Water shield in Taihu Lake, Suzhou

Water shield of Taihu Lake is one of the famous Suzhou specialties. As early as the Song Dynasty, it was listed as a tribute. According to records, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty visited Suzhou in the south, and a Zhang Zhihong in Suzhou presented four jars of water shield and "water shield poems", which won the favor of Long Yan and made Zhang Zhihong an official. At that time, people ridiculed him as an "official", which shows the charm of water shield. "Ye Qing is like a green lotus, the stalk is purple like a purple ribbon, the taste is smooth as crisp milk, and the air is clear and better than Lanfang." This ancient poem introduces and evaluates the color, fragrance, taste, shape and smooth taste of water shield. The young leaves and tender stems of water shield contain a kind of colloidal mucus, which has a fine, smooth, moist, cool and delicious feeling when eaten, and has a refreshing fragrance, which is excellent in taste and unique in flavor. The harvest period of water shield in Taihu Lake, Suzhou is mainly from May to October, and the fresh water shield garden can only survive for about one day. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately kill water shield or freeze it for preservation after harvesting, and the processed water shield can be sold all the year round. Taihu water shield is convenient to eat, can be accompanied with meat stir-frying, can be vegetarian, can be boiled in soup, can also be used as stuffing, and is a superior product for making delicious food.
Reprinted with attribution： https://cnlocality.com/(Chinese Specialty Products)