What snacks are People eating in Gangnam?
We talked to the old Tongli people in Tongli Town.
How to make snacks at snack bars in Gangnam?
We talked to the owner and master of the first dim sum shop in Tongli.
Shen Sitie and Shen Sitie, a member of the Nanyuan Tea House, and a famous artist in Wujiang, have been stationed in the Tongli Nanyuan Tea House for a long time. During the banquet, there were Shen Father, Shen Mother and all the relatives and friends, all of whom were critics and votes, and they were also born in the "old Tongli" who grew up in Si.
Photography / Zhang Lutang
Sock sole puff pastry is the most distinctive pastry in Tongli, named for its resembling a shoe sole (sock sole). The main ingredients for making sock bottom puff pastry are flour and lard, supplemented by sugar, salt, chopped shallots, sesame seeds, etc., which are inexpensive and popular.
The main entrance of the tea house came in, and the water stains on the green brick floor had not yet dried. The seven-star stove by the window on the left is reflected in it, and the steam in the hanging is churning out. On the counter on the right-hand side, all kinds of tea are lined up, including Biluochun and Longjing, which are native to Jiangnan, and Pu'er and Tieguanyin, which have become more popular among locals in recent years. The theater is on the second floor, pick up the steps, and look up to see the plaque of "South Yanxiao City" hanging in the middle. The black paint on the handrail of the staircase is smooth and shiny by the tea customers who have been coming and going for hundreds of years, and the edges reveal the natural texture of teak.
The space on the second floor is much brighter, and sitting down facing the stage, an old gentleman with a suit and shirt and meticulously combed hair approached, brought a cup of lidded tea, a basket of sunflower seeds, and a plate of sock bottom puff pastry, making a "please" gesture. The legacy of the Republic of China from the early 20th century is inadvertently revealed from the tranquility of this tea, the simplicity of refreshments, and the elegance of the squire. Immersed in the aroma of tea and ancient rhyme, I forgot why I was here for a while, until the neighboring table was full, and only then did I return to God, seeing that the person with a clear face was Shen Sitie, who was busy getting up and greeting each other. After taking a seat, Shen Sitie introduced everyone at the same table one by one, among whom the two elderly people who were old were Shen Father and Shen Mother. Talking about the memories of tongli when they were young, the two are still as clear as yesterday.
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"That's the old society..." It seems that the old people like to use the word "old society" to refer to the watershed of the times before the founding of New China, emphasizing the watershed of the times. Father Shen laughed, and the freedom in his words was a firm determination to never return to the era of insufficient food and clothing. There are also hotels, originally called Yichangfu, and later the Volkswagen Hotel, after the opening of spring every year, the yellow eel is listed, and the yellow eel is probably the earliest they made, and later spread out from tongli.
It used to be like this almost the end of the year, and the popcorn in Guxiang Village was also bought by many people. New Year's Festival to eat more, we have to eat waist cake on February 2nd, before and after the Qingming Dynasty wine stuffed cake, malt collapse cake, June 6 eat wontons, noodles, the New Year will eat big meat steamed buns. There are also April 14th Immortals, June 23 sprinkling water, the fire fighting meeting at that time, is the sprinkler competition organized by industry associations such as the fire brigade, people all come to the river to see, at this time adults will always buy a little food for the children, the orange red cake and long-lived fruit in the triangle bag are not delicious, hidden in the pocket to eat slowly ..."
After speaking, he lifted the tea boat, opened the lid of the bowl, took a sip of Biluochun, and tasted it for a long time before entering the throat.
Photography / Lee Qiangqiang
▲Bursting small fish.
"We didn't have any of that at the time, and we didn't see the sprinklers." Shen Sitie and several ticket holders recalled their young Tongli on the side, "Tongli, the best pastry, I ate wine cake when I was a child, that skin is really thin, full of red bean paste is their own fried, just baked cake outside is crisp, bite down the inside of the melted lard overflowing in the mouth ... Can't eat anywhere else, really not. Some of my classmates went to work and asked me to send them every year. ”
Photography / Bi Linzhong
▲Sake stuffed cake.
Speaking of this, the people on the side responded one after another and said, "Yes, there is really no food in other places." Listening to the undisguised pride in these tones, I remembered that when I was a child, I also watched my mother make wine cakes, and I didn't need too complicated craftsmanship, and the thin skin and thick filling were willing to put the ingredients in the process of making, and I pursued the perfection of quality at any cost.
"Now it's not as good as before," Shen Sitie casually picked up the sock bottom crisp in a piece of food plate, "Before, the sesame seeds on this top were all in the middle, and the master was careful, and he wouldn't get it to the side like this..." I think or before there was a shortage of ingredients, there would be this kind of care and concentration. It is no wonder that the thickness of objects and craftsmanship has often become a lament of a generation. And these simple, simple concentrations write the original memory of the Tongli people for taste.
Xu Lianzhang. Tongli people, engaged in the traditional snack industry for more than 40 years, Tongli's first snack shop owner and master.
Photography / Liu Xiaoling
▲The steamed green dumplings are placed on the table, adding a touch of warmth to the winter morning in Tongli.
When he came to the busiest street in Tongli along the river, Xu Lianzhang, who first stepped into the shop, was only 18 years old, had just graduated from school, and was assigned to the state-run dim sum shop as an apprentice. Watching the teachers and the noodles, the skin, the pot and soup... At that time, he probably wouldn't have thought that this cumbersome and physically demanding task would be done for a lifetime.
Three o'clock in the morning is the time when Xu Lianzhang wakes up every day, and the biological clock formed by more than 40 years of habit works better than any alarm clock. Whether it's winter or heat, the town is always quiet before dawn. Xu Lianzhang stepped on his own shadow and walked to the paving surface located in the bamboo row, removing the wooden planks of the store door piece by piece.
For more than 40 years, the old street has changed its face many times, and only this small shop is still in its original position, selling the same dim sum. The ravioli skin is the first thing to do every day, and the dough is kneaded by hand to the tendons and put into a dough machine that has been used since the 20th century and cut into a semi-transparent shape. Then wash the pot, while boiling water began to wrap three or four bowls of wontons, until the water is also boiled, the briquettes inside and outside the stove are ready, the eight immortals tables and chairs in the store are all arranged neatly, Master Xu's wife came to the store to start helping.
Two people assign the process, although it is also busy, but the cooperation is quite tacit, this side kneading noodles and steaming buns, this side of the flaming malt cake over there to cut plum vegetable filling, this side will make green dumplings pumpkin leaves milled on the other side with chicken head rice under the pot and rice red beans to cook porridge ... Soon the types of dim sum on the menu were almost ready.
Xu Lianzhang pointed to a curtain in the kitchen with the words "State-run Catering Service Company" written on it: "In the past, we were all public, but in 2000, we were transferred to private ownership, and the employees in the store voted collectively, and then they were transferred to me." Although it is bitter or tired, I am not used to it if I don't do it. The year before yesterday, this side said to renovate the old house, to close the shop, I did not sleep for a few days, and then said that it was not repaired or maintained the original appearance, I got up at three o'clock the next day to work. ”
▼ Speaking of this, Master Xu and his wife, who have always been unsmiling, looked at each other and couldn't help but smile.
Whenever we talk about the past, elderly people always talk endlessly, and so does Master Xu and his wife. They spoke melodiously in tongli dialect, recalling every change in the shop.
From the repair of the stove to the placement of the counter at the door, witness the changes in the small shops, and also witness the changes in the people coming and going to The Tongli. The lady boss said frankly that the original store only sold wontons and small dumplings, in order to meet the tastes of the guests, they studied and learned from the master, and the varieties were more and more; recently heard the guests say that the scallion oil cake had not been eaten for many years, and the boss explored on his own to restore the taste in his memory; there was no spicy stuff in the store before, and the people in the same place did not eat spicy, but there were more people outside, and there was hot sauce on the table. The innovation of this innovation, but the old dim sum still retains the traditional practice of Tongli. "There are a lot of flavors in the snacks on the market now," said the hostess, "the taste of ribs, the taste of beef, as long as a bag of spices can be made." But we still only use our own boiled lard, add some soy sauce and green onions, simple, this taste for decades. ”
Photo by Nguyen Chuan Khieu
▲The home-made sausages have different tastes and carry the taste memories that are exclusive to each household.
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- Article | Authentic