Qinhuai (Nanjin) local delicaciesare time-honored specialties in Nanjing. It is said that the delicacies appeared during the period of the Six Dynastiesandthey have been inherited and developed by generations.

Celebrities and elites of all dynasties visited this area to have a taste. Now the cooking techniques of Qinhuai local delicacies have been selected into the List of the Representatives of Nanjing’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“Qinhuai Local Delicacies”: folk song in ancient Nanjing

“Laba porridge, pea-flour cake, black rice cooked with lotus leaves and fried rice dumplings; sweet porridge with lotus roots, syruptaro, osmanthus-flavored wine and rice dumplings; sweetened bean paste, Mati Cake, tea-flavored cake with pine nuts; jellied bean curd, zongzi with ham, Yangzhou cannelloni and rice-cake; fried bean curd, zhuangyuan beans, frog-shaped cake and burger; xiaodao noodles, big wontons, Chinese twisted crullers; shijinbaozi, sanding baozi, dumplings of different flavors; fried quail, fried siskin, fried escargots; tea-flavored eggs, duck intestines soup, donkey meat, marinated dried bean curd; water chestnut, sweet potato, chufa, lotus roots, fried rice dumplings and lily-flavored green bean cake.”

Where can people eat the eight Qinhuai local delicacies?

Mandarin Garden Hotel

The Mandarin Garden Hotel is located atthe Confucius Temple Pedestrian Street, next to Shuiyoucheng Shopping Mall. It is an international five-star hotel with outstanding local characteristics. During their visit, Lian Zhan and Song Chuyu (political leaders ofTaiwan) came to this hotel just for the Qinhuai local delicacies and then “Lian Song delicacies” suddenly became popular at home and abroad.

Wanqing Lou

Wanqing Lou is a time-honored restaurant with Nanjing characteristics. The name of the restaurant bears the Qinhuai style. It provides special Nanjing delicacies of all kinds. The dishes are delicately served as set meals, one dish after another.

The Qinhuaiers’

The restaurant is located beside the Qinhuai River. When the evening lights are lit, people can enjoy the theQinhuai local delicacies while appreciating the “Qinhuai River in the lights accompanied by a boating rhythm”.

Shiwangfu Restaurant

Recommendations: Nanjing meatballs, stewed eel and salted pigeon

The restaurant is located in the Shiziqiao food pedestrian street on the Hunan Road. It is a diversified, multi-level and multi-functional enterprise, covering the business of catering, entertainment and leisure services. The European style fitment, the all-round service and the 1,000 dining seats make the restaurant a good place for business of public relation, banquets and conferences. The typical new Huaiyang cuisines are recommended here and the restaurant features the Nanjing local flavor.

Nanjing Meatballs

The meat inside the meatball is tender and soft, the kalimeris[BS1] obtain the taste of the meat and the soup is thick, making the delicacy tasty.

The Nanxiang high-quality pork, batched with the spring vegetable kalimeris or pork tendon makes this famous traditional Jinling delicacy.

Stewed Eel

The eel in this delicacy absorbs the taste of the marinade and is tender and crisp.

It is a traditional Nanjing-flavor delicacy with a history of more than 300 years. Recorded in the Suiyuan Cuisine List in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), stewed eel is one of the four famous cuisines in Jiangsu province.

Salted Pigeon

Appearing like smooth jade, the pigeon meat is reddish and tender.

being one of the classical cold dishes of Nanjing Shiwangfu Restaurant, the Salted Pigeon is an upgraded version of Nanjing’s famous traditional cuisine “Jinling Salted Duck”.