Barley gruel is definitely one of the features of Danyang. It is the special local food in Danyang and it tastes very good. Danyang is a small town in Jiangsu Province. Barley gruel is made of barley, rice and dietary alkali. Almost every family can cook this kind of porridge. There are some steps to make this porridge. First, you should buy barley flour and then mix water with flour in a certain proportation. When porridge is cooked, you need to add paste which is mixed well to the porridge, at the same time, you ought to stir them. After that, you can use a knife to cut down a piece of dietary alkali and add it to the pot. When the food turns yellow, it is well cooked.
Local people eat barley gruel as their breskfast and they often offer it to visitors. They are proud of this kind of food becasue they believe the story of it. When Qian Long came to Danyang,the officals couldn't take out expensive and delicate food. These officials were so worried about it. Lastly,they thought about berley gruel and they presented it to Qian Long. The emperor was so happy and said it tasted very good. Since then, local people are satisfied with it, and take pride in it.