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The coastal province of Zhejiang is rich in produce and has long been known
as "the land of fish and rices". Naturally, therefore, it has always
been a great place to eat. Especially after 1127 when Hangzhou become the capital
of the Song Dynasty, having been moved there from Kaifeng in the north. Some
of the best chefs from both these cities were brought together, and as a result
northern methods of cooking were introduced to the south, thus the evolution
of Zhejiang cuisine, one of the most famous types of cooking. Zhejiang cuisine consists mainly of four local styles: Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing
and Wenzhou, each having its own special characteristics. Among the four, Hangzhou
cuisine is considered the most representative of Zhejiang. Although the main
methods of cooking are frying and stewing, the food produced is usually light
and delicate. Some of the most popular dishes are Shrimp with Longjing Leaves,
West Lake Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce, Fried Eel Slices, West Lake Water Shield
Soup, Beggar"s Chicken, Dongpo Pork and Steamed Pork in Lotus Leaves. Ningbo dishes tend to favour more steaming, roasting and stewing, and are slightly
richer in taste. Yellow croaker, eel and crab are popular in Ningbo, and there
is also a sweet soup made of turtle stewed with rock sugar. Shaoxing dishes
are usually light on oil and spices, yet lack nothing in richness, as Shaoxing
rice wine is often used to make the sauces for dishes. The last of the fourth,
Wenzhou dishes, are also light on oil, and some of the more popular ingredients
are yellow croaker, crab and squid. Zhejiang cuisine strives to be delicate in taste as well as in appearance.
In recent years people have been trying to revive Southern Song- dynasty imperial
cooking, based on what they can find in historical records. Their emphasis is
on preserving and bringing out the original taste of the recipes, thus visitors
to Zhejiang now have even more varieties of cuisine to tempt their palates! |
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