A bowl of soup, a taste of Jiangxi

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chinadaily.com.cn

Oct 12, 2022, 22:36 ET

NANCHANG, China, Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

East China's Jiangxi province is known for picturesque landscapes and its rich cultural heritage. The long and splendid history also endows Jiangxi cuisine with its unique cultural meanings.

Clay pot soup is prepared in giant clay pots and simmered over burning coal for more than seven hours. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Spicy Ruijin beef soup tastes tender and smooth, and has high nutritional value. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Nanchang clay pot soup is not only rich in flavor and fragrance but considered to be good for health. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The cultural artifacts such as the bronze pot unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, indicate that as early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD), Jiangxi had formed a rich food culture.

Jiangxi cuisine is rich in flavor types, and Jiangxi's people's ancestors learned widely from each other's strengths, which made the local cuisine suitable for people from both southern and northern regions of China.

Jiangxi local dishes are eye-dazzling with various kinds of cooking methods including boiling, steaming, simmering, frying and baking. The province's regional varieties of dishes are vast, and include many kinds of tasty soups, the most famous of which are clay pot soup in Nanchang, beef soup in Ruijin, and Laobiao chicken soup in Yichun.

Clay pot soup is a favorite local food in Nanchang. Locals usually serve the dish for breakfast. It originated from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and has a history of more than 1,000 years.

The key to cooking a perfect bowl of clay pot soup is the simmering. Usually, the soup is placed in a giant clay pot and simmered over burning coal for more than seven hours.

With raw materials of chicken, duck or pork seasoned with traditional Chinese herbs including angelica, ginseng and red dates, the soup is not only rich in flavor and fragrance but considered to be good for health.

The ancient cooking methods of clay pot soup have been passed on and kept pace with the times. Today they form a unique traditional folk technique with high historical, nutritive and economic value that was inscribed onto the fifth provincial list of intangible cultural heritages in 2016.

Ruijin, a county-level city in Jiangxi known as the "Cradle of the People's Republic of China", is located at the junction of Jiangxi and Fujian, and its food is also a fusion of Jiangxi and Fujian flavors. For local residents, beef soup is one of the city's delectable traditional snacks that carry a sense of nostalgia and food memories for people working outside of the city.

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn