Nanjing is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and is an extremely suitable place for the growth of aquatic products. In the early years, Xuanwu Lake, Mochou Lake, Shazhouwei and other places were rich in produce and famous, and were even recorded in The Scholars.

Everyone should be familiar with Mochou Lake and Xuanwu Lake, but if Shazhouwei is not the old Nanjing, you really don’t know it!

Shazhouwei is located in Jiangdong, Xinglong, Shazhou and Shuangzha streets of Hexi Province. The area used to be low-lying and densely covered with river beaches. The ancestors of Nanjing built polders as fields here, forming multiple polder areas, collectively called Shazhouwei.

However, due to land reclamation and housing construction, today's Shazhouwei is full of high-rise buildings, and it no longer looks like it used to have flocks of egrets and rich aquatic products. Even some young people don’t know what Shazhouwei’s famous product “Eight Immortals of Water” was!

Nanjing folk call water bamboo, water bamboo, lotus root, cress, gorgon fruit, arrowhead, water chestnut and red water chestnut as the "Eight Water Immortals".

Although the eight kinds of vegetables in the "Water Eight Immortals" are on the market in different seasons, they are most concentrated in late summer and early autumn. Therefore, eating "Water Eight Immortals" during the Mid-Autumn Festival is also one of the traditional customs of Nanjing people.

1 Wild Rice

The ancients called "Wild Rice" "Wild Wild Rice". It was originally cultivated as a food crop, and people ate its seeds for food. "Zhou Li" also recorded: "Wild rice, millet, wheat, rice, and beetroot are listed as the six grains."

Later, people discovered that some wild rice plants did not ear due to infection with smut fungus, but their stems continued to expand, forming a spindle-shaped fleshy stem.

After everyone tried it, they found that it tasted crispy, refreshing, tender and smooth, so they began to eat wild rice, which should be used as food, as today's wild rice.

2 Wild water bamboo shoots

From a structural point of view, water bamboo shoots are similar to bamboo shoots, wrapped in layers; but in terms of taste, they are much fresher and more tender than bamboo shoots. Precisely because its meat is tender and easy to break, people liken it to a delicate baby and call it "Jiaoer dish".

In Nanjing, many people have tried the deliciousness of water bamboo, but many people do not know that water bamboo and water bamboo are actually inseparable.

They are actually the same vegetable, but they are divided into two seasons. In April and May of each year, it is a fresh and tender wild rice, and in August and September, it becomes a refreshing wild rice.

3 Lotus Root

The lotus root in "Eight Immortals of Water" is a floral lotus root unique to Nanjing. The cultivation history of floral lotus root in Nanjing is quite long, and it had already "taken root" in Nanjing as early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty. But do you know why floral lotus root is named "floral fragrance"?

According to the "Jiangning County Chronicle" of the Ming Dynasty: "There are two kinds of flowers, red and white. White flowers are better. When the flowers bloom, the lotus roots are very tender, which is called lotus root under the flower." In addition, the lotus root itself has a delicate fragrance. , it leaves a fragrant aroma on the teeth and cheeks when eaten, so the world calls this lotus root "flower-flavored lotus root".

Autumn is when the floral lotus root is on the market. The floral lotus root at this time is especially suitable for cooking glutinous rice, lotus root or lotus root belly and lung soup!

4 Water Celery

There is a saying in "The Book of Songs·Lu Song·Pan Shui": "Thinking of music in Pan Water, pick the celery in thin layers", which means that if a person who studies is caught When scholars go to the Confucius Temple to worship, they have to pick some cress from the Panchi next to Dacheng Gate and put it on their hats. This custom also adds a touch of nobility to the cress.

Cress is on the market from late autumn to the following spring every year. It has a fragrant smell and green color, so it is particularly popular among the public!

Cress is different from the thick-fiber parsley. It has slender stems and a smooth texture. Once you try it, you will be hooked!

5 Gorgon Fruit

Gorgon Fruit has been a famous nourishing product since ancient times. It can be regarded as the most precious one among the Eight Immortals. However, due to the high requirements of Gorgon on soil, environment, and water quality, the planting volume of Gorgon has been greatly reduced, and it is difficult to see it in the market today.