A raft of such culinary delicacies as Dachikan Open Flame Roast Pork, Hengshan Preserved Duck Bundles, Doumen Double-Shelled Crab, and Baijiao Sea Bass will be served at the 9th Doumen Food Festival.  

Doumen District, which is famous for abundant cultural heritage resources, is offering the treats at Shili Lianjiang Agriculture Sightseeing & Experience Garden during the Oct 1-to-7 Golden Week holiday.

Of additional note among the local specialties are Shrimp Glutinous Rice Cake and Zhao's Mud Baked Chicken.

Shrimp Glutinous Rice Cake

The history of this traditional delicacy can be traced back to the reign of Emperor Yung-cheng (Yongzheng) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The most reputed Shrimp Glutinous Rice Cake is made in Shizitou Village.

High-quality yellow sticky rice and local island mountain spring water are indispensable in making Shrimp Glutinous Rice Cakes. The true secret, however, lies in rice husking and powder grinding. 

Shrimp Glutinous Rice Cake

Wu Wenfeng, son of an inheritor of this Doumen Intangible Cultural Heritage Item, says the rice must be ground into paste by a stone mill. The rice paste is then poured into a food steamer. When it becomes a thin layer, it is time to pour another. The procedure is repeated until the multi-layered rice cake gains enough height. It's then ready for the final touch: chopped green onion and shrimp to enhance the taste.

Zhao's Mud Baked Chicken

The legend goes that Zhao's Mud Baked Chicken was a secret delicacy of the royal chef for the imperial household during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Remnants of the Zhao clan, who settled in Doumen to escape enemies, carry forward the recipe to this day.

As conditions were limited back then, they made furnaces out of mud and utilized lotus leaves as utensils with which to cook chicken and potatoes.

Today, people usually souse the chicken for half an hour and wrap them with air-dried lotus leaves and tinfoil. Then, they are put into a furnace made of mud from Huangyang Mt, and covered with a layer of hot soil to ensure they are heated evenly. 

Prepared in this manner, the meat is tender and aromatic.

Zhao's Mud Baked Chicken [Photos by Zeng Yao /Zhuhai Daily]