What Delicious Food Can You Taste in Shengsi?

Eating seafood is an absolute delight when visiting Shengsi. Countless small restaurants serve a wide variety of seafood, all freshly caught straight from the sea. The staple seafood of Shengsi includes yellow croaker, hairtail and pomfret. Its golden hook shrimp meat, wolfberry mussels, triple-alum jellyfish sheets, dried baby shrimp and cannonball jellyfish are renowned nationwide. Cooked on the spot to retain their original natural flavor, they make for an incredibly satisfying meal.

You may also pick out fresh seafood at the local market and cook it yourself at your accommodation for an extra tasty feast. However, seafood here does not come cheap; you are mainly paying for its freshness. It is recommended to head to the outer islets of Shengsi for seafood, where you can enjoy high-quality produce at affordable prices.

It is not advisable to dine at seafood restaurants and street stalls in Caiyuan Town. Weak supervision has led to frequent overcharging of tourists, and prices are generally steep. A better option is to buy seafood at the farmers’ market in Caiyuan Town, ideally accompanied by your innkeeper. The inn can cook your purchases for a processing fee of 10 yuan per person. The flavor is comparable to restaurant food, and you can shop with greater peace of mind.

As one of China’s top ten key fishery counties, Shengsi is hailed as the "Capital of Chinese Seafood" and a "Natural Fishery Bank". It yields more than 180 types of marine fish from the East China Sea, including swimming crabs, hairtail, deep-sea yellow croaker, cuttlefish, eel, pomfret and hails herring, alongside premium rare varieties such as grouper, red sea bream and black sea bream.

Places to sample seafood snacks include seafood restaurants in Caiyuan Town, night food stalls in Shizhu Village, seafood barbecue stalls at Jihu Beach, and numerous fisherman restaurants dotted across all towns and villages of the archipelago.

Shengsi hosts Zhejiang’s largest industrial mussel cultivation base. Many varieties of fresh shellfish here are unfamiliar to outsiders. They cannot be preserved for long-distance transport, so they rarely appear in inland markets. Vendors can cook these shellfish to order; they are perfect for clear soups or plain boiling.

Fresh yellow or spicy whelks are cleaned, crushed and shelled, salted until fully seasoned, then mixed with sugar, rice wine and other condiments for direct consumption. The snail meat is tender, smooth and aromatic with a one-of-a-kind taste.

Yellow croaker boasts tender flesh, rich nutrients and high economic value. Fresh croaker can be prepared in dozens of distinct styles: braised in brown sauce, clear stewed, stir-fried or salt-cured. This classic soup is simmered with preserved mustard greens and bamboo shoot slices, blending salty and umami flavors. The milky white broth has a mellow taste paired with tender fish meat. It boosts appetite, relieves indigestion and benefits overall health.

Jellyfish can be processed into two products: jellyfish sheets and jellyfish heads. A cold salad of jellyfish sheets tossed with mung bean sprouts or enoki mushrooms delivers a crisp, refreshing taste. With heat-clearing and detoxifying properties, it is especially ideal for summer consumption.

Shengsi dried shrimps are processed from large white shrimp and red thread shrimp. The premium grade is known as "Golden Hook Shrimp". These large shrimp develop curved hook-like tails after baking, hence the name. Stir-fried dried shrimp is a signature local dish in Shengsi. Innkeepers often serve it with congee for breakfast, offering an outstanding flavor combination.