anhui food and the other 7 chinese grand cuisines

Before I leave China, I have one single goal: to eat the eight grand cuisines of China.  These are the provinces that were around back in the good old days, before the...well, before.  

The list is: 徽 (Anhui), 粤 (Cantonese), 闽 (Fujian), 湘 (Hunan), 苏 (Jiangsu), 鲁 (Shandong), 浙 (Zhejiang), and last but certainly not least, 川 (Sichuan).

Last night, we experienced Anhui cuisine at the Anhui Hotel Restaurant, which is run by the Anhui provincial government.  A light, spicy group of dishes, consisting of, and I quote:

"Mutton Noodle Hotpot"

"Three Rivers Slightly Fried"

"Hakka's Attrition Bean Curd"

"Casserole Celery"

The mutton noodle hotpot was your normal noodle hotpot suspended above canned heat.  Which is quite good...It begins as a lamb noodle soup, but as the meal moves on, the broth slowly evaporates, and imbuing the noodles and lamb with a delicous flavor.  

I'm not sure what the three rivers in the second dish were, but one of them was dou ban, or a type of tofu...I think...whatever...it's flavors were subtle and the kick was in a pleasant aftertaste.

Anhui is known for it's tofu, and if this restaurant is the bar, they should be famous for it.  The texture (tofu is certainly not known for it's taste) of the tofu was the lightest I've had.  It was like biting into a soft custard.  The sauce over it was tasty as well, but I was too focused on the delightful texture.

Finally, the Celery Casserole.  I have never seen celery like this.  As thin as grass, it looked like someone had fried up a cow's favorite meal, and sliced some incredibly spicy peppers on top.  This long grass looking stuff, if examined closely, did have the curvature and tubular structure of celery.  It was incredible.  And extremely spicy.  A nice clean crunch followed by some strong spice.  My favorite dish.

This meal was a homerun.  If the rest of these meals are as good, I will be a happy fellow.