Shanghai City God Temple is located in Fangbang Middle Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, and is one of the "Three Great Temples of the Yangtze River". Due to its location in the old city, not only Shanghai locals often visit, but also most tourists come to Shanghai to visit the must-see attractions.
Speaking of the City God Temple, we have to mention pear paste candy. As a special snack from the Shanghai City God Temple. It can be said from the fifth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1855 AD). At that time, a couple surnamed Zhu opened a pear paste candy shop next to the main hall in front of the Old City God Temple in Shanghai, named "Zhu Pinzhai"; in the eighth year of Qing Guangxu (1882 AD), a businessman opened a pear paste candy shop in the West Shouqing Snow Fang of the Old City God Temple in Shanghai, named "Yongsheng Hall"; in the 30th year of Qing Guangxu (1904 AD), someone opened a pear paste candy shop called "De Yong Tang" at the entrance of the North Yu Garden of the Shanghai City God Temple.
It is worth noting that because several stores use their own brands and trademarks, the competition between them is fierce. In order to improve the cough effect of pear paste sugar, some Chinese herbs such as Sichuan shellfish, orange stem, and half summer are ground into powder and boiled into pear paste sugar to make cough relief pear paste sugar; some grind Chinese herbs such as sand kernels, cloves, and bergamot into powder and boiled into pear paste candy to make appetizing pear paste candy. Due to the high quality of medicinal materials, fine processing, low price and good quality, business is booming. In the 1930s, Shanghai folk artists sang pear paste candy red throughout Shanghai stalls, and the shanghai city god temple pear paste candy became more and more famous, becoming a popular snack food that people loved.
After the founding of New China, the state vigorously supported the production of this traditional famous specialty. In 1956, the three small shops were merged into one, officially named "Shanghai Pear Paste Sugar Food Factory". Since then, the later well-known Shanghai Old City God Temple Pear Paste Candy is on the right track.
In order to have a deeper understanding of pear paste candy, the reporter walked into the Shanghai Pear Paste Sugar Food Factory and learned from Wu Shengzhong, the inheritor of the municipal intangible cultural heritage project "Pear Paste Candy Making Technique".
Wu Shengzhong told reporters that when he was 18 years old, he entered the Shanghai Pear Paste Sugar Food Factory and learned the pear paste candy production process from Cao Hairong. "On the first day, we held a meeting and told us that pear paste candy is not ordinary candy, it contains Chinese herbs, and we should do it with care."
As an apprentice, Wu Shengzhong talked about the experience of making pear paste candy when he first entered the factory, "It was really bitter at that time. There was no thermometer at that time, so I had to use my hands to build this sugar, and I had to put my hand in it at 120 degrees to 130 degrees. After that, you have to keep stirring, the jargon is called 'turning the sand', which is done to beat off the water vapor. The whole process has seven processes, and one cannot be less. According to Wu Shengzhong, the previous production of 500 kilograms of pear paste candy per day required repeating such a process more than 40 times. For more than 160 years, the recipe of pear paste sugar has never changed, and the production method still follows the ancient method.
When did the pear paste candy production method originate? This has to start with Wei Zheng, the chancellor of Emperor Taizong of Tang at that time. At that time, Wei Zheng's mother was suffering from coughing and wheezing, and he tried to find a cure. The kung fu paid off, and he found that the pear paste candy boiled by mixing pears and herbs together was effective in treating coughs and asthma. Since then, the pear paste candy technique has been passed down to this day.
Wu Shengzhong still clearly remembers the scene of selling pear paste candy at the City God Temple, "There are two kinds of shouting and selling." Bunsho sells pear paste candy while making gossip, so as to gather popularity and let customers buy it; wu sell is like singing opera, introducing pear paste candy in the way of singing. ”
Over the years, pear paste candy has always been popular with citizens and tourists. But Wu Shengzhong realized that the old brand also needs innovation and constantly develops new products. He noticed that today's young people like to make flower tea, so he developed a series of flower languages, "Put half a piece in the teapot, you can brew a cup of flower tea." ”
Nowadays, Shanghai Old City God Temple Pear Paste Candy is well-known in Shanghai, is a famous traditional souvenir of Shanghai, its long history, enduring, deeply loved by consumers across the country, especially by those who have a deep old Shanghai complex of Chinese at home and abroad love, they always have to bring some products with their relatives to enjoy this happy fun.
Reporter / Zhang Yi
Editor / Sun Chong
Photo / Shanghai Great World Art Center