It is said that during Qianlong's seventh trip to the south of the Yangtze River, he paid a private visit incognito one day. Feeling hungry, he went to a small shop between Su and Xi to have dinner. Because the night had fallen, there were only some leftovers in the kitchen, so the store owner quickly took the initiative and shoveled off the browned bottom of the rice pot, broke it into chunks and put it on a plate. He also boiled the remaining stewed shrimps, fried shredded chicken and a bowl of chicken soup. Pour it upwards, and with the squeaking sound, the aroma of rice and chicken soup spreads. After eating it, Emperor Qianlong felt that this dish with bright red soup, golden crispy rice and delicious taste was far better than the royal banquet in the palace, so he greatly appreciated it.

In 1933, Chen Guofu, then chairman of Jiangsu Province, planned to treat guests. In order to avoid extravagance, he came up with an idea: he told guests from all over the country in advance that they must bring a famous dish from their hometown. As a result, all kinds of famous dishes from across the province, such as Suzhou's Fenfei Soup, Jiangyin's puffer fish, Wuxi's crispy eel and meat bones, Changshu's soy sauce chicken, Songjiang's four-cheeked seabass, etc., came to the "banquet" one after another. On this day, the private dish that Chen Guofu brought was also a dish invented by his family - tomato crispy rice soup. As a result, after the meal, this dish was rated as "the best dish in the world".