It comprises the specialties of Southern Anhui, Wanjiang, Hefei, Huainan and Northern Anhui. The highly distinctive characteristic of Anhui cuisine lies not only in the elaborate choices of cooking materials but also in the strict control of cooking process.
Anhui cuisine is also called Anhui favor. It originates from ancient Huizhou in the Southern Song Dynasty. At first, Anhui favor comes from mountainous area in ancient Huizhou. With the rise of Anhui businessmen, Anhui cuisine gradually spread to Jiangsu province, Zhejiang province, and Jiangxi province and so on.
Most ingredients in Anhui cuisine, such as pangolin, stone frog, mushroom, bayberry, tea leaves, bamboo shoot, dates, come from mountain area. Huangshan Mountain has abundant raw materials for cooking. The white and tender bamboo shoots grew on Huangshan Mountain can be made into very delicious food. And Xianggu, a kind of top-grade mushroom grows on old trees, is also very tasty.
Fried Fish Cooked With Grape Juice
An emphasis on preserving the natural and original flavor of the food is the hallmark of Anhui cuisine. Anhui cuisine chefs pay more attention to the taste, color of dishes and the temperature to cook, and they are good at braising and stewing, and steaming. Besides, they are good at using ingredients from mountains to cook delicacies. Anhui dishes preserve most of the original taste and nutrition of the materials. Generally, the food is slightly spicy and salty. Some typical dishes stewed in brown sauce with stress on heavy oil and sauce. Chinese bacon is often added to improve the taste and sugar candy is added to gain freshness.
Hot Anhui Dishes•Steamed Stone Frog
Stone frog has much in common with the frog. However, it grows in small pool of mountainous areas. It gets the name because the skin color of it is just like that of the stone. It has medical effects of nourishing Yin and treating lung deficiency.
•Bamboo Shoots Cooked with Sausage and Dried Mushroom
It is one traditional flavor in Anhui mountainous area. Cooked with sausage and dried mushrooms, the bamboo shoots are more fragrant. It is delicious, and noted for its good color, juicy meat and thick soup.
•Li Hongzhang Hotchpotch
A popular dish named after one of Anhui’s famous personages. Li Hongzhang was a top official of the late Qing Dynasty (1644 -1911 A .D.). When he was in office, he paid a visit to the US and hosted a banquet for all his American friends. The chefs, with limited resources, began to fret. Upon Li Hongzhang’s order, the remaining ingredients in kitchen were thrown together into an impromptu stew, containing sea cucumber, squid, tofu, ham, mushroom, chicken meat and other less identifiable food materials. Thus, a delicious dish was created.
Li hongzhang Hotpot
•Fried fish cooks with grape juice
It’s a famous Anhui cuisine. Huaibei plain abounds in grape. The main ingredients of cuisine include grape juice and fish. First, cut the fish in the shape of a spring of grapes, then deep fried the fish, at last, cook with grape juice. It’s an incomparable delicious dish, crisp outside and tender inside, with strong grape juice taste.