A dish, a story: Soup and Stew Chapter

Author: Yiwen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The "Soup and Stew" section of this volume includes a wide variety of ingredients, ranging from expensive ones like abalone, shark fin, sea cucumber, snake, softshell turtle, and hair vegetable, to common ones like chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and even ordinary ones like soybeans, radishes, and spinach. It covers everything; the flavors are diverse, including light, rich, savory, umami, aromatic, and spicy, each with a unique taste; the effects vary, some are appetizing, some are meal accompaniments, some are rice pairings, and many soups and stews are known for beauty, health, weight loss, invigorating circulation, or sobering effects. Some dishes are household names, such as Emerald White Jade Soup, Knotted Soup, Rock Sugar Lotus Heart Soup, West Lake Beef Soup, Borscht, Eight-Treasure Tofu Soup, and Three-Fresh Soup, while others are less well-known or even unheard of, such as Immortal Soup, Historian Snake Soup, Xi Shi Playing with the Moon Soup, Fuli Duck Soup, Jade Congee Soup, Mackerel Lung Soup, and Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea to Disturb Luohan. There are over sixty dishes, each accompanied by a story that is either hilarious, uplifting, enlightening, thought-provoking, or inspiring. While stirring the cup and tasting the delicious food, sharing stories, legends, and anecdotes, one can both enjoy the elegance and gain knowledge. It allows one to savor the essence of the food while also experiencing the endless aftertaste of the stories. Using jokes to order dishes and stories to go with drinks, the taste is even more delightful, and the joy is even more harmonious! Nowadays, we talk about eating all over the world—eating roast duck in Beijing, Puxi crab in Shanghai, West Lake Vinegar Fish in Hangzhou, and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall in Fujian. But who can say how many untold moving stories lie behind these dishes? Before tasting a new dish, if a vivid cultural context about it strikes your ears, will your appetite grow stronger, your enthusiasm rise higher, and your spiritual enjoyment become more pleasant? This book organically combines recipes with lively stories, allowing readers to order dishes in restaurants like connoisseurs and host guests at home like skilled chefs.