sweet
It's a taste of happiness.
If you are not happy, take a big bite of dessert,
The lips and teeth were immediately overflowed with happiness and pampering,
The tongue drives the snack to roll in the mouth,
Finally swallow contentedly.
Among the various pastries that bring people happiness,
There are many delicious and rich Chinese pastries,
"Eight pieces" is one of them.
Speaking of "fine eight pieces" dim sum,
Many elderly people in Weixian are not strangers,
Every birthday feast, wedding and other festive occasions,
The "fine eight pieces" dim sum is even more indispensable.
The reporter was in the operation room of pastry chef Li Xuemei,
Looking at her who has just won the honorary title of "Weicheng Craftsman",
The whole process of making "fine eight pieces" dim sum is meticulously crafted.
The flip action of the two hands is delicate
The dough in her hand was like magic
On May 20, the reporter went to Li Xuemei's dim sum operation room near the intersection of Xiangyang Road and Renmin Street in Weicheng District and saw that she and several workers were making "fine eight pieces" of dim sum.
Next to the table, there are small pots, which contain date paste filling, chestnut filling, taro filling, etc., Li Xuemei flipped over with both hands, rolled a piece of noodles into a long strip, rolled out a rectangle and folded it in half, cutting out a dough of the same size.
A piece of dough in her hand was like magic, constantly changing shape.
Li Xuemei is making peach crisp, filling the dough with her own fried date paste filling, pressing and pinching with her hand, and a peach-shaped snack appears.
She then placed the snacks neatly on a baking sheet, sprinkled a layer of sugar evenly on each of them, and set them aside for a while.
After the sugar is soaked into the noodles, she uses cantaloupe food coloring to dot the bottom of the peach pastry with a green color.
I took another comb, dipped it in a little red strawberry food coloring, and brushed it on the comb.
The pigments pass through the gaps in the comb and fall on the top of the dim sum, showing a peach red color, which is particularly beautiful.
A peach crisp is done, just wait for it to bake.
Different dim sums have different recipes, and several kinds of dim sum are placed on different baking sheets, just like a piece of art, with a realistic shape.
No molds are used
Scissors chopsticks brushes are essential tools
The reporter noticed that unlike ordinary dim sum, which is pressed by machine molds, Li Xuemei's dim sum, none of which is used in the mold, is made by her own hand.
The tools she uses are also quite special, and scissors, chopsticks, brushes, combs, brushes and even iron bars, which are common in daily life, are indispensable.
Li Xuemei told reporters that each tool has a lot of uses, such as scissors can be used for modeling, brushes and combs are used to color, chopsticks and iron bars are used to poke holes, etc.
The delicate and beautiful dim sum is actually made of these ordinary tools.
"Nowadays, many people use modern tools to make dim sum, which I have never used, it may be that I am a more traditional person, using some ordinary daily necessities handed down from the older generation." Modern tools, I make the contrary not used to. Li Xuemei said.
Although these small snacks may seem inconspicuous, they are actually quite troublesome to make.
Li Xuemei told reporters that to make this kind of "fine eight pieces" dim sum, she needs to start frying the stuffing and noodles at least a day in advance, and the heat of the fried stuffing and the softness and hardness of the noodles are very exquisite, and there can be no sloppiness.
"From filling, dough, filling, styling, coloring, to baking dim sum, this small snack needs to go through seven or eight steps, and each step is very exquisite. The dim sum is made to pay attention to the color and fragrance, and if one step is not done well, it will affect the final result. Li Xuemei said that because the process of making "fine eight pieces" is too cumbersome, other people in the store are not very proficient in it, and she does not do it very often.
No preservatives added
Even if you put it for a week, it won't be bad
After several "fine eight pieces" of dim sum were all ready, Li Xuemei put them in a baking tray and began to bake.
Li Xuemei told reporters that the time of baking different dim sum is different, and the baking time of this "fine eight pieces" dim sum is about 17 minutes, and after so many years of painstaking exploration, this hot taste is the best.
After waiting patiently for 17 minutes, Li Xuemei dragged the snacks out of the oven on time.
Freshly baked dim sum, the color is attractive, the shape is realistic, each one is like a beautiful work of art, even if people hold it in their hands, they are reluctant to eat it.
Li Xuemei said with a smile that many people have misunderstandings about traditional dim sum, thinking that freshly baked dim sum is the best, such as the traditional heavy oil mooncake, and many customers are queuing up to eat freshly baked mooncakes.
But in fact, the dim sum is not the best when it comes out of the oven, it is best to leave it for a day or two, and the taste is the best.
"Our stuffing is specially fried and very tasty in itself. When it first comes out, the taste of the filling is still difficult to fully moisten into the skin, at this time, the skin is the skin, the filling is the filling, delicious is delicious, but not the most delicious. During the cooling process of the snack, the taste of the filling will be infiltrated into the skin, and even if you only eat the skin at that time, it is a rare enjoyment. Li Xuemei said.
Li Xuemei introduced that this kind of handmade dim sum and mooncakes she made did not add any preservatives, but even if it was put on for a week, the taste would not change, and it would not be bad, and the secret was in the combination of sugar, oil, noodles and heat.
"In ancient times, there was no refrigerator, but the snacks would not be broken for a long time, in fact, because the materials and other combinations were reasonable, which was also the snacks made by the machine." Li Xuemei said.
"Fine eight pieces" is just a general term
More than eight pieces of dim sum are actually included
Li Xuemei told reporters that their family began to make dim sum from her great-grandfather's generation, she is the third generation, and her father's and uncle's generation did not learn for some special reasons.
Since 1992, Li Xuemei officially began to make dim sum.
"After all these years, there are only a few times when I don't make dim sum, and it can be said that dim sum has been integrated into my blood." Li Xuemei said that she still makes traditional handmade dim sum, although the process is particularly cumbersome and tiring, but when she really spares one day not to do it, she feels that her hands are itchy and her heart is very unsteady.
There is not much knack for making dim sum, the most important thing is the material and care.
"Take the egg as an example, if you put an egg in the winter, you may have to put an egg and a half in the summer." Because chickens drink less water after eating in winter, the concentration of egg liquid is relatively high, and in summer chickens drink more water, and the concentration of egg liquid is lower. If you want to ensure the taste of the snack, you must adjust the changes at any time, and you can't stick to the rules. Li Xuemei said.
Li Xuemei introduced that "fine eight pieces" is only a general term, in fact, it contains more than eight pieces of dim sum, plum blossom crisp, shou peach crisp, Ping An Guo, bergamot crisp, Lianzi apricot, Yuanbao crisp, 100-year-old cake, autumn leaf crisp, white honey food, etc. are all common "fine eight pieces" dim sum before.
The "fine eight pieces" not only have edible value, but also have high arts and crafts value.
It is not only a kind of food, but also a kind of handicraft, it is a beautiful gift used by the people of Lao Wei County to get married and celebrate their birthdays in the past, and has a very high cultural value.
Because the practice of "fine eight pieces" is too cumbersome, fewer and fewer people are doing it now, and this craft is on the verge of extinction.
To this end, Li Xuemei, with the help of some literature and history experts, specially applied for the intangible cultural heritage of Weicheng District for this skill.
"Now I feel that the burden on my shoulders is quite heavy, not only to pass on this skill, but also to carry it forward." Li Xuemei said that fortunately, her daughter is very interested in making dim sum, and because her daughter has gone to college, studied design, has a broad mind, a flexible mind, is good at combining Chinese and Western, and the dim sum made has a lot of innovation on the basis of tradition, which is better than she does.
Weifang, on the dim sum!
Pastry chef Li Xuemei brought up the "fine eight pieces",
Carrying the joy of this water and soil,
It will eventually remain on the tip of the tongue and memory of countless Weifang people
- This is the taste of human feelings.
People have a sweet understanding of the "fine eight pieces",
Confess the whereabouts of the clear heavens,
Don't forget where yesterday came from!
Reporter / Zhao Chunhui Zhang Chi Editor / Sun Mengjie Editing / Zhang Min