I'm from Anhui, so I'm often asked by friends to provide information on Hui cuisine restaurants. Whenever I do, I can't help but grumble. I was born in Huaibei, and traditionally Anhui cuisine is a core sample of dishes from the Huizhou region, which is more than 500 kilometers from my home.

In fact, most people lack an understanding of Anhui. The Yangtze and Huai rivers cut Anhui into three parts: north of the river are the Huaibei people, who speak the Central Plains dialect; south of the Yangtze are the Huizhou and Anqing people, who speak the Wu dialect; and between the river and the Huai river, people speak the Jianghuai official language -- the language most representative of the style of food, which means that when it comes to food, Anhui people don't all eat from the same bowl.

So the restaurants I'm introducing here in Beijing are not strictly Anhui cuisine, but represent different regional specialties.

First, let's talk about the mountainous region of southern Anhui, the birthplace of "authentic Anhui cuisine". The most famous landmark in Anhui is the Huangshan Mountain, which is high and far away, and this is also the place where the Hui culture has remained most intact. In order to promote Huangshan, the scenic area opened a restaurant in Beijing called Huishang Hometown, which was decorated in the same style as the original and featured local chefs. The masterpiece is pickled fresh Mandarin fish, the famous dish of ancient Huizhou, which is often referred to as stinky Mandarin fish, fully embodies the ? "Slightly corrupt, salt heavy color" Hui cuisine gene.

Shiang cuisine now also have stinky Mandarin fish, not fermented, directly soaked in brine. Anhui cuisine is different, in the eyes of the traditional Anhui cuisine chef, direct "take stinky tofu soak", is to destroy the signature of Anhui cuisine. Siniperca chuatsi fish marinade need constant temperature and humidity, suitable for Huizhou mountain water vapor dense. The chef of Huishang Hometown has succeeded in repeated trials in the hot and dry Beijing. The marinated fresh Mandarin fish here is garlic-clove shaped, with a pinkish reddish color and an aromatic aroma.

Fermented stinky salmon.

Maotou tofu, another signature of the Huishang hometown, is not just about flavor, but the details of fermentation and shape are mastered just right. The longest mushroom hairs on the surface of the tofu here can reach nearly a centimeter. Frying it on site is not only a taste treat, but also a visual and olfactory one. By the way, many Hui cuisine restaurants in Beijing take the above two dishes as their signboards, and this one is the most traditional and classic.

Hui Shang Huli has now opened many branches in Beijing, and the Houhai one is my favorite. The best in the third floor, small private rooms, four people table, and a small section of the sun terrace, one side embracing the morning bells and drums of Beijing, and the other side of the Shichahai sit and watch the intoxication of the paper.?

"Huishang hometown" signature Mao tofu?

Then again, in the middle of Anhui, the food between the river and Huaihuai, compared to the south of the Anhui Province to be a little lighter. Hefei is the capital of Anhui, Hefei Beijing Office downstairs with the Qing House, although the name originated in Wuhu, but more to meet the Hefei business trip to Beijing taste (again, Hefei and Wuhu was not much difference). The main dish is the old hen soup from Hefei. The name of this dish first came from the Hefei accent of the paragraph, "Feidong to Feixi (si), buy an old hen (zi)", Feixi old hen soup is never alone on the scene, must be matched with Anqing fried rice. In this way, Hefei's famous dishes hooked up with the Yangtze River side of the Anqing people's New Year's Eve, the two boxes of joy.

The old chicken soup at Tongqinglou

Steamed wild white silk is another famous dish at Tongqinglou. One of the three white fish of Chaohu Lake, the simple steaming is already excellent, and before the pot is drizzled with hours of simmering chicken oil, which is what makes this dish different from other regional steamed fish in terms of seasoning. Tongqinglou also has a dim sum that I love, a small cage of fresh meat soup dumplings, which is nothing less than a Huaiyang restaurant.?

Steamed wild large white silk?

The western part of Anhui is also mountainous, and my grandmother's house is deep in the Dabie Mountains. When I was a child, I received preserved fish and meat from my grandpa every Spring Festival, and the flavor is still unforgettable. One day, outside the Drum Tower, Yunlu Xuan ate their waxed patties, asked, really from Lu'an, Dabie Mountain vegetables, quinoa, watercress, amaranth, a variety of fresh wild vegetables, let a person's heart. Dabie Mountain flavor some of the shadow of Hubei cuisine, such as pearl rounds, patties, the staple food made like dishes as tasty, should be said to be the legacy of the era of material scarcity. Unfortunately, this restaurant in Lu'an was rebranded last year as "Huizhou Town", was it changed to the southern Anhui flavor? I have not been there since.

The part of the Yangtze River that flows through Anhui is known as the Wanjiang River, and Anqing, Tongling, Wuhu and Ma'anshan, all of which are relatively wealthy dock cities in Anhui, are known for their fresh cuisine. Here's an introduction to a Beijing-based Maanshan restaurant, the Mundu Restaurant on the Wanfeng Road food street.

Salmon on iron plate at Mengdu Restaurant

Maanshan is the youngest city in Anhui, but it also has a deep cultural heritage, such as the place where the king of Western Chu committed suicide and where Li Bai drank himself to death, and the owner of the restaurant is from Hexian county, a suburb of Maanshan, where Liu Yuxi wrote his book "Inscription on the Ugly Room". The young man is particularly cerebral, and their dishes, with many compromises and tweaks based on modern tastes, can be considered representative of Beijing's new school of Anhui cuisine.

For example, the stinky Mandarin fish here goes through a process of physical desalination twice, making it more palatable to Beijingers than the classic stinky Mandarin fish. The modified Mandarin fish on an iron plate is less salty, chopped into large pieces and dry-roasted, which makes it easier to flavor, and the cooking time doesn't need to be as protracted, which, in other words, means that more nutrients are retained. Another impressive dish at Mundo Restaurant is the Knife Plate Fragrance. Cured bacon is thinly sliced and lined with balsam fir wood boards, allowing the meat to naturally absorb the wood's aroma, making for an excellent down-home dish. Most of the Anhui restaurants in Beijing specialize in Huizhou cuisine. Sporadically, there are some snacks from other parts of Anhui, such as Huainan tofu, Huaiyuan chicken, Mengcheng baklava, Wushan goose, Huiyang vegetables, and Fuli ji roasted chicken. I've eaten at Danyonghui, Wannan Shuixiang, Shangyu Hui Cuisine, Wuyi Bistro, Huifu, Huatinghu, Hanlin Banquet, Tongcheng Bistro, and so on, and none of them are like that. But there is no decent restaurant that dares to focus on Huaibei cuisine, which is related to the eating habits in northern Anhui.?

Mengcheng baked cake?

Fu Li Ji roast chicken

The Huaihe River and the north of the Huaihe River, the taste is actually partial to the Central Plains, the staple food from the rice into the pasta, dishes are also a little bit of Lu Cuisine, Henan Cuisine, Huaiyang Cuisine, four or six do not rely on the feeling of the characteristics of the south of the Anhui Province is not so obvious, and it is difficult to become a system, and therefore can only be opened in the Huainan Beef Soup and the Taihe board noodles that kind of professional small stores. Beef soup is also not something that can be elevated, it should be eaten with a wok, and is only suitable for small stores. There are about 70-80 Huainan Beef Soup restaurants in Beijing, and the level of cooking basically depends on the mood of the chef. Most importantly, there's no way to compare it to Huainan, 1,000 kilometers away, in terms of both ingredients and consumer base.

Hainan Beef Soup

So, occasionally, when I want to eat some of the childhood flavors of my hometown, I can only make my parents work hard or find a closer Xuzhou-style restaurant to quench my thirst. There are exceptions, though, and the Hong Xuan Chinese restaurant at the Crowne Plaza Zhongguancun has a hidden secret beyond its flashy menu. All you have to do is ask "Is Chef Wang Fushun on duty today?" when you make your reservation. If the answer is yes, you will be able to eat authentic Huaibei flavors, such as salt beans and eggs, fried small rooster, garlic rice eggs, as well as water buns and grits soup, hoisin soup ...... simple ingredients, mellow flavor.

"Red Hen Chinese restaurant" garlic rice eggs

As for the flavor of these dishes, space is limited, not much to say, but these flavors for me, it is indeed the taste of the world.

For those of you who like food, feel free to join me! ?