What Delicious Food Can You Try in Huizhou?

Huizhou boasts three signature delicacies: Dongjiang Salt-Baked Chicken, Stuffed Tofu and Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens. Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens, in particular, enjoys great fame both at home and abroad. These dishes are masterpieces of the Dongjiang Hakka culinary culture. Dongjiang Cuisine ranks as one of the three major branches of Cantonese cuisine, featuring an inclusive yet distinctive style. Local free-range coarse-bred livestock and produce are prioritized as ingredients, and cooking techniques mainly include boiling, stewing in clay pots, steaming, braising and slow simmering.

Chicken can be prepared in countless ways, but salt-baked chicken stands out as the most iconic variety. A time-honored classic of Dongjiang Cuisine, it is said to have originated from salt fields in Huiyang along the Dongjiang River. It features crispy skin, tender smooth meat, aromatic bones and rich, deep flavor.

The creation of Dongjiang Stuffed Tofu traces back to the custom of making dumplings in the Central Plains. After migrating south to Lingnan, the Hakka people lacked wheat flour for dumplings. For festivals and celebrations, they came up with the idea of stuffing tofu, making it an indispensable festive dish for Dongjiang locals.

Preserved mustard greens are a time-honored specialty of Huizhou, boasting a golden hue, inviting fragrance and a fresh, sweet, crisp taste. With a mild neutral nature that is neither cold, dry, damp nor fiery, it is known as the "Balancing Vitality Vegetable" and has long been renowned. Together with salt-baked chicken and stuffed tofu, it forms the "Three Treasures of Huizhou".

The clear, gentle waters of the Dongjiang River teem with river clams. Boatmen once caught clams from the river and preserved them with salt for meals. Later, they stir-fried clams with fresh green garlic scapes, inventing this famous light river seafood staple of Dongjiang Cuisine.

When Su Dongpo was exiled to Huizhou, most of his wives and concubines left him, except Wang Chaoyun, his loyal maid. Skilled in singing, dancing and music, Wang Chaoyun often played the pipa for Su Dongpo under Sizhou Pagoda beside Huizhou West Lake while he composed poems inspired by the melodies. Deeply moved by her companionship, Su Dongpo created this prawn dish named "Lyre Prawns", symbolizing the harmonious blend of kindred spirits, fine cuisine, beautiful scenery and elegant music.

Su Dongpo adapted Hangzhou crispy pork into minced meat balls and named the dish "Out of Step with the Times". Later generations renamed it Dongjiang Crisp Meatballs, also known as Dongjiang Glutinous Meatballs.

Su Dongpo was nearly sixty years old when he came to Huizhou with Wang Chaoyun, who looked haggard from hardship. Hoping to preserve her youthful beauty, he invented this classic dish using aloe, West Lake lotus seeds and other nourishing beauty-enhancing ingredients, often cooking it himself to share with her.

Its origin differs greatly from Hangzhou’s West Lake Vinegar Fish. Legend has it that Su Dongpo sought to balance Dongjiang Cuisine’s tendency to be rich, salty, heavy and oily. While cooking fish, he added a few drops of Huizhou aged vinegar to cut through greasiness, creating a famous delicacy on par with Hangzhou’s version.

Paired with Dongjiang Salt-Baked Chicken, they are hailed as the "Two Unrivaled Dishes" of Dongjiang Cuisine. Served with premium stock, the duck is intensely fragrant, soft and smooth, and especially popular among Japanese visitors.

Dog meat can be cooked in many styles, but clay pot dog meat is the most beloved in Huizhou. A local saying goes: "When dog meat simmers three times, even immortals cannot resist its allure." Locals refer to dog meat as "fragrant meat", with another popular saying: "Eating dog meat is as warm as wrapping yourself in a quilt."

This beloved Hakka dish was a favorite of Su Dongpo. It is said he first tasted the unique stir-fried pork intestines in Ganzhou, Jiangxi during his exile journey and instantly fell in love with its flavor. After settling in Huizhou, he ordered this dish with every drink. Villagers noticed his obsession and often traded stir-fried intestines for his calligraphy works, eventually dubbing the dish "Stir-Fried Dongpo".