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Local Flavor of Wujiang

The charm of Wujiang lies in its local dishes in one aspect. For example, Jiangnan canal banquet, Taihu crab banquet, braised pork knuckle, good luck piggy (roasted small pig), Taihu Lake white shrimp, steamed perch, steamed fried tofu... All could make our mouths watering.

1. Jiangnan Canal Banquet

Wujiang boasts time-honoured culture and history, which gives birth to its unique features and styles. Let me take dishes of Jiangnan canal banquet as an example. It gathers almost all the food dotted along the Grand Canal and shapes its four completely different cuisines with the lapse of time in one year. Wujiang Hotel’s Jiangnan canal banquet has been served as a well-known feast in Jiangsu Province, composed of fruits, appetizers, hot dishes, desserts, snacks, etc.

2. Taihu Crab Banquet

Chef Huang Caigen is a famous fish cooker in Shanghai. He favored the scenery of the East Taihu Lake and its Taihu crabs very much. So he created the tailor-made Taihu crab banquet for Dong Tai Hu Hotel, including drunken crabs, crabs cooked with wine lees, sautéed shelled shrimps with gorgon fruit, sea cucumber and crab with pepper corns, sliced fish with crab meat, roasted tofu crust with crab meat, roasted crab meat with scallion and pine nuts, braised mandarin fish, corn-shaped turnip in crab meat, pan-fried Chinese dumplings stuffed with crab meat, noodles with crab meat. In addition, he also makes full use of eight water plants into his cuisines, including water caltrops and chestnuts, lotus root, cress, water shield, gorgon fruit, arrowhead and cane shoot. All are local food on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

3. Braised Pork Knuckle

Braised pork knuckle is a common homemade dish, with its main ingredient of pig feet, and the general cooking method of braising. This speciality, with a fine and soft texture, appearing dark red, tastes flavorful, especially when dipped with Changzhi vinegar.

The pork knuckle is called “pig elbow” (literally) in Chinese due to its shape. There are two types of elbows, the front one and the back one, which refers to pork meat from the front leg and the back leg respectively. As for braised pork knuckles, the front and the back ones are both options with their bones remained because their skin is thick and meat thin, especially for the back ones which are preferred. The yummy tender braised pork knuckle appears like a hill, red like Chinese dates and has fat meat but not greasy, lean meat but not tough.

4. Good Luck Piggy (Roasted Small Pig)

The general steps of cooking a roasted small pig are as follows:

The first phase: Clean the small pig first, split it from the lumen, make it flat on the cutting board, and then cut off the third and fourth ribs, remove all the ribs and spareribs on both sides, dig out the pig brain, give a chop on both sides of the teeth. After that, take 125 grams of spices evenly on the pig’s stomach, marinated for 30 minutes. The next step is to hang it with iron hook until all redundant water is removed. Then all the ingredients are mixed except the spices and sugar, and are evenly painted into the pig’s cavity, pickled for 20 minutes. After that, the pig is put into the boiled water to make its skin more taut and its meat more tight.

The second phase: Put the pig’s head upwards, sweep the syrup with a brush and lift the pig with the sticks in the cavity, as well as its four lambs to make sure they are fixed.

The last phase: Fire the charcoal put in two piles and heat the head and the thigh respectively. When the two parts turn red, punch some holes by a needle to release gas. After that, vegetable oil is painted allover with a brush, and the charcoal is bar shaped to fully roast the whole pig. Meanwhile, the fork is turned over continually until the whole pig turns red.

5. Home-bred Chicken in Casserole

The main ingredient of home-bred chicken in casserole is local chicken which feed on grass, worms and paddy in the countryside. With dried bamboo shoots, wild fungus and other spices added, it becomes more delicious, tasty but not greasy. Since it is green and healthy food with high protein, low fat, low cholesterol and low salt, home-bred chicken in casserole not only helps nourish and strengthen the body but also polishes up the skin and promotes a young look.

6. Steamed Perch

The perch to be steamed shall not be cut open and the offal should be removed with chopsticks from the mouth instead. The perch is then washed and several slits are cut gently with some salt rubbed on it. Finally the perch is put into the plate with chopsticks to hold it in the air, which makes it steamed quickly.

7. Steamed Deep-fried Tofu Puff

Deep-fried Tofu Puff is made from soybeans through the process of grinding, pressing, frying, etc. A piece of deep-fried tofu puff measures 8 cubic centimeters, golden and smooth in coat, soft yet solid in texture. The great elasticity allows it to recover the shape after being squeezed and the special craftsmanship extends its shelf life. Deep-fried tofu can be served as a main dish through ways of steaming, frying and stewing. It matches with various kinds of meat, also goes well with different sorts of vegetables. Deep-fried tofu puff stuffed with pork is a famous steamed dish in local banquets. It adds delicate fragrance in cooking soup while staying intact in stewing. Frying or mixing with shredded meat, bean sprouts and vermicelli gives full play to its freshness.

8. Taihu Lake White Shrimp

The Taihu Lake white shrimp is a local speciality, commonly known as “crystal shrimp”. Long whiskers on head, slender legs on chest, stalk-eyed and fork-shaped tail, most of the Taihu Lake shrimps can be founded at calm open shoal with luxuriant plants. They feed on plant fragments, organic debris and weak invertebrate plankton. The growth period of the Taihu Lake shrimp is around one year. It looks crystal in meat and filmy in shell, tasting tender and fresh, and is also nutritious. Various cooking methods can be applied to the Taihu Lake White shrimp, thus a distinctive dish—the Taihu Lake drunken white shrimp comes into being.

The Taihu Lake white shrimp can be served in many ways, such as the mouth-watering drunken shrimp and the visually appealing and flavorful braised white shrimp with brown sauce. White shrimps are sometimes peeled producing tender shrimp meat in large amounts to be marketed. The meat can also be processed into dried shrimps, fit for long-term storage and ready to serve. The Taihu Lake white shrimp, with 20.6 grams protein, 0.7 grams fat per 100 grams, is rich in nutrition, and also a significant source of calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A and other nutrients.

9. Pingwang Pickled Fish

Pingwang Xin Chuan Xiang Pickled Fish has built a good reputation. It costs only 100 yuan or so for couples to have a hearty meal. Served with a large pot of pickled fish, never will you forget how fascinating it can be.

10. Taihu Lake Brasenia Schreberi

As one of the famous specialties in Suzhou, Taihu Lake brasenia schreberi served as a tribute as early as in the Song Dynasty. The colloidal material in young leaves and stems of the brasenia schreberi brings out its unique gentleness and coolness with a refreshing fragrance.