Water Shield in Taihu
Lake has long enjoyed
equal fame with basses. In the Book of Jin History, such a record can be found:
Zhang Han, a litterateur in West Jin Dynasty, once was an official in north China. After a
long time, he missed the Water Shield soup and the bass dish he tasted in his
early years so much that he resigned and returned to his hometown in the lower
reaches of the Yangtze River. Therefore, the
missing for Water Shield and the bass had become an allusion referring to
missing one’s hometown.
In the end of Ming Dynasty and the
early Qing Dynasty, residents along the banks of Taihu Lake
had already known the way of artificial cultivation of Water Shield, and could
have good harvests from Spring to Autumn. In Winter and Spring, there is
bottled Water Shield on sale. The bottled Water Shield produced by the Factory
of Flower, Fruit and Food in Wu county has been awarded the title of the Famous
and Superior
product for foreign trade.
Water Shield, tender, smooth and
tasty, has many benefits such as replenishing man’s blood, clearing away heat
and toxic materials within, moistening lungs, making urination smooth. It
enjoys a distinctive reputation even in all Soochow
cuisines. This dish, if added with other ingredients, can be made into other
famous soups.
