Hubei Food
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Hubei Food is an umbrella directory for the foods and foodways of Hubei Province. Chu cuisine is one part of this wider picture: the province also has city and county specialties, breakfast and street foods, rice and noodle staples, freshwater fish, lotus-root dishes, tea, fermented drinks, alcohol, ingredients and food-making crafts. Dish names, ingredients and local versions vary by place.[1]
Chu cuisine and local food traditions
Regional food by place
Fish, pork, poultry and banquet dishes
Breakfasts, markets and snack streets
Rice, noodles, bean-skin and steamed foods
Tea, rice wine and regional alcohol
Fish, lotus root, rice, tea and produce
Heritage skills and makers
Chu cuisine and regional traditions
Chu cuisine (楚菜) is the best-known cuisine label associated with Hubei. Its food traditions span the Yangtze and Han River corridors, the Jianghan Plain, lakeside communities and the mountain counties. Steaming, simmering soups, braising, frying, rice and freshwater ingredients appear in many local foodways; they do not describe every household or restaurant in the province. Hubei's official heritage inventory records food crafts including hot dry noodles, traditional noodles, fish cake, steamed dishes, rice wine and regional pastries.[2]
Hubei Food by City
This directory groups selected local examples by prefecture-level city and directly administered area. It is a guide to regional specialties, not a ranking or a complete inventory.
- Wuhan: Hot Dry Noodles, three fresh bean-skin, mianwo, soup dumplings, fish paste soup noodles, duck-neck snacks and lotus-root soup. Wuhan's breakfast stalls and snack streets are especially associated with hot dry noodles, bean-skin, soup foods and fried dough snacks.[3]
- Huangshi: Huangshi Port Cake, sesame pastries and local fish noodles. The cake's craft and local variants are listed in provincial heritage and time-honored-brand records.[4]
- Shiyan: Wudang-area vegetarian foods, local noodles and dishes using freshwater fish and mountain produce; county specialties differ across the city.
- Yichang: cold shrimp (liangxia), radish dumplings, river fish and local tea. Yichang's food stalls also reflect the meeting of river transport, market cooking and Three Gorges ingredients.[5]
- Xiangyang: beef noodles, beef-offal noodles, yellow rice wine, red-sugar pastry, and pickled mustard greens known locally as Kongming cai. The city is also associated with hand-made noodles and breakfast noodle shops.[6]
- Ezhou: steamed Wuchang bream and other Liangzi Lake fish dishes. The Wuchang-bream name is closely connected with the lake and river food culture of the Wuhan–Ezhou area.[7]
- Jingmen: Zhongxiang Coiled Dragon (Panlong cai), cured meats and steamed dishes. Local food references also include Liangjia-style cured chicken.[1]
- Xiaogan: Xiaogan sesame candy and rice wine; local rice-wine making is included in Hubei's food heritage inventory.[8]
- Jingzhou: Pearl Meatballs, Jingzhou fish cake, early-hall noodles, lotus-root foods and river fish. Fish cake is served as both a local specialty and a banquet dish.[9]
- Huanggang: Huangzhou Dongpo pork, local rice and wheat dishes, tea, and county specialties such as Luotian chestnut. Huangzhou food traditions are part of the wider regional Chu cuisine directory.[1]
- Xianning: Chibi and lakeside fish dishes, rice foods and county-level specialties; preparation and names vary across the city.
- Suizhou: local mushrooms, river and reservoir fish, rice and wheat staples, and county dishes associated with the Shennong and Zeng cultural areas.
- Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture: Tujia oil-tea soup, hezha (a soybean-and-vegetable dish), roasted potatoes, cured pork and mountain vegetables. Enshi specialties and Tujia foods are represented in the provincial Chu cuisine food program.[1]
- Xiantao: Mianyang Three Steamed (steamed fish, meat and vegetables), eel rice noodles and Maozui braised chicken. Mianyang Three Steamed and eel rice noodles are among the local food traditions documented by Hubei's tourism and heritage sources.[10]
- Qianjiang: oil-braised crayfish and other crayfish dishes. The city is a major Hubei center for crayfish cultivation, processing and food culture; styles and seasonings vary by shop.[11]
- Tianmen: steamed fish, meat and vegetables, rice dishes and Jianghan Plain market foods. Tianmen steamed-dish craft is included in the provincial heritage list.[2]
- Shennongjia Forestry District: mountain vegetables, mushrooms, cured pork, potatoes and other foods shaped by highland agriculture and seasonal gathering.
Representative dishes
Selected dishes found across Hubei include:
- Steamed Wuchang Fish / steamed Wuchang bream (清蒸武昌鱼)
- Lotus Root Soup with Pork Ribs (排骨藕汤)
- Pearl Meatballs (珍珠圆子)
- Jingzhou fish cake (荆州鱼糕)
- Mianyang Three Steamed (沔阳三蒸)
- Huangpi Three Delicacies (黄陂三合)
- Coiled Dragon / Zhongxiang Panlong cai (钟祥蟠龙菜)
- Huangzhou Dongpo pork (黄州东坡肉)
- hot-and-sour lotus-root sprouts (酸辣藕带)
- cured pork with red cabbage moss (腊肉炒红菜薹)
- steamed eel, eel strips and river-fish dishes
Street foods and snacks
- Hot Dry Noodles (热干面)
- Three fresh bean-skin (三鲜豆皮)
- Wuhan mianwo (面窝), soup dumplings and fried buns
- Wuhan fish paste soup noodles (糊汤粉)
- Spicy duck neck (鸭脖), including Spicy Duck Neck
- Xiangyang beef noodles and beef-offal noodles
- Huangshi Port Cake (黄石港饼)
- Xiaogan sesame candy (孝感麻糖)
- Enshi roasted potatoes and Tujia oil-tea soup
- Yichang cold shrimp (宜昌凉虾), radish dumplings and market snacks
- Jingzhou early-hall noodles and fish-cake slices
Officially promoted Chu cuisine food streets include Wuhan's Jiqing Street and Hubu Lane, Enshi Tujia Daughter City, Xiantao's Mian Street, Jingzhou food streets, Yichang's Taozhu Road, Tianmen steamed-food street and Qianjiang's crayfish food area.[12]
Rice, noodles and steamed foods
Hubei's staples include rice, noodles, rice noodles, bean-skin and steamed foods. Examples include Wuhan hot dry noodles; Xiangyang beef noodles; Wuhan soy-bean-sheet dishes (doupi); Hubei river-fish noodles; Huangshi and Luotian handmade oil noodles; Xiantao eel rice noodles; Mianyang Three Steamed; and Tianmen steamed dishes. The province's heritage list groups several regional noodle crafts together, including Cai Lin Ji hot dry noodles, Shihua kuai noodles, Yingshan kuai noodles, Zaoyang sour-starch noodles, fish noodles and handmade oil noodles.[2]
Tea, drinks and alcohol
- Tea: Enshi Yulu, Yichang Yihong black tea, Xiangyang high-aroma tea, and other mountain and county teas.
- Non-alcoholic drinks: rice-ferment drinks, lotus-root drinks, cold shrimp dessert drink and seasonal herbal or grain drinks.
- Rice wine and yellow rice wine: Xiaogan rice wine, Fangxian yellow rice wine, Macheng Dongshan old rice wine and Zaoyang yellow rice wine have distinct local production traditions.[2]
- Other alcohol: regional baijiu and local brewing products. Names and production areas should be checked at the county or producer level.
Ingredients and seasonings
- Freshwater fish from rivers, lakes and reservoirs, including Wuchang bream and eel
- Lotus root and lotus seeds from the Jianghan Plain and Honghu area
- Rice, wheat and rice noodles
- Qianjiang crayfish
- Sesame, soybeans, leafy vegetables and pickled mustard greens
- Enshi potatoes, tea, mushrooms and mountain vegetables
- Fermented rice products, sesame paste, chili, ginger, garlic and local braising seasonings
Food crafts and producers
Food-making traditions documented in Hubei's provincial heritage list include Cai Lin Ji hot dry noodles; regional handmade noodles and fish noodles; Jingzhou fish cake; Hubei steamed dishes, including Mianyang Three Steamed and Tianmen steamed-food craft; Xiaogan and Fangxian rice-wine making; and traditional pastry crafts such as Huangshi Port Cake.[2] Hubei's Chu cuisine program also promotes named dishes, food makers and local dining streets as regional food brands.[1]
Food retail and restaurant names associated with Hubei include Cai Lin Ji, Four Seasons Beautiful soup dumplings, Old Tongcheng bean-skin, Xiaogan sesame candy and rice wine makers, and Qianjiang crayfish producers. These are examples of establishments and product categories, not an exhaustive or permanent brand ranking.[3][8][11]
See also
- Hot Dry Noodles
- Doupi
- Spicy Duck Neck
- Steamed Wuchang Fish
- Lotus Root Soup with Pork Ribs
- Pearl Meatballs
- Coiled Dragon
- Mianyang Three Steamed
- Anhui Food
- Henan Food
- Hunan Food
- Jiangxi Food
- Chongqing Food
- Chinese Food Map
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce, Chu Cuisine brand selection results.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Hubei Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Wuhan's representative foods.
- ↑ Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Huangshi Port Cake.
- ↑ Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Hubei intangible-heritage food fair.
- ↑ Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Xiangyang food and local specialties.
- ↑ Ezhou Municipal Government, Wuchang bream foods and products.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Xiaogan sesame candy and rice wine.
- ↑ Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Jingzhou fish cake.
- ↑ Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Mianyang Three Steamed; Xiantao eel rice noodles.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hubei Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Qianjiang crayfish and its food culture.
- ↑ Hubei Provincial Department of Commerce, Chu Cuisine brand selection and food streets.