It is always delightful to stroll through the streets of the ancient towns in Wujiang, searching for delicious food. Various kinds of local snacks with different flavors are highly appealing and many people enjoy themselves here.
Shumai stuffed with meat is a famous snack in Shengze. It’s better to eat it along with danpi soup (soup with egg crepe strips). There are roughly more than 10 snack bars nearby Chaoyang Road, Shunxin Road, Dongfang Road and Xiaomiaogang of southern Shengze selling shumai from the early morning to 12 p.m. without delivery service.
2. Tongli Wadisu
3. Lili Youdun
4. Lili Spicy Chicken Feet
Stinky tofu in Changsha (the capital of central China's Hunan province) is famous and classic in China. However stinky tofu in Wujiang is quite different. As a traditional and distinctive snack with a wonderful flavor, many people are overwhelmed by its taste. Stinky tofu, simple but unforgettable, is also one of the residents’ favourites in their childhood.
6. Lili Stuffed Pig Intestine
Stuffed pig intestine, a famous snack in Lili, boasts a history of over one hundred years. It looks just like pig intestine boiled in plain water. But inside the large intestine, there are small intestines stuffed. The chewy intestines are fat but not greasy without any smell of raw offal.
7. Zhenze Dried Dark Bean Curd
As a famous snack in Zhenze, dried dark bean curd is soft but chewy, salty and savory with a hint of sweetness. It would be a pity if someone didn’t try this when he came to Zhenze.
8. Shengze Sponge Cake
Sponge cake, also known as “yellow sponge cake” for its bright yellow color, has a history of more than 100 years. The main ingredient is coarse rice flour, which is a mixture of more sticky rice flour and less round-grained rice flour. The cake is steamed, mixed with brown sugar, sweet lard oil, walnut kernel and red bean paste. Moreover, pine nut, sunflower seed, rose petals, osmanthus and red or green shreds can be found on the cover of more exquisite sponge cakes.
9. Shengze Panlongxin
Panlongxin (a pastry appearing like a coiled dragon), an excellent dessert, is superior to other cakes or pastries in Shengze, and thus it is really popular with local people. Legend has it that the origin of panlongxin is to recall the magic dragon which had protected Shengze from tornado by spiraling around the town and suppressing the violent wind. Therefore, the residents made panlongxin according to the figure of the dragon to commemorate this great dragon.
10. Tongli Malt Flat Cake
Tongli malt flat cake, a traditional Suzhou style cake, is common in the country as the housewives are skilled in making this kind of cake. It is the main ingredients—affine cudweed and malt, that make malt flat cake more distinctive. Malt flat cake is quite ugly among other cakes or pastries. However, as long as one takes a small bite of the cake, he can feel the increasing sweet flavor and has to admit that the cake is so delicious despite its unattractive appearance.
11. Rice Wine Fermented Pancakes
The rice wine fermented pancake, only supplied in spring, is a traditional dessert in Wujiang. It shares a similar appearance with moon cakes and its flour is fermented by the yeast of rice wine. However, limited by the climate, the fermented pancake is only sold in one season, and the best period to enjoy it is the days around the Tomb-Sweeping Day.
12. Dried Green Soybean Tea
Wujiang is located on the coast of the Taihu Lake, with crossing rivers and abundant fishes and rice. Besides, there are more vegetables, especially beans. Green soybeans are dried and then made into the tea. Nowadays, the custom of making dried green soybean tea and serving guests with it is still reserved in many towns in Wujiang.
13. Fried Glutinous Rice Tea
In Wujiang, the fried glutinous rice tea is usually used to treat honored guests or those who has come for the first time. Being a kind of tea, however, it needs no tea leaf. The necessities to make it are simply fried glutinous rice, sugar and boiled water. Although it is convenient to make a cup of that tea, the preparation of fried glutinous rice is rather complicated. Thus this kind of tea can manifest the host’s greatest respect.
The Pingwang ice pastry is not an ice cream as the Chinese name suggests, but a specialty in Pingwang. Its original name is peppermint pastry, which has been produced in the mid Qing Dynasty. Polished round-grained rice is immersed in water for several days first, and then is pestled into powder with some white sugar added. The powder is then steamed in a utensil with peppermint.
15. Wonton with Soy Sauce
Shengjiashe, being a special place in Songling, is the last original old street in Wujiang. In the southern end of Shengjiashe Old Street, there is an unimpressive wonton shop. It is so small that it even has no signboard, and if there comes 10 customers at the same time, possibly some of them will need to wait for seats. However, it is just this small shop that captivates many local residents. They say that the authentic traditional wonton is a reminiscence of their childhood.
16. Zhenze Bean Curd Jelly
Bean products have long been renowned marks of Zhenze. Dried black bean curd and fried bean curd cube are all delicious local food. To enjoy bean curd, the bean curd jelly made by Qin Tieqiang is the best choice. It is always freshly made, soft, glittering and translucent like pudding. Before tasting it, you can put some pickles, small dried shrimps, soy sauce, green onion, etc. A bowl of bean curd jelly with exquisite fragrance and soft taste is definitely an inexpensive but wonderful breakfast.
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