Shizhu Water Shield Soup 石柱莼菜汤
Shizhu Water Shield Soup is featured among the local specialties of Chongqing.
Shizhu Water Shield Soup (石柱莼菜汤) is a broth of water shield (莼菜), a perennial plant of the water-lily group grown on the Huangshui (黄水) plateau of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County (石柱土家族自治县) in Chongqing.
The water shield
The county says that the largest water-shield planting base in China is now on the Huangshui plateau. Its fields lie within Huangshui National Forest Park (黄水国家森林公园), where they have become a sight in their own right, and the shoots are also sold in packaged form as a tourist product.
Where it comes from
Water shield has a long written history. Shizhu describes it as a tribute food of the past with more than 1,600 years of history, mentioned in the Book of Jin (晋书), and as one of the three famous foods of Jiangnan (江南), the lower Yangtze region, together with water bamboo (茭白) and perch. The county retells the story of Zhang Han (张翰), who gave up his official post and went home because he missed the water-shield broth and sliced perch of his native place.
In Shizhu the broth is part of Tujia (土家) food culture: the county lists "品莼羹" (tasting water-shield broth) alongside mountain delicacies and tea as a representative of a new Tujia way of eating.
How it is eaten
Besides the broth, Shizhu cooks the shoots with fish. In Water Shield Fish (莼菜鱼), Tujia cooks follow the old pairing of water shield and fish, using local bighead carp (花鲢) with top-grade shoots. The county describes it as light in flavour, with very tender fish slices that suit the water shield. It has been named a Shizhu specialty dish, and the Chongqing Cooking Association rated it a "康养名菜" (noted health dish).
