Headline number signed author: Pu Tieniu
Steamed buns, also known as food buns, twisters, and cold utensils, are fried foods that are crispy and exquisite. Northern steamed buns are made of wheat noodles, while southern steamed buns are mostly made of rice noodles. The steamed buns are yellow and bright in color, stacked on display, light and beautiful, dry and crispy and delicious, and melt in the mouth after soaking milk or soy milk.
Twist is a specialty food made of two or three strands of noodles twisted together and fried in oil, and the shape of twist and steamed bun is quite similar, but much thicker than steamed buns.
Orchid root, also known as rice noodles, is a snack made by steaming glutinous rice noodles with bean flour and noodles in a stew pot, pounding them with a stick in a stone mortar, rolling them into a circle, drying them and frying them in oil, and finally dipping them in plum blossoms, pine blossoms, sesame seeds and other bean paste.
Steamed buns, twist flowers and orchid roots are of the same origin, all originating from the rice dumplings. Jù nǚ (jù nǚ), an ancient food, made of honey and rice noodles, rolled into thin strips, grouped into bunches, twisted into rings, fried in oil. In Qu Yuan's "Chu Ci Summoning Souls", there is a sentence that reads," "粔籹 honey bait, there are gluttonous dumplings", and the 粔籹 appears in the summoning chapter, indicating that it was used for sacrifice during that period.
Meson push
There was no 粔籹 in the world, and since Jin Wengong's heavy ear set fire to death, there was a 籹籹. The story begins in 656 BC, when the king of the Jin dynasty, Jin Xiangong, listened to the rumors of his little wife Li Ji, killed the crown prince Shen Sheng, and made Li Ji's son the heir. In order to cut the grass and remove the roots, Li Ji also persuaded The Duke of Jin to send someone to kill the other two sons of the Duke of Jin, Chong'er and Yiwu. When Shigeru and Yigo heard the news, they both fled abroad. Because heavy ears are known as virtuous names, many celebrities in the Jin Dynasty choose to flee with heavy ears, and among these people, there are mesons.
When Heavy Ear fled into the Weiguo Border, an entourage named Rikusu could not stand the hard days, stole Heavy Ear's grain and money, and did not say goodbye. The heavy ear without grain had to beg the farmer, but not only did he not ask for food, but he was also ridiculed by the farmer for using the soil as grain. Seeing that the heavy ears were too hungry to walk, the retinue had to go everywhere to dig wild vegetables to fill their hunger. In order to keep him alive, Mezi Tui sneaked into the ravine, cut off a piece of meat from his leg, and cooked soup to offer to The Heavy Ear. At the time of the heavy ear, the meson pushed so livery and loyal, and also achieved his name of loyalty, known in history as "cutting the shares and serving the king".
One of the steamed buns
Later, Zhong'er was protected by the State of Qin and returned to the State of Jin. When he was about to ascend to the throne, some of his entourage asked for merit and rewards from Zhong'er, and the meson pushed the fame and fortune, ashamed to be with these people, so he gave a poem, "There are dragons flying, all over the world." The five serpents followed it and assisted it. The dragon rebelled against its homeland and got its place. From it, the four serpents received their dew and rain. A snake was ashamed and died in Nakano. So he took his mother and hid in the mianshan mountains.
After Zhong'er took the throne and became the Duke of Jin, he rewarded the meritorious heroes, but only forgot about the meson push. Later, I finally remembered that I thought that I had merit or not to reward, and I would make people in the world talk nonsense. So he immediately sent someone to find Jiezi Tui, but Jie Zi Tui had already seen through the world and only wanted to return to his old age in the mountains and forests for life, so he refused the invitation of Jin Wengong. The meson pushed out of the mountain, and Jin Wengong set fire to the mountain, intending to force it out. But the meson was very determined, and he and his mother hugged an old willow tree tightly, and they were burned alive.
As for the reason why Jin Wengong burned The Zi Tui, there is also a saying that at the same time that the Jie Zi pushed and cut the meat, The courtier of the Duke of Qi Huan, Yi Ya, actually cooked his son and gave it to the Duke of Qi Huan to eat. Guan Zhong saw the problem and thought that Yi Ya could kill his son fiercely, proving that his ambitions were incomparably great. As a result, when Qi Huangong was seriously ill, Yi Ya really rebelled. Jin Wengong was actually afraid that one day, like Yi Ya, Jiezi Tui would rebel when he was sick or dying, and then the Jin kingdom would once again fall into the endless abyss. Perhaps, pushing the meson to burn to death is the best choice. Therefore, the heavy ear will order the burning of the mountain, not the search of the mountain.
Bun two
Regardless of Jin Wengong's state of mind at that time, in short, he burned his benefactor, there must be an explanation, so he acted with great grief, cut down the wicker, made it into clogs, and announced to the outside world that he would push the daily thoughts of the meson. At the same time, he ordered that this day be designated as the Cold Food Festival, stipulating that no fire cooking was allowed, and only cold food was allowed.
The next year, Zhong'er led the people to climb the mountain to pay tribute to Jiezi Tui, and found that the original dead willow tree once again pulled out young buds, so he gave the old willow tree "Qingming Willow", and thus showed the world, and set the day after the Cold Food Festival as the Qingming Festival.
The cold food festival can only eat cold food, ordinary people do not matter, but Jin Wengong is the king of a country, coupled with years of exile life, so that his stomach problems are many, so he can not eat ordinary cold food. His royal chef kneaded honey and rice noodles into thin strips, formed them into bunches, twisted them into rings, fried them in oil, and let them cold and tasted crisp and refreshing, without hurting the stomach. After tasting it, Jin Wengong was very satisfied, and named it Zhen Zhen, which was stipulated as a cold food festival food. Because it is possessed by the Cold Food Festival and twisted into a ring, it is also called cold gear, or ring cake.
One of the twist flowers
Before the Great Song Dynasty writer Su Dongpo, it has always been called 粔籹, or cold utensils, or ring cakes, such as the "Continuing Jin Yang Qiu" written by Song TanDaoluan of the Southern Dynasty has a record: "Huan Lingbao is good at storing calligraphy and famous paintings, and is often seen. The guest eats cold equipment, the oil stains its paintings, and then there is no cold equipment. Liu Yuxi's "Chu Wangfu" of the Tang Dynasty: "Throwing a basket is like a drum, and the dragon is like a drum." The Song Dynasty Lu You's "Nine Miles" poem: "Strange on the wind and laughter, the head of the basket is green and red." The above accounts and verses can prove it.
When it came to Su Dongpo, it began to be called steamed buns. Su Dongpo's "Drama Dumplings for Neighbors" wrote: "The slim hands rub the jade to find, and the green oil is fried to make a tender yellow depth." Spring sleep is stronger than wine, and the beauty of the press is wrapped around the gold. This poem was also called "Cold Gear Poem" by later generations, and the description of the shape of the bun was very close to the current bun.
The Song Dynasty Zhuang Jiyu's "Compilation of Chicken Ribs" has a record: "There are steamed buns in food, also known as ring cakes, or ancient cold utensils." The "Five General Records" written by Wu Jiong, who was also a Song Dynasty, also has this record: "Ganbao Situ Yiyi: Sacrifice is made of < wheat >, jin system is called a pinch cake, and it is also known as a cold tool, and now it is a steamed bun." The above records and verses prove that the name of the steamed bun arose during the Song Dynasty.
Twist no. 2
In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen summed it up in the "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Cold utensils, that is, today's steamed buns, are eaten with glutinous flour and noodles, with a little salt, twisted into the shape of a ring, and fried in oil." ”
In the Qing Dynasty, there began to be a separation of twist flowers and steamed buns. According to the imperial dining room menu: "On March 16, 1933, Qianlong was in charge of Ma Guoyong's biography, and the empress used a table of wild fruit to serve fifteen products. Among them, there is "hair noodle twist" as a snack. The main reason why the twist flowers separated from the steamed buns was due to the fact that the chef stole a lazy, the mood was not good that day, did not make the steamed buns thinly, and arbitrarily twisted three or two thick noodles into a twist shape and fried them, but did not know that the flowers were intentionally planted, and the willows were shaded without intention, and the twist flowers were actually achieved. Compared with twist flowers, steamed buns are harder and thicker, and steamed buns are thin and scattered. Usually, in the summer, twist flowers are eaten, and steamed buns are still Qingming food.
The origin of the orchid root is much lower, and it is made of the scraps left over from the sprinkler or twist flower. Hunan people speak "flower hair" is not divided, "nan lan" is not divided, orchid root is used in harmonic sound, meaning difficult to send scraps, referred to as "difficult hair root", people in order to make the name of this snack look better, it was changed to orchid root.
One of the orchid roots
Whether it is steamed buns, twist flowers or orchid roots, from ancient times until the early 1980s, they were the food of rich people, and ordinary people could not afford to consume them, and I had this experience when I was a child. When I was a child, material scarcity, steamed buns and twist flowers, it was unheard of, and I didn't know that there was such food in the world. But the orchid root is still known, every year after the Spring Festival, there are always people to come to the home to worship the New Year, and occasionally relatives wrap a pound of orchid roots with kraft paper. My little sister and I were younger and had the most hungry mouths, but my mother was always reluctant to give us food, hiding it and saying that she would take it to relatives. But wherever the mother hides, we can find it. The little sister was two years older than me, much more shrewd, and when she wanted to have a full meal, she always encouraged me to steal, and she herself looked at the wind on the side, and if she was caught, she would not be beaten. Although I knew that there was a routine, I couldn't help but take risks. I don't dare to take more each time, only take a few out, but the packaging of the kraft paper has a certain technology, and it is difficult to restore it after opening. I couldn't manage a lot, and secretly took it out and ate it with my sister. I was still very nervous in my heart, worried that my mother would be beaten up after she found out. But such worries are superfluous, every time the mother finds that the package of orchid roots is opened, she will laugh and say: "Alas, this package of orchid roots has been stolen by the little mouse, forget it, it can't go to relatives, just share it for everyone to eat." "So my older siblings, who were older than me and my little sister, also ate orchid roots.
At that time, I always thought that I was very powerful in my heart, that my mother did not discover my own little trick, and when I grew up, I realized that the reason why my mother did not expose it was because in that era of material scarcity, eating rare food casually was a luxury, and she also had to find a reason for her luxury, and this reason wrapped her all kinds of love.
Orchid root two
Later, the living conditions improved, the orchid root was no longer a rarity, and our next generation even disdained it, but when my mother was alive, every New Year's Day, she had to buy a little, and when she saw that I didn't eat it, she said: "When I was a child, where you hid, you stole it to eat, but now you don't eat it." There was a bit of frustration in my eyes, and I couldn't bear it, so I picked up a stick and chewed it, and when I saw that I had eaten, she showed a smile. To this day, I remember that smile and feel a little warm in my heart, and even more a little heartbreak that I have lost my mother.
Therefore, for me, steamed bread is a Qingming food from ancient times to the present, but my hometown is not popular for this thing, so steamed bread does not make me feel nostalgic for my relatives. And the twist flower was originally out of the ranks of the cold gear, only the orchid root, although it does not belong to the list of cold equipment, but it can awaken my childhood memories, let me can't help but miss my mother. But what about the mother, is she okay on the way to life? Leave her not knowing if she still has wisps of memories of her past life? Will she remember her toiling life and miss her children?
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Resources:
Real or Fictional? "Legend of the Heavy Ear" hit, let's talk about the famous meson push cutting stock Fengjun"
Author: Haoran Wenshi
"(The ancients are addicted) Meson Push: Qingming This festival is related to me? 》
Author: Shangguan Yun
"Ancient and Modern Talk of Steamed Buns"
Source: Food and Life, No. 6, 2007