Liuhe ancient town, a typical Chinese southern water town in Taicang, is named after the town's main river Liuhe. [Photo/WeChat account: taicangdaily]
Liuhe ancient town, a typical Chinese southern water town in Taicang, is named after the town's main river, Liuhe.
Its generations of residents live on rice and fish. The freshwater fishes have not only integrated into the local culture, but also create a unique local view.
Walking along the Liuhe river, an antique restaurant, called Old Liuhe Delicacies Restaurant, will come into your sight.
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Xu Honglin, owner of Old Liuhe Delicacies Restaurant, checks the pork legs for the dish of stir-fried ham bones with dried meat floss. [Photo/WeChat account: taicangdaily] |
Numerous tourists and foodies are attracted to the store daily to visit and exchange their experience in cooking and enjoying delicacies with other counterparts, especially the store's owner, Xu Honglin.
Xu has undertaken the career as a professional chef for more than 20 years and now is a local hotel's executive chef.
He once won a gold award in a national food competition and was named one of the Outstanding Chinese Chefs, Renowned Jiangsu Chefs, and Excellent Cooking Teachers.
Xu prefers the cuisine culture to dishes. In these years, he has spent a lot of time in exploring the ways of cooking traditional Taicang dishes and their cultural stories.
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Numerous local residents and tourists are attracted to the restaurant every day to visit and exchange their experience in cooking and enjoying delicacies. [Photo/WeChat account: taicangdaily] |
A few years ago, he thought, why shouldn't he open a local delicacies restaurant. So he can show the special delicacies of Taicang and Liuhe town to local residents and tourists, which not only publicizes these dishes, but also ensures its inheritance.
"Liuhe town boasts colorful cuisin culture and lots of unique delicacies, such as roast fish eggs, stewed duck over a slow fire, and stir-fried ham bones with dried meat floss," Xu said.
In order to learn how to cook the most authentic traditonal local dishes, Xu used to come to the countryside to seek advice from the elderly and take the idea back to his restaurant.
"To know a city you have to start from its local delicacies," the chef said. "As a cook, I have the responsibility to explore and publicize our local food."
