Category: Chinese Food

Green Onion Pancake is a snack hiding on the street corner. Though the Green Onion Pancake is small and has a simple appearance, as one of the commonly found snacks, it is very popular. Green Onion Pancakes are a snack that is only sold at many street corners. There is always a handcart at the gate of many residential quarters, appearing at a certain time throughout the year. Many Green Onion Pancake stands are run by couples. The husband makes the pancakes and the wife cooks the pancakes and collects money. They are often very busy…葱油饼是一种藏在街角的小吃。葱油饼个头虽小，样貌也长得朴实，但在民间小吃中却总让人留恋。记忆中的葱油饼是很多街头转角处特有的小吃，很多小区门口总会有一辆手推车，常年定时就出来，很多时候还是夫妻老婆店，一个做饼，一个烘饼外加收钱，常常是忙得不亦乐乎……
A lot of old-fashioned Green Onion Pancakes are made by putting puff pastry, the chopped green onion and a large piece of greasy pork in the prepared dough; then frying it on a frying pan. When its two sides are fried until they are golden, put it in the stove and bake it for 10 seconds to make the outside layer crisper. It takes about 10 minutes to make such Green Onion Pancakes from making them to taking them from the stove. The roasted golden crispy Green Onion Pancakes are placed on the table neatly. The most delicious part of the old-fashioned Green Onion Pancake is the outside layer. When having a bite, you can feel the crispness and taste the flavor of green onion and meat. If the pancake is roasted crispier, it will be even more delicious.很多老式的葱油饼，会在事先预备好的面团里夹入油酥、葱和一大块猪油肉；接着放在油锅上煎，等煎至双面金黄，再放进炉内烘烤10秒，这样整个外皮会更加松脆。这样的一种葱油饼从制作到出炉大约需要10分钟。烤得金黄焦脆的葱油饼被整齐的码在台子上。吃老式的葱油饼，最美味的就在于外层，一口咬上去脆脆的，并且还带着葱花和肉的气息，如果烤得再焦脆一些，吃起来会更香。

Taosu is a snack popular in both northern and southern China. It is known for its dryness, crispness, brittleness and sweetness. The main ingredients are flour and egg. It contains carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and other mineral substances. It is a kind of fast food especially well received by the elderly and children.桃酥是一种中国南北皆宜的食品，以其干、酥、脆、甜的特点闻名，主要成分是面粉、鸡蛋等，含有碳水化合物、蛋白质、脂肪、维生素及钙、钾、磷等多种矿物质，食用方便，尤其得到老年人和孩子的喜爱。
In the past, a packet of taosu was a very decent gift when visiting a relative or a friend. A packet weighed half a kilo. Pieces of round and flat taosu were packaged into the shape of a cuboid. A packet usually had three wrappers — a sun-dried lotus leaf inside, thick straw paper in the middle, and yellow paper or white paper outside. A print was attached to the outside paper, just as it is today. The appetizing smell of crisp and sweet taosu was mouth-watering.过去，逢年过节，走亲访友，送上一包桃酥很是体面，一斤为一包，圆扁扁的一块块桃酥包成长方形，包时讲究里外三层，里层为晒干的荷叶，第二层为厚草纸，再用黄纸或白纸缚外，上面贴张印花，像是现在的商标，又酥又甜的桃酥馨香诱人。 

Jiuhuafo Tea is one of the high-quality products of Jiuhua Mountain and grows in a place nearly 1,000 meters above sea level, surrounded by numerous mountain peaks where there are pine trees, springs and fragrant flowers.九华佛茶乃九华山名优特产之一，这里的茶场海拔高度近千米，群峰相拥，松竹成林，飞泉润谷，芳草吐香。
It is said that Jin Qiaojue, an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), came from the Xinluo Kingdom in the Korean Peninsula to Tang for Buddhism. After arduous journey, he reached Jiuhua Mountain. Mingong Ranghe, the owner of the mountain, helped him get a piece of land with his cassock, and designated the 99 peaks of Jiuhua Mountain as a place for his Buddhism rites. The next spring, it rained more than half a month and Jiuhua Mountain was soaked in thick fogs and rains. Jin Dizang sat in the cave, chanting Buddhist scriptures. Suddenly, he heard cracking sounds; they were his tea seeds. The night before Jin Dizang, the prince of Xinluo, came to Tang, his mother, who was disposed by his father, sewed imperial tea seeds into his clothes with tears in her eyes. Jin Qiaojue took out the sprouted seeds, and grew them in the hillside facing the sun in Nantai (Shenguangling) where he cultivated them himself. The seeds grew everyday. In no more than three months, they grew into a lush tea garden with a sweet fragrance that permeated the entire mountain. This is where Jiuhuafo high-quality tea came from.话说金乔觉——金地藏的化身，从新罗国渡海来，入唐求法，吃尽千辛万苦，才找到这仙气悠悠的九华山。“袈裟借地”，得山主闵公让和的施舍，将这九华九十九峰做了他的道场。那年春天，春雨连绵，一连半个多月，九华山沉浸在浓雾细雨之中。金地藏坐岩洞中，诵经不歇。忽儿，隐隐听到耳边听见起“辟叭、辟叭”的声音，原来是茶籽，是新罗国王子金地藏来唐的前一天深夜，遭父王废弃的母后，含泪将她亲手采来的王家香茶籽，缝在金地藏的衣襟里的。来之不易，后来，金地藏将发了芽的茶籽取出，种在他禅修的南台(神光岭)向阳的山坡上。茶籽入土，日日见长。不出三月，竟长成一片郁郁葱葱的茶园，满山飘香。从此有了这朵茶中奇葩。

Anhui cuisine is called Hui Cai for short. The Anhui cuisine cooking style is also known as “Hui Bang”, and is one of the eight most famous cuisines of China. Anhui cuisine originated in the Southern Song Dynasty in ancient Huizhou (now the region of Shexian County in Anhui Province) and it was previously the local flavor of Huizhou’s mountainous area. The rise of Anhui merchants was a fast one, thus the region’s flavor which became gradually introduced to shops, became popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Shanghai, Hubei and even the Lower-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River as a result of its extensive influence.安徽菜系，简称徽菜。徽菜菜系又称“徽帮”，是中国著名的八大菜系之一。徽菜南宋时期的古徽州（今安徽歙县一带），原是徽州山区的地方风味。由于徽商的崛起，这种地方风味逐渐进入市肆，流传于苏、浙、赣、闽、沪、鄂以至长江中下游区域，具有广泛的影响。
Representative dishes代表菜品 Braised masked civet, ham and stewed soft-shelled turtle, fried bamboo shoots and salted mustard with roast pheasant, Fuliji style red-roasted chicken, honeycomb tofu, Wuwei smoked duck etc.红烧果子狸、火腿炖甲鱼、雪冬烧山鸡、符离集烧鸡、蜂窝豆腐、无为熏鸭等。
The characteristics of Anhui cuisine徽菜的特点 Anhui cuisine is, fragrant and fresh; its taste is moderate; the selection of ingredients is rigorous; duration and degree of cooking is original and unique; chefs attach great importance to the maintenance of good health through the intake of nourishing food as well as being concerned with the original flavors of the food; it includes a variety of dishes. Cooking techniques: cooking with medium-heat oil, boiling in clear soups and smoking of raw materials. Anhui cuisine is known for the cooking of mountain delicacies and Anhui cuisine chefs excel at roasting, stewing and braising; they seldom fry. Thickening with a mixture of cornstarch and water is frequently used in Anhui cuisine preparations, and the cuisine is rich in oil and colors as well as being simple and substantial.清雅纯朴、原汁原味、酥嫩香鲜、浓淡适宜，选料严谨、火工独到、讲究食补、注重本味、菜式多样。烹饪技法：滑烧、清炖和生熏法。它以烹制山珍野味著称，擅长烧、炖、蒸，而少爆炒。其烹饪芡大、油重、色浓、朴素实惠。
The history of Anhui cuisine 徽菜历史 The formation and development of Anhui cuisine are closely related with those of the Anhui merchants which rose to power and fortune. Anhui merchants were known as “Xin’an merchants” in ancient times. They developed from the Eastern Jin Dynasty onwards and flourished increasingly in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The period from the late Ming Dynasty to the late Emperor Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty was the most flourishing period for Anhui merchants when the greatest number of merchants in Huizhou and their extensive scope of operations and abundant funds were superior to those of many other non-Huizhou merchants at that time. From the period between Emperor Jiajing’s reign in the Ming Dynasty to the Emperor Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, there were roughly 80 famous merchants in Yangzhou, of which the Anhui merchants accounted for more than 60. They also accounted for more than half of the ten major salt merchants. Anhui merchants were the richest in the world and they preferred their hometown’s flavor. Their rich and sumptuous foods and luxurious banquets promoted the development of Anhui cuisine. Where there were Anhui merchants, there were Anhui cuisine restaurants. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Anhui merchants were in full bloom in Yangzhou, Shanghai and Wuhan, and the number of Anhui cuisine restaurants in Shanghai had even risen to more than 500.徽菜的形成、发展与徽商的兴起、发迹有着密切的关系，徽商史称“新安大贾”，起于东晋，唐宋时期日渐发达，明代晚期至清乾隆末期是徽商的黄金时代，其时徽州营商人数之多，活动范围之广，资本之雄厚，皆居当时商团之前列。明嘉靖至青乾隆年间，扬州著名商贾约80人，其中徽商就占60之多；十大盐商中，徽商竟居一半以上。徽商富甲天下，而又偏爱家乡风味，其饮馔之丰盛，筵席之豪华，对徽菜的发展起了推波助澜的作用，哪里有徽商哪里就有徽菜馆。明清时期，徽商在扬州、上海、武汉盛极一时，上海的徽菜馆一度曾达至500余家。
The number of Anhui cuisine dishes徽菜品种 The number of traditional Anhui cuisine dishes amounts to more than one thousand and the flavors of Anhui cuisine contain the characteristics of the dishes of Southern Anhui, the area along the Yangtze River and the area along the Huai River.徽菜的传统品种多达千种以上，其风味包含皖南、沿江、沿淮三种地方菜肴的特色。
The Ingredients of Anhui cuisine徽菜原料 Anhui lies in the central region of Eastern China, and its climate is mild with moderate rainfall. The area’s four seasons are distinct and the province is a richly productive one. The Southern Anhui and Dabie Mountainous areas are abound with tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus, Chinese chestnuts, Chinese yarns and mountain delicacies including chukars, stonefish, rock tripe, soft-shelled turtles, big-headed turtles and masked civets etc.安徽地处华东腹地，气候温和雨量适中，四季分明、物产丰盈，皖南山区和大别山区盛产茶叶、竹笋、香菇、木耳、板栗、山药和石鸡、石鱼、石耳、甲鱼、鹰龟、果子狸等山珍野味。
Cooking techniques of Anhui cuisine 徽菜的烹饪技法 The cooking techniques of Anhui cuisine include cutting techniques, skilled use of cooking times, methods and temperatures, and operational skills. Chefs of Anhui cuisine have a long lasting fine tradition of paying comparatively more attention to temperature, and their specialized characteristics are embodied in the expertly time-consuming dishes such as roasted, stewed, smoked and braised dishes. The Fuliji style red-roasted chicken is fried and then roasted with a technique employing the alternate use of gentle heat and high heat. In the end the bone is crispy and the chicken is easily taken off and maintains its original shape; Anhui style fried fish can be prepared within a few minutes. The fish is tender and delicious with richness and color. This dish is a great example of the use of high heat. “Mount Huang stewed chicken” and “Wenzheng Mountain bamboo shoots” stewed over a charcoal fire in a draft furnace are dishes with pure, fresh, palatable, crisp, savory and mellow flavors, which are the fruit of stewing by gentle heat. “Smoked reeves shad with Maofeng tea” and “Wuwei smoked chicken” are two dishes which are the embodiment of the traditional technique of Anhui style smoking. The frequently used cooking techniques of Anhui cuisine are classified into 20 categories and have over 50 styles, of which cooking with medium-heat oil, boiling in clear soup and raw ingredients smoking are typical of Anhui style.徽菜的烹饪技法，包括刀工、火候和操作技术。徽菜之重火工是历来的优良传统，其独到之处集中体现在擅长烧、炖、熏、蒸类的功夫菜上，“符离集烧鸡”先炸后烧，文武火交替使用，最终达到骨酥肉脱原形不变的质地；“徽式烧鱼”几分钟即能成菜，保持肉嫩味美、汁鲜色浓的风格，是巧用武火的典范；“黄山炖鸡”、“问政山笋”经过风炉炭火炖熬，成为清新适口酥嫩鲜醇的美味，是文火细炖的结晶；而“毛峰熏鲥鱼”、“无为熏鸡”又体现了徽式烟熏的传统技艺。徽菜常用的烹饪技法约有20大类50余种，其中最能体现徽式特色的是滑烧、清炖和生熏法。
The pattern of Anhui cuisine徽菜的款式 The common forms of Anhui cuisine include feast dishes, set meals, the five Guis (a round bamboo vessel for holding grains as an ancient offering or feast), eight plates and ten bowls, common and simple dishes and home style dishes etc. They are all broadly accepted. Feast dishes are those used to entertain guests and usually comprised of a certain number of cold dishes, hot dishes, main courses and several exquisite pastries along with an appropriate amount of fruit. The selected ingredients are determined by prices. Thanks to their high-quality raw ingredients, complicated cooking techniques, exquisite seasoning, rich variety and elegant dinnerware, feast dishes are welcomed by up-market consumers. Set meals are a combination of dishes featuring set quantities. Set meals have a lower status than feast dishes but are more prized than common and simple dishes. They are frequently used for dinner parties involving several friends and in instances of group dinning involving a relatively small number of guests: they are convenient and flexible as well as economical and practical; the five Guis, eight plates and ten bowls are the traditional dishes used at weddings and funerals or other important festivals or senior people’s birthday parties to entertain the guests among the locals in Anhui. The common and simple dishes are a kind of convenient and efficient dish as well as being economical and practical foods which are commonly served in the restaurants. These dishes generally belong to one of three categories: scattered dishes, guest dishes and dished prepared in a large cauldron.徽菜常有的款式有筵席大菜、和菜、五簋八碟十大碗、大众便菜和家常风味菜等，其适应性很广。筵席菜式是筵宴宾客的菜式，通常都是由一定数量的冷菜、热菜、大菜和数道精细面点及适量水果所组成的系列菜式，菜品用料视售价多少而定。因原料上乘、烹调工艺复杂、调味精美、品种丰富、餐具讲究，很爱高层次消费的欢迎；和菜（有的叫“合菜”）是低于筵席菜，高于大众便菜的一种限定数量的组合菜式，常用于三朋四友的聚餐和人数较少的集体用餐，方便灵活、经济实惠；五簋八碟十大碗是安徽民间红白喜事或其他重大、节日、寿诞筵宴宾客的传统菜式；大众便菜是饮食店普遍供应的一种方便快捷、经济实惠的菜式，大体可分点菜、客菜、大锅菜三类。 

Pork Stew was originally a stewed dish eaten in the northeast rural areas at the end of the lunar year when pigs were killed for the coming new year. In the past, people did not have the luxury of using specific ingredients and spices. They just cut the pork from a freshly killed pig and put the pork into a stew pan. Then they added water and salt and cut pickles into the pan while the pork was cooked. After the pork became tender and the pickles were cooked thoroughly, they poured the processed blood sausage into the pan to cook thoroughly. When serving the dish, there was a plate of pork, a plate of pickles and a plate of blood sausage. Sometimes, the three would be put into one plate.杀猪菜，原本是东北农村每年接近年关杀年猪时所吃的一种炖菜。过去，人们没有条件讲究什么配料、调料，只是把刚杀好的猪肉斩成大块放进锅里，加入水，放上盐，然后边煮边往里面切酸菜，等到肉烂菜熟后，再把灌好的血肠倒进锅内煮熟。上菜时，一盘肉，一盘酸菜，一盘血肠，也有的是把三者合一。 

Braised Dongpo Pork 东坡肉
Style of cooking: Zhejiang cuisine 菜系：浙菜
Flavor: salty and fresh口味：咸鲜
Introductions 介绍： As the legend has it: in the Yuanyou period of the Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo worked in Hangzhou, once he lauched civilian workers to dredge the West Lake. After the project was completed there was a causeway on the West Lake which not only worked as a means for water conservation for the people but also improved the beautiful view of the West Lake. The common people gave him pork and yellow rice (or millet) wine as a gift thanking him for being a benefactor of Hangzhou. Su Dongpo attributed the West Lake’s dredging to the civilian workers, so he asked that the chefs cook the pork according to a specific method of braising meat – “with gentle heat and a little water, the dish will be delicious after heating at the correct temperature for the right amount of time”, and then presented this delicious dish to the civil workers in appreciation of their services. The pork’s special preparation meant that it was crisp but not overcooked, oily but not greasy and that it was very tasty. “Braised Dongpo Pork” soon became the words on everybody's lips as well as being a delicious dish.传说：宋元佑年间，苏东坡任职杭州，发动民工疏浚西湖，大工告成，西湖多了一座长堤，既为百姓带来水利之益，又增添了西湖景色。百姓为了感谢他为地方办了这件好事，就给他送猪肉，送黄酒。苏东坡觉得西湖是民工疏浚的，即命厨师按照他特有的烧肉经验“慢著火，少著水，火候足时它自美”的方法，烹制成佳肴慰劳民工。由于送来的肉烧法独特，酥而不烂，油而不腻，味美异常，故“东坡肉”一时传为佳话与美食。
Ingredients原料： Streaky pork, ginger, green onion, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine (yellow rice or millet wine) and sugar etc.猪五花肉，生姜，小葱，酱油，绍兴黄酒，白糖等。
Way of cooking 制作方法： After the streaky pork is cooked thoroughly, strip and slice it; then put the green onion and the ginger on the bottom of the pan. Place the streaky pork on the green onion and ginger, keeping the surface down; add soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine and shallots; cover with the lid and boil them at a high temperature then stew with gentle heat for two hours; put the pork in a terrine, cover with the lid and seal it up with Taohua paper, then steam the pork in a steaming basket.五花肉煮熟之后切成方块，沙锅内放入葱，姜块垫底，五花肉皮朝下放在葱姜上，加入酱油，白糖，黄酒，葱结，加盖先用旺火烧开，再用微火焖2小时，再将肉块装入陶罐，加盖，以桃花纸密封，上笼蒸透即成。