Anhui Tongling snacks

China is a vast country with rich resources and a long history. Almost every city has some ancient culture preserved. As people's living standards improve, many people will travel to areas with distinctive cultural heritage in their spare time, where they can also eat snacks with unique flavors. There are many snacks in Tongling, Anhui. Friends who like to eat pig's trotters will be in luck, because pepper and salt pig's trotters are one of the specialties here.

1. Salt and pepper pork knuckle is one of the traditional specialties of Tongling City, Anhui Province. When making it, wash the pig's trotters, add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, salt, chopped green onions, and minced ginger, steam them in a steamer, then take them out and coat them evenly with wet starch. Place the pan on medium heat, pour in salad oil, put in the pig's trotters, fry both sides until golden brown, turn to high heat and fry until crispy, remove from the pan, cut into pieces, place on a plate, sprinkle with pepper salt, minced garlic, and diced chili peppers. You can decorate the plate with coriander, cucumber, and flowers.

2. Datong dried tea is one of the traditional specialty snacks in Datong Town, a suburb of Tongling City, Anhui Province. It began to be produced as early as the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 400 years. Datong tea dried cakes are made from locally abundant soybeans as the main raw material. They are refined through multiple processes including washing, grinding, boiling, brine preparation, wrapping and pressing to become white dried cakes. They are then soaked in a juice made from mushrooms, licorice, star anise, rock sugar and original soy sauce for several hours, then put into a pot to cook, and after being taken out and drained, they are mixed with sesame oil. It has a unique style with bright color, rich flavor, deliciousness and chewiness.

3. Shun'an Crisp Candy is a local traditional specialty snack in Yi'an District, Tongling City, Anhui Province. It is named after Shun'an Town where it is produced. It was first made in the late Tang Dynasty and has a history of thousands of years. Shunan Crispy Candy is made from high-quality flour, white sugar and black sesame as the main ingredients, with appropriate amounts of osmanthus, green plum, kumquat cake, etc. It tastes soft, sweet and melts in your mouth, and is a great dish for locals to use to entertain guests.

4. Congyang steamed pork with rice flour is one of the special delicacies of Congyang County, Tongling City, Anhui Province. When making it, wash the rice, drain the water, add star anise, cinnamon and other spices, fry until it turns slightly yellow, then take out and grind it into powder. Then cut the pork into slices, add salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, sweet noodle sauce, shredded ginger, chopped green onion, sesame oil, five-spice powder, etc., mix well, then pour in the rice flour and mix well. Place the meat covered with rice flour in a bowl with the skin facing down. Steam it in a steamer until cooked. Place the meat on a plate when eating.