What Delicious Food Can You Try in Haiyan?

Made with native free-range chickens raised on the hills of Nanbei Lake, the soup is simmered with local green vegetables from the lake area until the broth turns golden yellow. It carries an authentic rustic herbal fragrance and an exceptionally fresh flavour, ranking as an unrivalled signature dish on every Nanbei Lake dining table.

Sheep blood is composed of four-fifths water, with the remainder consisting of various proteins, chiefly haemoglobin, serum albumin, serum globulin and a small amount of fibrin. It also contains trace lipids such as phospholipids and cholesterol, plus mineral salts including glucose salts. In traditional Chinese medicine, sheep blood stops bleeding, dissipates blood stasis and detoxifies the body. It is used to treat hematemesis, nosebleeds, haemorrhoidal bleeding, abnormal uterine bleeding in women, postpartum dizziness caused by blood loss, bleeding from poisonous wounds and traumatic haemorrhage from falls and blows.

Braised mutton is a celebrated signature dish of Nanbei Lake. For hundreds of years, it has served as the centrepiece feast dish for local banquets and holiday gatherings. Renowned across Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou for its glossy reddish hue, rich alluring aroma, tender intact texture and savoury richness without greasiness, it can now be sampled at any hotel or farmhouse restaurant within the Nanbei Lake Scenic Area. Local Hu sheep mutton is used for this dish. The meat is cut into chunks of roughly 250 grams each, placed in a pot covered with water, and cooked over firewood with rice wine, ginger and soy sauce on high heat until tender. The heat is then turned low for slow braising until the mutton falls off the bone, followed by an appropriate amount of brown sugar to thicken the sauce into a glossy glaze. A handful of garlic leaves must be sprinkled over the mutton before serving to amplify its fragrance. Locals maintain a custom of eating mutton stew early in the morning throughout autumn and winter. At dawn in the ancient town of Ganpu, the inviting aroma of mutton drifts through every alleyway. As early as the 1930s, Ganpu mutton was famous in Shanghai; many Shanghainese drove all the way here by car just to taste it. Even today, mentioning Nanbei Lake in Haiyan evokes fond memories of Ganpu mutton among elderly Shanghai residents.

A generous amount of black vinegar is added during stir-frying, with a distinctive mandatory ingredient: young Chinese chive shoots. The delicate fragrance of chive shoots infuses the fish flesh, while vinegar amplifies the seafood’s natural umami, creating a dish that smells wonderful and tastes irresistibly fresh.

Another beloved local delicacy, it is prepared by simmering large mutton chunks together with whole red-stem taros seasoned with rice wine, soy sauce and brown sugar. The mutton is tender and the taros soft and glutinous, with a well-balanced salty-sweet taste. This dish is said to have been invented by Yang Zi, a renowned playwright of the Yuan Dynasty. Initially inspired by the pursuit of pure umami, Yang Zi sliced salted fish and sandwiched the slices inside mutton for stewing. As time passed, the recipe gradually evolved into this unique mutton and taro braising method. The red-stem taros grown locally are cultivated entirely without pesticides or chemical fertilisers, qualifying as genuine green organic vegetables. They soften quickly when cooked yet hold their shape after prolonged simmering, boasting a fragrant, glutinous texture favoured by all ages. The smooth mild taro perfectly complements the rich savour of mutton, creating an exceptionally harmonious mouthfeel.

Shrimp fall into two broad categories: saltwater shrimp and freshwater shrimp. Prawns are nutrient-rich seafood with delicate flesh used in countless dishes, earning them the moniker "licorice of the kitchen". Saltwater varieties include tiger prawns, white shrimp, mantis shrimp and lobsters; freshwater types comprise freshwater prawns, grass shrimp and crayfish, while brackish-water varieties feature white shrimp. All shrimp are high in protein with outstanding nutritional value. Their tender flesh, similar to fish, is easy to digest yet free of fishy odour and tiny bones. They are packed with minerals such as calcium, phosphorus and iron, and saltwater shrimp contain abundant iodine highly beneficial to human health. Scientific analysis shows edible shrimp flesh contains approximately 16–20% protein. Nanbei Lake boasts both coastal and freshwater aquatic resources, allowing visitors to savour both saltwater and freshwater shrimp in one trip.