City's trademark: succulent dumplings
By Wing Tan |
May 28, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RICH in chicken broth and tender with crab meat, Jingjiang's signature steamed dumplings are a grander version of Shanghai's famed xiaolongbao (steamed pork dumplings).
In fact, among food-lovers, the name Jingjiang has become synonymous with dumplings the size of the palm of a hand.
"It's quite a complicated process to make a good dumpling," said 80-year-old Chen Shirong, who has been making the delightful delicacies since the 1980s. "From dough-making to the final serving on the dining table, there are more than 30 steps and it takes six hours."
Chen's Hongyun Restaurant in the city attracts a steady flow of tourists from all over China but especially from nearby Shanghai.
Materials must be carefully selected. The thick broth uses pigskin for flavoring and is simmered using free-range chickens that are at least two years old. The meat filling comes from hairy crab harvested from non-polluted waters. The dumpling skins are made from unbleached flour and must be rolled thin as parchment.
"They must be evenly thin all over so that they can hold the rich broth," said Tao Jinliang, chef of the Nanyuan Hotel and a sixth-generation dumpling-maker.
Each dumpling is required to have at least 32 folds on the top and be 11 centimeters in diameter. Served on a special plate, the dumplings are arranged to resemble a blossoming chrysanthemum. You can see the hot broth almost bubbling within the translucent skin.
In the old days, dumpling fillings were made of pork or chicken, but crab meat and roe are currently popular among more health-conscious gourmets. "It tastes succulent but not at all greasy," Tao said.
"When it comes to hairy crab season in October and November, diners pour in," said Chen.
In recent years, Jingjiang cooks have diversified the local specialty to include fillings of beef, fish and mutton.
"We also use hot chili to make it spicy for customers from Sichuan Province," Tao said.
The dumplings are filling, and four usually stop even the heartiest diner.
In 2010, the city staged a dumpling-eating contest, attracting hundreds of contestants. The winner was a rather thin girl from Hubei Province, who packed away 30 dumplings in the time allotted. The prize, of course, was a box of Jingjiang dumplings.
The trick to eating these juicy delicacies is to bite a small hole at the top of the dumpling to release the steam and avoid the broth spurting out.
Fish banquet
Jingjiang is famed for a variety of river fish. The so-called "thrilling three" are considered musts by discerning visitors.
Knife fish, a slender silver fish with extremely tender meat and numerous tiny bones, is the most beloved by diners.
The fish live at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the East China Sea. In spring, they swim back upstream to spawn. At that stage, the fish are their most succulent.
Knife fish can be steamed, sautéed in soya sauce, quick fried, simmered in soup or chopped as a filling for wontons and dumplings.
Because of dwindling numbers of the fish and rising demand, the price of knife fish is skyrocketing, often to as high as 6,000 yuan per kilogram.
"Because of the spawning habit of knife fish, they don't lend themselves to farming, which makes it all the more dear," said Wen Xiaoming, general manager the Baisheng Hotel, where a fish banquet is the restaurant's signature meal.
Another popular dish in Jingjiang is the balloon fish, a toxic fish with no scales and thick meat.
Only licensed chefs can prepare it to ensure that the toxic level of the meat is safe for aficionados to eat.
In old days, the chef was the first one to taste the fish before it was served. Some people, of course, are a bit wary about eating balloon fish.
There's an unspoken rule that if you invite a friend to your home to eat balloon fish, you should extend the invitation only once.
A no-show at dinner probably indicates reluctance, and a guest shouldn't be embarrassed, Wen explained.
The poison is hidden in the liver and so is the tempting smell. The safe way to eat the fish is to remove the liver, stew it for 30 minutes and then cook it with the rest of the fish.
"True balloon fish lover prefer the riskier method of cooking the whole fish at once, which brings out its full flavor," Wen said. "That can be quite dangerous and requires a lot of cooking skill on the part of the chef."
A third popular delicacy of the city is Reeves shad, which tastes best in May and June when the fish swim back from the East Sea. The best part of the Reeves shad is its crispy scales.
However in recent years, not a single Reeves shad has been found in the Yangtze River. "We can find them in the sea, but they don't taste as good," Wen said.
In fact, among food-lovers, the name Jingjiang has become synonymous with dumplings the size of the palm of a hand.
"It's quite a complicated process to make a good dumpling," said 80-year-old Chen Shirong, who has been making the delightful delicacies since the 1980s. "From dough-making to the final serving on the dining table, there are more than 30 steps and it takes six hours."
Chen's Hongyun Restaurant in the city attracts a steady flow of tourists from all over China but especially from nearby Shanghai.
Materials must be carefully selected. The thick broth uses pigskin for flavoring and is simmered using free-range chickens that are at least two years old. The meat filling comes from hairy crab harvested from non-polluted waters. The dumpling skins are made from unbleached flour and must be rolled thin as parchment.
"They must be evenly thin all over so that they can hold the rich broth," said Tao Jinliang, chef of the Nanyuan Hotel and a sixth-generation dumpling-maker.
Each dumpling is required to have at least 32 folds on the top and be 11 centimeters in diameter. Served on a special plate, the dumplings are arranged to resemble a blossoming chrysanthemum. You can see the hot broth almost bubbling within the translucent skin.
In the old days, dumpling fillings were made of pork or chicken, but crab meat and roe are currently popular among more health-conscious gourmets. "It tastes succulent but not at all greasy," Tao said.
"When it comes to hairy crab season in October and November, diners pour in," said Chen.
In recent years, Jingjiang cooks have diversified the local specialty to include fillings of beef, fish and mutton.
"We also use hot chili to make it spicy for customers from Sichuan Province," Tao said.
The dumplings are filling, and four usually stop even the heartiest diner.
In 2010, the city staged a dumpling-eating contest, attracting hundreds of contestants. The winner was a rather thin girl from Hubei Province, who packed away 30 dumplings in the time allotted. The prize, of course, was a box of Jingjiang dumplings.
The trick to eating these juicy delicacies is to bite a small hole at the top of the dumpling to release the steam and avoid the broth spurting out.
Fish banquet
Jingjiang is famed for a variety of river fish. The so-called "thrilling three" are considered musts by discerning visitors.
Knife fish, a slender silver fish with extremely tender meat and numerous tiny bones, is the most beloved by diners.
The fish live at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the East China Sea. In spring, they swim back upstream to spawn. At that stage, the fish are their most succulent.
Knife fish can be steamed, sautéed in soya sauce, quick fried, simmered in soup or chopped as a filling for wontons and dumplings.
Because of dwindling numbers of the fish and rising demand, the price of knife fish is skyrocketing, often to as high as 6,000 yuan per kilogram.
"Because of the spawning habit of knife fish, they don't lend themselves to farming, which makes it all the more dear," said Wen Xiaoming, general manager the Baisheng Hotel, where a fish banquet is the restaurant's signature meal.
Another popular dish in Jingjiang is the balloon fish, a toxic fish with no scales and thick meat.
Only licensed chefs can prepare it to ensure that the toxic level of the meat is safe for aficionados to eat.
In old days, the chef was the first one to taste the fish before it was served. Some people, of course, are a bit wary about eating balloon fish.
There's an unspoken rule that if you invite a friend to your home to eat balloon fish, you should extend the invitation only once.
A no-show at dinner probably indicates reluctance, and a guest shouldn't be embarrassed, Wen explained.
The poison is hidden in the liver and so is the tempting smell. The safe way to eat the fish is to remove the liver, stew it for 30 minutes and then cook it with the rest of the fish.
"True balloon fish lover prefer the riskier method of cooking the whole fish at once, which brings out its full flavor," Wen said. "That can be quite dangerous and requires a lot of cooking skill on the part of the chef."
A third popular delicacy of the city is Reeves shad, which tastes best in May and June when the fish swim back from the East Sea. The best part of the Reeves shad is its crispy scales.
However in recent years, not a single Reeves shad has been found in the Yangtze River. "We can find them in the sea, but they don't taste as good," Wen said.
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