Just a 1.5-hour train ride south of Shanghai’s bright lights and 20 minutes east of Hangzhou's West Lake is one of the area’s most charming river towns. Seemingly paused in time, Shaoxing is home to a network of canals, 4,000 stone bridges, and traditional white houses with gray slate roofs. But there’s another reason to visit: The sleepy city is a bastion of humble, fermented foods—you can practically smell the stinky tofu from Hangzhou airport. Here are a few of the must-try staples (tofu included!): the pedestrianized Lu Xun Middle Road has it all.
Rice Wine (Shaoxing jiu)
You’ve probably seen Shaoxing rice wine on dinner menus—as it’s commonly used as a cooking wine—but you can actually drink it too. Usually, the fermented rice wine is poured into stone containers and buried underground. The longer it ages, the better the quality: among the best varieties is Huadiao, so ask for that. In many restaurants in the city, this brown, nutty wine is served in adorable metal pewters.
Aniseed Beans (huixiang dou)
Nothing goes better with Shaoxing rice wine than a handful of salty broad beans. The variety you’ll find around town have a strong aniseed flavor as well as an overall umami effect. Their lasting popularity is thanks in part to 19th-century Chinese writer Lu Xun, who writes about a humble scholar who dines on Shaoxing wine and broad beans in his story ”Kong Yiji.”
The broad beans of your dreams
Braised Pork Belly and Fermented Greens (mei cai kou rou)
Take streaky, layered pork belly and shower it in Shaoxing wine, onion and ginger then surround it with fermented—but surprisingly tasty—veggies and you've got this beloved local dish.