Jiangsu dishes offer a legacy of rice wine

More than 2,000 years ago, people in the ancient Yue State, where Yangzhou city of Jiangsu province is today, were already using Chinese wine and wine lees to flavor food. By the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the two cooking methods had become quite common in ordinary families' kitchens.

Both are featured on a new menu designed to "retain the old flavors" at Nanjing Impressions, a restaurant chain that is headquartered in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, and has outlets in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuhan in Hubei province, and elsewhere. The popular eatery attracts both foreign and Chinese diners with its distinctive Nanjing-style food. The food is a sub-category of Huaiyang cuisine, one of the four major cuisines in China, which is characterized by fresh ingredients and light flavors.

The new summer menu is themed "zuimei jiangnan", literally "drunk, beautiful regions south of the Yangtze River".