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Snacks abound in traditional style in Anting
By Zhou Yang and Wang Jie |
October 25, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EVERY older resident of Anting will tell you that their town is renowned for its traditional snacks, such as gingko-nut cake, plain bean curd, and luohancai pickles.
Growing here in this "town of automobiles" is a thousand years old gingko tree known as "the king of trees." As a well-known cash crop in Anting, gingko nuts are a local specialty, so it's small wonder that some of the best local snacks use the nuts.
Apart from their great taste, gingko nuts are nutritious. They contain calcium, potassium, phosphorus carotene and ginkgolic acid, which is an anti-bacterial agent. Biflavone in the nuts can help lower levels of cholesterol in the human body.
Ginkgo-nut cakes served in Anting are both tasty and good for your health. Wangjiasha Catering Co, a leading company in developing food therapy, has developed a kind of ginkgo-nut cake, which is good for people suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes.
According to the head of the branch store in the City's God Temple of this company, ginkgo-nut cake made by them sells quite well there. Apart from the Anting Old Street, the Jiading Zhouqiao Special & Local Products Store at 6 Chengzhongjie Street also sells ginkgo-nut cakes.
Plain bean curd, another specialty of Anting, is known for its tasty and tenderness. It is made from spare ribs, silky chicken meat, crabs, dates, ginger and small mushrooms, which are all put into an earthen jar. The jar is heated until the contents form a broth. Cold water is added and the jar is then heated slowly over a low heat for four hours. No salt is added. Then all the stuffs inside the jar will be taken out except the soup.
Finally, bean curd slices are put into the jar along with green cabbage. Together, they absorb fat floating on the surface. Since the liquid is clear, the dish is called plain bean curd.
Nihugeng (a kind of thick soup) and luohancai (a kind of pickle) are also unique local specialties.
Since ancient times, people in Anting have observed the custom of cooking nihugeng on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar year. Prepared with different kinds of foods, including both meat and vegetables, the soup takes multiple flavors: sweet, bitter, sour and spicy, all at the same time.
Nihugeng is designed to signify the conclusion of one year and the start of another. It is also intended to remind people of the virtue of hard work, plain-living and thrift.
Luohancai is a wild plant growing on the banks of the Wusongjiang River. Once pickled, it is very tasty. It can either be served uncooked, or fried with meat and green soybean. It's believed that the pickle is good for the gallbladder, eyes and kidneys.
Besides snacks that you can eat, Anting is also famous for drinks that can accompany them.
According to historical records, four kinds of spirits were once distilled in Anting: caihuahuang, juhuahuang, shiyuebai and meihuabai. All were very popular locally. The town nowadays is trying to revive its distillery industry by focusing on production of meihuabai.Technical advisors have been hired to assist in the development.
Growing here in this "town of automobiles" is a thousand years old gingko tree known as "the king of trees." As a well-known cash crop in Anting, gingko nuts are a local specialty, so it's small wonder that some of the best local snacks use the nuts.
Apart from their great taste, gingko nuts are nutritious. They contain calcium, potassium, phosphorus carotene and ginkgolic acid, which is an anti-bacterial agent. Biflavone in the nuts can help lower levels of cholesterol in the human body.
Ginkgo-nut cakes served in Anting are both tasty and good for your health. Wangjiasha Catering Co, a leading company in developing food therapy, has developed a kind of ginkgo-nut cake, which is good for people suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes.
According to the head of the branch store in the City's God Temple of this company, ginkgo-nut cake made by them sells quite well there. Apart from the Anting Old Street, the Jiading Zhouqiao Special & Local Products Store at 6 Chengzhongjie Street also sells ginkgo-nut cakes.
Plain bean curd, another specialty of Anting, is known for its tasty and tenderness. It is made from spare ribs, silky chicken meat, crabs, dates, ginger and small mushrooms, which are all put into an earthen jar. The jar is heated until the contents form a broth. Cold water is added and the jar is then heated slowly over a low heat for four hours. No salt is added. Then all the stuffs inside the jar will be taken out except the soup.
Finally, bean curd slices are put into the jar along with green cabbage. Together, they absorb fat floating on the surface. Since the liquid is clear, the dish is called plain bean curd.
Nihugeng (a kind of thick soup) and luohancai (a kind of pickle) are also unique local specialties.
Since ancient times, people in Anting have observed the custom of cooking nihugeng on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar year. Prepared with different kinds of foods, including both meat and vegetables, the soup takes multiple flavors: sweet, bitter, sour and spicy, all at the same time.
Nihugeng is designed to signify the conclusion of one year and the start of another. It is also intended to remind people of the virtue of hard work, plain-living and thrift.
Luohancai is a wild plant growing on the banks of the Wusongjiang River. Once pickled, it is very tasty. It can either be served uncooked, or fried with meat and green soybean. It's believed that the pickle is good for the gallbladder, eyes and kidneys.
Besides snacks that you can eat, Anting is also famous for drinks that can accompany them.
According to historical records, four kinds of spirits were once distilled in Anting: caihuahuang, juhuahuang, shiyuebai and meihuabai. All were very popular locally. The town nowadays is trying to revive its distillery industry by focusing on production of meihuabai.Technical advisors have been hired to assist in the development.
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