Hangzhou and Chengdu, although thousands of miles apart, are two ancient cities with different history and culture. Since ancient times, Hangzhou has beautiful scenery, prosperous business, colorful humanities, and many delicious foods, which are no less than Chengdu. But as far as noodles are concerned, they are also dizzying and addictive. Like shrimp fried eel noodles, sliced Sichuan noodles, crab yellow noodles, braised lamb noodles, dasan fresh noodles, goose noodles, shredded meat fried noodles, chicken fire noodles, steamed fish noodles, etc., the flavors are different, seven tastes, beautiful. However, what is less known is that Chengdu has a very exquisite noodle, but it originated in Hangzhou, which is - Song Concubine Noodles.
"Song Sister-in-law Noodles", also known as "Song Sister-in-law Fish Soup Noodles", originated from song sister-in-law fish soup, which began in the Southern Song Dynasty during the Chunxi Period, and is a traditional flavor dish in Hangzhou. Song sister-in-law fish soup is usually made by steaming mandarin fish or sea bass and removing the skin and bones, and adding spices such as shredded ham, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and chicken soup. After cooking, the color is bright, tender and smooth, and the taste is like crab meat.
Fish noodle soup in Chengdu
There is also a beautiful legend of Song Sister-in-law Fish Soup. It is said that Song Concubine was originally a folk female cook in the Northern Song Dynasty (present-day Kaifeng, Henan), who was famous for her proficiency in making fish soup, because she was married to the fifth oldest gentleman in the Song family, and was nicknamed Song Wujie. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the family of the fifth sister-in-law of the Song Dynasty moved south and continued to sell fish soup under the Su Causeway of the West Lake to make a living. One day, Song Gaozong took a boat tour of the West Lake, the boat docked under the Su Causeway, the old eunuch who served next to him heard someone selling with a Beijing accent, and after a few more glances, he recognized that this person was actually Song Wujie, who was selling fish soup in his hometown. When Song Gaozong heard this, he suddenly raised the feelings of his hometown and old knowledge, so he summoned Song Wujie to the boat to meet her, and ordered her to bring the fish soup she was good at to offer; Gaozong enjoyed the fish soup on the one hand, and chatted with Song Wu's sister-in-law about his hometown affairs on the other hand, and the two talked very happily, and all the old things of the past came to mind, making this delicious bowl of fish soup add a hometown feeling! Emperor Gaozong then praised the fish soup and specially rewarded the silver hundred and two to Song Wujie, and as soon as the news spread, the "Song Concubine Fish Soup" became famous throughout the city of Hangzhou.
It is also said that the fifth sister-in-law of the Northern Song Dynasty moved south to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) with the Song Dynasty, and together with her uncle, she made a living by fishing in the West Lake. Once, the little uncle got a heavy cold, Song sister-in-law used mandarin fish and pepper, ginger, wine, vinegar and other condiments to burn a bowl of fish soup, the uncle drank the fish soup wind cold, cold suddenly disappeared, think this fish soup is so delicious and delicious, why not sell fish soup. So Sister-in-law Song began to make fish soup to sell, she first steamed the mandarin fish to remove the skin and bone, plus ham shredded, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and chicken soup and other condiments cooked, into a dish of pleasing color, rich taste, lubricating and refreshing, delicious flavor, better like crab soup, so it is also known as "crab soup".
One day, emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty later went on a cruise to the West Lake, mooring boats on the Su Causeway, and it was in the afternoon when he felt quite hungry, and the attaché informed him that there was a woman named Song Wujie outside the Qiantang Gate, who was very good at cooking fish soup, and the emperor immediately summoned him. Song Wu's sister-in-law carefully cooked a bowl of fish soup to offer, Gaozong Yipin was indeed unusual, very delicious, Long Yan was very happy, and rewarded Song Wu's sister-in-law with a hundred silver patterns. As soon as this matter spread, Song Wujie's fish soup was even more famous, and the gentlemen and nobles looked down one after another, and Song Wuyi opened a fish soup noodle shop with the emperor's silver reward, known as "Song Sister-in-law Fish Soup Noodles", and for a while the whole city was sensational, competing to taste the fish soup that the emperor had appreciated. Later, there was a literati moke poem praising: "Peach blossom flowing water mandarin fish fat, Southern Song Dynasty famous soup heavenly treasure." "The fifth sister-in-law of Song has thus become a rich and noblewoman."
Later, there was another legend, saying that when the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty went down to Jiangnan, there were fisherwomen offering fish soup, the taste was extremely fragrant, Qianlong asked for its name, but after returning to the palace, he only remembered a "Song" character, and then ordered the imperial kitchen to imitate, and finally it was not beautiful, and then asked about the prefect of Hangzhou, Fang learned that it was "Song Sister-in-law Fish Soup". So he ordered Song's sister-in-law to enter Beijing and teach him the skills of imperial cooking, and this method was passed down to the world. Later, there is a poem as evidence: "A bowl of fish soup is worth a few dollars, and the old Beijing relic brakes the heavenly face." When people believe in value to compete for the market, half buy Jun En and half buy fresh. Modern poet and writer Yu Pingbo pointed out in "A Brief Discussion on the Diet of Hangzhou and Beijing": "The beauty of the west lake fish soup has been passed down for thousands of years. ”
Sichuan-style fish fillet soup
Interestingly, in the early 1930s, Liu Wanfa, the chef of the "Xulai Small Restaurant" in Chengdu's Summer Socks North Street, tasted the Song Sister-in-law Fish Soup during a visit to the West Lake, and felt that it was very flavorful, so after returning to Chengdu, he imitated his fish soup as a noodle, and made it with Sichuan flavor, named "Song Sister-in-law Fish Noodles". This noodle is popular for its slightly spicy and fresh flavor, mellow flavor, and ingenuity. Xu Lai's small restaurant then became popular. After that, "Shiyou noodles" absorbed this noodle, after improvement, with fresh carp meat, fragrant mushrooms, magnolia slices, sprouts, green onions, Pixian watercress, Sichuan salt, vinegar, pepper wine, pepper, monosodium glutamate and other main ingredients, the hot pot first fried Pixian watercress until the oil was bright, mixed with fish soup, beaten with watercress residue, the soup under the golden hook, cut into nail slices of magnolia slices, water hair shiitake mushroom slices, simmered after a little boiling; net fish meat cut into small pieces, add salt, egg whites and bean flour yards, put into the hot lard pot and fry, and then put into the boiled fish soup, add salt, pepper noodles, After boiling, thin the mustard and drizzle with peppercorn oil.
In the noodle bowl, put soy sauce, chili oil, pepper oil, balsamic vinegar, sprouts, monosodium glutamate and green onion, and lard to adjust the bottom flavor; the noodles are handmade noodles, cooked and fished into the noodle bowl, poured with filling. The noodles of Song Sister-in-law are smooth, the soup is delicious, and the fish soup is spicy and spicy, and the flavor is unique in Chengdu, and it soon became its signature noodles.
It is worth mentioning that the "Song Sister-in-law Noodles" were later adopted by the Bao Xi Guan and Nan Tang Guan zi in Chengdu as the "midpoint" of the table, and in the summer, the pickled green vegetable shredded braised fish soup added a little sour flavor of kimchi, if so, also known as "sauerkraut fish soup noodles". Today, the Dragon Scribe Restaurant on Chunxi Road in Chengdu has a more authentic Song sister-in-law noodle, inheriting the flavor characteristics of the teacher's noodles of that year.
Song Concubine Noodles can be said to be one of the classics of Chengdu noodles. Nowadays, Chengdu buys song sister-in-law noodles not much, Chengdu Renmin Middle Road has a Song sister-in-law fish noodles, in the fish soup added omelette and pork, but also a different flavor, 15 yuan a bowl, although in the Chengdu noodle restaurant is considered to be more expensive, but diners eat very enjoyable. Chengdu Guangrong North Road also has a Song sister-in-law noodle shop, using grass carp, fish meat is mixed with egg powder, fried over low heat, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and then cooked with bean paste, tomato sauce, minced pork, minced ham, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoot slices, the soup is made of fish head, fish bone and pork stick bone, a bowl of Song sister-in-law fish noodles is simply a "fragrant fresh" get, the Chengdu noodle family eats with a smile.
Song Sister-in-law fish soup noodles
Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Editorial Board of "Sichuan Province Chronicle • Sichuan Cuisine Chronicle" Sichuan Cuisine Culture Person Sichuan Cuisine Contributor
Author of "A Hundred Years of Sichuan Cuisine Legend", "The History of Sichuan Cuisine on the Roadside", and "Three Hundred Years of Spicy Hemp Temptation"
Original Jianghu Gluttony East 2019.05.15 Chengdu