Yangzhou morning tea has a rich variety of dim sum, it is difficult to pick out eight kinds to represent the whole table of refreshments, just like the real Qing Dynasty "Yangzhou Eight Monsters", there are different theories, there is no fixed list, but they all have their own skills, no one obeys anyone. With the help of local foodies, I have made the following list, some of which are disappearing dim sum, some of which have unique skills, some of which are available throughout the Gangnam region, and perhaps represent the exquisite way of eating in this area.
▲Fun Garden morning tea, the table is full of jade roasted wheat, three buns, crescent steamed dumplings, rice, King Kong navel and Jingguo powder, pork, Gaoyou salted duck eggs, boiled dried shredded, Yangzhou pickles (Photo by Cai Xiaochuan)
Tofu skin buns
Speaking of tofu skin buns, the owner of the Garden Tea House is very proud, this is the garden tea house first developed a kind of bun, and then by other tea houses and early shop to learn to go, but the most authentic have to go to the garden to eat. Authentic tofu skin buns are vegan, and the filling is mainly tofu skin and diced shiitake mushrooms. The skin of the tofu is very exquisite, it should be fried again, fried out of the toughness, and then boiled, boiled soft.
Wrapping a bun in tofu skin is rare because it is not like meat or vegetables, and can be chopped and twisted into a filling. The tofu skin bun in the garden does not cut the tofu skin very finely, but retains the shape of the "skin", a bite of a small piece of tofu skin entrance, coupled with the soup spilled out of the shiitake mushrooms, it is a very delicate taste, and meat buns, bean paste buns are completely different, you can clearly see the outline of the ingredients in the filling, as if the bun skin wrapped a dish, rather than the filling.
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Jadeite roast for sale
The first meal was at the morning tea table of the Fun Garden Tea House, and it was amazingly sold by the jadeite roast. A drawer of roasted goods is served on the table, separated by a thin skin, and the verdant color of the cabbage filling inside is revealed, which is really beautiful. Jadeite roasting appeared later, about the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, with green vegetable leaves as the filling, sweet and salty.
The subtlety of jadeite roast sales is that the general roast sells green vegetables inside, after steaming the color will change, will become dark and stuffy, but jadeite roast sold on the table, but can also maintain the turquoise of green vegetables, just like fresh vegetables, this can be regarded as Yangzhou's "steaming kung fu", requiring proper grasp of steaming time, temperature and heat.
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In addition, Yangzhou people also often eat traditional glutinous rice to sell, in the tip of the sale put a few pine nuts, both the pine nuts light oil aroma, but also the glutinous rice solid sticky taste, very delicious.
Mille-feuille cake
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui all like to eat this kind of cake, or make it into noodles, or dry it to make slices. Mille-feuille cake is a traditional snack in Yangzhou, it is said that in 1913, a master surnamed Huang of the Fuchun Tea Society improved the traditional mille-feuille cake, the oil cake he made was translucent, very flexible, layer upon layer, and layer by layer, sweet and sticky moderate and refreshing, at the same time he also improved the jade roast sale, together with the mille-feuille oil cake to become Yangzhou's "noodle double".
Now almost all big tea houses have this famous dish, and the taste of each house is not small, it is hibiscus colored, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, and neatly stacked on the plate. I personally don't like sweets, and the layers of sugar and oil on the cake are indeed a little sweet. But good people will especially like this, fascinated by the soft and tender taste, my colleague is Yizhengren, she is very obsessed with the taste of this hometown, she likes to tear it off layer by layer to eat, with a faint fragrance, there is a sense of childhood happiness.
Diamond navel and kyogo powder
This is a Yangzhou snack that outsiders can't understand the name and can't guess. "King Kong Navel", also known as "King Kong Qi", in suzhou and Shanghai area, it is completely according to the shape of it to give it a similar name "tiger's foot claw", a bit like baked bread, but there are five horns, that is, "tiger's foot claw" look.
The diamond navel should be broken into small pieces and soaked in Jingguo powder to eat authentically, Jingguo powder is transmitted from Zhenjiang to Yangzhou, processed with glutinous rice, flour, vegetable oil and sugar, and brewed in the same way as black sesame paste. The soup that comes out is very thick and sweet, but it is much more delicious to put a small piece of diamond navel in it and wrap it up.
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Today, in the market of Yangzhou, the diamond navel and Jingguo powder are almost extinct. This is the taste of old Yangzhou, about 30 years old people will still have some memories, even young people are not too familiar. People who miss this taste can still eat authentic food in fun garden, but most people go to nostalgia, and the number of people who really have this taste is gradually decreasing.
Rice
Steamed glutinous rice wrapped in fritters, kneaded tightly, is rice. You can also add other ingredients such as pork floss and squeezed vegetables, wrapped in fritters, soft, tough and crisp, and kneaded while eating.
The first time I saw the rice on the morning tea table, I thought isn't this just a rice ball? It is true that the method is the same as the rice balls, the same sticky rice, the same fritters, but the rice is made better, and the chefs put the rice in a bamboo tube, roll it into one by one, like sushi, and then take it out and cut it into pieces. This is probably also the meticulous sense of ceremony in Yangzhou morning tea.
Figure / pixabay
Dumpling noodles
Wonton noodles are wonton noodles, the best of Republican Spring and Jiang Jiaqiao. GongheChun makes dumplings, there are three magic weapons: one is to make noodles carefully, in the past there was no noodle making machine, to be manually rolled, Yangzhou people called "jumping noodles". The kombo spring noodles are tough, have pores, can penetrate the seasoning, and are resistant to chewing.
Speaking of skipping noodles, by the way, I would like to recommend another noodle restaurant - Liu Sheji Noodle Restaurant located near Siwangting, the boss still makes skipping noodles by hand, very strong, beef offal toppings and crab yellow toppings are unique recipes, but unfortunately the noodle restaurant does not operate breakfast, only lunch and dinner, and the boss should concentrate on hanging soup in the morning.
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Speaking of dumpling noodles, the second magic weapon is shrimp seeds to make soup. The shrimp seeds of Gaoyou Lake and Shaobo Lake are used as the bottom soup, and the noodles are cooked to taste fresh and mellow. The third is the wontons, the skin is thin and fresh, the wontons pay attention to the shape of the sparrow head, the side is like a lotus leaf, the bottom edge is flat, after the pot is finished, each head is up, like a lotus. Wonton noodles are a mixture of noodles and wontons, half and half, each with its own flavor.
Brine goose
In this list, the brine goose is the only dish. Saltwater goose not only appears in breakfast, Chinese food, dinner are eaten, just like hot dried silk, is the classic of Huaiyang cuisine, probably the locals like it too much, a meal will not let go.
In fact, the history of Yangzhou people eating geese is not long, there is no goose figure in the Qing Dynasty's "Tuning Ding Collection" that describes Yangzhou cuisine, and in Yuan Ming's "Suiyuan Food List", there is only a record of Hangzhou roast goose, and Yangzhou is not mentioned, but now it is a must-eat dish in Yangzhou.
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According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 2,500 stalls selling old geese in Yangzhou, and Yangzhou people eat 22 million geese every year, which is not counting the 60 million wind geese processed in Yangzhou every year.
In addition to the signature lion head, the lion house is also a must for salt water goose. Well done old goose, the appearance of clear butter bright, not collapsed, strong and full, goose skin thin layer wrapped on the goose meat, bite a bite, not fat and not chai, the meat is crisp. The old goose has an aftertaste, and the hooker has always wanted to eat the next piece.
Steamed dumplings on the crescent moon
Crescent steamed dumplings are the most famous in Yechun, and have won prizes in various cooking competitions. The steamed dumplings are quite large, probably I opened my hands, and between the thumb and index finger, I can put a crescent steamed dumpling at the mouth of the pot, "shaped like a crescent moon, full of marinade, thin skin filling, salty and slightly sweet."
The steamed dumplings are wrapped in a similar way to ordinary dumplings, and the most exquisite thing is the filling. Soup filling is a common practice, but the soup of crescent steamed dumplings is much less than that of crab yellow soup buns, and the deliciousness of crab yellow soup buns lies mainly in the soup, and the focus of steamed dumplings is still meat. There is soup with meat, supplemented by thin skin, bite down, no flavor, just be careful not to spill the juice, but no one prepares a straw for the crescent steamed dumplings like crab soup buns.