The eight traditional snacks of the Fire Palace are stinky tofu, braised pig's feet, shredded pork dumplings, triangular tofu, dragon fat pig's blood, sister dumplings, hollandaise noodles, and eight-treasure fruit rice.

1. Stinky tofu has been established in Changsha for nearly 200 years since the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty.

The stinky tofu brine recipe and strict technological process are still inherited from Jiang's ancestors. They have been passed down from generation to generation and have always maintained the original flavor of Huogong stinky tofu.

This craft inheritance makes stinky tofu full of texture and attractive. It is known as black as ink, fragrant as mellow, tender as crispy, and soft as velvet. Therefore, it is sought after by late-night diners. It is a must-have on almost every table.

Palace stinky tofu.

2. Sister group.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there was a coppersmith named Jiang Liren on Tongpu Street near the Fire Palace.

Every summer solstice in the lunar calendar, Jiang Liren uses glutinous rice flour to make summer solstice dumplings (glutinous rice dumplings) with two flavors of sugar and meat. They are more delicious than ordinary summer solstice dumplings and are highly praised by neighbors.

Jiang has two daughters, elder sister Jiang Xiumei and younger sister Jiang Xiuying. When they grew up, they opened a dumpling shop in the Fire Palace.

The two of them grind high-quality glutinous rice into wet powder, then wrap it in fillings consisting of fresh meat, mushrooms, sesame seeds, and sugar to make glutinous rice dumplings that are one salty and one sweet.

The two sisters are not only beautiful and intelligent, but also ingenious. Making dumplings is like juggling, dazzling people, attracting many people to watch and taste, and business is booming.

As time went by, people inadvertently called the glutinous rice dumplings made by the two sisters "sister dumplings". It has been passed down to this day and has become a famous Xiang-style snack, and is very popular among diners at the night market in the Fire Palace.

3. Longzhi pig blood During the Tongzhi period, there were several stalls selling pig blood in the Fire Palace, but only the Hu family’s sesame oil pig blood stall had the best business.

Generation after generation, the Hu family sells sesame oil pig blood in the Fire Palace. There are six processes, including collecting the plasma, boiling the blood, and adding it to the bowl for seasoning. Each process has its own strict operating procedures.

When the pig blood is put into a bowl for seasoning, add sesame oil and chopped green onion and serve.

Its characteristics are fresh and refreshing, as tender as dragon fat and phoenix liver.

4. Red braised pig's feet. In the late Qing Dynasty, there was a stall owner named Shen selling braised pig's feet next to the gate of the Fire Palace. The business was good.

In the 1930s, descendants of the Shen family married a beautiful and capable daughter-in-law and inherited her husband's family business, making braised pig's feet ruddy in color, glutinous and delicious.

Because her daughter-in-law's surname was Deng and she was the sixth in the family, people called her "Deng Sixth Modern".

In 1941, Deng opened a small shop called "Deng Chunxiang" in Huogongping, specializing in braised pig's feet.

Since then, Deng Chunxiang's braised pig's feet has become extremely popular in Changsha City, and the store is packed with customers every day.

After the public-private partnership in 1956, Master Deng took several apprentices to pass down this skill and maintain it to this day.

5. Shredded pork dumplings are snacks that have been around for more than 2,000 years.

The rumors that were popular in Changsha were created by the working people in their labor.

Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a farmer went out to work and forgot to bring his lunch. When he was about to go back to make lunch, he suddenly remembered that he still had some fried noodles in his arms that he had not finished eating yesterday, so he took the fried noodles away.

Come out and eat it by soaking it in mountain spring water.

I didn't expect that eating it like this would be so delicious and fragrant.

So the farmer was deeply inspired. The next day, he made the fried noodles into a curved shape and wrapped it around his arm. This was the origin of the folk legend.