There are lots of snacks in Nanjing and among them the most famous snacks are those at the Temple of Confucius in Nanjing. “The Eight Unique of Qinghuai” becomes the name of the snacks at the Temple of Confucius which has a long history with more than 80 varieties. Eight snacks among them have the most delicious taste, so in September 1987, the experts named these eight snacks “The Eight Unique of Qinghuai”.

The Confucius Temple snacks are quite attractive, the “color, smell, taste and shape” pose a poetic mood for the tourists. In spring you can eat the sesame seed cake with shepherd’s purse in it, meat bun, sixi sweet dumplings; in summer there are thousand-layer cakes, blooming steamed buns and bean jelly waiting for you; in autumn, you can enjoy the turnip strips cake and the duck blood pudding and vermicelli soup; in winter you can eat crystal buns and beancurd jelly.

Strategy of eating snacks at the Temple of Confucius
Beef-stuffed Guotie( Lightly Fried Dumplings)
The most significant feature of the Beef-stuffed Guotie is sweet and salty with the crispy skin and the succulent fillings. If you bite the Guotie at a gulp, the juice will spray, however if you bite too implicitly, you won't enjoy yourself to the full. Jiangyouji is a 100-year-old restaurant and famous for the Beef Soup and Beef-stuffed Guotie. To make beef soup, the chef selects some prime beef, soaks it in water to remove the blood, then stews it after adding scallions, ginger and salt. When the beef is done, remove the beef, let if cool and then slices it into thin slices. To eat, add beef slices to the boiling beef soup. The soup and beef are both delicious and non-greasy.

Spiced Eggs
Spiced Eggs is a kind of snack, traditionally refer to those which are failed to be hatched. Boil the eggs, remove the shells, and boil again in a pot with more than 10 kinds of species, including aniseeds, cassia bark and cloves, plus soy sauce and sugar. Stew on a low heat. When the eggs turn purple, remove and serve. The eggs are slightly salty and sweet, tender, fragrant and delicious. The reason why people in Nanjing like to eat this kind of food is that Spiced Eggs are not only delicious but also very nutritive.

Beancurd jelly
To make jellied beancurd, use good soy bean as the raw material. First, grind the soy beans together with water and sift it through a gauze. Pour the soy bean milk into a bucket and add gypsum which will make it coagulate. To serve, put the jellied beancurd in a bowl and sprinkle with diced edible fungus, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pork, and hot pickled mustard tuber. Finally add seasonings such as sesame oil, soy sauce, MSG, sugar, and chopped scallion. The beancurd is as white as jade and if the seasonings are properly matched, the snack is simply delicious.
These snacks introduced above are only the tip of an iceberg, if having the chance you can experience the delicious food by yourself!