Dalianis located in the north temperate zone, with an annual average temperature incoastal waters around10 ℃, annual averagerainfall between 550-950 mmand ocean salinity about 30 ‰. According toFisheries scientists, marine products in the area with a salinity of 24-35 ‰ carry the mostabundant nutrition and taste the most delicious. Dalian is rich in fish,shrimp, crab, shellfish, and algae, and is one of the most important aquaticproduct bases in China. Dalian cuisine is mainly based on seafood, and hasformed its own unique style by adopting the merits of both Chinese and foreigncooking.
Someof the famous Dalian dishes are "braised whole shrimp," "steamedlantern abalone," "steamed red snapper", "five-coloredsnowflake scallops", "fried conches", "braised seafooddelicacies", "salted fish and pancake", "Dalian shrimppaste, " "fried sea intestine", "Seafood delicacies and seacucumber", "mixed sea jelly", "pearl sea urchin" andso on. The five-colored snowflake scallops— colorful, tender, and delicious,are light and refreshing，always pleasing to the tongue; Dalian abalone, which iscrowned as "the top seafood" has been one of the “eight treasures”since ancient times. It is tender in meat, fresh but not greasy, rich innutrition, and adds endless flavor in dishes or soup. Dalian sea cucumber: seacucumber is one of the most valuable seafood with high protein, low fat, andlow cholesterol. In summer time, sea cucumber in broth is appropriate, which islight and refreshing, while during winter time, braised sea cucumber is thebest, which carries a mellow flavor.
In addition,street food is the best taste of the local folks. Walking and eating in thestreets of Dalian, the most you can feel is a blend of cultures drawn fromdifferent areas. Pancakes selling in carts, yummy steamed bun with marinated meat, small sophisticated octopus balls,crystal candied hawthorn with sweet and sour taste, silky pearl milk tea,golden crisp Portuguese egg tart, Xinjiang shish kebob with that nice smellalong the street... almost all the coveted snacks originated from differentregions can be found in Dalian. Of course, let’s not forget Menzi, which is uniqueto Dalian, its pudding-like quality brings the fresh flavor of soy sauce andgarlic into its best, plus the crunchy fried skin. Licking your lips, you musthave found the real delicacy.
