As a world-famous traditional Hangzhou cuisine, Sister Song’s Fish Broth (called SongsaoYugeng in Chinese), dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279). It tastes like crab meat, and is lustrous in color, and creamy in taste.

According to the historical records, after the overturn of the Northern Song (960–1127), the Northern Song royal court and its people retreated to Ling’an which now is Hangzhou. Amongst those who followed was a woman called Song wusao. She settled down by West Lake with her brother-in-law, and tried to make a living by fishing. On one occasion her brother-in-law had a bad cold and Song wusao made him a bowl of special fish soup. It was a thick soup made with fish, pepper, ginger, wine, ham and vinegar. Shortly after her brother-in-law ate the fish soup, he recovered. Somehow Emperor Gaozong (the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty) tasted this special fish soup and spoke highly of it. Because of this, the fish soup’s reputation spread far and wide, and was named after Song wusao– Sister Song’s Fish Broth.

Where to eat: Lou Wai Lou, Zhi Wei Guan, Kui Yuan Guan and so on