□ Wang Chunyan Yang Xiaochuan text/photo
At first taste, it is not sour, not sweet, not bitter, not spicy, and the taste cannot be accurately described. Delicate taste, soft and tender taste, salty and fresh taste, rich wine aroma, long aftertaste. The first impression of the Syrian house is so different.
Xufu bad eggs are a traditional snack in Yibin, Sichuan.
▲ Packaged rotten eggs for sale
According to historical research, the bad egg began in the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, which has a history of more than 150 years. According to legend, at that time, there was a Chinese medicine doctor in Yibin, Langzhong Zhang Zhujun, in the long-term practice process, using mash as medicine to inadvertently fill the container containing duck eggs with mash, and after the mash was used up, it was found that there were duck eggs soaked in mash below. It is a pity to lose it, so it is used to eat it. Peel off the eggshell and find that the eggshell has begun to melt, the egg liquid solidifies, the texture of the taste is tender, luscious and rich, mellow and refreshing, and the mouth dissolves, which is a big delicacy. Later, Zhang Zhujun used a variety of traditional Chinese medicine (spice) flavoring agents to be placed in the mash and stained together, so that its color and taste were further developed and perfected, making it officially a kind of food. Because it is made of mash, it is named bad egg, and because Yibin ancient is called Xufu, so the bad egg is also called Xufu bad egg.
▲ Peeling the shell also has to be careful
Originally passed down as a private dish, it was precious due to its unique flavor, taste, and difficulty in production and rare quantity, and gradually became a treasure used by celebrities and dignitaries to taste and give. By the early years of the Republic of China, the production process of Xufu bad eggs, the flavor characteristics are more mature, the production is also quite large-scale, only the bad egg merchants of Zhengshenghe, Daoxiangcun, Sun Qixiang, Wuxiangzhai and Tianfuyuan at that time, the annual output reached more than 300,000 pieces, in addition to selling well-selling Sichuan, Shanghai and other places, it was also exported to Hong Kong, Macao, Japan and Southeast Asia. In 1956, the Syrian bad eggs participated in the national food exhibition for the first time and won the reputation of "special cuisine, a must in China".
▲Egg selection in the form of light
From a raw egg in a liquid state to a delicious dish condensed into a solid state, the rotten egg has undergone a legendary butterfly transformation.
Bad Egg Teacher Fu said that the process of Bad Egg is extremely cumbersome and requires a long wait. First of all, in the spring of each year, the top duck eggs weighing about 80 grams are selected, washed twice, dried, and then beaten the eggshells with a small bamboo stick the size of the little finger one by one until there is a slight crack and does not hurt the egg film, and then put into the mixture of high-grade mash, brown sugar, high liquor, and salt, a layer of bad liquid and a layer of eggs, and finally cover the top with bad liquid and seal the altar.
After 3 to 5 months, the eggs are removed sequentially, the eggshell is gently peeled off without damaging the egg film, and soaked in high liquor for 3-5 days to make the egg whites solidify and no longer flow. At this time, on the basis of the original residue, brown sugar and salt are added to stir to form a new bad liquid, and the eggs soaked in white wine are installed and sealed according to the first altar loading process, and stored in a cool and dry place.
▲ Workers turn the altar at the right time according to the date marked on the altar
After another 3 to 4 months, turn the altar again so that each layer of eggs is soaked evenly. After 3-6 months of storage, the last time you turn the altar, the bad egg is really mature. At this time, the bad egg only has a membrane, no shell, the color sauce is red and bright, the egg shape is complete and full, and the fragrance is pervasive.
Corresponding to its long construction period, the whole process is pure handmade.
"Making a bad egg, like raising a doll, can be said to be the whole process of care." Egg selection link, one by one with lighting, every place must be illuminated, there are bubbles can not be used. The most critical part of egg knocking is to test kung fu, and you must be very patient, otherwise you will break it if you are not careful. Yang Yongping, a bad egg craftsman, told reporters that when he first followed the master to learn to knock eggs, he knocked at least twenty or thirty eggs before he succeeded in one.
▲ Knocking eggs must be skillful and light with hollow bamboo poles
"In fact, the knocking of eggs is mainly based on listening, not watching or pinching. To be proficient, it is impossible to do without a few years of kung fu. Yang Yongping took an egg as a demonstration. She clamped a raw duck egg in the position of the tiger's mouth and tapped it lightly with a hollow thin bamboo pole, and in a short time, the duck egg was punched out of several cracks, but the egg liquid did not penetrate at all, and it was obvious that the egg film was intact.
The production cycle of bad eggs is long, the skills are complex, the eating method is naturally very exquisite, and the nutritional value is worthy of the whole process of pure handmade care.
Before eating the egg, wash the bad liquid on the egg film with warm boiling water and carefully remove the egg film. Then pour about 15 grams of high liquor, 15 grams of sugar, and 3.5-5 grams of sesame oil on the egg together, stir until the egg is completely mushy, and then leave it for 10 minutes, wait for the rotten egg to fully integrate with the white wine, sugar, and sesame oil, and then slowly eat it to fully feel its deliciousness.
▲The rotten eggs that have been badly stained are dark brown
Because the rotten egg is at room temperature through the action of the bad liquid to produce sexual change of the protein, to the maximum extent to retain the total nutrition of the egg, the biological value of the whole egg up to 94%, and contains a variety of amino acids, especially rich in the human body itself can not synthesize eight essential amino acids. And the eggshell is gradually dissolved during the soaking process of the residue, so the egg itself has a very high calcium content, which is a veritable high calcium-containing food.
Yang Yongping said that rotten eggs, like wine, are stored in the altar for a long time, and the better the taste. As long as the bad liquid does not dry, the bad egg can be stored for a long time.
Perhaps because of its pure handmade production requirements, or perhaps a long finished product cycle, the Syrian rotten eggs are no longer as brilliant as they once were, and now there is only one enterprise in Yibin in production, and the annual scale is only about 10,000 pieces.
▲Rotten egg finished product
"At present, the market price of a bad egg is about 68 yuan, so the ordinary market situation is not bad." But it's a shame to lose this skill, so even if we don't make money, we still insist on doing it. He Jian, general manager of the company that produces bad eggs, said.
The relevant person in charge of the Cuiping District Bureau of Culture and Broadcasting also said that for bad eggs, eggs are the foundation, wine is the spirit that makes bad eggs otherworldly, and liquor has always accompanied every step of bad eggs. Therefore, the rotten egg also highlights Yibin's wine culture to a certain extent. Therefore, they have also been protecting and inheriting the bad egg skills by building a publicity and promotion platform and declaring provincial intangible cultural heritage.