Taiwan Night Market, Shilin Sausage. Photography by Jasrelle Serrano; photo/unsplash
-Fengwujun Language-
In Taiwan, the hand-grabbed cake is from Tianjin
In Tianjin, the hand-grabbed cake is Taiwanese
No doubt, it's just that amazing
As a Taiwanese compatriot, sometimes I really wonder if I am a fake Taiwanese.
For example, in any city in the mainland of my motherland, I will always encounter "Taiwanese snacks that I have never seen before": Taiwanese hand-grabbed cakes, Taiwanese grilled sausages, Taiwanese ice powder, Taiwanese coconut milk, Taiwanese fish cakes, Taiwan bento (is this a snack?!). ）......
Taiwan Railway Bento, very Taiwanese, but this is not a snack... Photo/Visual China
In front of the touristy attractions, in the night market where diners are shoulder to shoulder, in the CBD where office workers run, or even the breakfast shop by the subway station, they may appear coldly, making my heart tremble slightly, as if the smell of hometown is coming, but then there is a question mark:
What kind of rice bowl cake is this? (Translation: What the hell is this?) ）
"Taiwanese grilled sausages", Taiwan compatriots are full of question marks. Figure/Figureworm Creative
These "Taiwanese snacks" I have not only never eaten, but also never seen them in my hometown. Every encounter inspires my first question: Where did I come from?
Let's just say this "Taiwanese hand-grabbed cake". It looked a bit like the middle of chicken rolls and pancake fruit, a pan-fried mille-feuille with sausages, greens and eggs rolled in. The point is that I searched for half a day in my memory, and I couldn't find its counterpart in Taiwan, the treasure island of our country.
"Taiwan grabs the cake by hand", Taiwan compatriots are still full of question marks. Figure/Figureworm Creative
What does the hometown cake taste like? I think of the night market near my hometown, the small shallot oil cake stall, the shop brushed the iron plate with thick oil, and a few pieces of cake sounded in the aroma of green onions. In the dim light, a smell of green onions and fireworks came over me, and I remembered the person, the summer night I couldn't forget...
Suddenly, a passionate "here comes the old brother" dragged me back to reality.
Taiwan shallot oil cake. It was actually brought by immigrants from the north of the continent. Photo/Snack Diary
Oops. Old aunt don't do this, don't bring such a ruined atmosphere ah...
Taiwan hand grab cake vs Tianjin green onion grab cake
Taiwan really doesn't have hand-grabbed cakes. Its real body on Treasure Island is a vigorous five big characters: Tianjin Onion Scratch Cake.
It's right on Taipei Yongkang Street. Tianjin people are full of question marks. Graph/Network
In 2001, in Yongkang Street, Taipei, there was a shoe shop. The boss was a provincial man, who happened to fly to the mainland that year to play in the mountains and rivers, and encountered a food that fascinated him in Tianjin - Jinan Oil Spinning. He found that this oil spinning cake seemed simple, but it was very skilled, and the whole cake was crunchy due to the layered crispness. This is the taste that treasure island Taiwan did not have at that time.
Jinan oil swirl. As for why Shandong noodles ran to Tianjin, this is another story... Figure/Figureworm Creative
After the boss returned to Taipei, he simplified the production method of oil swirling, making the cake noodles larger, the number of layers reduced, becoming fluffy, and then adding the pepper and salt flavor that the locals liked, and the prototype of "Taiwanese hand-grabbed cake" was born.
As for how to choose a name, it is really a problem. In Taiwan, called "Taipei Hand Cake", there must be no market; if it is called "Shandong Oil Spin", there are too many local "Shandong cuisine" (Shandong big steamed buns, Shandong old dumplings...). ), there is no advantage; why not, just call Tianjin onion scratch cake?
Delicious on the line, Shandong Tianjin or Taiwan, it does not matter. Figure/Figureworm Creative
The shoe store closed and started selling cakes. As expected by the boss, "Tianjin Onion Scratch Cake" was indeed a hit. Taipei Yongkang Street, which is lined with restaurants, this time there are new Internet celebrity food, or new tastes, more overcrowded. In 2004, a boss surnamed Chai in Shanghai came to Taipei and tasted this popular "Taiwanese snack"...
Food has no borders, not to mention that both sides of the strait are Chinese stomachs. Graph/Network
Subsequently, Boss Chai returned to the mainland and vigorously promoted this "Tianjin Onion Scratch Cake", not only renaming it "Taiwan Hand Grab Cake", but also inviting Jay Chou as an endorsement. At that time, "Taiwan snacks" were rare in the mainland, freshness + star face = traffic password, "Taiwan hand cake" immediately occupied the streets and alleys. The next story, you all know...
A piece of cake, from Shandong to Tianjin, crossed the ocean to Taiwan, and then returned to the mainland. This feeling, as if it is a mess of mandarin ducks, but a good marriage.
Taiwan's version of "Shandong pot sticker steamed buns". A combination of steamed buns, bar-head fire-burning, and pot stickers. Graph/Network
As for whether it is authentic or not, it does not matter anymore. The most important thing is that everyone is happy to eat, and it is good to increase the exposure of my hometown.
It's just that...... Auntie, shall I teach you two sentences of Taiwanese accent?
Taiwanese grilled sausages with an open flame, bubble tea without powder
The story of "Taiwan hand grabbing cake" is a bit absurd, and I think it is interesting to think about. A piece of bread, a large circle, is still unchanging; we are all Chinese, and we all have similar tastes and likes and dislikes.
However, the real body of Taiwanese grilled sausages is another face.
This is Taiwanese sausage, we directly call it grilled sausage. Photography by Markus Winkler; photo/unsplash
Most of the "Taiwan grilled sausages" you see on the mainland are whirlwind on the grilled sausage machine, waiting for the roast sausages to be cooked and take a string of bamboo sticks, fragrant and oil-filled grilled sausages. It uses ham sausage, or "hot dog intestine", and starch is an important raw material.
The real Taiwanese sausage is made of fat and lean pork, marinated with spices and rice wine (the aroma of wine is very important), and then dried and smoked after pouring into the natural casing, a bit like an increased version of Cantonese sausage, starch that is not at all. To bake Taiwanese sausages, you must use an open flame - so that it is fragrant.
Night market food "large intestines wrapped in small intestines". Taiwanese sausages are irregular in shape and are not suitable for sausage grills. Figure/Figureworm Creative
In Treasure Island Taiwan, grilled sausages are a very common street food. Usually a small stall, supported by a charcoal fire, the sausages are roasted golden and red, and the oil is moist. The more attentive shop will cut the freshly grilled sausages and stir them with garlic and nine-tiered towers to taste. One bite down, all kinds of bursting juice, meat, oil and wine in the mouth exploded, oh...
Nanyang laborers, selling grilled sausages in Taiwan. Photography / Zhang Haibin
As for the sausage grill, we generally call it "hot dog", which is an imported product, usually found in convenience stores, can be eaten alone, can also be sandwiched bread, squeezed with Western sauce, right when it is a cheap Western food. Whether it is Western-style hot dog intestines or mainland ham sausages, it is really different from the native Taiwanese sausages.
Taiwanese bubble tea, "pearl" can only be boiled until semi-cooked, so that it has a special taste. Graph/Network
Once upon a time, a cup of bubble tea was also very different on both sides of the taiwan strait. In the 2010s, the mainland's "Taiwan bubble tea" is usually made of powder, just mix the powder according to the taste in proportion, rinse with hot water and shake it, and then add the boiled powder balls, and a cup of "bubble tea" is ready.
And Taiwan's local bubble tea rejects powder. In 2011, a plasticizer crisis broke out in Taiwan, and many milk tea powders were detected with carcinogenic ingredients, which directly led to the "milk tea upgrade": the store must emphasize that it is tea brewing, "pearl" to be boiled, and fresh milk to use the designated brand to reassure consumers.
Pearls are the soul of milk tea and do not accept rebuttals. Graph/Network
Only fresh tea, powder round Q bullet, only fresh milk, this used to be the characteristic of Taiwanese bubble tea.
Now, the hand-cranked tea industry in the mainland has sprung up. They not only use fresh tea, but also tea varieties from all over the world for you to choose; they not only powder the Q bomb, but also add more magical taste (external heating explosion); they not only have fresh milk, but also soy milk, oat milk, cold extract milk... It has long since surpassed its peers across the strait.
Mainland hand-cranked tea, inspired by its Taiwanese counterparts, is now blue. Graph/Network
Cross-strait cuisine, one after the other, this is also a kind of historical reincarnation.
Treasure Island Taiwan, food culture smorgasbord
Taiwanese cuisine, you must have heard of its good name.
However, when you go to Taiwan, it is easy to be confused by various wonderful scenes - Wenzhou wontons, Shandong steamed buns, Yunnan rice noodles, Beijing roast duck, Fuzhou fish balls, etc., often coexisting in the same street; plus the dishes interspersed with the southern Fujian flavors such as vegetable head rice dumplings, roast meat dumplings, oysters and pan-fried, you will definitely ask: What is Taiwanese cuisine?
The beef noodles of the village are a fusion of the flavors of the world. Graph/Network
The taste of Taiwan is a pot of wonderful smorgasbord. The island is not large, but it embraces all over the world; people come from afar and bring the food culture of their hometown. Over time, a variety of taste preferences have gradually taken root on the island, changed due to special terroirs and cultures, and eventually blossomed and merged into a unique Taiwanese flavor.
The Taiwanese beef noodles we are familiar with are the products of this unique food culture.
Taiwanese beef noodles, the epitome of China's modern history. Photography / Wu Fei
It originated in Okayama, Kaohsiung, in the middle of the village. "Dependent villages" refers to the villages where the military personnel and their dependents of various provinces who retired to Taiwan with the Kuomintang after 1949 were concentrated, and the whole is a faction of its own, which can be understood as Taiwan's version of the "army compound". Since the residents come from all provinces in the mainland, the village diet is also varied, Sichuan cuisine Cantonese cuisine, northeast cuisine, steamed dumplings with steamed steamed steamed dumplings, snuggled together.
Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan. Photography / Yang Wenjie
Okayama Village is home to dependents in the southwest region. In order to make a living, the veterans used taiwan's local yellow beef and improved Sichuan cuisine's "small bowl of red soup beef"; they recruited northwest veterans to use flour aided by the US military to make hand-rolled noodles; finally, they seasoned it with local spicy bean paste, and finally made a bowl of beef noodles full of nostalgia and longing.
This is the "Jucun beef noodles" and the origin of Taiwanese beef noodles.
Taiwan Hsinchu, rice noodle soup. Traditional Taiwanese prefer rice to pasta. Photography / Wu Fei
Later, this bowl of "Yucun Beef Noodles" spread and underwent a series of transformations. In order to take care of diners everywhere, its spicy taste is reduced and its umami taste increases; the Shandong people's onion burning technique, the Minnan people's spice marinade, added to it; as well as the Shanghai people's sweet soy sauce, the Hakka sauerkraut, the Nanyang merchants' sand tea, Taiwan's local red onion crisp...
This is also a model for the taste of the village and the transformation of the local flavor of Treasure Island. Traditionally, Taiwanese locals are mostly descendants of Fujian immigrants, with a deep farming tradition and a folk belief that they do not eat beef; Taiwan is not suitable for wheat growth, the local lack of noodle traditions, and "eating noodles" was once a symbol of people from other provinces.
As a result, a bowl of Jiucun beef noodles has not only changed the eating habits of Baodao, but also become the business card of Taiwanese cuisine.
The Taiwanese version of "Wenzhou Wontons" is very large. Graph/Network
Many treasure island delicacies are also similar to Taiwanese beef noodles: flavors from all over China are concentrated, fused into new flavors, and then marketed under a familiar name.
In the early years, Taiwan's lack of materials, the cuisine that can stand out in the melting pot and reproduce to this day, has become a leader. After all, these flavors come from all over the world, each carrying an unspeakable fate and the burden of the times. There are many more creations, for various reasons, that eventually disappear into the torrent of history.
"Chengdu gnocchi" in the middle of the night. Those who leave their hometown, the most unbearable, is the taste of their hometown. Photography / Zhang Haibin
Eaters, thousands of people in the world, are hurried by; eaters, carrying their livelihoods, full of struggle background. So, when you stroll through the Taiwan night market and are confused by the question marks of "big wontons that don't have in Wenzhou", "small dumplings that are not original in Shanghai", "small pot rice noodles without pickles", etc., don't rush to blame them for being unauthentic.
They are just doing their best to restore the hometown flavor in the depths of their memories. If you don't try to grasp it, you really can't remember it.
They, just homesick, can't say it.
Which Taiwanese snacks are "real"?
Taiwanese snacks are closely related to mainland food culture. In addition to the "great fusion" mentioned earlier, you can also find many "ancestors" of Taiwanese snacks in the southern Fujian and Hakka regions. Of course, there are also some snacks that are truly treasure island originals:
Dim sum 丨 pineapple crisp, suncakes
Top: Pineapple puff pastry; Bottom: Suncake. Figure/Figureworm Creative
The two major handles of Taiwan's confectionery industry. Pineapple crisp originated from Sichuan dragon and phoenix cake, originally filled with winter melon sugar, because Taiwan is rich in pineapple, it was changed to pineapple, winter melon mixed filling, combined with the pastry process, becoming today's Taiwan pineapple crisp.
Suncakes are Original taiwanese. It originated in 1855, in the old days with maltose as the filling, later generations improved the shortening process, and mixed semi-liquefied sucrose in maltose to create a special filling taste, that is, suncakes.
Untapped meat balls
Changhua meat round, ancient carbure bomb. Photography/ Water
It was born at the end of the 19th century and is said to have been created by a temple in Changhua County. At that time, there was a flood in Taiwan, and the temple side kneaded sweet potato flour into a ball, added vegetable leaves and boiled water to relieve the disaster, which was the prototype of the meat ball. Later generations improved it, mixed with sweet potato flour and sticky rice flour, wrapped in marinated meat, bamboo shoots, shrimp and other fillings, boiled in oil (also steamed with water), and then drizzled with secret sauce, Q bomb and relief.
Versatile 丨 lice fish
Lice fish belly, in the north of Taiwan belongs to the rare delicacy. Photography / Wu Fei
Lice are common fish in Taiwan, and there are many ways to eat it, which can be made into fish balls, boiled porridge, and can also be made into fish soup. It has a lot of thorns and requires a certain skill from the chef; it has a special taste, and tourists (including people in northern Taiwan) are mostly unaccustomed to eating it, but it is regarded as a treasure by the people of the south. If you want to make trouble, you can ask "is the lice fish delicious", Tainan, Taipei will start to quarrel...
Elastic teeth 丨 iron egg
Don't doubt it, it's not plum candy, it's an iron egg. Graph/Network
Apo iron egg, a famous food in northern Taiwan. After the eggs and bird eggs are cooked and shelled, they are put into special brine for three hours, fished up and dried naturally, then brine for three hours, then air-dried, and then continued... This lasted for a week before the black glowing iron egg was completed. It was dark, hard and chewy, and its teeth were not easy to eat carefully.
Cool off 丨 Love jade jelly
Love jade jelly, cool and cool, sour and sweet. Photography / caroline Kikuko; Photo / Figure worm ・ Creative
Aiyu is the fruit of a plant, native to the island of Taiwan, and now cultivated in small quantities in Sichuan and Fujian. Peel the jade and knead the slurry (please refer to rubbing the cold powder), dissolve in boiling water and let stand to freeze. Unlike cold powder, Aiyu Jelly has a special flavor, usually accompanied by rock sugar lemon juice, a unique Taiwanese flavor.
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Food, original ecology is a kind of beauty, fusion is also a kind of beauty. The difference is only that the store does not recognize these different beauty seriously, you do not recognize it seriously.
Thinking like this, the Taiwanese hand-grabbed cake in my hand seems to be becoming more and more fragrant.
- END -
Wen 丨 water water
Covered | Figureworms and ideas