Where are the turtles in Hongze Lake?

The historical story of turtle and Chu overlord Xiang Yu has been circulating in Hongze Lake area. According to legend, Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, was besieged near Hongze Lake District. In the embattled situation, the beautiful princess relieved Wang Xiang's worries and cooked this beautiful dish with soft-shelled turtle and chicken. Xiang Yu was very happy and refreshed after eating, and devoted himself to the breakthrough. This incident and the method of making this dish later spread to Hongze Lake area. Fishermen in Hongze Lake area use turtle stewed chicken to commemorate this tragic historical story. Since then, this dish "Farewell to Chicken" has become popular in Hongze Lake area.

The Chinese soft-shelled turtle in Hongze Lake, also known as soft-shelled turtle and tuanyu, is an egg-laying amphibious reptile with a turtle-like head and no turtle pattern on its carapace. Its edge is soft and its color is dark green. Trionyx sinensis often lives in the sediments at the bottom of Hongze Lake, likes to eat small animals such as fish and shrimp, and also swallows melon skin, fruit slices, grass and grains.

According to experts' analysis, the Trionyx sinensis in Hongze Lake is rich in high-quality protein, amino acids, minerals, trace elements, vitamins A, B 1, B2 and so on. It has the delicious taste of chicken, deer, cow, pig and fish, and is known as "five flavors of good meat".

Modern science believes that soft-shelled turtle is rich in vitamin A, vitamin E, collagen, various amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids and trace elements, which can improve human immune function, promote metabolism, enhance human disease resistance, and have the functions of caring skin and delaying aging. The nail, head, meat, gallbladder, fat and nail glue of soft-shelled turtle have medicinal value, and their main functions are: nourishing yin to control hepatitis and abnormal hyperactivity; Nourish, improve plasma protein content, promote hematopoietic function and enhance physical strength; Clear away heat, reduce abnormal temperature rise, and dissipate substances in the body. Crucian carp in Hongze Lake contains an important anti-aging substance. Regular consumption can reduce blood cholesterol and is beneficial to patients with hypertension and coronary heart disease. Proper consumption of soft-shelled turtle is beneficial to the recovery of maternal body and improve the quality of breast milk. Trionyx sinensis in Hongze Lake has certain anti-cancer effect and immune function.

Fishermen in Hongze Lake area have also created a unique cooking method for soft-shelled turtles. The soup is delicious, the meat is tender and nutritious. There are mainly braised turtles, stewed turtles, fried turtles, stewed turtles with mushrooms, "farewell chicken" and so on. Among them, the method of "seeing off chickens" is relatively simple in Hongze Lake area, using hens, turtles, clear soup chicken soup, ginger, onion, star anise and cinnamon.