During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was an imperial tribute. For centuries, merchants traveling from as far as Sichuan and the Three Gorges to Shanghai and Hangzhou would dock their boats just to purchase it. The product is primarily made from soybeans and over 20 kinds of refined plant spices, undergoing dozens of unique processes including washing, soaking, grinding, filtering, boiling, wrapping, pressing, and marinating. Its color is beautiful…
“Eat dog meat this winter, fight tigers next spring.” Eating dog meat in winter can soothe the internal organs, warm the waist and knees, boost energy, and invigorate the blood. When you come to Machao Temple, trying their signature dog meat hotpot is the only way to truly experience it. What makes Machao Temple dog meat unique is that it uses free-range local dogs from the countryside, cooked over pine firewood, in an iron pot, using water from Jiugu Well...
Huangmei-style Stir-fried Eel Slices with Green Beans: The green beans are peeled, and the eel is deboned and sliced. The ingredients are marinated with salt, vinegar, soy sauce, cooking wine, and egg white for 5 minutes. The green beans are stir-fried with lard and wood ear mushrooms, then seasoned with ginger, scallions, white vinegar, salt, and broth, and cooked briefly before being set aside. Next, more lard is added, followed by the marinated eel slices, which are stir-fried with wet starch. Finally, the green beans and seasonings are mixed in and stir-fried until done…
Made with soybean oil skin, spiced dried tofu, fresh shepherd’s purse, peanuts, and sesame oil. The preparation method is as follows: cut the soybean oil skin into squares, roast and crush the peanuts, dice the dried tofu, blanch and chop the shepherd’s purse. Heat a wok over high heat, add oil, then stir-fry the peanuts, diced tofu, chopped shepherd’s purse, salt, scallions, and pepper...
Stir-fried Wild Duck with Pickled Vegetables from Huangmei Clean the wild duck, chop it into pieces, blanch in water, then remove and drain. Cut the pickled vegetables into sections. Heat the pan, add lard, put in the duck pieces, stir-fry with minced ginger, scallions, salt, and soy sauce. Then add broth and cooking wine to braise. Next, add the pickled vegetables, garlic, and sliced bamboo shoots, stir-fry until cooked, thicken with a cornstarch slurry, …
“Huangmei Green Shrimp” refers to the green shrimp produced in Yuanhuan Lake and its surrounding areas within Huangmei County, Hubei Province. It is a specialty of Huangmei County and a national geographical indication product. With its massive population, superior germplasm, pure lineage, bluish-transparent color, and rich diversity of trace elements, it is rare across the country and has long been highly praised by industry insiders…
It has a long history of cultivation and is sold in Jiujiang, Henan, Hebei, and the northeastern provinces. The main production areas include Mafangkou, Xin’an, Zhangtang, and Fudu in Konglong Town. Before 1949, the planting area exceeded 10,000 mu, with an annual output of over 2.5 million kilograms of garlic. Varieties include “single-clove garlic,” “first wide,” “second wide,”…
Primarily produced in the areas around Shuiyue Temple in Xiaochi Town and Mafangkou in Konglong. The Shuiyue Temple chili has a long cultivation history, dating back to the Ming Dynasty. Farmers have passed down cultivation techniques through generations, allowing the variety to maintain its superior traits over time. However, this chili is region-specific and prone to mutation when transplanted elsewhere. This unique chili is notable for its moderate spiciness and size, and it transitions from green to red as it ripens, featuring thick flesh and abundant seeds.
The unique soil and climate conditions of Huangmei’s Dushan produce sweet potatoes that are uniform in size, smooth-skinned, and brightly colored. Rich in nutrients, they contain a variety of amino acids, proteins, and sugars. Experts regard them as a cancer-preventive and health-promoting food. They are crisp and sweet when eaten raw, and tender, sweet, and fragrant when cooked. There are numerous ways to prepare them—steamed, boiled, pan-fried, deep-fried, or sautéed—and once skillfully cooked, they become a fine dish fit for any banquet. The white-skinned, red-fleshed and red-skinned, red-fleshed varieties are considered top-quality. Dushan has a long history of growing sweet potatoes.
Produced in Lülie (formerly part of Konglong), Zhanghe, Huangmei County. Made from refined broad beans, mung beans, and other ingredients. Lu Lie Fans were first produced in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. They are known for their strong toughness, straight and even threads, pure white and glossy appearance, excellent resistance to cooking, no clouding of broth, and minimal breakage. Exported to the UK and countries in Southeast Asia, they are a traditional export product of Huangmei. …
Also known as "horse hooves" or "earth chestnuts." Grown in the paddy fields and ponds of Dahé, Tíngqián, Shānmù, and Zhuógǎng in Huangmei. Together with Nanchang water chestnuts, Suzhou earth chestnuts, and Guilin water chestnuts, they are collectively referred to as the "Four Great Water Chestnuts of China." Huangmei water chestnuts are sweet, refreshing, and highly nutritious, and have long been known as the "underground pears." In ancient times, northern travelers were particularly fond of Huangmei water chestnuts...
Tortoise Mountain Goji Wine is brewed by the Macheng City Winery using the juice of premium goji berries, a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal ingredient. Through scientific fermentation methods, it is rich in various essential trace elements and 18 types of amino acids. It offers multiple health benefits, including nourishing blood and improving eyesight, moistening lungs and protecting the liver, boosting vitality, treating deficiencies and calming the nerves, beautifying the skin and maintaining a youthful appearance, as well as promoting longevity. Combining therapeutic, nutritional, and beverage qualities, it is hailed as an excellent product for "anti-aging and preserving youth." The wine was awarded the title of National Consumer Trusted Product in 1992, the Gold Award at the First China Medical and Health Care Products Expo, and the Gold Award at the Hong Kong International Food Expo. The product enjoys strong sales both domestically and internationally. (Macheng)
In Macheng City, located at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, the first dish of the ten-course "Meat Cake Feast" is the meat cake. Macheng Meat Cake is a traditional local delicacy. Fresh fish is deboned and skinned, and pork is boned and trimmed, both are then minced into a paste. Soybean flour, water, and salt are added to a basin in proportion and mixed with the meat paste, along with seasonings such as ginger and chopped scallions, to form...
Macheng Old Rice Wine is mainly produced in areas such as Muzidian and Dongxicheng in the eastern mountainous region of Macheng City, hence it is also known as Eastern Mountain Old Rice Wine. It is brewed from glutinous rice and specially made wine yeast, featuring a clear color, sweet taste, and rich texture that is gentle on the stomach. According to laboratory tests by relevant authorities, this wine contains a variety of amino acids and vitamins, offering high nutritional value, and…
Poria, also known as Fuling, Futu, Songyu, or Busimian, has the name "Fuling" originating from "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Diviners and Astrologers," which states: "The so-called Fuling grows beneath the pine roots, resembling the shape of a flying bird." The "Huainanzi" also records: "Under a thousand-year-old pine tree, there is Poria, and beneath it, dodder." Li Shizhen said: "Where there is Poria, there is a spiritual energy above...
Whenever people talk about Huangmei’s dried potato cakes, many can’t help but start salivating. These sun-dried potato cakes, when stir-fried with meat, are incredibly flavorful and aromatic. Just one bite leaves a lingering taste that stays with you for days. Dried potato cakes are a unique rural food from the mountainous areas of Huangmei. Due to the special soil and natural conditions in towns like Liulin, Tingqian, Wuzu, Shanmu, Dushan, Dahe, and Zhuogang…
During a gathering with friends, there was an item on the menu called “Floating on Water.” When someone asked what it was, the answer came: gengba. Without thinking, I blurted out, “I’ll have one.” That one serving of gengba instantly brought back sweet memories of the dish from my childhood. The scenes of cooking and eating gengba as a child immediately flashed before my eyes. Back then, gengba wasn’t something we had often…
When it comes to Sugar Rice Cake, everyone in Huangmei knows about it. It is made by kneading pure white premium glutinous rice puffs with high-quality maltose, then cutting the mixture into blocks. It tastes sweet and crispy, leaves your mouth watering, and has an unforgettable aftertaste. It was a delicious treat during our New Year celebrations back in those days, and also one of the real reasons for our endless anticipation of the holiday when we were kids...
“The moon is round on the 15th of August, and Mid-Autumn mooncakes are fragrant and sweet.” This well-known saying reflects the custom of eating mooncakes on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in both urban and rural areas. Mooncakes were originally used as offerings to the moon goddess. Over time, admiring the moon and tasting mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival came to symbolize family reunion—so much so that eating mooncakes has become an essential part of celebrating the holiday. In…
In my hometown of Huangmei, there is a rustic and unpretentious local specialty made primarily from sweet potatoes, which we all call "shuguo'er" (sweet potato chips). In the past, during the lunar month of December, almost every household in the countryside would pick an auspicious day to make them. "Hongshu" is the local colloquial term for sweet potatoes. Because the soil in the Dushan area of Shangxiang in Huangmei is fertile, the sweet potatoes grown there are...