Lan Hu Shan Si （烂糊鳝丝）, mashed shredded eel [Photo/Official WeChat account of Huzhou culture, radio and TV, press and publication bureau]

The dish has eels harvested from June and July in Huzhou as the basic ingredient, and cooks them with five kinds of oil (lard oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, and Zao oil, a famous condiment from Taicang in Jiangsu province), four kinds of spice (ginger, green onion, red green pepper, and black pepper) and other condiments.

According to legend, the dish was praised by Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795, an emperor of the Qing Dynasty) when he passed through the southern reaches of the Yangtze River, and was thus listed as a palace dish.