[Video/ntjoy.com]

Hecai is an essential dish for Nantong locals during the Duanwu Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival. 

Ingredients include river shrimp, mung bean sprouts, leeks, sheet jelly, and egg sheets, which are placed into a pot in that order.

There is a legend about the origin of Hecai.

Once upon a time, when locals were happily preparing for the Duanwu Festival, Nantong was invaded by a group of seaborne outsiders.

Locals frantically fried a variety of ingredients for different dishes and threw them together to ensure that young soldiers rushing to the frontlines were sufficiently nourished. The soldiers were filled with energy and won an overwhelming victory.

Since then, every household has cooked the dish, now called hecai, on the Duanwu Festival to celebrate the victory and commemorate the martyrs.

The dish, combining meat and vegetables, is not only colorful but also nutritious. It goes well with either liquor or rice.

In addition to the Duanwu Festival, Nantong locals will also serve hecai when inviting friends or relatives for dinner, or hiring helpers during harvest seasons.