1. Staple Food Hangzhou is the “Land of Fish and Rice”.

The custom of eating rice by primitive ancestors has a long history.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou's population increased sharply and rice consumption increased.

At that time, a rice market had formed outside Beiguan Gate, with rice shops and rice shops everywhere.

"Mengliang Lu" records: Every day in the market, rice is eaten, and there are no more than one or two thousand stones inside and outside the city, which are all needed for shops.

Generally, thrifty people are accustomed to eating early indica rice, commonly known as "pointed rice". Although the cooked rice is rough and hard, it can withstand hunger and is cheap.

Wealthy households mainly eat late japonica rice, commonly known as "late rice". The rice is fragrant and soft.

During festivals, glutinous rice and noodles are also eaten.

Urban residents generally have three meals a day (two dry and one light), while suburban farmers have five meals a day during busy farming seasons.

Cook the dry rice, wash the rice three times, add water and cook it, and it is customary to spread it with rice noodles (cold rice), which not only saves food but also makes the rice soft. Boil it until the water is dry, and then simmer it.

Restaurants and canteens use bamboo steamers to steam rice.

In the steaming method, first soak the rice in water for three or four hours, add water and boil until the rice melts, then put it in a steamer and steam it until the rice grains are soft and seedless, then it is edible, soft and fragrant.

It is sold in restaurants, and each bowl is piled like a spire. It is commonly known as "menban rice" and "half bowl of camel rice".

Another steaming method is to wash the rice clean, put it in a bowl or bowl, add water and steam it until it is cooked, so that it can be easily divided.

There are two ways to make porridge: one is to add water to the overnight rice and bring it to a boil. Hangzhou people call it "pao rice". People in Hangzhou are accustomed to eating pao rice for summer breakfast.

The nursery rhyme goes like this: "The cold rice is soaked in catechu, and the moldy dried vegetables are soaked in." This means that the rice is soaked in moldy dried vegetables.

The second is to cook porridge with rice, or add mung beans, peas, and red dates to make porridge, which can be eaten as a summer snack.

2. Parboiled rice: There is a custom of eating parboiled rice in Hangzhou.

Parboiled rice is made by steaming the rice in a steamer, then drying it, and eating it after being hulled and pounded, so it is also called "cooked rice".

The rice has good swelling properties, is easy to preserve, and is easy to digest after eating, so it is especially suitable for the elderly.

The legend of parboiled rice originated from the conflict between Wu and Yue. The state of Wu asked the state of Yue to present high-quality rice seeds. The minister of the state of Yue, Wen Zhong, offered suggestions to steam the seeded rice before sending it to the state of Wu.

As a result, the people of Wu State planted seeds, but no seedlings came out. This resulted in a great famine year and great chaos among the people. The State of Yue took the opportunity to destroy the State of Wu.

The subjects of the Yue State were overjoyed and used the remaining steamed grains to process them into rice and eat them to celebrate.

From then on, the custom of eating parboiled rice has been followed.

3. Glutinous rice: People in Hangzhou like to eat glutinous rice, especially during festivals.

During the New Year, in addition to making rice cakes, rice dumplings are also made with glutinous rice.

At a New Year's Eve family banquet or a banquet for guests, there must be eight-treasure glutinous rice made of lotus seeds, dates, melon seeds, walnuts, and fine sand, as well as sweet desserts.

Eat green glutinous rice dumplings during Qingming Festival.

During the Dragon Boat Festival in May, people also have the custom of making and eating rice dumplings.

On August 15th, people will cook pumpkin, peel it, add glutinous rice, and cook pumpkin glutinous rice to eat.

On ordinary days, cake dumpling food stores often sell glutinous rice siomai, glutinous rice dumplings, sweet rice dumplings, glutinous rice dumplings with lard and fine sand, etc.

4. New Year Cake Every New Year's Day in Hangzhou, people have the custom of eating New Year cake. This is based on the homophonic pronunciation of New Year cake, which means "higher every year" and "higher every year".

There is also a folk saying that eating rice cakes commemorates Wu Zixu.

According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, King Wu ordered Wu Zixu to build a city.

After the city was built, he said to his left and right generals: After my death, if the country of Wu is in trouble and the people are hungry, you can dig a few feet of earth under the east gate and the people will be saved.

Later, Wu Zixu was slandered and died, and the State of Yue took advantage of the situation to attack the State of Wu.

The war brought disaster to the people. People were in dire straits and hungry people were everywhere. In the crisis, everyone suddenly remembered what Wu Zixu said during his lifetime, so they demolished the bricks and excavated the city, and found that the foundation bricks were made of glutinous rice.

Everyone was happy and steamed food to satisfy their hunger, alleviating the famine.

In order to commemorate Wu Zixu's achievements in preparing for war and famine, later generations would make rice cakes every New Year to commemorate him.

During the Chinese New Year, Hangzhou people also make rice cakes into the shapes of ingots, wishful thinking, zodiac signs, etc., as gifts for offering sacrifices to the New Year Bodhisattva.

During the Spring Festival, Hangzhou's "Yixiangzhai" also specializes in supplying flavored rice cakes such as mince rice cakes and fat rice cakes as great gifts.

5. Hangzhou Cuisine School Hangzhou cuisine is an important part of "Zhejiang Cuisine" among the eight major cuisines in my country.

When the Southern Song Dynasty established its capital in Hangzhou, the food and cooking skills at that time had reached its peak.

On this basis, Hangzhou cuisine integrates the great achievements of the food development of the previous generations, taking advantage of the rich products of the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, absorbing cooking skills from the north, and integrating the cultural grace and style of the scenic spots in the West Lake. "Southern ingredients are cooked in the north" and "flavors are blended" to form

With its own unique flavor, it has become a unique "Beijing-Hangzhou cuisine" among Jiangnan cuisine and full of ancient capital style.

Authentic Hangzhou cuisine was originally divided into two different schools: "Hushang Gang" and "Chengcheng Gang" due to different cooking styles and service targets.

The "Lake" school attaches great importance to the fresh, live and tender raw materials, mainly fish, shrimp and seasonal vegetables. It pays attention to knife skills, fresh taste and highlights the original taste.

Representative famous dishes include West Lake vinegar fish, braised soft-shelled turtle, spring bamboo shoots, fried eel slices, diced broad beans, water shield soup, Mantai Tiao (drunken shrimp), etc.

The ingredients of "Cheng" pie are mainly meat and vegetables. The dishes are coarse and medium, focusing on the "combination of fresh and salty", which is economical and affordable. It features fish head tofu, salty meat, bacon spring bamboo shoots, black bean fish, and three shrimp tofu.

, steamed pork with lotus leaves and rice flour are its representative dishes.

6. West Lake Vinegar Fish West Lake Vinegar Fish, commonly known as West Lake Vinegar Fish, is one of the famous traditional dishes in Hangzhou.

The history of West Lake Vinegar Fish can be traced back to the "Songsao Fish Soup" in Hangzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty more than 800 years ago.

It is said that at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin soldiers invaded, and King Kang Zhao Gou fled south and established Lin'an as his capital.

At that time, there was a woman, known as Sister-in-law Song, who was not willing to be ruled by the invaders. She fled from the north to Lin'an with her brother-in-law and made a living by fishing by the West Lake.