Impressions of Wenzhou: People of excellence, land of wisdom (2)

2. Gourmet heaven

A cook makes fish pallet, the most famous Ou Cuisine. (People's Daily Online/He Zhuoyan)

As a coastal city surrounded by mountains, Wenzhou is famous for its lightly flavoured seafood and fresh meat dishes. It is said that the local cooking, known as Ou cuisine, is made up of over 30 cooking methods and more than 250 recipes.

Raw Swimming Crab. (People's Daily Online/He Zhuoyan)

Ou cuisine is known for its fresh, soft flavour and mellow fragrance, and is less greasy than its counterparts in other parts of China. Raw Swimming Crab, a traditional Wenzhou dish, is fairly typical of Ou cuisine. Fresh crabs from the Ou River in Wenzhou are cut into pieces and then seasoned with vinegar, soybean sauce, rice wine and other secret sauces for at least one hour. The sauces soften the shells, reducing the fishy smell of the crabs, and making it easier to suck out the meat.

Another traditional Ou snack is fish pellet, which can be found in any restaurant or stall in the city. The pellet is made of fresh sea fish and boiled with seasoned soup. The fish meat is tender and soaked in tasty juice, and releases tantalising aromas, not to mention being very good for the health.