That's why Li Bai said "Fireworks fall under Yangzhou in March", and today's food journey can come whenever you want! Yangzhou, also known as Jiangdu, is a world heritage city and the world's gourmet capital. This trip to Yangzhou was in the twelfth lunar month of the cold winter, not in March of Fireworks, because I wanted to know whether Yangzhou was worth visiting as the so-called "Fireworks March", and whether the title of the World's Food Capital was in name, and whether Huaiyang cuisine was really so delicious. I embarked on a journey with these doubts.

Day1：

As soon as I arrived in Yangzhou in the afternoon, it started to rain. I didn't feel disappointed. Instead, I thought it was a blessing from the weather, allowing me to see the scenery of "the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River." Compared with a prosperous city like Shanghai, I seem to like this kind of poetic city. Walking on the street with a small umbrella, I was deeply infected by this land, my heart became calm, and I felt like a wandering poet.

Yangzhou Changle Inn is a cultural relic protection building. It is renovated from four ancient houses and other houses such as Yipu, Huashi Garden, Jiannan Bookstore, General Mansion of Qing Dynasty famous general Li Changle, etc., with blue bricks and small tiles on horse head walls, and cloisters hanging with grilles. The windows are an ancient architectural and residential themed boutique hotel that combines historical features, traditional characteristics, original ecology and fashion and leisure. Because it is off-season and the price is not expensive, I chose him as my habitat for my three-day and two-night trip.

After resting for a while, at night, because Huaiyang cuisine here is particularly famous, there is one dish I believe everyone has definitely heard of, and that is Yangzhou fried rice! So I am going to Lion House, which is one of the more representative Huaiyang cuisine. Lion Tower is quite famous in Yangzhou. It is a famous brand store specially created to taste Huaiyang cuisine. The founder is Wu Songde, a personal disciple of Master Zhou Xiaoyan, the famous inheritor of the intangible culture of Huaiyang cuisine. After entering, I can only describe the environment of this restaurant as "elegant".

This store is famous for its three dishes: the best double-flavored lion head, the old Yangzhou salty pig head, and the first-grade stewed fish head, commonly known as the three-end banquet.

The excellent double flavored lion head is different from the traditional clear soup style. It is served on the table with a shiny oil and a big bowl. Use a spoon to tear it apart. The force is not strong, and the meat is intuitively soft and smooth. It also hides the universe of double yellow eggs.

Old Yangzhou salty pig head

[One product of stewed fish head]

Although this dish looks ordinary, the production process is very cumbersome. It requires all the bones in the fish head to be removed by hand. This is a very big test for the chef. People without certain skills cannot make it. Also, the best season to eat this dish is November and December, which may not be available in other seasons.

Before the fish head is removed

After the fish head is deboned

Roasted puffer fish with rice seedlings in casserole

Yangzhou fried rice

Of course, the indispensable thing is Yangzhou fried rice! When I came to Yangzhou to eat fried rice, I realized that the authentic Yangzhou fried rice I had eaten before was not authentic, so I ate three large bowls! hahahaha

Stewed eel paste with wild buckwheat rice

Mini arrowhead roasted salted fish

Sauce tender cucumber

Huaishi Old Drunken Crab

This dish needs to be soaked in wine for a full 4 hours when making it to fully taste the wine. Open the crab shell, it is full of crab roe. One bite is full of wine aroma. It is delicious ~

Roasted goose with honey sauce

Huaishi steamed shrimp

[Baked shrimp with crab powder and egg paste]

Day2:

There is a saying in Yangzhou,"Pack water in the morning, wrap water in the evening." The must-have thing when you come to Yangzhou is morning tea. Then the first choice must be Yechun Tea House, which is a century-old store and has been rated as an "Intangible Cultural Heritage." This time, we will go to the Yumatou Main Store located next to the moat of Tianning Temple.

Is anyone curious why other docks have stone characters, but the horse on this stone tablet does not have a stone character plate? Legend has it that Qianlong went down to Jiangnan to visit Yangzhou. At that time, the Imperial Horse Head Suiyuan Palace had just been completed and had no name yet. Therefore, when this boat was touring Yangzhou, he wrote the words "Imperial Horse Head". Qianlong believed that the word "code" was accompanied by a stone, which would trip and hinder the way forward, which was unlucky. Therefore, the great emperor who created the prosperous times of Kangxi and Qianlong removed the stone of the word "Ma", and it became the "Imperial Horse Head". This royal horse head was the starting point for Qianlong's visit to Slender West Lake.

Yumou is still one to two hundred meters away from Yechun Tea House. When you reach the tea house, the environment inside is really good, it is a garden-style building.

After entering the house, you can see the words "Heavy to Yechun Tea House".

Here comes the highlight!!!

hot dried silk

Qingwen Bao

Wudingbao

Some small dishes are very exquisitely arranged and make people feel tempted

crescent moon steamed dumplings

Red dates and lotus seeds soup

stir-fried river shrimp

Money is rolling in. 1 wild egg and 1 pigeon egg. The names are particularly interesting.

Crab roe dumplings. Authentic dumplings need to have very thin skin, and you can almost see the yellow and clear color of the crab roe inside. Soup dumpling shops will also proudly put out the slogan of "break, pay for it" and pack it with "a belly". Delicious crab roe meat and soup, plump and thin-skinned dumplings that will not break, which test the skills of school dim sum chefs.

Yangchun noodles are particularly delicious. Although the north is dominated by pasta, Yangchun noodles in Yangzhou are famous far and wide.

Iced tofu pudding

A layer of osmanthus was sprinkled on it, and the faint fragrance of osmanthus came to my nostrils!

After morning tea, you can stroll around the garden and listen to the opera. It is very satisfying! There are many people who don't come for morning tea. If you come here to experience morning tea, you must get up early. After having morning tea, listening to the opera, and visiting the garden, you can also go to Tianning Temple without requiring tickets! No need!!

The environment inside the temple is also good. It's almost lunchtime after shopping. There is a poem like this: "The most delicious food in the world belongs to Yangzhou. Three sets of ducks stewed with fish heads. The Red Chamber held a wonderful banquet last night, and I envy the Taotie of Jiuzhou." So I plan to go to Xiyuan Hotel to experience the "Red Chamber Banquet" among Yangzhou's top ten famous themed banquets. The hotel was established in 1958 and was built on the ruins of Qianlong Palace. It has a history of nearly 60 years.

[Xiyuan Restaurant Lobby]

Arriving at the Red Tower Hall, the moment you enter the door, you will see the scene of the 50th chapter of the Dream of Red Mansions,"Elegant Made Spring Lantern Riddle in Nuanxiang Wu". The Lady Jia brought people to the Nuanxiang Wu in Xichun to warm up and guess the riddle. Baoyu once gave this riddle: Looking from the south and facing from the north, the elephant is worried, and the elephant is happy-guess what to use.(The riddle is displayed under the screen in seal characters) Have you guessed it? The answer is the mirror!

As the name suggests, the Red Chamber Banquet comes from "Dream of the Red Chamber", one of China's four famous classics. It is in this masterpiece, which stands proudly in the forest of world literature and is known as the "Encyclopedia", that Cao Xueqin spent nearly one-third of the space describing the colorful food cultural activities of many characters.

There are both real and fake Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu ~ Serve the food ~

Jade feather clothes, this dish is really amazing. At a glance, the peacock's tail can tell that it has been served for a long time.

Sauteed duck letter

Stewed silver carp head

Lao Bang Huaizhu

Double-yellow dove eggs

Yu Orchard

Ruyi locking sheet

Butterflies love flowers

snow base celery bud

Three sets of ducks

Peony crispy sting

A green cucumber with flowers and thorns on its head was cut into a flower knife on a coir coat with a sharp blade. This dish definitely reflects the superb cutting skills of Yangzhou masters!

Fan-shaped seasonal vegetables

Behind every dish there is a red building story waiting for you to listen to!

After morning tea and Honglou Banquet, my stomach was a little full, so the next itinerary was to visit Yangzhou Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, take a walk, and drink a cup of black tea that can strengthen the stomach and digestion.

Yangzhou Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a national-level traditional Chinese medicine health demonstration base, is located in the urban forest in the hinterland of the famous scenic spot Slender West Lake. It is built on Shugang, next to Slender West Lake with bright cultural heritage and vibrant water flow. It is adjacent to Daming Temple, Guanyin Mountain, Jianzhen Library, Songjiacheng Sports Park and other scenic spots, covering an area of 60 acres.

[Even the accommodation space is so simple and elegant]

The Academy of Chinese Medicine also provides accommodation. If I hadn't booked at Changle Inn for two nights, I might have stayed here for one night.

afternoon tea

nuts

[Healthy Laba Congee]

The main ingredients are gorgon euryale, Shaanxi yellow rice, black rice, peanuts, black beans, red beans, etc. Laba porridge is not only a custom and delicious food, but also a good health care product.

In the "Porridge Manual" written by a nutritionist in the Qing Dynasty, Cao Yanshan stated that Laba porridge is rich in nutrients and easy to absorb. It is a good food for "diet therapy". It can harmonize the stomach, nourish the spleen, nourish the heart, clear the lung, nourish the kidney, nourish the liver, relieve thirst, and improve eyesight., laxative and soothing the nerves. In addition, the traditional Chinese medicine ingredient Cishi (commonly known as chicken head rice) has been added. It tastes sweet, astringent and has a flat nature. It also has the effect of replenishing the middle and replenishing qi, refreshing and strengthening the spirit, and prolonging life. Serving such a bowl of hot Laba porridge on a cold winter day is really heart-warming.

pickles

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that winter is a good time to hide essence, so cold winter is also a good time to warm and nourish health. The Academy of Chinese Medicine launches this Angelica Niuti soup, which is particularly suitable for winter health preservation. The main ingredients are cow hooves and angelica. The beef tendon in the cow's hooves is sweet and warm in nature. It enters the spleen and kidney meridians, and has the effect of replenishing qi and replenishing deficiency, warming the middle and warming the middle. Coupled with the stewing of Chinese medicinal material Angelica, it has the effects of tonifying the kidney and promoting the marrow, nourishing the blood and clearing the pulse, and generating blood and replenishing the blood. It is suitable for people with weak fatigue, weak waist and knees, postpartum cold, abdominal pain, cold hernia, and nausea.

While holding on to my stomach, I drank black tea for digestion, hahahaha! What kind of divine operation is this?

After having afternoon tea at the Academy of Chinese Medicine, the next itinerary is to visit the Huaiyang Cuisine Master Workshop and the Huaiyang Cuisine Museum in Yangzhou

Huaiyang Cuisine Master Studio

I wish you a happy New Year in advance!

I like the furnishings in the studio very much.

Appreciating the master cutting tofu should be regarded as the basic skill of Yangzhou chefs. Although it is a basic skill, this basic skill cannot be cut so evenly and thinly without certain foundation.

12 ingredients for Yangzhou fried rice.

Yangzhou fried rice

Huaiyang Cuisine Culture Museum, Huaiyang Cuisine Master Studio, and Quyuan Tea House, which is going to have dinner in the evening, are all on the same street.

Although there is no longer the lush spring here, the dark green environment is more peaceful in winter, which calms people while walking

Unconsciously, the sky became dark. At this time, the pavilions and pavilions were covered with gold makeup, making people feel more exquisite.

Walking around the park from dawn to dark, the dishes were almost ready.

Duck Head

Jinxiu Flavor Cold Butterfly

Crab hooves and old chicken soup

Orange Australian veal

stir-fried leeks and Huaiyang soft pockets

Gaoyou Lake hairy crab is a specialty of Gaoyou City, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The Gaoyou Lake wetland is rich in biological resources, the most prominent one being the Gaoyou Lake hairy crabs, which are pure natural and unique in the world. When visiting Gaoyou, you must watch the lake light, watch the lake light, and eat hairy crabs.

Steamed crab with Gaoyou paste

Sausage in chicken oil river white fish

[Golden onion and eight treasure gourd duck]

Bao gourd duck is a delicious and famous traditional Han dish. Jiangsu is the birthplace of this dish. Later, during the evolution process, Jiangsu cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and other major cuisines all developed their own unique cooking methods. Today, I finally ate the authentic one.

Day 3:

I was a little tired from eating the day before, hahaha! So on the third day, I slept until I woke up naturally. It was already past nine o'clock, so I didn't go for morning tea and finished breakfast at the hotel. The last lunch was to go to Wu Butong's restaurant, but this time it was not Lion Building, but Xishi Building in Wanda. I heard that the renovation of Guangmen Store cost 30 million yuan.

Stroll through the promenade and walk along the quiet and elegant promenade and trails, with a modern feeling in Chinese retro style.

Casserole fish head meatballs

[Snacks made of various fruits, vegetables and beans]

[Thick soup Huaiyang boiled dried shredded]

Da-boiled dried shredded silk is a refreshing and nutritious dish. Its beautiful flavor has always been promoted as a beautiful dish on the table and is the best dish in the Huaiyang cuisine.

[Stewed pig's blood with farmhouse pickles]

[Sauted Taihu White Shrimp with Scallion]

The white shrimp can clearly see the white meat inside because of its thin shell. After cooking, the color is as white jade, warm and full. It is extremely tender and delicious in the mouth. Taihu White Shrimp has excellent taste and is also rich in nutrients. Every 100 grams of shrimp contains 20.6 grams of protein and 0.7 grams of fat, as well as calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin A. Various nutrients.

[Traditional braised red crispy chicken]

After staying in Yangzhou for three days and two nights, the title of the World's Gourmet Capital is indeed well deserved, and it belongs to Yangzhou. There is also Li Bai's "Fireworks in March". In fact, Yangzhou has its own characteristics in every season. Moreover, Yangzhou's food is relatively seasonal and is not seasonal dishes. Restaurants will not sell them. After eating a lot of dishes, I found that 95% of Yangzhou's food is mainly steamed, stewed, and boiled. There are basically no other cooking methods, which is particularly healthy for the body. However, Huaiyang cuisine was able to enter the lobby and become the protagonist of the state banquet not only because Huaiyang cuisine was green and healthy, but also because the culture behind Huaiyang cuisine was profound and profound.