Shang Hai n Yang Zhou food

Yang Zhou
1. Steamed chicken over bamboo leaves

Steamed Chicken over Bamboo leaves is a representative dish of Yangzhou Cuisine, which enjoys great reputation both home and abroad. Stamped with brilliant outlook, amazing bamboo aroma and wonderful taste, it has become a must-order dish when dining in Yangzhou.

Usually chefs in Yangzhou restaurants will wrap chicken nuggets and some dried mushrooms with bamboo leaves then steam them together. When put them into the plate, cooks will also add some cherries to beautify the dish. By now an exquisite plate of steamed chicken over bamboo leaves has finished.

2. Steamed Pig's Head

Steamed Pig's Head, however, was not allowed to eat in ancient times, as it was served as a sacrifice in the worship of ancestors. Later, it gradually became a major course mainly served in banquets. Steamed Pig's Head is ranked among the top "three heads" in Jiangsu Cuisine with the other two to be Braised Silver Carp Head and Shi Zi Tou(minced pork ball).

So as to make the heads clean enough, cooks usually spend a long time to remove all the hair and other dirties. Therefore, you need not worry about the sanitary problem. It is reputable for the best characteristics of glamor appearance, fat but not greasy, tender and sweet along with the pleasant aroma, making you love it as soon as you see it.

Sichuan, Shandong and Cantonese Cuisine. It is featured with light, tasty as well as aromatic.

3. Yang Zhou Fried Rice

Yangzhou, or "Yeung Chow" egg-fried rice is said to be originated from the "broken gold rice" favoured by Yang Su, Duke of the Yue in the Sui Dynasty. When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty visited Jiangdu (now Yangzhou), he introduced egg-fried rice to Yangzhou. After innovations of chefs of various dynasties, the food has been developed into one of the famous foods with Huaiyang flavour featuring the characteristics of Huaiyang cuisine of careful material selection, precise cooking, stressing the importance of colour and authentic taste. Today, Yangzhou egg-fried rice is a household name in many countries worldwide. According to some foreign friends, many foreigners like eating egg-fried rice; but they have no idea about what Yangzhou is. In their minds, Yangzhou is not a name of a city, but the way of cooking rice.

Yangzhou fried rice boasts abundant varieties such as "gold wrapping silver," and fried rice with meat and vegetables.

"Gold wrapping silver" means that the rice is covered by golden egg. To make "gold wrapping silver" rice, first fry the rice in the pot and then cover the rice with egg. After cooked, the exterior is golden while the rice inside is white.

Fried rice with meat and vegetables is the most typical variety of Yangzhou fried rice. It consists of a lot of supporting materials such as eggs, sea cucumbers, ham, string beans, prawn flesh, pork fillet, fragrance mushroom, bamboo shoots and chopped shallot. Eggs are fried first and then other ingredients are cooked with clear sauce and salt. The rice should be fried evenly without burning spots. After that, a half of the cooked egg and other ingredients are mixed with the rice. Then, two-thirds of the mixed ingredients should be placed on a plate, while the rest should be mixed with the rice, which is served over the mixed plate. It is a feast for the palate and the eyes.

Shanghai

Xiaolongbao 小笼包, the soup-filled dumplings Shanghai is famous for, are a miracle of creation and construction - seemingly delicate, semi-transparent dumpling skins are wrapped and neatly pleated around an aromatic filling of pork and a mouthful of hot savory broth. 

The pork filling, seasoned with a little ginger and shaoxing wine, is mixed with gelatinized pork stock that melts on cooking, transforming into a delicious soup. The addition of crab meat and crab roe from the famous Shanghai hairy crab makes for a rich but equally traditional xiaolongbao.

Many wonder how liquid soup manages to get inside a hand-wrapped dumpling. Is it somehow scooped inside as the dumpling is wrapped? Or is it injected using a syringe? The secret, of course, is that the soup is actually a solid at room temperature, melting into a liquid only when the dumplings are steamed at high heat. The soup is essentially a flavoured pork stock or aspic, made with pork skin, chicken bones, ginger, scallions and shaoxing wine, simmered for hours and hours then cooled at room temperature until it sets. Every kitchen has their own secret recipe because the quality of the soup is paramount in a good xiaolongbao.

The word xiăolóngbāo 小笼包 literally means 'small steamer basket buns' and is the most commonly used name for these dumplings. More traditional restaurants may also use the term tāngbāo 汤包, meaning soup dumpling. The only accompaniment needed for xiaolongbao is dark Zhejiang vinegar, although a bowl of clear soup is often eaten alongside.

When you taste a xiaolongbao, the skin or wrapper should be fine and translucent yet strong enough not to break when lifted out of the basket. The meat should be fresh tasting, smooth and savory. Lastly, the all-important soup should be hot, clear, and fragrant of pork. Enjoy!