Savoring Taizhou · New Flavors of Intangible Cultural Heritage | Come to Taizhou and Taste the Century-Old Tradition of Food Therapy

In Taizhou after the Cold Dew solar term,

the daytime heat lingers,

while the nighttime brings a slight coolness.

During such a season,

the ancient flavors of food therapy are most comforting to the stomach.

Jiang Xiexing Food Therapy Hall (Wenling City)

Catering Service Co., Ltd.

Traditional Wenling Food Therapy Production Techniques

Listed as Provincial and Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects

A Century-Old Heritage of Craftsmanship

Rewind to 1929, when the sea breeze carried a salty tang through Shitang, Wenling.

Old Mr. Jiang Chaojing opened a small "Jiang Xiexing Food Therapy Shop" by the fishing port, using ancient methods like salt-simmering and earthenware stewing to create soups based on the principle of "food and medicine sharing the same origin." Back then, fishermen returning from the sea always enjoyed a bowl of soup to warm both body and heart. His descendants, including Xu Aiqin, established Jiang Xiexing Food Therapy Hall Catering Management Co., Ltd. in Wenling in 2004, opened a Food Therapy Hall Stew Shop in Jiaojiang in 2007, renamed it Taizhou Food Therapy Hall Taoqi Catering Management Co., Ltd. in 2018, and won the silver award at the Zhejiang Provincial "Medicinal Cuisine Competition." In 2020, Taizhou Food Therapy Hall Food Technology Management Co., Ltd. was established. In 2021, it was recognized as a Taizhou Municipal Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage Project, and the Ginseng and Fragrant Solomonseal Food Therapy Duck won the title of "Zhejiang Province's Top Ten Medicinal Cuisines" in the same year.

Passed down through four generations, nearly a century of refinement has elevated food therapy from a rural practice to an urban tradition, transforming it from daily sustenance into cultural heritage. Today, Jiang Xiexing Food Therapy Hall (Wenling City) Catering Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Food Therapy Hall") is a Zhejiang Provincial unit for preserving traditional food therapy production techniques and intangible cultural heritage. Its signature dishes are medicinal health soups passed down through three generations, with intangible heritage dishes including Ginseng and Astragalus Old Duck Pot, Sweet Pork Tripe, Glutinous Rice Pork Tripe, and Gastrodia Elata Black Chicken Soup.

True food therapy lies not in luxurious ingredients, but in the mastery of heat and heartfelt dedication.

Food Therapy Hall adheres to the ancient "salt-simmering + earthenware" method. Based on the characteristics of each ingredient and the medicinal properties of each herb, unique soup-making techniques are employed to allow ingredients and herbs to blend and harmonize over time and temperature. Each bowl of soup undergoes at least a dozen processes.

Ginseng and Astragalus Old Duck Pot

Selects ducks over two years old, combined with more than ten herbs including ginseng and astragalus. Slowly simmered over low heat for eight hours, it achieves a characteristic of being "clear yet not bland, nourishing yet not drying."

Sweet Pork Tripe Series

Includes variations like Glutinous Rice Pork Tripe and Gastrodia Elata Pork Tripe. Chinese medicinal herbs are stuffed into the pork tripe, which is then sealed and steamed, allowing the medicinal properties to permeate and fuse with the ingredients.

Gastrodia Elata Black Chicken Soup

The ratio of herbs to ingredients and the control of heat are both carefully considered. Doneness is judged not by the flame but by the aroma. When the lid is lifted, the medicinal scent of gastrodia elata and the meaty fragrance of black chicken waft together, signaling a perfect bowl of soup.

Ginseng and Fragrant Solomonseal Food Therapy Duck

The most representative dish at Food Therapy Hall is undoubtedly the "Ginseng and Fragrant Solomonseal Food Therapy Duck."

Selects ducks over two years old, paired with more than ten herbs including ginseng, fragrant solomonseal, astragalus, codonopsis root, Job's tears, cordyceps flower, and angelica. Aged rice wine, old ginger, and mountain spring water are added, and the mixture is simmered over low heat for four hours. The resulting soup is golden and translucent, savory and mellow on the palate, with tender and delicate duck meat. Ginseng replenishes qi, fragrant solomonseal moistens the lungs, Job's tears dispel dampness, angelica nourishes the blood—a single bowl of soup gathers the essence of nature and the warmth of human life. Precisely for this reason, it was honored with the title "Zhejiang Province's Top Ten Medicinal Cuisines" in 2021.

Eight-Ingredient Cake

Besides soups, Food Therapy Hall's Eight-Ingredient Cake is also a nostalgic taste of home.

Eight ingredients—ginseng, Job's tears, Chinese yam, lotus seeds, dried tangerine peel, poria, foxnut, and white hyacinth bean—are ground eight times until fine as powder. They are then mixed evenly with glutinous rice flour, steamed, and filled with sesame paste. The cake is soft and chewy, with a light medicinal aroma and rich sesame flavor. It's not just a snack but a form of gentle dietary therapy.

To integrate ancient food therapy methods into fast-paced modern life, fourth-generation inheritor Xu Aiqin led her team in innovating and developing "ready-to-drink stews": soups slowly simmered over low heat are flash-frozen at -40°C, vacuum-packed in aluminum foil bags. Each 380ml box serves one person, requiring only 15 minutes of reheating to enjoy, with no loss of medicinal efficacy or nutritional value, while eliminating the hassle of personally preparing herbs and stewing.

The slow-simmered taste of ancient food therapy

is the life philosophy of Taizhou people.

The traditional Wenling food therapy production techniques

are the gentlest expression of this philosophy.

Translator：Jiayang Lin