From "fried white intestines" to "gourd head health feast" - the creativity and cultural shaping of Shaanxi cuisine ingredients

Zhu Liting

Some people say that there are only Chinese in the world who love to eat animal offal, as if it is a very vulgar feeling, but in fact, this is not an understanding of foreign diets. It should be said that only Americans do not eat animal offal much, why? Because they won't do it. There are many countries in the world that eat animal offal, and there are recipes in France, Italy, Japan and other countries, and there are many tricks and good taste. And China is the most exquisite country in the world, and the animal offal is also the best made and tastes the best. There are many foods in Shaanxi's flavor snacks that use animal offal as the ingredient, and gourd head steamed bun is one of the top products.

Of course, the technique and taste and the selection of ingredients are also constantly evolving and improving to become what they are now.

"Gourd head steamed bun" is a very typical Shaanxi cuisine to eat, and from him you can see the creativity and cultural shaping of Shaanxi cuisine ingredients.

1

The idea of the ingredients of "Gourd Head Steamed Bun"

The emergence of this kind of food, "gourd head steamed bun", must have three ingredient conditions, one is sufficient pork intestines, pork belly, the second is flour, and the third is soup.

Guanzhong, during the Han and Tang dynasties, was known as the "Kingdom of Heavenly Capital", indicating that it is rich in products. Through artificial farming, pigs become the main source of meat. In the folk, pigs are a measure of family prosperity. It is even more evident in Chinese characters. "Home", no pig can not be a home. Tsukasa, after the death of a person, must be accompanied by a pig. In ancient times, people regarded death as life, and the underworld should be the same as the yang world.

Although China's meat has been "unique" since ancient times, it does not exist in Guanzhong. It is precisely because of the large number of pigs that it is possible to have the birth of gourd head steamed buns. Moreover, it is precisely because of the "evil atmosphere" of the pig intestine itself that forced our ancestors to seek a method of cooking, and the "Lü's Spring and Autumn Benwei" chapter says that the major principle of cooking is "smelly and ugly", which means that the internal organs can be transformed into delicious because of their specific ingredients with a bad taste. From this point of view, the chefs in the Guanzhong region are highly skilled.

The second is flour. When the Wheat Han Dynasty appeared on people's tables, it was very rough and skinny. Or bake, or steam, or cook. The taste is not as good as millet, which is eaten by ordinary people. After the continuous improvement of varieties and the continuous improvement of grinding tools, wheat flour gradually became the exclusive use of the nobility. Therefore, only by planting wheat in a large area can there be enough flour to make flour. It can be seen that the wealth of Guanzhong at that time.

In addition to these two conditions, there is another one that is also very important, that is, soup. Hanging soup is one of the Shaanxi cuisine skills, in China's catering industry, known as "the chef's soup, singing the cavity" said. The emphasis is on the importance of "soup" in cooking. Chef's hanging soup is also called making soup, and the hanging soup is called "broth". "Broth" is a fragrant and delicious soup made from fresh, delicious, nutrient-rich animal raw materials that have been boiled. The true meaning of China's cooking theory of "taste makes it out, tasteless makes it in" is achieved by chefs using "broth" appropriately. Like ordinary tofu, green vegetables, potatoes and other raw materials, as well as shark fin, bird's nest, white fungus, sea cucumber, bear paw, fungus monkey head and other expensive, nutritious ingredients, itself does not have any taste, chefs rely on the "soup" and other spices of the comprehensive cooking, to make it more delicious, into a delicacy.

Now people think that "gourd head steamed bun" is a very simple noodle and meat snack, but in fact, it is not, it is a very complex evolutionary process. And in terms of ingredients alone, it is not something that ordinary people eat every day.

The seemingly simple combination of ingredients, which has actually been decided after several generations and many times of practice, is simply a perfect idea. With both nutrition and good taste, it is no wonder that it has been passed down for thousands of years and is still popular today.

2

The shaping of the culture of "gourd head steamed bun"

"Gourd head steamed bun" has a long history, originally called "fried white intestine", the ancient words and sentences are very concise, but the content content is very large, a few words contain a lot of content, not what we understand now, just listen to the name is considered to be a simple workmanship, a single taste of snacks. Of course, the origin of each kind of cuisine is relatively simple and crude, to be continuously improved to become a delicacy, "fried white intestines" is the same, the earliest appeared in the Tang Dynasty, according to legend, Tang Gaozong Longshuo first year (661), someone opened a "miscellaneous lamb shop" on Suzaku Street, specializing in pork offal. One of the snacks is "fried white sausage". At the beginning, it is true that the taste is general, one is that the intestines are not handled well, and the fishy taste is heavy. In addition, it is too greasy and the taste is not fragrant, the reason is that it is not tricky, and there is no way to make it.

Therefore, later generations of operators and chefs are also constantly improving, during the Republic of China, there were two "miscellaneous lamb stalls" in Xi'an, of which he Ji's miscellaneous lambs were mainly known for pig intestines. In order to gain a competitive advantage, he actively improved on the basis of the "fried white intestine" in the Tang Dynasty, in addition to the large intestine head, it was accompanied by pork belly, white meat, chicken, bone broth and other fine workmanship, cooked into a belly, rotten intestines, fat and tender and delicious, seasoning is mainly spicy, fat but not greasy, refreshing and sharp, the business is very prosperous.

But the name "fried white intestines" is indecent after all, and does not meet the standards of "and" "etiquette" and "elegance" in Chinese food culture. Therefore, some literati diners borrowed the name of Sun Simiao, a famous doctor of the Tang Dynasty, to carry out cultural packaging of "gourd head steamed buns". Only then did it have a story that began to circulate from the Republic of China: Sun Simiao told the shopkeeper that "the intestines belong to gold, and gold produces water, so it has the function of lowering fire and quenching thirst." The belly belongs to the soil, centered, for the tonic and nourishing the body. Although the object is good, but the improper modulation is also in vain. "Immediately, he opened a recipe for eight precious soups (eight spices) to the shopkeeper, and gave it to the shopkeeper along with the medicine gourd. Let it be concocted as it is, and sure enough, the intestines are fat but not fishy, the soup is oily but not greasy, and the taste is very delicious, and since then the customers have been profitable. The shopkeeper did not forget the grace of the doctor's guidance, hung the medicine gourd on the door head, and renamed the "fried white intestine" sold as "gourd head".

It can be seen that the shaping of culture is crucial to the circulation of a food, since the emergence of this story, people have gradually forgotten the "fried white intestine", but the "gourd head" has become more and more popular.

3

The future development of "gourd head steamed bun"

Modern catering should be done well, there are three elements, one is storytelling, one is heavy experience, and the other is refinement. "Gourd head steamed bun" has initially possessed the first two elements.

The first storytelling, "Gourd Head Bubble Bun", has its own traffic, and the story made up during the Republic of China has been accepted. What we have to do now is how to improve on the basis of this story and use culture to package products. Promote and market with stories that are acceptable to modern people. Nutrition, health, health is everyone's concern, so in the publicity of traditional culture and modern culture to meet, tradition is to serve the modern. And it should be noted that food culture must be a real culture in the end, not a pseudo-culture, but a real culture, so that people can be convinced and spread for a long time.

The second heavy experience, the gourd head steamed bun itself also comes with itself. From the beginning to the present, the form of eating gourd head steamed bun is also changing. From simply eating a single item, to the current increase in content, the sense of ceremony has increased. It is the transformation from food and clothing to spiritual enjoyment. The process of breaking bread is a kind of relaxation, a kind of communication. When you are alone, you are communicating with food yourself. More than two people is a communication between people. In the time of breaking bread, you can chat, you can drink, you can eat cold dishes, it is a miniature version of the Shaanxi cuisine feast. What is the sense of experience in the new era? To introduce scenes, to restore the environment, to design the atmosphere of the store according to the division of the crowd, this can be borrowed from Japanese restaurants.

The third refinement is currently lacking in the entire industry of gourd head steamed buns. There are many shops that deal with gourd head steamed buns, but the level is uneven, some are the reasons for the steamed buns, some are the reasons for the soup, some are the reasons for the intestines, and more are the problems of the level of understanding. They all think that it is easy to enter the industry, but in fact, they have a half-understanding of gourd head steamed buns, and they also lack of understanding of Chinese cooking.

"Gourd head" and aroma type belong to the "meat aroma" in Shaanxi cuisine, and the reason why "meat aroma" is formed is to use superb cooking skills to transform the inherent smell of various types of meat. After a long period of granulation, the ancients were very sensitive to the three bad smells of fishy, cheeky and cheeky meat, and at the latest in the early Shang Dynasty, they invented a method of removal. The understanding of the three undesirable odors is also accomplished through the continuous overcoming of them. The premise of cooking is to have meat, and the bad smell is the same as the meat. Through superb cooking, you can transform the meat with a bad smell into a delicious dish. Moreover, the meat of different evil qi should be removed in different ways. Therefore, when making gourd head steamed buns and related dishes, we must grasp this principle, which is the most basic.

Secondly, the development of gourd head to the present, the main by-products have been a lot, how to improve the quality, how to let more people accept, refinement. There are many ways, one of which is to design a feast around the gourd head as the main ingredient. Previously, some restaurants have designed and launched similar banquets, but the effect is not ideal. Mainly because the understanding of the dishes is not enough, the culture is not deeply excavated, the overall design is old," and the cooking has not reached the "meat aroma" that it should be. If the item is not successful, the feast will naturally not succeed.

The successful "Gourd Head Health Feast" must work hard in the following aspects: meat and vegetarian collocation, color collocation, flavor type collocation, cooking method collocation, strictly follow the Shaanxi cooking techniques, and the dishes are few and fine. Around the gourd head, highlight the gourd head. Differentiate the crowd, design different tastes and recipes, and name the dish.

An ancient dish to innovate, not easy, completely innovative is not easy, so, the future development of hulutou, must be the culture, skills, creativity of the combination, whether it is a dish or banquet, will certainly let more people accept, will become a category of Shaanxi cuisine representatives, through the "gourd head health banquet" brand promotion and promotion, so that Shaanxi cuisine to the far side.