Good news for foodies! Yueqing's specialty cuisine gets a 'new business card' with the arrival of miracle herb

Yueqing is famous for its exquisite cuisine featuring Dendrobium candidum, a precious herb. From freshly squeezed Dendrobium juice to fragrant Dendrobium duck, exquisite Dendrobium pastries, and fusion dishes like Dendrobium shrimp balls, these delectable"herbal" dishes have become Yueqing's new culinary calling card.

At the Yueqing City Nanou(MG) themed restaurant, guests can witness the preparation of Dendrobium shrimp balls by the skilled medicinal food chef. Using locally caught prawns from Yueqing Bay, the chef stir-fries them with Yan Dang Mountain free-range chicken eggs. A sprinkle of ultra-fine Dendrobium candidum powder adds visual appeal and aroma, captivating everyone's senses. The restaurant's creations, such as"Iron Maple Hall Kung Pao Shrimp Balls" and"Iron Maple Hall Sea Urchin Dendrobium Noodles," have earned the titles of"Top Ten Medicinal Food (Dish Category)" and"Top Ten Medicinal Food (Dim Sum Category)" in Zhejiang Province.

Yueqing's medicinal food has previously received recognition. In 2019, the"Fresh Dendrobium Stewed Ouyue Dried Fish" from the Ouyuelou Cultural-themed Restaurant made it onto the provincial"Top Ten Medicinal Foods" list. The following year, at the 2020 World Youth Scientists Summit and the 2nd Medical Health and Traditional Chinese Medicine Development (Wenzhou) Summit Forum and Exhibition, Dendrobium dishes from various establishments, including Yueqing Yan Dang Shengyan Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Yueqing CityChengnanoudian Theme Restaurant (MG) Yueqing Manfangshi Cultural Tourism Co., Ltd., and Wanshan Caotang, won the title of"Top Ten Medicinal Foods" in the first-ever Wenzhou competition. These entries and award-winning dishes demonstrate the evolution of ingredients used in Yueqing's"herbal" cuisine, incorporating elements from both mountains and sea.

Yueqing's Dendrobium enterprises actively explore different combinations of Dendrobium in culinary creations, offering a complete Dendrobium feast with over 20 cold and hot dishes, as well as pre-meal desserts. Alongside the traditional Dendrobii Officinalis Caulis stewed duck, innovative dishes like Dendrobium jelly, Dendrobium powder Kung Pao prawns, and Dendrobium fresh strip Sichuan-style boiled fish have been introduced.

Dendrobium candidum, known as the"herb of immortality," is highly regarded as a precious health supplement. Yueqing, as the authentic production area of Dendrobium candidum, the core production area of the new"Zhe Eight Flavors" cultivated in Zhejiang Province, and the only"National Dendrobium candidum Biological Industry Base" in China, has long utilized Dendrobium as a culinary ingredient. The city actively explores local medicinal resources, building a comprehensive industry system for healthy medicinal cuisine. Yueqing has hosted events like the"Yan Dang Herb, Welcoming a Hundred Families" Dendrobium Appreciation Festival in 2016 and the"Yan Dang Mountain Dendrobium candidum Cup" in 2020, the first"Top Ten Medicinal Foods" selection event in Wenzhou. These events aim to create a comprehensive industry system for healthy medicinal cuisine in Yueqing, covering raw material supply bases, medicinal food ingredient production companies, and designated medicinal food restaurants, adding new content to Wenzhou cuisine.

"The medicinal food industry is entering a period of development, and using medicinal food as an entry point presents a new opportunity for spreading traditional Chinese medicine culture," said Song Xianshui, President of the Yueqing Dendrobium candidum Industry Association. With the increasing acceptance of Dendrobium in culinary applications, the Dendrobium candidum industry brings in tens of millions of yuan in revenue to Yueqing each year. In the future, Yueqing will seize the opportunity of"food and medicine sharing the same origin" and actively lead the Dendrobium enterprises of Yan Dang Mountain to continuously innovate the types of Dendrobium culinary creations. Yueqing will cultivate versatile talents who understand both the principles of medicine and the art of cooking, explore and refine the historical and cultural stories of Yan Dang Mountain's Dendrobium candidum, promote the development of the medicinal food industry, and comprehensively integrate the"food and medicine" industry into the field of holistic health, contributing to the construction of a demonstration area for common prosperity. (ZhongXin)