Hangzhou Food and Restaurants

Hangzhou is crowned as "the Heaven on the Earth" from a very ancient time; the cuisine is characterized by its elaborate preparation and varying techniques of cooking, such as sautéing, stewing, and stir- and deep-frying. Hangzhou food tastes fresh and crisp, varying with the change of season.

Here below are some renowned specialties of Hangzhou:

Dong Po Rou (Dongpo Pork):
It is a type of stewed pork named after its creator, the 11th century master poet Su Dong-po (also known as Su Shi) who referred to himself as "the old gourmand". Chunks of fatty pork are steamed in a sauce of rice wine, soy sauce and sugar for several hours to deep reddish brown, richly flavored and melt-in-the-mouth tender.

Xihucuyu (West Lake Fish):
A fresh grass carp is cut in half from head to tail, delicately poached for three minutes and then poured over with sugar and vinegar sauce. The fish tastes delicious with a taste similar to crab.

Jiaohuaji (Beggar's chicken)
 The chicken is crammed with fried pork and wrapped with lotus leaves, and then roasted in a whole chicken in a ball of mud. This dish is tender, fresh, juicy, crisp, tasty and full of the fragrance of lotus.

Tea
Another of Hangzhou's famed products is tea, particularly chrysanthemum tea and legendary Dragon Well tea (or longjing tea), considered the finest green tea grown in this country. An enjoyably different way to savor this tea is in the Hangzhou specialty longjing xiaren, or shrimp stir-fried with Dragon Well tea. Fresh, plump shrimp are shelled, stir-fried and then coated in a light, translucent sauce highlighted by leaves of the precious tea that imbue the whole dish with subtle flavor and fragrance.

Featured Restaurants in Hangzhou
Louwailou Restaurant
Address: No 30 Gushan Road
Tel: 0571-8796 9023
Tianwaitian Restaurant
Address: No 2 Tianzhu Road
Tel: 0571-87965450.
Zhiweiguan Restaurant
Add: 83 Renhe Street
Tel: 0571- 0571－87065871
Kuiyuan Restautant
Add: No.154 Gong Alley, Jiefang Road
Tel:0571-8702 8626
Tianxianglou Restaurant
Add: No.447 Yan'an Road
Tel: 0571-8706 3104