The Paper's reporter Wang Yu
When it comes to Henan cuisine, nine out of ten people would recommend peppery soup. In other words, when you go to Henan, not drinking a bowl of peppery soup is simply white.
When I sat in the taxi bound for the old city of Luoyang and emphasized this sentence to the driver master, the master quickly waved his hand, and in Mandarin with a thick Luoyang accent, smiled: "We love to drink soup here, and the most love is not Peppery Soup." ”
Luoyang Mingtang Paradise Scenic Area. Unless otherwise indicated, the pictures in this article are all pictures of The Paper's reporter Wang Yu
Endless Luoyang water mat
When you come to a strange city, it is not wrong to ask the driver about the local food, and the driver master will also be interested in sharing the origin behind the food with you.
My first stop was naturally to try the famous Luoyang water mat. It is said that luoyang water mat originated in the Tang Dynasty, as the traditional way of eating in Luoyang, together with the peony flower meeting, longmen grottoes, and called "Luoyang three gems". However, this dish, which is full of legends in the hearts of foreign diners, does not seem so unusual in the eyes of locals.
"Water mats used to be done by everyone, and red and white things were eaten," the driver master couldn't help but explain, "but the water mat has some history, do you know how it came from?" ”
The water mat originated in the Tang Dynasty, together with the Peony Flower Society and the Longmen Grottoes, and was called the "Three Gems of Luoyang". Visual China figure
According to legend, when Wu Zetian became emperor, Guotai Min'an, the wind and rain were smooth, and the local farmers in Luoyang harvested a large radish of more than 70 catties and offered it as a ruiwu. The emperor instructed the imperial cooks to make turnips into a dish, and the imperial cooks wondered what a radish could do? So I thought about it, and finally decided to cut the radish into strips, and then boil it into a soup with mountain treasures and seafood. Unexpectedly, after Tasting It, Wu Zetian was full of praise, and because he was grateful for the life-saving grace of eating radish at The Ganye Temple, he named it "Yi Dish". Later, because of its resemblance to bird's nest, "yicai" became "swallow dish", which has been passed down to this day.
In 1973, Premier Zhou and Foreign Minister Chen Yi accompanied Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau to visit the Longmen Grottoes, and this dish also appeared at the welcome dinner at that time, the center of the Swallow Dish was a peony flower made of eggs, Premier Zhou said after seeing it, "Luoyang Peony A world, now peony flowers even fly to the table, this dish is better to call peony swallow dish!" (According to the Friendship Hotel Chronicle)
The legendary history adds a lot of seductive colors to peony swallow dishes. As a result, it became the first opening dish of the water mat, often appearing on the table of major festivals. Nowadays, because of the development of tourism, foreign tourists come to visit, and in the streets and alleys of Luoyang, water mat restaurants can be seen everywhere.
In the streets and alleys of Luoyang, water mat restaurants can be seen everywhere.
Soon, we came to the "Luoyang Water Mat Garden", which is an old shop that has been specializing in water mats for 40 years, and the name of the shop on the plaque is personally inscribed by Mr. Huang Yongyu, a famous Chinese painting master. There are a total of 24 dishes in Luoyang Water Table, 8 cold dishes, 4 meat and 4 vegetarian dishes, plus 16 hot dishes, sweet, salty, sour and spicy. The number twenty-four also symbolizes the twenty-four years in which Wu Zetian took charge of the imperial government from the first year of Yonglong to the death of Shenlong in Luoyang in the first year of illness.
The water mat is very large, and there is no mouth to eat it at all, so the general tourists come to punch the clock, and only choose more representative dishes to taste fresh, such as peony swallow vegetables, soup meat slices, milk soup fat intestines, curd milk meat, fake sea cucumbers, charred croquettes, honey sweet potatoes and so on. The reason why it is called a water mat, in addition to eating the order of serving one by one, there is also an important reason, basically all hot dishes have soup, such as peony swallow vegetables, a large "peony flower" floating in the middle of the half pot of soup water, the soup bowl is also very large.
A large "peony flower" floats in the center of the half pot of soup water.
The peony swallow vegetables of "Luoyang Water Mat Garden" use "peony flowers" made of fruit dan skin, a large red flower is placed in the center, the bottom base is the main body, made of radish shreds, and the top is covered with egg shreds, ham shreds, cucumber shreds and so on.
Don't look at this soup as a clear soup, when I, a "bold and ignorant" southerner, scooped a large spoonful into the mouth, a stream of heat rushed into the nasal cavity unexpectedly, straight to the brain door, the spicy pepper and the acid of vinegar, stimulating tears to flow out. The shredded radish is very refreshing, there is no bitter taste at all, just enough to relieve the sourness of the soup.
It looks like a clear soup, but it's actually sour and spicy.
Another major feature of the water mat is that it is made of vegetarian meat, and the fake is substituted for the real. Fake sea cucumbers, for example, are made by chopping sweet potato noodles, fungus, and minced meat, and making them together with flour. And the scorched croquettes, when I heard the name, I thought it was a food similar to fried chicken and rice, but I didn't expect that when I served it, it was also full of soup and water, and the balls were vegetarian balls, and the raw materials were vermicelli, eggs and flour. In order to ensure that the balls are crisp, the waiter serves the soup base and then pours the fried balls into them while they are hot.
Scorched croquettes
"A bowl of soup in the morning, it is not appropriate to give a fairy"
The driver said that the peppery soup was first circulated in Xiaoyao Town, Xihua County, Zhoukou, Henan, so compared with Yuxi, the people of Eastern Henan love to drink Peppery Soup. But I think that Luoyang people's favorite soup is not Peppery Soup, perhaps because they have too many choices. In the breakfast shops on the street, in addition to peppery soup, there are beef soup, mutton soup, donkey meat soup... In addition to broth, there are also vegetarian soups such as ball soup, tofu soup, unturned soup and so on.
Luoyang people love to drink soup, there are many choices.
Do not turn the soup, in Luoyang is also known as the "Nine Houses Gate does not turn the soup", dating back to more than 100 years. The "no turning" in the soup is actually a mung bean cake, and the soup is very rich, and more than ten kinds of materials such as golden needles, vermicelli, leeks, kelp, coriander, and fungus are processed.
Luoyang is surrounded by mountains, rain is small and dry, the weather was cold in ancient times, and no fruit was produced, so folk meals mostly use soups, like sour and spicy to resist dry cold. This habit continues to this day, Luoyang people do not drink soup for a day, they feel that something is missing in life. And locals have a habit of drinking soup, that is, without a spoon, directly pick up the bowl to drink, you can continue the soup until you are full.
However, there is one point that foreign tourists must know, that is, to drink a good soup, must be early.
Beef soup
I have long heard that the Lijia Sandan Mutton Soup Restaurant located near the Longmen Grottoes has a good reputation. However, by the time I ran to see the noon meal, the boss had already closed the stall. When I inquired, I learned that the sheep soup restaurant began to sell the first pot of soup at five o'clock in the morning, because the business was good, and it sold out before ten o'clock. In other words, diners with good mouths are not qualified to sleep late.
If you pay close attention to the streets of Luoyang, you will find that many mutton soup restaurants will emphasize the name of "Baisha mutton soup" on their signs. So how different is "White Sand Lamb Soup"?
Baisha is a small town located in the eastern part of Yichuan County, Luoyang City, 12 kilometers from the county seat of Yichuan. Because it is located in the Baihui River Valley, where the land is fertile and rich in products, and since ancient times, it has been a transportation hub to Luoyang, Ruzhou, Ruyang, Song county, and Dengfeng City, with many merchants.
The people of Baisha Town took advantage of this to make mutton soup for peddling, and because of its delicious taste and hunger resistance, it soon became famous. In ancient times, "Xiang" was also harmonized with "sheep", and merchants ate mutton soup, which also had the meaning of praying for auspiciousness and good fortune.
Song Ji Old Baisha Mutton Restaurant Visual China Picture
Near the Longmen Grottoes, there happens to be a Song Ji Old Baisha Mutton Restaurant, which is a long-established brand. Entering the store, a giant fire-fired bun is displayed in a glass display case on the right hand side of the door.
That's right, the "soul mate" of white sand lamb broth is the fire steamed bun. The bun is tender on the outside and tender on the inside, it looks very hard and dry, but when it is put into the soup, it will immediately become soft, and in the past, it was a necessary dry food for foot traders.
The craftsmanship of making steamed buns already belongs to the intangible cultural heritage of Luoyang City.
Good lamb broth should be used 1-2 years old male goats, because this stage of sheep, good meat quality, less body fat, more muscle fiber. When boiling soup, the leg of lamb bone (large stick bone) and vertebrae are mainly used, and the stick bone is cut off from it, which can completely integrate the bone marrow into the sheep soup and make the soup more concentrated. Then boil over high heat for two hours, and then continue to cook on low heat for two to three hours, at this time, the bone marrow inside the sheep bone has been boiled out, and the mutton soup is milky white and looks very tempting. Add a little salt, spices, coriander, green onions, and an appropriate amount of cooked lamb and sheep blood to the soup, so that a bowl of lamb soup that the luoyang people can't resist is completed.
The mutton soup is creamy white and looks very tempting. Infographic
The hot fire bun is broken a little bit, immersed in the mutton soup, the crushed bun that has sucked the soup juice becomes soft, but it will not be soft, and the noodle aroma of the bun is also mixed with the deliciousness of the lamb soup, and between chewing, the feeling of the soup flowing freely in the mouth makes people feel happy.
In Luoyang, in addition to soup with steamed buns, you can also see another way to eat, that is, with shredded cakes, cut the cooked cake into thin strips, grab a handful, soak in the soup, it looks like noodles, but it is very chewy.
Break the hot steamed bun little by little and dip it in the lamb soup.
In the Song Ji Old Baisha Lamb Restaurant, a bowl of mutton soup is only 10 yuan, if you want to eat more meat, you can add money. But even the most basic, lamb and sheep blood are also very large, and there is no smell at all, coupled with 2 yuan a fire steamed bun. No wonder the people of Luoyang said, "A bowl of soup in the morning is not appropriate to give a god."
Lamb and sheep's blood don't smell at all.
"Pulp rice three times, take the meat and do not change"
As the food city of the Central Plains, Luoyang certainly has a rich night market culture.
Newcomers generally go to the Octagonal Loujin Street, also known as the "Cross Street", located on the West Street and East Avenue in the old town of Luoyang, which is said to have been first formed in Jinzhongjing (1214 AD) and built on the site of the Eastern Capital of the Sui and Tang Dynasties (then known as the "Eastern Capital") dongcheng, and has been a gathering place for merchants since ancient times.
There is a saying in Luoyang: "If you don't go to Lijingmen, you will come to Luoyang City in vain." Lijingmen was founded in the Sui Dynasty, is the western gate of the ancient city of Luoyang, its city walls are thick, the moon city is magnificent, and the bell and drum towers of The East Avenue echo, which is the most distinctive landmark building of the old city.
The small street gathers a lot of Luoyang special snacks, especially during the holidays. However, many locals feel that the taste is not authentic, but sitting on the side of the quaint street, eating meat and drinking in large bowls, it is also a pleasure.
Cross Street gathers a lot of Luoyang special snacks. Visual China figure
Around a corner, I saw a lot of people sitting around, sneaking around, sucking on something. The appearance of the small shop is very inconspicuous, not very clean, there are few tables, but there are many diners, and even the temporary large wooden table is full of people.
A small shop on the street selling pulp noodles and sweet noodles.
The hostess saw me looking around curiously and politely told me that the diners were eating a traditional Snack in Luoyang called "Pulp Noodles".
Legend has it that during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu ran day and night to avoid Wang Mang's pursuit, and did not enter the water for several days. One night, I went to the vicinity of Luoyang, saw a family, and wanted to ask for some food. But the owner was poor, with only a few handfuls of dried noodles, and some slurry water that had been ground with sour mung beans. Liu Xiu was hungry and couldn't take care of much, so the master used sour pulp to cook the noodles, vegetable leaves, and miscellaneous beans into the pot. Liu Xiu devoured it and ate it with relish. Later, Liu Xiu became emperor, although there were mountains and treasures and seafood to enjoy every day, but he still remembered the pulp noodles in the disaster, so there was a dish of pulp noodles in the imperial banquet.
From this story, it can be found that the practical use of pulp noodles is not a valuable ingredient, but a sour pulp fermented with mung bean milk, adding noodles and diced sour cabbage, cucumber diced, diced celery, diced carrots, squeezed vegetable shreds, snow cabbage diced, soybeans and other side dishes made, the appearance looks like a pot of stewed batter, the price is also very economical, three or four pieces can drink a large bowl.
Pulp noodles
The sourness of the noodle soup, the first time friends may not be used to it, so you can sprinkle some leek sauce or chili oil to neutralize its own taste. But the people of Luoyang are obsessed with the acid of this sour pulp, and feel that it is both appetizing and helpful for digestion, especially in autumn and winter, drinking a bowl hotly, and the whole person is comfortable.
"After this pulp noodle is cooled, reheat it and eat it, the taste will be even better." A diner sitting at the next table introduced me. He said that there is also a local saying in Luoyang, "The pulp and rice are hot three times, and the meat is not changed", which shows the status of pulp noodles in the minds of the people of Luoyang.
"In the past, people who sold sour slurry would carry their burdens and sell them in the streets. When we were young, we bought some and went home and made our own noodles at home, which we can only eat in restaurants now. The diner at the adjacent table sighed.
Indeed, sometimes people's fascination with a delicacy is like this, not needing how expensive the ingredients are, how complex and delicate the preparation, but just searching for a memory of the past in its taste, and this taste, like this ancient city, becomes more and more fascinating with the passage of time.
Editor-in-Charge: Ying Xu
Proofreader: Shi Gong