Jinhu Traditional Meat Soup Introduction
Lin Jiao, affectionately known as "A-Jiao Grandma," was born in 1951. When her son was in the fourth grade of elementary school, she and her husband set up a stall selling pan-fried buns to supplement the family income. Later, they shifted to selling meat soup, meat rice dumplings, and milkfish soup, eventually becoming well-known for their traditional-style meat soup, which has become a local specialty in the Jinhu area. A-Jiao Grandma's meat soup is made in two parts: the meat and the soup. For the meat, pork is shredded and mixed with seasonings and fish paste; when the water is boiling, chunks of the mixture are dropped in to cook, then cooled for later use. The soup is prepared by adding shredded bamboo shoots, seasonings, rock sugar, bonito flakes, and crispy garlic to boiling water, with beaten eggs added at the end. If bamboo shoots are unavailable, Shandong cabbage is used as a substitute. When a customer orders, the pre-prepared meat is briefly cooked in the soup pot before being served in a bowl with vinegar. The noodle soup is made by ladling the meat soup over precooked oil noodles. In addition to meat soup, A-Jiao Grandma also sells meat rice dumplings filled with pork, scallions, and glutinous rice, all wrapped in bamboo leaves. The milkfish is locally sourced, and A-Jiao Grandma personally removes the fish bones, ensuring that her milkfish soup is bone-free.
