In Zhejiang Province, there is a very magical place:

It has the only 5A-level scenic spot in Zhejiang Province that is included in the World Natural Heritage List; it has an 1800-year-old ancient city. It is a battleground for ancient military strategists and is known as the "Confucian Temple"; its Lanke Mountain is the origin of the "Lanke Chess Game", and it is a "national historical and cultural city" with dozens of titles, but it is As if invisible, it has disappeared from the eyes of Zhejiang people for a long time...

It is Quzhou, a place with a low reputation because its name is difficult to write. The magic of Quzhou, in addition to its "invisibility", lies more in its food. As the entire Zhejiang Province prefers light food, Quzhou people are not dissatisfied with spicy food. If you ask them how spicy they can eat, let’s just talk about breakfast. Quzhou people eat breakfast with porridge, and they are full of red peppers!

Quzhou cuisine pays attention to freshness, tenderness and smoothness, aiming to maintain the original taste. There are many methods such as steaming, roasting, stewing, soaking, stir-frying, and pulping. Generally speaking, Quzhou’s cuisine combines the fresh flavor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine with the spiciness preferred by the locals. Therefore, if you like spicy food, you are right to go to Quzhou. You can have spicy food from breakfast to late night snacks; if you like it light, don’t panic, the various fresh and smooth dishes can also satisfy your appetite.

In order to find authentic Quzhou cuisine, our "Grandma's Recipes" column team spent 46 days, from the streets to the ancient villages in the mountains and forests, and found 5 delicacies that can represent the food culture of Quzhou to a certain extent

Quzhou people love pancakes. As an authentic southern city, this preference can be said to be very rare. When outsiders come to Quzhou, the first food they notice is probably the famous Quzhou pancakes.

The round pancakes are the size of a baby's fist. The inside is filled with fragrant chopped green onion meat, and the outside is sprinkled with densely packed white sesame seeds. They are baked in a red-hot oven until they are crispy and golden, and the aroma is , simply amazing.

In addition to this iconic scone, Quzhou also hides several other delicious pancake delicacies. Their main ingredients include flour, rice flour and glutinous rice flour, and they can also be fried, fried or steamed. Three kinds of simple cakes are made into "flowers" by Quzhou people. Have you seen these cakes?

Pancakes are one of the representative delicacies of Changshan County, Quzhou City.

Using 30% fat and 70% lean pork belly as the filling, green onions and fiery dry red peppers, Quzhou people dare to challenge spicy provinces such as Hunan and Sichuan when it comes to eating spicy food. .

The dough is rolled out repeatedly, hoping to make it thin enough to be transparent. Finally, bake it in the pan for two or three minutes. When the skin is brown, turn it over. The golden color on both sides is the most conspicuous sign of the pancake's maturity. The oily pancake goes all the way from the kitchen to the dining table, and the aroma seems to have grown wings and fills the entire room. .

Taro stem cake is a kind of "earth cake" from Jiangshan County, Quzhou City. It is different from pancakes in that the main ingredient is glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour gives the taro stem cake a softer and denser texture. Taro stems are similar to dried bamboo shoots, and the more you chew them, the more fragrant they become.

The main ingredient of taro stem cake is taro stems and leaves. Every summer, old people will select fat and tender stems and leaves, pick off the leaves, blanch them, and then use the hot summer sun to dry them for later use.

Add freshly boiled lard to dried taro stems, then add enough glutinous rice flour and knead into a dough. Finally, fry it in oil until both sides are golden, crispy and delicious.

Pei Gao is probably the most popular type of cake eaten by Quzhou people. Unlike the first two cakes, it is steamed. There is a custom of eating Pei Gao on July 15th in Quzhou. Now that the material living standards have improved, local people will also make some Pei Gao for breakfast.

The highlight of Quzhou Pei Gao lies in the ingredients added to the pastry. The taste may be different in every household.

According to personal taste, sprinkle with shrimp, pork, shredded tofu, dried bamboo shoots, red pepper, mustard and other fillings. If it is a sweet cake, just add sugar water to the rice milk.

The steamed cake is somewhat like foreign pizza, but it has a unique Chinese flavor. It can also be seen on the local breakfast table. This Quzhou specialty, seemingly simple pastry, is not simple at all to make.

In addition to all kinds of pancakes, Quzhou people also have a special liking for taro. After the taro is steamed, other ingredients are added to make a fresh and smooth delicacy. This kind of delicacy is also a rare non-spicy dish in Quzhou cuisine.

Changshan meatballs are the undisputed king of street snacks in Quzhou. Meatballs are available for breakfast, lunch, and supper. In Quzhou, meatballs can be made in various ways, including steaming, stir-frying, and soup. The making of meatballs in soup is more convenient. You don’t need to roll them into balls. You can just cut them out with a spoon and put them into the pot to cook. You will be drooling after a while!

The freshly cooked meatballs are soft and glutinous, and when you take a bite, the elastic meatballs perfectly blend the flavors of various ingredients.

Taro balls, this kind of food may have been heard or eaten by many people, but Quzhou taro balls are a little different from everyone’s impression. It is an indispensable dish at Quzhou rural weddings.

Peel the cooked taro, mix with potato starch and stir evenly, then roll into balls of suitable size and cook in the pot. Simple and delicious, it is also one of the home-cooked dishes that Quzhou people cook every day.

There are many more representative delicacies in Quzhou. We just use these common delicacies to get a glimpse of the daily food stories of Quzhou people. Are there any recipes you’re interested in? More detailed recipes are in the "Grandma's Recipes" column. Travel all over the country and taste the delicacies of the motherland. Come and join us.