Yizheng Seaweed

Yizheng Seaweed

　　Yizheng seaweed is a specialty of Yizheng City, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. Yizheng seaweed is purple in color, crisp and tender, with a slight sweetness. It can be stir-fried, boiled, stewed, or braised, offering a delicious flavor. When stir-fried with cured meat, its taste becomes particularly aromatic and reaches its best.

　　The Yizheng area produces seaweed due to its special soil. Most remarkably, Yizheng seaweed is only found growing in certain parts of Yizheng (and also in a few limited areas within the Yangzhou jurisdiction), mainly along the riverbanks in Yizheng City. The same type of plant, when grown in other soils, not only lacks the purple color but also has a taste similar to ordinary green vegetables. In its seedling stage, it looks like “rapeseed sprouts.” As winter approaches, its leaves and stems gradually turn purple, and the sprouts grow lush. People harvest its stems and young leaves, and the harvesting period lasts for over two months.

　　Seaweed can be stir-fried, boiled, stewed, or braised, all of which result in a delicious taste. Stir-frying seaweed uses quite a bit of oil (similar to cooking bottle gourd), and it is generally stir-fried with meat. Seaweed can help treat cardiovascular diseases, has detoxifying and skin-beautifying effects, and is rich in vitamins, making it very nutritious.