The Taste of China

Xiao Kuan

Xiao Kuan is a writer for cuisine， senior media expert， and food consultant for A Bite of

China and Once Upon a Bite. Since 2003， he has been working for Beijing News as a reporter for cuisine. Later， he served as chief editor of Sohu Food Channel. Now he works as director of WeChat Official Account “l(fā)aiyidakou” which presents delicious food.

You will discover that it is not only a book of essays about food， which sketches the contours of Chinese cuisine， but also a record that describes sensibilities and warmth among human beings. Based on his personal experiences， the food writer Xiao Kuan explored 84 different cuisines in 12 different cities to reach a wider variety of cuisine. Five chapters are explored in the first series， which are “Four Seasons”， “Five Flavours”， “Delicacies”， “Snacks” and “Tea”. Food and scenery from different places are mentioned， such as spring bamboo shoots， bacon， stinky Mandarin fish， fried collybia albuminosa， young hairy crabs and Jinhua ham， noodles with bean paste， salted goose， crayfish， West Lake Longjing Tea， Green Spiral Tea and Da Hong Pao Tea. By reading his avid descriptions， we can vividly visit these cities and explore these cuisines. In the second series， the author leads us across 12 cities by narrating the origins and stories behind the food， condensing the charm of the vast land and hometown onto pages.

The Taste of China

Xiao Kuan

China CITIC Press

January 2021

59.00 （CNY）

If you walk along the banks by the Bazi Bridge， you will experience an authentic Shaoxing. There are lots of water ways in Shaoxing， so most dwellings are built along the river. A Shaoxing local Lao Zhou used to live on the Cangqiao Street in his childhood. “When I was young， people sold things by taking black-awning boats to peddle along the river. Dwellers conveniently bought vegetables through the back door”， he said. The black-awning boats， which still exist in Shaoxing， are mostly used as a part of tourism now. Wearing black felt hats， boatmen appear to be figures who just stepped out from Lu Xun’s novel.

Along the river banks of Shaoxing， many seniors sit and chat leisurely， casually taking out a wine pot from behind to drink. In Shaoxing， wine is not only a drink， but also has long been an essential part of daily life.

Lu Xun’s former residence， the Sanweishuwu and Baicaoyuan are always visited by outsiders who travel to Shaoxing. Correspondingly， stinky tofu， yellow rice wine and beans flavored with aniseed at Xianheng Restaurant in the alley entrance are also the must-do items on the agenda. Today， the Xianheng Restaurant has turned from a small restaurant with a few tables into a large hotel. However， wooden tables and benches still lie in the dining area. Surprisingly， on the pillars， you can find a sign reading “Kong Yiji owes 19 copper coins”.

The sheer act of holding the wine glass will reveal whether the drinker is an experienced yellow rice wine drinker or not. Experienced drinkers would only use three fingers to gently pick up the small bowl. The yellow rice wine would be placed in a tin pot to be warmed. In the local dialect， side dishes going with the wine are called “Guo Jiu Pei”. They often appear as chicken gizzards and beans， dried bean curd， salted black beans and oil dried tofu. It’s most enjoyable to eat “Guo Jiu Pei” with one’s hands.

Yellow rice wine tastes warm and mild. In Shaoxing， when drinking rice wine in a rainy night， you would feel a long-lost tenderness of Jiangnan. The yellow rice wine not only spreads its fragrance throughout the city， but also shapes the city’s charm. Shaoxing’s custom is accompanied by yellow rice wine everywhere. Furthermore， pregnant women even eat eggs brewed by heated rice wine. Among all these customs， “Maiden Rose” is the most famous one. From legend， it is believed that when the daughter is born， her family buries the wine in the ground. When the daughter gets married， people dig it out and drink it as vintage wine.

Many people would like to understand Shaoxing yellow rice wine with the Maiden Rose story. Actually， it is just a rose-tinted story. Usually， Shaoxing wine is deposited in cool and ventilated places and the so-called “underground” refers to underground cellars. Vulgaris rice wine made by normal people does not age well as good yellow rice wine， which can be aged for many years. On the contrary， in any case bad wine cannot be transformed into the good version. However， the Maiden Rose story has long been told. Let’s make the best of it and just believe this beautiful legend.

On the other hand， a fact is also verified. Yellow rice wine， apart from making people tipsy， grows gradually in time intervals as the exquisite art of jogging with time. It takes time to accumulate glorious flavors little by little from the green girlhood to the age of indescribable beauty before the wine finally turns into a cup of amber wine.

To catch the busiest season of yellow rice wine making， we need to arrive at the Jianhu Lake in Shaoxing at the beginning of winter every year. Shaoxing’s largest wineries are located around there， including Gu Yuelong Mountain， Kuaiji Mountain and Tapai.

Had it not been the Jianhu Lake， there would have not been Shao-xing wine. During the Eastern Han Dynasty （25-220）， Kuaiji’s governor Ma Zhen mobilized the public to make a large lake to collect 36 springs which flowed down from the Kuaiji Mountain. Then the formed the Jianhu Lake. In Wei and Jin dynasties （220-589）， the Jianhu Lake enjoyed the title of famous scenic spot. One of the themes of landscape poetry at that time was to walk on the shady road and appreciate the scenery. Unfortunately， the population in that area only continued to increase. Consequently， most of the Jianhu Lake had been abandoned and ended up with being turned into farmland by the Song Dynasty （960?1279）. Up to now， the Jianhu Lake is no more than some ponds scattered in Shaoxing like pearls.

Descendants still researched the function and charm of the Jianhu Lake. The lake boasts the best quality in winter since the water flow is slow， enabling the water to be the clearest in the year. There are many metal minerals in the Kuaiji Mountain and large molybdenum ore and strontium ore are found. The lake water is rich in microelements. Another reason why the lake water is best in the winter is that the lake water is neither clear nor cloudy， which leads to good wine. Water that is too cloudy would cause the loss of freshness of the wine， while water that is too clear would turn the wine thin with sour taste.

Later generations have found a “l(fā)ist” sealed by clay in the wine jar， which was brewed by Zhang Hongji Distillery by the Jianhu lakeside. The list from 1928 reads： “The two wise men of Tang Shao’en and Ma Zhen in Shaoxing， Zhejiang continued the work of Dayu. They built dikes， ponds， weirs and dams to obstruct the sea water outside the sluice of the three rivers， and led Qingtian’s Jianhu Lake into lakes and rivers. Yellow rice wine made by this water was unique and fabulous， actually benefitting from the water conservancy. The liquor tax was only high in Shaoxing， more than five times higher than elsewhere. There were tax-evaded brewers who moved the wine work shop to Suzhou. They made an imitation Shaoxing wine and flooded the market with it. This form of fake wine was the same as Shaoxing wine， but drinkers often felt thirsty after drinking， because the raw water was not good. There were even profit-oriented merchants who made more profit by selling fake Shaoxing wine than by selling genuine Shaoxing wine， which made it difficult for refined scholars such as Tao Yuanming and Li Bai to buy the authentic Shaoxing wine.”