Nanjing Food

Eight Famous Snacks of the Qinhuai River

As early as during the six dynasties, there were many pavilions and restaurants along the Qinhuai River and the Qingxi River; and in the Ming and Qing dynasties, they became even more flourishing. Now in the Confucius Temple area, there are restaurants, tea houses, pubs, and snack shops everywhere. Just in the central area of the Confucius Temple, more than 200 snacks are served.

There are eight snack restaurants at the Confucius Temple famous for their unique flavors which are called “unique of Qinhuai".

1st uniqueness: eggs boiled with five spices and tea leaves, spiced beans and Yuhua tea at Kuiguangge;

2nd uniqueness: sliced bean curd cooked with dry shrimp, and crab-shell-yellow baked cakes at Yongheyuan;

3rd uniqueness: bean curd slices with sesame oil, and baked duck-oil cakes at Qifangge;

4th uniqueness: jellied bean curd, and onion-and-oil cake at Lufengju;

5th uniqueness: steamed bun stuffed with assorted vegetables, and noodles with sliced chicken meat at Qifangge;

6th uniqueness: beef soup and baked dumpling stuffed with beef' at the Jiang family restaurant;

7th uniqueness: thin-wrapper dumplings, and noodles with fried fish in red soup at Zhanyuan wheaten food restaurant;

8th uniqueness: small stuffed rice balls with acanthus flowers and five-color rice balls and cakes at Lianhu sweet food restaurant.

The eight famous snacks are sixteen different wet and dry dishes. Deciding from the many variations of which goes with which is not as important and not nearly as exciting  as digging into the small steaming bowls of warming soups or munching away on a few fried morsels. A full set of dishes can be found in nearly every sit-down establishment in and around the Qinhuai River area and is similar in feeling to dim sum as small dishes of no more than a few bites encircle you. 

Photo from Internet