Xiangxi, from Shen Congwen's "Border City" to the stilt houses that can be seen everywhere, one side of the water and soil to support one person, one side of the food is enough to reveal the temperament of one party.
The tender water-like ancient city of Xiangxi has never been moved by the glitz of the city, cut an old time in Xiangxi, allow me to be quiet for years, through the phoenix smoke and rain, looking for the ancient town food on the map more than 100 years ago.
There are many fantasy legends about Xiangxi that make this beautiful place ancient and mysterious. The cuisine of Xiangxi belongs to a kind of Hunan cuisine, because it is located at the junction of Hunan, Guizhou, Qian, Chongqing and Hubei, and it is a multi-ethnic region, and Xiangxi has formed its unique "food zone"!
Due to the influence of the geographical environment, located in the mountainous area, the love of nature has given the local people a variety of mountain rare game in order to maintain the deliciousness of the food. Local residents often use smoking, pickling and other methods, which not only preserve the delicious taste of food, but also enable food to be preserved for a long time. Now let's take a look at some of the famous Xiangxi cuisines.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > The Meal of the Phoenix Society, which is a must-have</h1> food
After the spring, the grass blooms, the local people in order to worship the ancestors, the local people from the field to collect fresh and tender social dishes with stone crushing, and then wash their bitter and sour taste with water, and then put into the pot to dry, mixed with wild onions and stir-fried with clear oil, made into silly vegetables; then the local fine sticky rice and cut into pellets of winter bacon mixed contract cooking, when the rice is half cooked, mixed with silly vegetables, in a few moments of simmering, the rice is made.
The rice is not only the sweetness of glutinous rice, but also the smoked taste of bacon, as well as the fragrance of the dish, as soon as the rice is opened, the aroma is overflowing, which is mouth-watering and the appetite is greatly encouraged.
Glutinous rice, wild artemisia annua, wild shallots, bacon, lard, vegetable oil, peanut rice, etc. can also be steamed and boiled. It can be eaten now, or fried afterwards, and the community rice will only become more and more fragrant.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > miaojia sour fish</h1>
Phoenix people especially like sour food, because the local Miao people are mostly, and the Miao family has the saying that "one day does not eat acid, walking and stalking". Legend has it that because they lived in deep mountains, high mountains and remote roads, inconvenient transportation, it was difficult to eat fish, meat and vegetables, and they also lacked salt.
Therefore, in order to meet the needs of daily life, the Miao people set up acid altars in every household to make sour fish, sour meat, sauerkraut and other identical foods.
The Miao family uses carp to make sour fish. Carp are mostly stocked in rice paddies, and when the autumn harvest is in full swing, the fish and rice are harvested twice. Most of the harvested fish, except for a few fresh foods, are used to make sour fish.
The practice of sour fish is to wash the fresh fish with water, cut it open to remove its internal organs, and place it in the acid pot. Sprinkle with some chili noodles, salt, and mix well with ginger, garlic, and spices.
After three or four days, the fish in the altar are taken out, and a layer of sticky rice is placed on the bottom of the acid altar, and a layer of glutinous rice noodles or corn flour is placed on the fish, and each layer must be compacted by hand. After filling, press a layer of mixed glutinous rice, then seal and cover tightly.
This kind of acid altar has a water groove at the mouth, put in the appropriate water, seal the altar with water, isolate it from the outside air, and avoid oxidative deterioration of the acid fish in the altar. This method of making sour fish, the longer it takes, the better the taste. After three or four months, you can eat it raw.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > pickled radish</h1>
Speaking of acid, there is also a small dish, which is on the table of the Miao family from breakfast, that is, pickled radish. Phoenix pickled radish is a special flavor snack in Xiangxi, Hunan. In fenghuangcheng township, as long as there are crowds of people coming and going, there will be stalls selling pickled radish. Xiangxi people, regardless of men, women and children, like to eat pickled radish slices and sour radish stalks dipped in bright red pepper juice. There are many ways to brew pickled radish, and the good sour is sweet, sweet with fragrance, coupled with the spicy taste of chili peppers, it tastes unique.
Different from Sichuan kimchi, not salty, no peppercorns, pickled in sour water, sour and sweet taste makes you full of fresh mouth, bite a bite of sour radish with skin, you can hear the crisp sound, eat it is particularly refreshing.
Savvy businessmen are not limited to making a fuss about turnips, and their unique development methods are used in other ingredients.
In addition to white radish, there are cucumbers, lettuce, apples, carrots, lotus and other vegetables, and there are many varieties of vegetables, and each family also has its own unique signboard.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > blood rake duck</h1>
Phoenix blood rake duck is a famous regional specialty of Phoenix, when making the pre-soaked fine glutinous rice into a porcelain pot for use, when slaughtering the duck, the duck blood is dissolved into the glutinous rice soaked evenly, and after the duck blood coagulates, it is steamed.
After the blood rake has cooled, cut into small pieces, then fry in oil, stir-fry the duck and pork fat, peppercorns, vegetable oil together, fry dry water, then add salt, soy sauce and mix well, add water, cook for ten minutes on high heat, there is aroma overflow, and then add sliced big red pepper. When the duck is cooked, put the blood rake into the duck and simmer for a while, add some spices, cook until golden brown and serve.
The blood rake duck has both the delicious flavor of duck meat and the fragrant and soft flavor of the blood rake, which is delicious and makes people's appetite increase.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > ginger candy</h1>
Phoenix also has a special feature, that is, phoenix ginger candy.
The molding of ginger sugar specialties originates from a small recipe for phoenix folk to cure wind and cold.
People eat grains and grains, worry about labor all year round, and occasionally encounter wind and cold, and inevitably produce illness. For this kind of small disease, the Phoenix people generally do not turn to the doctor, cut a few slices of ginger mixed with brown sugar in the crock pot to fry, to a certain degree of heat, on the hot soup, covered with a quilt, issued a big sweat, it feels light, the body is as good as ever.
It is called ginger sugar, and the main ingredients are ginger and sugar. Ginger is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Therefore, the ancients left behind the tips of food and nourishment are: women continue to lotus for three days, and men continue to ginger for three days.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > red rice wine</h1>
Phoenix Red Rice Wine benefits from ancestral winemaking techniques and the secret recipe for making Miao Jia La flavor based on local ethnic customs.
The specialty of Laotan wine, picked alpine pure brewing, wine alcohol, strong cotton, not on the head, not dry mouth is famous. Mature original juice rice wine rice loose soup clear, color turquoise, honey rich, sweet in the mouth, thick but not sticky, thin and not flowing, after eating raw jin warm stomach, deep aftertaste.
Rich in a variety of vitamins, glucose, amino acids and other nutrients, after drinking can be appetizing and refreshing, and has the function of nourishing blood, nourishing yin and tonifying the kidneys, and maternal food is particularly beneficial.
Rice wine is divided into rice wine, sugar wine, sake, thick wine and so on, depending on the ingredients and brewing process.
Rice wine has the rice aroma of yellow rice, yellow and bright color, sweet and sour, and mellow aftertaste. More than cold weather production, can be used as a medicinal introduction and cooking wine. Because the family brewing, the techniques are sparse, and the taste of hundreds of households is hundreds of flavors, so the neighbors and friends can give each other wine and share with each other. At the wedding banquet, rice wine is an indispensable role. Drink wine first on rice wine, then on white wine.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Xiangxi bacon</h1>
Phoenix's old earthen bacon is different from the smoked bacon on the market, it is not made in the form of seven or eight, it is not made by mechanical craftsmanship, but is smoked on the shelf of the stove house all year round.
Before smoking, add appropriate salt and marinate for three or five days. The stove burns firewood all year round. The mountain climate is mild and cool, most of them are wooden houses, ventilated and breathable, and bacon can be shelved for a long time.
And the longer it goes on, the more exotic the bacon tastes. The bacon smoked on such a stove has a very special taste. The old bacon is delicious in texture, but it does not look good on the outside.
The bottom of the black pot, the hard stones, the smoke rushing to the nose, the black oil stained the hands. It can only be revealed after throwing it into the fire and burning it, then soaking it in rice water, scrubbing it vigorously with straw, and peeling off its ugly coat.
After steaming and serving, take a bite and immediately feel a rich, deep, moist and delicious ileum. If you arrive in Phoenix, you must take a good taste of the strong nostalgia, the aftertaste of the mouth, let you never forget.
The moss-covered stone roads, the pavilions by the mountains and waters, the crowds of people boating on the Tuo River, the girls who let go of the song and fishing songs, this small town with four distinct seasons has left me with too many memories.
People say that experience is wealth! May people in different regions and the north and south of the world fully enjoy the different gifts of nature, and thank it for giving us everything that human beings have to survive!
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Jessica's food every moment, food columnist, food writer, like my original content, remember to follow, retweet, like! I look forward to sharing with you my culinary experience over the years. Our beautiful relationship with food should not be replaced by guilt, live well and enjoy food. (The pictures and texts are all original, and the pirated pictures must be investigated!) ）