Pearl Yuanzi is a special Sichuan-flavored rice dish, because its surface is wrapped in a layer of glutinous rice, steamed rice grains are round and full, crystal bright, like pearls, so named. At the same time, "Pearl Yuanzi" was also the sign of a famous restaurant in Chengdu in the early years, known for making and selling pearl yuanzi, leaf rice, eight treasure rice and snack feasts.
Pearl Motoko
The special feature of Pearl Yuanzi is that it has the triple identity of Sichuan cuisine, Sichuan flavor table point, and Sichuan flavor snack, and its name first appeared in a Sichuan cuisine table in Chengdu one hundred and eighty-four years ago, stored in an old account book of Li Jieren's family, and copied and recorded by Mr. Li many years later, and now I have the honor to witness it.
The list was made in 1836 when Mr. Li was dealing with a white affair, and the pearl yuanzi was ranked among the nine major dishes, and combined with the thorny ginseng hoof flower, fish belly, watercress pigeon egg, etc. to form a high-standard Qing Dynasty Sichuan cuisine feast.
Although I don't know the detailed preparation method, the status of pearl yuanzi in the hearts of Chengdu people at that time is clear at a glance, and the "Chengdu Overview" of the late Qing Dynasty once again confirms its greatness, Fu Chongji included pearl yuanzi in the beet category of table, and combined with bird's nest shark fin, chicken, duck, fish and shrimp into the feast dish.
List of Sichuan dishes in the Qing Dynasty
The traditional Sichuan cuisine feast usually consists of cold dishes, hot dishes, snacks, meals, snacks, fruits, hot dishes, also known as large dishes, which are the core part of the whole table, including six to nine famous dishes, of which at least one beet. According to the records of Mr. Li and Fu Er, it can be known that pearl yuanzi should be one of the early Sichuan cuisine dishes.
The dim sum in the feast was originally a single variety for guests to eat or take home, and then gradually changed to a large dish, blending in with the main course. In the late Qing Dynasty and early Min Dynasty, Pearl Yuanzi was often presented as a table dessert, as a dessert to reconcile tastes and fuse tastes, and Zhang Herong, a chef in Guanxian (present-day Dujiangyan), was an expert in making this product.
Zhang Herong is good at white cases, especially pearl yuanzi, and began to set up stalls in the east street of Chengdu Zhonglie Ancestral Hall in the early years of the Republic of China. The Zhonglie Ancestral Hall was originally the capital of the Ming Dynasty, called the Wanshou Palace in the Qing Dynasty, and the People's Initial Reform Festival Baolu Movement and the Xinhai Revolution Were Loyal Martyrs. There is a large flea market in the area, with an endless stream of daily merchants, and the business of Zhang Herong Pearl Yuanzi is also booming.
Cotton Street in the 1950s, before the construction of the East Road
In 1919, Zhang Herong, who had a certain amount of savings, officially bought a shop in the West Street of the Zhonglie ancestral hall and opened a pearl yuanzi restaurant, selling flavored foods such as pearl yuanzi and eight treasure porridge, and pearl yuanzi also transformed from a feast dim sum into a Sichuan-style snack, attracting diners from all over the world.
At that time, there was a folk snack called wine rice steamed bun (also known as pearl steamed bun) in Chengdu, which was made of glutinous rice and indica rice, and stuffed with brown sugar or boiled red beans, similar to the pearl yuanzi method, but the workmanship was rough, the skin was thick and thick, and the taste was poor.
Zhang Herong's pearl yuanzi follows the mat point method, which is carefully crafted and expanded in taste. Choose the best glutinous rice to cook until nine ripe, while hot with eggs, bean flour, sugar and mix well into embryos - after the snack bar switch to the use of high-grade glutinous rice and rice in about three-1 ratio, through cleaning, soaking, refining, hanging pulp and other processes to make flour - or wrapped in washing sand, roses, sesame paste, black sesame seeds, date paste, osmanthus flowers and slag rock sugar, live oil (i.e. lard) mixed with sweet cores, or wrapped in fresh pork, golden hooks, cloud legs, mushrooms and other ingredients stir-fried salty cores, wrapped into two or three ordinary soup yuan-sized large soup yuan, wrapped in bubbles of round glutinous rice grains, A cherry clove is embedded in the top and steamed in a pot of boiling water for fifteen minutes to cook.
The outer layer of rice grains in the finished product is like white jade, cherry red like agate, red and white matching, plump and attractive. Yuanzi is soft but not collapsed, the entrance is moist and soft, the skin is thin and fragrant, the glutinous teeth are not sticky, the sweet filling is sweet but not greasy, the salty filling is salty and crispy, and it is accompanied by a lamp of Sichuan West red and white tea, which is more refreshing and palatable. With the spread of bustling diners, Pearl Yuanzi gradually became a must-see in Rongcheng.
In the 1950s, Zhang Herong handed over the store to his son Zhang Guangli and daughter-in-law Zhou Guorong, and after the public-private partnership in 1957, it merged with Yongxiang Sweet Shop in Cotton Street, adding a traditional Sichuan-style rice food Leaf Dumpling, which still hangs a pearl signboard. In the early 1960s, Zhang Guangli was transferred to Guo Tangyuan to work, and the storefront was moved to qingyang palace in the western suburb garden, where he was managed by the old technician Deng Zucheng. After that, it was successively moved to the southern section of Chunxi Road and The East Street of Admiralty, until 1981, when it was revitalized next to the Daci Temple in a section of Dongfeng Road , which was later No. 73 Daci Temple Road.
The newly opened Pearl Yuanzi Store is a classical two-storey small building, the structure is very Rich in Chinese charm, flower window cornices, carved beam paintings, glass tiles and jade bricks, the door head is the old Chengdu famous Li Banli handwriting black gold signboard, the hall hanging crystal lamp, the lower Chen black lacquer table, the wall hanging name painting, extra simple and elegant. The first floor is a casual meal seat, the second floor operates a snack feast, with a VIP reception room, more elegantly arranged, can host high-end banquets, special pastry chef Liu Junlin is the manager here.
Pearl Motoko snack restaurant
Pearl Yuanzi, Ye ErZi and Babao Rice are the three varieties of the store's three major town stores, in addition to the centralized supply of a number of Sichuan famous snacks, including husband and wife lung slices, camphor tea duck, cold mixed chicken shredded, Xiaolong steamed beef, egg baked cake, white bee cake, white ear soup, white fruit soup, zhong dumplings, dragon copying hands, Dan Dan noodles, small dumplings, flower cakes, radish cakes, cold rice dumplings, steamed dumplings, roasted wheat.
Small plates and small bowls, each holding no more than one or two, dazzling, as many as dozens of patterns, exquisite and delicious, each person spends ten to fifteen yuan, you can taste 12 to 18 kinds of Sichuan snacks at a time, especially for the cheap of tourists who come to Rong, often eaters like clouds, full of seats, can be a beautiful scene.
Ye Erzhu
In the mid-to-late 1980s, Chengdu Catering Company set up a point in Zitong Bridge Main Street to deal in pearl yuanzi and other products. In November 1990, the first Tianfu Food Expo sponsored by the Chengdu Municipal Government was held in Hongguang Vice Food Mall, and Pearl Yuanzi and Ye Ershu both won the gold medal and were rated as Chengdu Famous Snacks. In 1995, Pearl Yuanzi was recognized by the Ministry of Domestic Trade as a chinese time-honored brand.
At the end of the 1990s, the Pearl Yuanzi store was closed due to urban construction, and the former Sichuan flavor famous shop and Sichuan flavor snacks disappeared.
Sichuan-style snack table in the 1980s
Some of the pictures are from the Internet and are for illustrative purposes only
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