What are some of the top ingredients from China?

France has foie gras, Italy has black truffles, Russia has black caviar, Spain has Iberian ham and Japan has wagyu beef.

So what are the top ingredients from Greater China, which is so vast and so productive?

In fact, in the eyes of the "Chinese heart, Chinese stomach", those are not enough to see, not to mention the foie gras greasy, not to mention the fishy caviar, not to mention the stink of the truffle, and only to say that Wagyu beef that kind of salt and light sauce of the way of cooking let the turtle can not stand.

These are the kind of flavors that are inherited from our ancestors, and we can't change them.

Turtle Jun with all of you to see the inventory, the turtle serious extreme delicacies.

Aquatic "fish in the West" Yangtze River Yellowtail

At the mention of the "Yangtze River Three Fresh", the first one to come out of everyone's mind must be the "Yangtze River Yellowtail", which has been speculated into a sky-high price in the last few years. ". In fact, the real in the "three fresh" in the first chair is that is known as the "fish in the West" of the anchovy.

Shad, migratory fish, herring, shad genus, born in the river, long in the sea, China's southeastern coast and Southeast Asia are distributed, but only the Yangtze River Zhenjiang to Nanjing section of the anchovy is considered a top food.

Chinese cooking shad tradition has a long history, but because the production is not low, and is not very expensive. Until, after Zhu Yuanzhang stabilized the dragon chair, anchovies were listed as "tribute", and from then on their value soared.

In fact, shad is a very difficult to keep fresh aquatic products. In the Ming Dynasty, under the conditions of transportation, shad from Jiangnan to Beijing via the Grand Canal is a very difficult thing, according to the "Wanli Wildcard" has recorded the "shad tribute" transportation process. "May 15 harvested anchovies, first lifted to the Xiaoling to Zhu Yuanzhang look, and then immediately start the ship, along the way by the states and counties are responsible for the provision of fresh ice, all the way chilled straight to Beijing." At that time, the time limit is "before the end of June must be in Beijing, July 1 must be placed on the emperor's table", violators in addition to killing no second way.

Even so urgent as a fire like rush, anchovies to Beijing has begun to rot, the imperial kitchen cooks had to use heavy spices to cover the smell of stinking fish.

After the Qing Dynasty, the shad tribute to land transportation, by fast horse by stagecoach within twenty-two hours within the time limit.

The Ming and Qing emperors in order to eat a mouthful of anchovies, the cost of manpower and material resources is really countless, not to mention the people, even the princes and nobles to get on a fresh anchovies also have to be happy a few days to sleep.

After the Republic of China, anchovies are really back to the folk table, but also by no means can be enjoyed by the general public of the delicious, only the big families in the south of Jiangnan in the banquet when the guests will be presented with a plate of anchovies.

As "Tongue on the China" said, "the ultimate food often only need the simplest way of cooking". The only way to bring out the best in anchovies is to "steam them with slices of ham, mushrooms, and asparagus". It is said that only with this very uncommon steaming method can the rich fat under the skin of the anchovy be preserved to the maximum extent, in order to produce that kind of "in the mouth is melting, fat and sweet better than beef fat" tender and smooth taste.

There is a saying that "Canada fish and flowers have many thorns, and it's no wonder that the poems are so sentimental. " The only thing wrong with shad is that it is "thorny". The representative of the Shanghai rich lady Zhang Ailing once in the "red chamber nightmare" will be "shad fish thorny" as the first of the three major hates of life. But many people also say that sucking on the scales and bones, and sucking all the soup from each thorn, is the official ritual of eating anchovies.

It is a pity that the shad did not wait for a breakthrough in artificial propagation technology. In the mid-nineties, as hydrological and environmental conditions changed and overfishing, this fresh-to-the-bone aquatic has become functionally extinct. Since the spring of 1994, Anhui fishermen surnamed Zhang caught a shad weighing about 2 pounds in the Yangtze River, there has been no news of them. With the disappearance of the Yangtze River shad at the same time, the same Zhejiang "Qiantang shad" and Guangdong's "Xijiang shad".

The anchovies, which can cost thousands of dollars in restaurants now, are in fact only their American and Southeast Asian relatives, and according to the memories of gourmets who have eaten Yangtze River anchovies, the flavor is far worse than before.

"Southeast good taste" Songjiang perch

February 1972, Nixon visited Shanghai, Shanghai side came up with a "steamed fish", so that the old Nixon was full of praise. After returning to the United States, Nixon often recommended to dignitaries this "appearance of mediocre, but fresh and delicious " fish.

Under the strong favor of Lao Ni, Queen Elizabeth, who visited our country in 1986, also named to eat a bite of that "fresh to the bone" fish. But unfortunately, Shanghai called more than 300 fishing boats around the Songjiang River around the clock to look for it, but found nothing.

This kind of aquatic products that make the old Queen's mouth watering and can't get enough of is the "four-cheeked perch" that is a specialty of the Songjiang area of Shanghai, and also the perch that is in the "people who come and go on the river but love the beauty of the perch".