Poyang Specialty Snacks

Poyang is a city in Jiangxi Province. Due to its advantageous geographical location, it has abundant products of all kinds. There are many specialty snacks in Poyang. For example, the cowhide candy that many people born in the 1980s ate when they were young was produced in Poyang. The cowhide candy produced in Poyang is not only very tough, but also has the effects of promoting salivation and quenching thirst, and aiding digestion. Below I will give you a detailed introduction to Poyang, and let’s learn about Poyang’s specialty snacks.

1. Poyang County

Poyang County belongs to Jiangxi Province. It is a pilot provincially-administered county in Jiangxi Province. It was called Fanyi and Raozhou in ancient times. It was renamed Poyang County in the Han Dynasty. It is located in the northeast of Jiangxi Province and on the east bank of Poyang Lake, between 116°23′45″ and 117°06′15″ east longitude and 28°46′26″ and 29°42′03″ north latitude. It is an important part of the Poyang Lake Economic Circle. It borders Pengze County of Jiujiang City and Dongzhi County of Anhui Province to the north; Yugan County and Wannian County to the south; Changjiang District of Jingdezhen City, Fuliang County and Leping City to the east; and Duchang County of Jiujiang City is connected to the northwest by mountains and rivers.

Poyang County has a total area of ​​4,215 square kilometers, of which 948.7 square kilometers are water areas, accounting for 22.5% of the country's land area. About 313 square kilometers of the water area of ​​Poyang Lake is within the county. There are 225 rivers of various sizes with a total length of 2,070 kilometers, 359 large, medium and small reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 650 million cubic meters. Therefore, it is called the "Lake City of China"; the northeast of the county is high and low mountains, gradually turning into hills and lake plains towards the southwest, 71.8 kilometers wide from east to west and 90.2 kilometers long from north to south.

In 2015, Poyang County had jurisdiction over 1 subdistrict, 14 towns and 15 townships. The total population of Poyang County is 1,594,318 (2014). In 2016, Poyang County achieved a GDP of 18.98 billion yuan; it has a mild subtropical climate, with about 2,000 hours of sunshine throughout the year and an annual rainfall of around 1,600 mm. Poyang County has the title of "National Hometown of Cultural Drama" and is also a national base county for commercial grain, cotton, oil, pork and fish. On January 25, 2019, it was selected as the National "Safe Agricultural Machinery" Demonstration County in 2018.

On March 6, 2019, the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued the "Notice on the Announcement of the List of Counties in Revolutionary Cultural Relics Protection and Utilization Areas (First Batch)" by the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in which Poyang County was listed.

2. Local Specialties

1. Fire chrysanthemum cake, water chrysanthemum, scientific name rat, also known as mouse ear, is a kind of domestic grass in the wet days of Poyang Lake. After picking it, boil it and squeeze it into juice, mix it with rice flour to make cake, and then steam it in a steamer or other cooking utensils before eating. This cake is glutinous, chewy, sweet and leaves a lasting aftertaste. In the "Jingmeng Sui Shi Ji" written by Zong Yan, a Liang Dynasty man during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it said: "Mixed with rat juice, honey and powder, it is called dragon tongue, which is used to suppress the qi of the time." Eating this snack in early spring is definitely not good for your body and mind.

Deep-fried dough sticks wrapped in glutinous rice cakes. The city of fish and rice is especially delicious. Mazi (glutinous rice cake) is made by mashing glutinous rice and wrapping it with deep-fried dough sticks. It has a crispy, sticky and sweet taste and is a local snack with local characteristics.

2. Brown sugar cake and white sugar cake are also known as toad cakes. Glutinous rice and water are ground into flour, filtered and precipitated before use. When eaten, it is made into a ring shape and fried in oil. Then sugar is added to the fried glutinous rice flour. It is crispy but not greasy, glutinous but not sticky, and has moderate sweetness.

3. Raozhou Niupi Candy, Niupi grain is a traditional product of the county, made from high-quality raw materials such as malt, osmanthus extract, refined white sugar, white sesame and starch. Poyang Niupi Candy is very tough and shaped like cowhide, hence its name. After eating, it not only fills your mouth with fragrance, but also has the functions of relieving thirst, moistening the lungs, and aiding digestion.

4. Xiaohua Sea Cucumber Cake. The sea cucumber cake is shaped like a horseshoe and is called horseshoe cake. It is a specialty of Xiaohua Village, Dangang Town in the county. It is made from flour, sesame seeds and sesame oil as main raw materials using a common baking method. Sea cucumber cakes are famous for their crispness and refreshing taste. They are easy to store and suitable for all ages. They can stimulate the appetite, promote lactation and nourish the body.

5. Poyang frozen rice candy is made from popcorn, maltose, black sesame, and white and green silk as the main ingredients, and is characterized by its crispness, fragrance and freshness. The rice flowers in Poyang Frozen Rice Candy are stir-fried instead of fried, and are supplemented with black sesame seeds (some are made with fried soybeans). After eating, you will not feel sweet and greasy, but only have a refreshing taste.