Jilin province is located in the middle of northeast China. Its topography is gradually declining from the southeast to the northwest but there are still various land features, like low hills, medium high hills, foothills, basins and plains. Rich specialties have provided abundant resources for Ji dishes. In particular, the immense forest of Changbai Mountain in the east of Jilin has a valuable resource of wild animals and plants. The foothills in the middle, the grassland in the west, the Songhuajiang River and the Moon Lake are all rich in raw materials for cooking these dishes. The wild animals comprise black bears, deer, roe deer, gazelles, wild boars, hares, Chinese grouse, pheasants, sparrows and frogs. Wild plants include black fungus, matsutake mushrooms, monkey head fungus (Hericium erinaceus), golden oyster spores, fiddlehead and osmund fern, ostrich feather fern, Japanese angelica tree, athyrium multidentatum and pine nuts. Rare medicinal herbs are ginseng, antler and Ganoderma The wild animals and plants are important elements of Jilin dishes and have been used for generations and generations. Jilin chefs are adept at cooking wild game however some have an intense odour, which gives the dishes a strong, thick and gamy taste. This is an important reason why Jilin dishes are uniquely aromatic and delicious.
Jilin Cuisine or Ji Cuisine could be briefly described as having four features, namely being adept at using wild game, the attention to timing and duration, fragrance and delicacy and the plain and simple creation of low-cost dishes.
1. The selection of raw materials is very refined and highlights the use of local specialties. Among Jilin dishes, those with rare wild game, cooked by experienced local chefs are especially delicious.
2. The cuisine pays close attention to the duration of its cooked dishes and is adept at braising, stewing, sautéing, simmering, stir-frying and caramelizing. The dishes are cooked but not overdone, crispy outside and tender inside, juicy and succulent which represents the highest level in cooking.
3. Fragrance and delicacy are the main characteristics of Jilin cuisine. The majority of Jilin dishes are tender and salty, hot and spicy, sweet and salty, sweet and sour, hot and sour, delicious and aromatic or possess a tomato sauce flavour. This is also applicable to most dishes sold in the food market where the varieties and flavours are vast attracting people far and wide.
4. Most Jilin dishes sold in the food market, particularly medium and small-sized hotels and restaurants, are affordable, of high quality and large in proportion where stewed dishes are always full and overflowing. Generally, few decorations are added to the traditional Jilin dishes, which bring people a feeling of plain and simple low cost eating. Jilin people like to say that these dishes are for the common folk and this is why they are so inexpensive.
Main Dishes
Braised Shelduck with Mountain-grown Delicacies (Shanbao Hulu Ya, 山宝葫芦鸭)
This dish is one of the creative dishes of Jilin cuisine. Common shelducks living in Changbai Mountain are used as the main raw materials and ginseng and other Changbai specialties are selected as the side ingredients. This dish, as a culinary master piece, has a unique smell, shape, colour and quality. The raw materials include Changbai shelduck, Changbai ginseng, pheasant, venison, fresh mushrooms, pork loin, Manchurian hare, glossy ganoderma tree fungi, antlers, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, cooking wine and starch.
Quick-boiled Streaky Pork with Pickled Cabbage and Vermicelli (Cuan Bairou, 汆白肉)
Streaky pork, pickled cabbage and vermicelli are quickly boiled with various flavourings creating a salty, fresh and delicious meal suitable for eating during the autumn and winter months. The ingredients are 150 grams of boiled streaky pork, 200 grams of pickled vegetables, vermicelli, fine salt, pepper juice, caraway, leek flowers, chilli oil, meat soup and fermented bean curd.
Sweet and Sour Deep Fried Pork (Guobao Rou, 锅包肉)
This is a traditional Jilin dish where by pig tenderloin is selected as the main raw material. The finished dish is sweet and sour, golden, aromatic, crispy on the outside and tender inside. The ingredients include 300 grams of tenderloin, sliced onions, ginger, garlic, caraway, soy sauce, white sugar, rice vinegar, starch, pepper juice and oil.
Ginseng and Chicken Soup (Renshen Ji, 人参鸡)
Ginseng is one of three delicacies of northeast China and is also one of the rare supplementary local products of Jilin. The dish uses Jilin ginseng and fresh hen. When the dish is served, ginseng floats on the surface of the soup and the chicken will be submerged beneath. The dish looks beautiful and inviting and may refresh the mind, awaken the spirit and postpone senility.
Steamed Silver Carp (Qingzheng Baiyu, 清蒸白鱼)
There are two methods to make this dish. The first method is applicable to a feast or a banquet where the fish soup is more preferable than the flesh. The second method is applicable to everyday meals where guests mostly enjoy the meat of the carp since the soup enters into the fish whilst it is being steamed giving it a wonderful aroma. Silver carps are rich in both Songhuajiang River and Songhua Lake which stretches for hundreds of kilometres providing restaurants with a constant supply to serve passing tourists.
Northeast Grand Feast (Santao Wan, 三套碗)
This feast uses venison, pheasant, frog and other local delicacies as its raw materials. There are fifteen refined processes to cook this feast, such as baking, braising, simmering, stewing and stir-frying and so on. The feast comprises more than twenty dishes, which are eight cold dishes, three meat or sea food dishes, twelve braised, stir fried dishes and soup. Some famous dishes of Man ethnic minority group, like Boiled Streaky Pork with Blood Curd (Bairou Xuechang, 白肉血肠), Sautéed Tenderloin with Salted Egg Yolk (Huangjin Roupian, 黄金肉片), Northeast Steamed Fish (Guandong Zhengyu, 关东蒸鱼), Steamed Corn Flour Bread (Xiao Wotou, 小窝头) are all served in this feast.
Venison Soup (Lurong Sanzhen Tang, 鹿茸三珍汤)
Hairy antler, tendon and penis of the spotted deer reared in Changbai Mountain are used as the main source of materials where broth and flavourings are used as side ingredients. This soup has the functions of replenishing the spirit, strengthening the body and mind and is classified as a high-grade nutritional product.
Stewed Qingling Carp (Qingling Huoyu, 庆岭活鱼)
The cooking method of this dish is very unique. Fresh golden-scaled carp are taken from the pond, gutted and cooked using oil, salt, ginger, onion and other flavourings. However, what makes it different from others is the addition of a type of special flavouring known as ‘cablin patchouli herb’, which is wild grass grown in the mountainous areas and resemble the leaf shape of the compositae plant. The herb is similar with argy wormwood leaf from south China in both colour and smell. As the water in the saucepan gradually evaporates, the fragrance of the herb enters the meat of the carp. The cooked carp is fresh and delicious and very appetizing.
Snacks
Drinks
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