The Xikou Scenic Area in Ningbo is a very famous scenic spot, with Wuling to the east, Shanxi to the south, and Xuedou Mountain to the north. The water surrounds the mountains and the scenery is beautiful. In addition to its beautiful scenery, this place also has many specialty foods. Near the Xikou Scenic Area, it can be said that you must try them all! Almost all of them are local specialty foods or specialties from Ningbo or Xikou! Hurry up and take a look together!
Fenghua taro head
Fenghua taro head is a traditional and high-quality pollution-free agricultural product in Ningbo City. The taro is nearly spherical in shape, with a brown yellow exterior and a pink top. It weighs more than 1 kilogram per piece, and can reach up to 2.5 kilograms for larger ones. Its quality characteristics are mainly manifested as a large and thin skin, gluten free meat powder, and smooth and delicious texture. There are various ways to eat taro heads, each with its own flavor. They can be steamed, roasted, stir fried, sliced, poured in soup, or boiled and frozen. If dried and steamed, it has a fragrant aroma and a powder like chestnut; If you boil soup and stew, it is as slippery as tremella, and as sticky as rice dumpling. In 1996, Fenghua was jointly named as the "Hometown of Chinese Taro Head" by the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Chinese Agricultural Society, and the China Specialty News.
"After passing through three passes and six docks, I have tasted Fenghua taro." This folk proverb in the Shanghai Hangzhou Ningbo area is mainly used to metaphorically describe people's extensive experiences. The old "treasure of food" taro has become the most famous specialty of Fenghua today.
Xikou Thousand Layer Cake
Xikou Thousand Layer Cake is one of the traditional Han ethnic famous spots in Xikou Town, Fenghua, Ningbo, Zhejiang. The real name of the "Number One Cake in the World" is "Thousand Layer Cake". It was originally a locally produced small cake, but later became famous worldwide due to Chiang Kai shek's influence. The main raw materials include flour, taro flour, white sugar, refined salt, vegetable oil, sesame seeds, moss, etc. The method is to first mix taro flour and flour together, add seaweed, roll them into thin slices, then fold them and bake them over charcoal fire to make them crispy and sweet in the mouth. Xikou Thousand Layer Cake is one of the three major specialties of Fenghua, with a history of over a hundred years. Its founder, Wang Maolong, started making it in the fourth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1878) and has been making it ever since.
Grey Juice Dumplings
Grey Juice Dumplings are a specialty snack of Xikou. They are small translucent gray balls with a hint of alkali and mint flavor when eaten. The specific method of the authentic gray juice ball in Xikou rural area is: take the straw cut from the field and burn it into black ash, then add the black ash to warm water and soak it overnight, drain the black ash the next day, leaving only the "gray juice", then add some sugar and alkali to the "gray juice", add glutinous rice flour, knead it into balls, steam it in a steamer, and eat it after steaming.
rice dumpling in Ningbo
is one of the famous snacks in Ningbo and one of the representative snacks in China, with a very long history. It is said that rice dumpling originated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, people all over the country began to eat a new kind of food, that is, using various kinds of fruit baits to make stuffing, using glutinous rice flour to make balls outside, and cooking it, it tasted delicious and interesting. This glutinous rice ball was first called "Fuyuanzi" because it floated and sank in the pot. Later, in some regions, "Fuyuanzi" was renamed Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival).
Ningbo rice dumpling, also known as Ningbo lard dumpling, is mainly made of glutinous rice, black sesame, lard, white sugar, osmanthus, etc. The method is to first use the hanging paste technique to make glutinous rice into non dry and non sticky water milled flour; Grind the black sesame seeds into small pieces and mix them with diced pork fat, white sugar, etc. to make the filling; Grind the dough into water powder, wrap it in the filling and knead it into a round shape. Boil it in boiling water and sprinkle a small amount of white sugar, osmanthus flowers, and red green silk to make it. Ningbo rice dumpling is white and shiny. It is glutinous but not sticky. Its skin is smooth and its stuffing is moist, and its taste is sweet. Since the 1990s, new varieties such as "Ma Rong Tang Tuan" and "Quick frozen Tang Tuan" have been created and exported to Japan, Hong Kong, and Macao, and are highly popular. To this day, Xikou people still have the traditional custom of sitting together and having rice dumpling together in the morning of the Spring Festival, while Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival), Qingming, Winter Solstice and other festivals require the whole family to eat rice dumpling, which means reunion and beauty.
Qingtuan
Qingming Festival food in Xikou is also one of the favorite Dim sum of Xikou people.
Qingtuan is a kind of green cake dough made of straw juice. The method is: first prepare glutinous rice flour, sticky Rice noodles, bean paste filling, wormwood and other materials. Wash the mugwort and blanch it with water. When blanching, you can add a little lime water to remove the bitter taste. If not, you can wash it several times. Then add some water and use a household blender to crush it to get wormwood juice. Mix the glutinous rice flour and sticky Rice noodles in the amount of 3:1, add wormwood juice and make the dough, then add the stuffing to wrap it into fist sized balls. The last process is steaming on the heat. After steaming, let the green balls cool and they can be eaten. Six degree cake is one of the Dim sum that Xikou people often eat, and it is also a commonly used offering when people offer gifts. According to legend, the Six Degrees Pancake is a premium offering brought to the human world by the Cloth Bag Monk Qi, who is the incarnation of Maitreya Bodhisattva. Maitreya Bodhisattva gave birth under the Longhua tree and spread his teachings to the people. He used the six fruits of the human world to enlighten the gates of the six degrees of the Dharma, and fed the hunger of the Dharma body with the food of color. Since then, the six degree bread has become a great gift and offering for virtuous men and women throughout history. In recent years, Liu Du Bing has been improved by modern technology, made purely by hand, with a unique taste, and has become a gift for many believers. When it comes to the Xikou Scenic Area in Ningbo, this place is