The master who came to pick up the plane is a humorous and kind Yangzhou local eldest brother. He said that Yangzhou must experience "water in the morning and water in the evening". I was stunned by this term. I asked what is the skin of the bag? He said that the bag of water was for drinking morning tea (tea was covered on the stomach) and the water jacket was for bathing.
I'm staying at Shangri-La Hotel, one of the most famous hotels in Yangzhou. I put down my luggage. It's time for lunch. I heard that the food in Shangri-La is very good, so I'm going to have a look at the cafeteria on the second floor. I was attracted at the beginning. There are all kinds of seafood, such as lobster, sashimi, oysters, fish and shellfish. I saw a lot of crayfish on the table in front of many people. I wonder how much it costs to buy so much seafood. Later, I learned that the original price was 168, and there were coupons during the epidemic, and the preferential price was 138, so many Yangzhou locals came here to eat. The first meal to Yangzhou ended in surprise.
In the evening, I still had dinner at Shangri-La Hotel. More than a dozen people ordered a lobster banquet, weighing 30 pounds and with six flavors. The price is 2988 yuan, and everyone has finally had enough. To tell the truth, crayfish in Yangzhou are really delicious and cheaper than those in Guangzhou. June is the season when crayfish are on the market in large quantities. As the saying goes, it is better to come early than to come opportunely.
After staying in Yangzhou for four or five days, I punched in to the famous local teahouse every morning and went to Shangri-La Hotel for morning tea, fun garden, Zhichun and Jinchun respectively. Each family has its own characteristics, and the common feature is exquisiteness. For example, a piece of tofu is cut into thousands of shredded tofu, which melts in the mouth. It's called Sven Tofu Soup, and it's on the tip of China's tongue. Another example is that a cucumber is cut into pieces and each piece is as thin as a work of art.
There is also a kind of "bag water" in morning tea, which is actually a crab yellow bag. Because there is a lot of soup in the bag skin, it is also called "bag water". After authentic Yangzhou locals drink crab roe buns, the dishes are still clean, while foreigners usually make the dishes full of soup, because there is a trick to eat "wrapped water": gently move, slowly lift, open the skylight and drink soup first.
Yangzhou morning tea is very rich in varieties. In addition to Vince's bean curd soup and crab roe steamed stuffed bun, local people often order boiled dried silk, scalded dried silk, fine sand steamed stuffed bun, five-diced steamed stuffed bun, crystal meat dish, Gaoyou double egg yolk, pigeon eggs and so on. Different from Guangzhou Teahouse, many famous teahouses in Yangzhou have very good environment. In the garden courtyard, you can enjoy the flowers, birds, insects and fish outside the window and have morning tea.
Such as fun garden, formerly known as Yanshangfu, pavilions, small bridges and flowing water, lush green trees, connected with the landscape of Slender West Lake. The environment is extremely elegant. It is said that Qianlong visited Jiangnan six times and visited Qiqu Garden four times. The "fun garden" was also given by Qianlong.
Another example is Ye Chun, where not only the environment is good, but also opera lovers are singing foreign dramas and drinking tea while listening to music, as if traveling back to the Republic of China.
How about lunch and dinner in Yangzhou besides morning tea? During our five days in Yangzhou, we went to several famous local restaurants: Lion Building, Yangzhou Banquet, Ye Chun Red Mansion Banquet, Lu Jiu Branch, Slender West Lake and so on. First of all, we were shocked by the exquisite knife method, exquisite setting and super-first-class standard. Just looking at the appearance makes people look forward to it. No wonder Huaiyang cuisine can become a state banquet. Of course, it tastes good, too, which is very in line with my Cantonese taste. In a word, it is fresh.
What are the characteristics of these restaurants? Lion Building eats lion's head; The environment and service of Yangzhou banquet are first-class. The waiters are all beautiful Korean girls, gentle and delicate, and speak Chinese very well. During the dinner, they also sang Korean songs, and several men present were particularly active and excited.
What impressed me the most was the banquet in Ye Chun Red Chamber. It is said that every dish is named according to the recipe of the Red Chamber, such as: snow celery bud, old mussel with pearls, pigeon eggs from grandma's house, golden hairpin and silver silk, Daguan Yipin, Taijun Crisp, Ruyi Juan and so on. During the dinner, several young ladies sang A Dream of Red Mansions, which made us feel as if we were in the Grand View Garden of the Red Chamber, pushing a cup for a change.
I remember when I first arrived in Yangzhou, I still had some doubts about the title of "Food Capital of the World", but when I left Yangzhou, I recognized the title from my heart. Yangzhou deserves to be called the gourmet capital of the world. The food here is not only delicious, but also beautiful and cultured. Some people say that even if it's just for eating, it's worth a trip to Yangzhou.