address: 22 Qianchao Rd
Tel: (0571) 8160-5555
The city has a long history of food culture. Antiques unearthed from Hemudu Relics Site prove that natives already produced simple culinary utensils to cook seafood and rice here during the Paleolithic Period, which is today seen as the origin of Ningbo cuisine.
During the Qing Dynasty (1636-1911) when the city was an open port, local cuisine developed fast. Exchange with food from abroad stimulated this development and local chefs created a series of dishes that became distinguished Ningbo fares.
The city’s winding coastal makes it a great place for fresh seafood. In order to preserve seafood, locals coat it with layers of salt and then dry it by hanging it in ventilated places.
Therefore, Ningbo cuisine is characterized by preserved salty ingredients.
Stinky food is also popular, and although they smell funky, they are tasty.
Two common dishes in Ningbo are sanchou, which means “three stinky food,” and sea eel braised with soy sauce.
Sanchou is made of flowering cabbage, white gourd and amaranth. Sometimes tofu is used instead of the flowering cabbage. Layers of salt are put on the cabbage, white gourd and amaranth before they are sealed in a jar for several days until they are fermented.
Drops of oil are then sprinkled on them, and the cabbage and other ingredients are steamed.
Sea eel braised with soy sauce is a common dish in Ningbo and Shanghai restaurants.
Sea eel is considered a tonic by traditional Chinese medicine. In order to remove the fishy smell, the meat will be steamed with sliced garlic, ginger and rice wine. It’s then stir-fried with lard and other seasonings.
When the meat is boiled, continue to simmer it for 10 minutes.
Where to eat these dishes:
• Xiao Shao Xing Restaurant
Address: 17 Xiawan Lane
Tel: (0571) 8839-8287
• Lu Jia Fu Restaurant
Address: 298 Wenyi Rd
Tel: (0571) 5601-7177
Shaoxing is often said to be the “home of rice and fish” since it produces a large amount of freshwater fish, crab and shrimp as well crops, beans and vegetables.
According to historical documents, poultry was already being raised here on a large scale during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC).
Fishing is important in this area, as are aquatic vegetables like water chestnuts and lotus roots which are used in local specialties.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasty (AD 420-589), Shaoxing became a popular place for literati, some of whom were inspired to composed poems about the local rice wine.
Today, local residents use rice wine as a seasoning to add more aroma to food and cover bad odor, like fermented chicken and rice wine preserved crab, two specialties of Shaoxing cuisine.
Many people insist that the chicken must be locally sourced, and that the fermented rice is a by-product of local rice wine.
After being boiled, the chicken is immersed in cold water, which makes the meat tender and succulent. It is then sliced and coated with layers of salt before the meat is preserved with fermented rice in a sealed jar.
Rice wine preserved crab is popular with diners in the southern Yangtze River. Due to its simple cooking method, it’s now a popular dish among home cooks, as the raw crab is simply pickled with some seasoning and rice wine for a week.
Where to eat these dishes:
• Xiaodianwang Shaoxing Restaurant
Address: 7-5 Jiusheng Lane
Tel: 132-8203-6977
• Zhenhuo Restaurant
Address: 251 Tongjiang Rd
Tel: (0571) 8777-1986
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