Hui cuisine, the shortened term of Anhui cuisine, is also called Wan cuisine. It is one of the eight famous cuisines of China. The Anhui flavor consists mainly of the dishes of South Anhui, the coastal areas of the Yangtze River and those of the Hui River, with the cuisine of South Anhui serving as the representative style.
She County, at the foot of Huang Mountain, the world famous tourist resort, is the home of South Anhui cuisine. The cuisine of the coastal areas of the Yangtze River refers to the local dishes of Hefei, Fuhu and Anqing while the cuisine of coastal areas of the Hui River is made up of the local flavors of Bangbu, Suxian and Fuyang.
The three branches of Hui cuisine with their strong points are rich and colorful. However, it mainly has four basic features:
It uses only local produce and as a result the freshness of the dishes is unparalleled.
Anhui abounds in mountain delicacies, wild animals, river-food and fowl. The use of local materials makes characteristics of dishes stand out and guarantees flavors and a genuine regional delicacies
Secondly, it is good at controlling cooking time and temperature. It respectively adopts high, medium or slow heat according to the quality and characteristics of different materials and flavor requirements of finished dishes.
Thirdly, Hui cuisine is skillful in sautéing and stewing with achieving a delicate lightness in taste. Apart from that the cooking techniques such as deep-frying and stir-frying, flaming, braising, boiling and baking all have their strong points in Anhui cuisine. It is especially well known for sautéing, stewing, smoking and steaming dishes. Some typical dishes stewed in brown sauce may appear a little heavy on oil compared to some other styles. Ham is also often added to enhance the taste.
Lastly, it places an great deal of emphasis on natural foods which helps to ensure in keeping good health. Hui cuisine follows the traditional ways and uses foods which are also used for medicinal purposes. Our country is particular about using food as medicine, which is another characteristic of Hui cuisine.
Most ingredients in Anhui cuisine, such as pangolin, stone frog, mushroom, bayberry, tea leaves, bamboo shoots and dates come from the mountain area. Huang Mountain is abundant in raw materials suitable for cooking.
Some dishes representative of the Hui style of cuisine are: Stir-fried frog with log flower mushrooms; Phoenix-tailed Shrimp Steak; Li Hongzhang Hotchpotch; Bagong Mountain bean curd; Grape fish, mountain bamboo shoots, assorted meats; Phoenix-tailed Shrimp in a Bird's nest and Red Tato in Honey.