Hongzehu turtle

The historical story of turtle and Chu overlord Xiang Yu has been circulating in Hongze Lake area. According to legend, Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, was besieged near Hongze Lake District. In the midst of being besieged on all sides, the beautiful concubine relieved her worries for Xiang Wang and cooked this beautiful dish with soft-shelled turtles and chickens. Xiang Yu was very happy after eating, refreshed and devoted herself to the breakthrough. This matter and the method of making this dish were later spread to Hongze Lake District. Fishermen in Hongze Lake area commemorate this tragic historical story with the dish of tortoise stewed chicken. Since then, the dish "Farewell to Chicken" has become popular in Hongze Lake area. The soft-shelled turtle in Hongze Lake, also known as soft-shelled turtle and tuanyu, is an oviparous amphibious reptile with a turtle-like head but no turtle-like stripes on its carapace. Its edge is soft and its color is dark green. Soft-shelled turtles often live in the sediment at the bottom of Hongze Lake, and they like to eat small animals such as fish and shrimp, and they also swallow melon peel and fruit chips, grass and grains. According to experts' analysis, the soft-shelled turtle in Hongze Lake is rich in high-quality protein, amino acids, minerals, trace elements and vitamins A, B1, B2, etc. It has the delicious taste of chicken, deer, cow, pig and fish, and is known as "gourmet meat with five flavors". According to modern science, soft-shelled turtle is rich in vitamin A, vitamin E, collagen, various amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids and trace elements, which can improve human immune function, promote metabolism, enhance human disease resistance, and have the functions of caring skin and delaying aging. All parts of turtle's nail, head, meat, gallbladder, fat and nail glue have medicinal value, and their main functions are: nourishing yin and controlling hepatitis and abnormal hyperfunction; Nourish, improve plasma protein content, promote hematopoietic function and enhance physical strength; Clearing away heat, reducing abnormal body temperature rise, and dissipating mass in the body. Hongze Lake Carassius auratus contains an important substance to resist the aging of human blood vessels. Regular consumption can reduce blood cholesterol, which is beneficial to patients with hypertension and coronary heart disease. Eating a proper amount of soft-shelled turtle is beneficial to the recovery of maternal body and improving the quality of breast milk. Soft-shelled turtle in Hongze Lake has certain anti-cancer effect and immune function. Fishermen in Hongze Lake area have also created a unique cooking method for soft-shelled turtles. The soup is delicious, the meat is tender and nutritious. There are mainly braised soft-shelled turtles, stewed soft-shelled turtles, fried soft-shelled turtles, mushroom-stewed soft-shelled turtles, "farewell chicken" and so on. Among them, the method of "farewell chicken" is relatively simple in Hongze Lake area, using little hens, soft-shelled turtles, clear chicken soup, ginger, onion, star anise and cinnamon.
Reprinted with attribution： https://cnlocality.com/(Chinese Specialty Products)