As a typical small town of Jiangnan, Zhenjiang is attractive with picturesque landscape and like a graceful girl. However, the Zhenjiang "Three Strange Things" cannot be omitted when mentioning Zhenjiang, namely “aromatic vinegar that never goes off, cured pork not served with meals, pot cover cooked in pot”.
The first strange thing: aromatic vinegar that never goes off
Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad. It is characteristically deep-colored, aromatic, sour, mellow and strongly flavored. The vinegar has dark color and savory taste, fragrant but slightly sweet, sour but not astringent. The longer it is stored, the more fragrant it is. It can be used as a flavoring to improve taste and flavor of dishes, remove fishy smell and relieve greasy feeling. The vinegar can enhance appetite and aid digestion.
The second strange thing: Cured pork not served with meals
Crystal cured pork, also known as crystal cured pig’s hooves or Zhenjiang cured pork, is a traditional famous dish in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province and belongs to the Jiangsu cuisine. Made of pig's hooves, the dish is preserved with nitrate and salt, as well as mixed with onion, ginger, yellow rice wine and other flavorings. Then, it is braised in a big pot of soup and simmered until tender. At last, it is cooled down into jelly. The meat is red and the skin is white, smooth and crystal clear. Hence it gets "crystal” in its name. It tastes savory, fragrant and tender like that of lean meat, but the fatty part is not greasy. It tastes more special when eating with shredded ginger and Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar.
The third strange thing: pot cover cooked in pot
The pot cover noodle is a cooking skill innovation in Zhenjiang cuisine. A small pot cover is used to cover the soup after the noodles are put into a pot of boiling water. It has the following benefits: First, the raw noodles are put into the boiling water portion by portion and will not stick together or become scattered after being cooked, and the amount is precise as well; second, when the noodle soup is boiling under the cover, it is easy to remove the foam and keep the soup clear; third, noodles are easily cooked and will not become overcooked. According to local tradition, different kinds of meat and vegetables are offered for customers such as pork loin, pork liver, beef, eggs, fresh bamboo shoots, green peppers, Chuanxiong Ligusticum, and green vegetables, etc. After the vegetables are cooked in the pot, they will be mixed with noodles. No wonder Emperor Qianlong was unstinting in his praise after he tasted the pot cover noodles in Zhenjiang during his visit to Jiangnan.
There are several versions of the legend about the pot cover noodles.
Version 1: It is said that there was a family in Zhenjiang in ancient times. The wife carelessly slipped the cover of the soup pot on the stove into the boiling water when she was cooking noodles. Unexpectedly, the noodles tasted better than usual. They were not too hard or overcooked, instead, they were just perfectly cooked. Therefore, they opened a noodle shop with other partners. The shop was hence named “partner noodle shop”. The noodles they cooked were called “pot cover noodles”.
Version 2: There was a poor family. They treated the guest with the only noodles they had. However, the poor family had no flavorings. When the noodles were being cooked, the host accidentally dropped a small pot cover into the pot. Strong fragrance filled the entire room unexpectedly after the noodles were cooked. It turned out that the family had never washed their pot cover which was full of various flavorings. Therefore, the pot cover noodles were created and got popular.
Version 3: When Emperor Qianlong visited a noodle shop in Zhenjiang during his visit to Jiangnan, the shop owner was so nervous that the owner put the small pot cover onto the big pot. To everyone’s surprise, the cooked noodles smelt very good. Hence, it got the name of pot cover noodles.
