ask a Yancheng person this question, and nine times out of ten the answer is-of course! Because the most beautiful thing is hometown flavor, the most difficult thing to give up is homesickness.

In fact, many places have their own set of delicacies, such as Yancheng, Sichuan and Zhuxi in Hubei.

although they are all called "eight bowls", in fact, there are many different places. Let's talk about Yancheng today.

what are the eight dishes of "Yancheng Eight Bowls", just like all legends. What is rare is that it is also the first collective trademark of a series of dishes with local characteristics that is officially approved and registered in China and protected by law.

Nowadays, the living conditions are getting better and better, and the banquet is not just eight bowls, but no matter how it changes, the dishes in the eight bowls are still necessary for Yancheng people's banquets. Although they may not have all eight kinds, they always occupy some seats.

The "eight bowls" are: minced meat, meatballs, cakes, braised pork, big chicken with chicken, mussel radish vermicelli, shrimp soup and braised fish.

there is also a domineering name for the meat-skin chop suey in the first bowl-no fat, no table, also known as "the first dish in the north of the Yangtze River". It looks ordinary, but in fact, the whole dried skin is fried to golden brown, soaked in water before cooking and cut into cubes. Generally, it is made into soup with vegetables, pork pieces and quail eggs.

Among them, the title party is "Big Chicken Holding Chicken", but this dish actually uses only farm chickens, and there are many chicken eggs nestled in the original chicken soup, which symbolizes family reunion, perfection and happiness; Later, the whole chicken was replaced by shredded chicken, and the eggs were replaced by vermicelli. Change the name, that is, shredded chicken and fried vermicelli!

As a foodie, Zhou Jun couldn't resist Amway's favorite in the "Eight Bowls"-the cake-rising. The highlight is the eggs. After several eggs are evenly mixed with chopsticks, a little salt is added. Add oil to the hot pot, then pour in the beaten eggs, and add chopped green onion and ginger when the eggs are not formed; When the egg rises, use a small fire, and the shovel keeps turning the egg over. Before the egg rises to a certain thickness and the color is zoomed, the magic cake will rise.

Because I love eggs very much, I went crazy when I saw this dish. The eggs are rich in aroma and the leeks are fresh and delicious. Put more leeks, get rid of greasy, yellow and green, nutritious and delicious.

Yancheng Eight Bowls was a dish in 1961s and 1971s when there was a shortage of materials (ingredients). However, when the fish belly and tendon were in power, the skin (fat) withdrew; When sea cucumbers and fresh oysters flooded, mussels gave way; When the crab came to the table, the shrimp soup was gone; When vegetables and beef are cooked into home-cooked dishes, braised pork is not served; When steamed bass became the most important fish, there was not much braised fish. When the whole chicken can fill the sea bowl, there is no need to fill the eggs. When the cake burned by the long fish (shredded eel) fills the table, the traditional cake will no longer exist. Only meatballs, traditional meatballs (glutinous rice meatballs) are also suppressed by pure meatballs. The times are progressing and the diet is developing. If a hotel only talks about the so-called eight bowls of main products, it may have a temporary reputation, but it will not work in the long run. Innovation and development can be carried forward.

Yancheng's "Eight Bowls" was an essential dish for rural weddings and birthday tables in the 1951s and 1961s. Think about the past, look at the present, where are the eight bowls of strong nostalgia, there must be a sail flavor in the mouth, and the aftertaste is endless.

In Yancheng today, eight bowls are not eight bowls, and there are many kinds of tricks. The society is developing and the times are progressing. The life of Yancheng people is not described by eight bowls. Eight bowls are not the taste of hometown, and people in the old age can't understand it.

Although I am a native of Wuxi, I still have a deep memory of Yancheng's "Eight Bowls".

in the late 1961s, as an educated youth, I jumped the queue to Xixiang, Yancheng. Shortly after going, it happened that our landlord's son married his wife. I learned the "Eight Bowls" in Yancheng for the first time.

At that time, although the rural areas in northern Jiangsu were poor and backward, marrying a daughter-in-law was a major event in life, so the landlord did everything he could to host an "eight bowls" banquet for the villagers and several educated youths. At that time, the "eight bowls" in northern Jiangsu were absolutely comparable to the current delicacies.

After that, I also ate "eight bowls" several times in northern Jiangsu. Later, after leaving Yancheng, I haven't eaten Yancheng's "eight bowls" for more than 31 years.

Until last year, we organized dozens of educated youths to return to Yancheng, our second hometown, and once again tasted the "eight bowls" of Yancheng with the warm hospitality of the town government. Of course, the current eight bowls are already the improved eight bowls, but there are actually more than eight bowls. But the main dishes are still quite impressive to me.

Let's talk about the first course, "Wan Fat Soup"

In northern Jiangsu, everything comes to an end, so Wan Fat is definitely the first course. The main course is oily skin, quail eggs, pork pieces and vegetables. Now the improved version also adds fresh shrimps, fresh shellfish and so on. Now eat, a word "fresh"! Eating fat is mainly about tasting its broth. Yancheng cuisine actually inherits the essence of Huaiyang cuisine, and the production of broth is quite strict. The dishes are also oily but not greasy, and they melt in the mouth, and they are light and delicious.

second course: braised pork balls.

Braised pork balls, three for each person. If you eat one more, others will eat one less. Meatballs are also called lion's head. What makes Yancheng meatballs different is in the production of meatballs. Minced meat, glutinous rice, eggs, onions, ginger, salt. According to the proportion, it is made into a thick paste, made into a round ball with a diameter of five or six centimeters, and fried in an oil pan until golden brown. After picking it up, put it in a pot, add water, soy sauce, spices and a little sugar, and fire it. It also melts at the entrance, and the meat is fragrant with glutinous rice. If you have a good appetite, you can't finish eating more than a dozen at once.

the third course, the cake.

This "cake" is not a cake made by a birthday cake shop, but a cake made entirely of eggs. Then, it is cut into prismatic or square shapes, cooked with broth, and a little leek leaves can be added. This dish also highlights a fresh word.

the fourth course, stewed radish with mussels.

mussels are seafood, which are cooked with radish and vermicelli after being boiled. This dish is also fresh.

the fifth course, shredded chicken soup.

Cooked old hen, tear the chicken into strips and cook it with vermicelli. The entrance is soft and delicious.

the sixth course, shrimp soup.

Use diced meat, diced arrowhead, diced dried bean curd, etc. Now the improved version is added with fresh shrimps and seafood to make soup. It is also characterized by its delicious flavor and instant melting at the entrance.

The seventh and eighth courses are braised pork and braised fish.

it's not much different from Jiangnan cuisine. Put some local specialties into braised pork, such as arrowhead mushrooms and taro. After firing, arrowhead and taro are more delicious than meat. Braised fish must be the last dish, with the artistic conception of "more than one year after another"

I eat Jiangnan cuisine all the year round, and once in a while I eat Yancheng's "Eight Bowls", which has another taste. I also hope that Yancheng's "Eight Bowls", on the original basis, by going up one flight of stairs will take it as the main product to attract foreign tourists. Make Yancheng Tourism Industry, by going up one flight of stairs!

the real Yancheng local dishes should be like this.

Yancheng food can't be served on the table, but it tastes good! Haha

I don't like it. I guess everyone likes it. People who have a watery soup don't like it

. They can't forget the eight bowls of their childhood hometown: (roasted fat, braised pork balls, braised pork stuffed with chicken, shrimp soup, braised pork, stewed radish mussels, roasted spinach cakes, and braised fish). They are pure in taste, matched with meat and vegetables, pure in taste, nutritious and healthy.

The eight bowls in Xixiang, Yancheng are definitely like this. When I was a child, it was memorable in the era of lack of materials, and it has always been treasured in my memory!