Ou cuisine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ou cuisine
Wenzhou Glutinous Rice, One of the notable dish of Ou Cuisine, ranked Top 10 snacks in Ou Cuisine
Chinese	瓯菜
Traditional Chinese	甌菜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Ōu cài

Ou cuisine, also called Wenzhou cuisine, is a special way of cooking from the city of Wenzhou in China. It's one of the four main styles of Zhejiang cuisine, which is part of China's eight big cooking traditions. Wenzhou used to be called DongOu. Later, experts decided to use this old name to make the food more famous, calling it "Ou cai."

Ou cuisine is known for using lots of fresh seafood. The dishes taste light, fresh, and not too strong. When chefs cook, they focus on "light oil, light thickening, and heavy knife action." This means they don't use too much oil or thick sauces. Instead, they are very skilled with their knives to prepare the ingredients.

History of Ou Cuisine

Long ago, people in the area where Ou cuisine comes from ate a lot of fish and seafood. Old records show they cooked fish soup and ate fruits, vegetables, and clams. Another ancient book says that people in the southeast loved eating fish, mussels, snails, and clams. They didn't even think these foods tasted "fishy."

People living in the Ouyue region, where Wenzhou is today, even considered snakes and clams to be special treats. Over time, these simple eating habits grew and improved. This is how the unique cooking style we now call Ou cuisine slowly developed.

Famous Ou Dishes

To help people discover more about the food of Zhejiang province, a special event was held in 2021. It was called "Hundred counties and thousand bowls - Ou cuisine top ten series of dishes." During this event, experts chose the top ten dishes in different groups. These groups included hot dishes, cold dishes, snacks, desserts, and modern dishes.

Top Hot Dishes

Here are some of the most popular hot dishes from Ou cuisine:

Top Cold Dishes

Ou cuisine also has many delicious cold dishes:

Ou Cuisine Top Ten Cold Dishes 2021

Dish Images	English	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin	What it is
	Wenzhou fish cake	温州鱼饼	Wēnzhōu yú bǐng	A popular fish cake from Wenzhou.
Wenzhou duck tongue	温州鸭舌	wēnzhōu yā shé	Duck tongues that are marinated and partly dried, making them chewy.
Wenzhou River Crab	温州江蟹生	wēnzhōu jiāng xiè shēng	A raw river crab dish from Wenzhou.
Hijiki salad	凉拌羊栖菜	liángbàn yáng qī cài	A refreshing salad made with hijiki seaweed.

Popular Snacks

Many tasty snacks are part of Ou cuisine, perfect for a quick bite:

Ou Cuisine Top Ten Snacks 2021

Dish Images	English	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin	What it is
	Wenzhou wonton	温州馄饨	Wēnzhōu húntún	A type of dumpling soup popular in Wenzhou.
Wenzhou Fish Balls	温州鱼丸	Wēnzhōu yú wán	Fish made into small, round balls.
	Wenzhou glutinous rice	温州糯米饭	Wēnzhōu nuòmǐ fàn	Steamed glutinous rice topped with fried dough pieces and meat sauce. It's a favorite breakfast in Wenzhou.
Wenzhou Fried Noodles	温州炒粉干	Wēnzhōu chǎo fěn qián	Stir-fried rice vermicelli noodles from Wenzhou.

Sweet Desserts

Don't forget the delicious desserts from Ou cuisine!