Shaoxing: Spice of Life - Sauce of Life

The Lunar New Year is around the corner, so does the annual practice of curing their world-renowned meats to utter, delicious perfection.

Through a delicate combination of local century-old brand Renchang Soy Sauce’s magical blends, and the best local produce, farmers from all four corners of the town set to work curing everything from sausages, duck, fish, quil, ribs, and a myriad of other Shaoxing specialties to a salty, sweet science, through secret blends of soy sauce, yellow rice wine, and spices, combined with the powers of the frigid winter sun. The sight of cured meats hanging from every possible height down Anchang’s every charming alley has become as much a part of the town itself as the residents who bring it to life…

A town of historical and cultural renown throughout Zhejiang and beyond, its more than 1,000-year history has perfectly preserved the folk customs of its ancient Wuyue ancestors. Before and after each winter’s Great Snow solar term, the people of Anchang take advantage of the frigid winter sun to create and cure the region’s local delicacies, honoring a millennium of tradition. Black, red, bright, salty, and delicious all at once, Anchang’s cured meats and other culinary delights are not only its staple winter food - but its calling card year-round.

And none of those delights enjoy more fame throughout the province and the nation than Anchang sausage - a specialty said to have its roots in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. In September and October 2010, Anchang sausage was included in the fourth edition of the intangible cultural heritage registry of Shaoxing County and Shaoxing City, respectively.