Do you know? China's favorite place to eat geese is Guangdong! In September 2020, the data released by the Guangdong Goose Industry Innovation and Development Alliance when it was established showed that Guangdong produces about 120 million meat geese every year, and the number of breeding geese is about 10 million, accounting for about one-fifth of the country. There are many delicacies in Jiangmen that are related to geese, of which the ancient well roast goose is the most famous. Recently, Nandu reporters drove to Xinhui District of Jiangmen City to find the taste of ancient well roasted geese.
Pick a goose
"The goose is about 50 days old and weighs almost 7 pounds"
Cars sped along Jiangmen Avenue, and the scenery on both sides of the road soon changed from a high-rise urban area to an quaint Lingnan countryside.
There are more than 20 roast goose shops in Tianchengwei, Gujing Town, and the smell of roast goose can be smelled everywhere on the street. The Hengyi roast goose we visited is a famous roast goose brand in Gujing Town. Under the leadership of Lu Rixin, director of Gujing Hengyi Food Co., Ltd. and known as the "third brother", Nandu reporters experienced the entire process of Gujing roast goose from goose selection, sauce mixing to firing.
The goose farm is located at the foot of the mountain a few miles away from Gujing Town, with green mountains and water, like a peach garden. Hundreds of black-maned geese, some lying in the shade of trees, some in the pond. "We generally choose geese that are about 50 days old, weigh about 7 pounds, and the meat is not old and tender." Lü Rixin said that the black-maned goose has a mane-shaped black-brown feather belt from the top of the head along the neck to the body, which has the characteristics of "three blacks" (mouth, hair, and feet black), "three thin" (head, neck, and bone) and "one short" (short feet).
make
Each roast goose shop has its own unique sauce
The blending of sauce is the soul of the ancient well roast goose, and each roast goose shop has its own unique secret recipe, and Hengyi roast goose is no exception. At the Hengyi Roast Goose Headquarters, Lü Rixin demonstrated the process of mixing sauce: he took out a slaughtered goose and put the sauce containing spice powder such as cinnamon and star anise and soy sauce into the goose belly. Then, blow hard to make the goose swell and bulge. Once bandaged, put the goose in a mixture of red vinegar and maltose. The goose that has been filled with the material undergoes the "double heaven of ice and fire" of boiling water and freezing, and then it is fired.
There is a wood yard at the hengyi roast goose headquarters, and many lychee trees are stacked. Stacked at least a year of lychee wood, less smoke and fire, fired roast goose, golden and bright color, rich aroma penetrates into the skin and flesh of the roast goose, eat crisp and tender meat, dipped in goose juice, the taste is tender and sweet. Such a roast goose is even praised by Hong Kong gourmet Mr. Cai Lan.
industry
The roast goose food street will be built into a rural tourism route
There is also a folklore about the roast goose in the ancient well.
At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, after the End of the Battle of Yamen in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, a court cook fled to the west bank of Yinzhou Lake and opened a roast goose shop, and later his daughter married into an ancient well on the east bank of Yinzhou Lake, and the art of roasting geese was passed down from generation to generation, which has a history of more than 700 years.
Since the 21st century, the ancient well roast goose has ushered in a rapid development. In 2009, "Gujing Roast Goose" was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Jiangmen City. With the strong support of the local government, gujing roast goose has grown from a local specialty cuisine and folk handicraft to an important industry driving local economic development.
Chen Siliang, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Gujing Town, Xinhui District, introduced that since 2019, Gujing Town has invested more than 25 million yuan to upgrade and transform the roast goose street in two phases, and the block transformation highlights the themes of "roast goose food" and "royal culture", and builds the roast goose food street into a rural tourism route full of ancient well cultural characteristics. In the second phase of the upgrading project, the work of third-line transformation, roadway maintenance, and traffic optimization is also carried out at the same time. Through the upgrading and transformation of Roast Goose Street, the radiation has driven the tourism development of ancient villages such as Xialu, Zhoulang, Cixi, and Guanchong in the surrounding areas, and the tourism economy and culture of Gujing Town have been enhanced as a whole.
In recent years, Gujing Town has successfully held the Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival, the "Rural Cultural Tourism Festival and the Gujing Roast Goose Food Festival", which has brought the Gujing Roast Goose to increase tourism income and established the tourism brand of Gujing. Gujing Town Tiancheng Wei Roast Goose Food Street was rated as Jiangmen City's 2019 "Top Ten Internet Celebrity Punch card". In 2020, Gujing Town was awarded "Chinese Gastronomic Characteristic Town" and "2020 National Top 100 Tourist Destinations". Chen Siliang said that in the next step, Gujing Town plans to continue to upgrade the Xialu Tiancheng Wei Roast Goose Food Street, build a tourist service center, provide tourists with quality services and show the history and culture of Gujing Roast Goose.
Large rice paddies, well-preserved old mansions, roasted geese with the scent of lychee wood... The beautiful scenery of the Lingnan countryside and the traditional food culture meet here.
From the Southern Song Dynasty to today, through seven hundred years of history, the ancient well, a town that did not want to go.
Zhuzhongjiang News Department, Pearl River Delta Visualization Studio, co-produced
Planner: Tian Shuangyue, Pan Jinsong, Li Ping
Coordinator: Zeng Yujun Tan Weishan
Written by: Nandu reporter Zeng Yujun Luo Yunzi Luo Zhongming Yan Liang Correspondent Yang Xiaokun Chen Huixin
Photo: Nandu reporter Tan Weishan Chen Hui Xu Yanling trainee reporter Ye Junting