"Crab eight pieces" usage
The ancient law says that when eating crabs, first put the crab into the lotus leaf plate, use a hammer to beat the entire crab parts again, then split the crab shell, cut off the crab feet, and use pliers, forks, and tweezers to clip out the crab yellow, crab paste and crab meat. Eat buckets first, then eat boxes, and finally eat feet and claws. When eating a portion, it is first scooped into the knight, and then spooned with the ingredients, and tasted little by little.
The characteristics and cuteness of Suzhou people are that they have no city and love to have fun. Nothing to stay at home, after eating crabs, I want to think about how to put the crab shells together more conveniently, or study the singing voice to invent the commentary, chant a lot of poetry out of a lot of talent, the big thing is how to make life more fun.
When it comes to eating crabs, you can't fail to mention eight pieces of crabs.
Eight pieces of crabs, this 8 kinds of tools for eating crabs are pronounced as "haboji" in Suzhou dialect, qi harvest dantian, clear and melodious, quite Wu Nong soft language style. The chapter "Crab Eating" in "Examination Eating" says: "In the Ming Dynasty, skilled craftsmen invented a set of small and exquisite crab eating tools, which were originally created with a total of 8 pieces of hammers, upsets, pins, spoons, forks, shovels, scrapes and needles, so it was called 'eight pieces of crabs', and later developed into 12 pieces on this basis." These tools are generally made of copper, and those who pay attention to them are silver. "Some people also think that these tools are groped out by Suzhou people in practice, today you add one, tomorrow I add one, there is no conclusion." Because it is not an ordinary people's product, it is only collected in the rich people's homes, and in modern times, it is not only rare to see, but also simplified. In Liang Shiqiu's "Yashe Says Eat Crab" became "a small wooden mallet per diner, a small wooden mat, boxwood wood, a spin bed customized, a small coincidence, a knocking and beating", which is a serious regression compared with ancient times, which is simply simple. By the 1960s, the eight pieces of crab had disappeared from the table as representatives of decay.
Nowadays, when you go to the "First Street of Gusu" - Shantang Street in Suzhou City, there is a shop called Changji Folk Crafts Trading House, where you can buy eight pieces of crabs. According to the owner of the shop, he and the teacher of "Changji" visited the flea market for many years and collected some sporadic old versions of "Eight Pieces of Crab". The price is not cheap, and the well-preserved single piece has been speculated to tens of thousands of yuan. There are also people who claim that there are well-preserved "eight pieces" at home, but if they want to receive it, there is no way, and it is not okay to give money a look. This is probably the hateful and cute "shaft power" of Suzhou people. Small wealth is peace, everything is not measured by money, just try to steal pleasure at home.
"Changji Crab Eight Pieces" has been improved, and the creator and producer is called Zou Xianglin. He is the third generation of "Changji" copper scissors, his ancestors are "Su scissors" craftsmen, and the eight crab pieces were made for his master when he was an apprentice. The eight pieces of Changji crab are all carved and polished by Master Zou himself. His signature is "Eight Pieces of Bronze Crab Carved", with 8 pieces of spoons, axes, upsetting, tweezers, hammers, scrapes, forks and scissors. Each piece is exquisite: "spoon" is based on a banana fan, "axe" is Zhuge Liang's hat, "upset" refers to the plum seat with tiger feet in mahogany furniture, the handle of "tweezers" is an ancient coin shape, "hammer", "scraping" and "fork" are unified carving handles, "scissors" are the most delicate, "Su scissors" process, scissor feet inlaid with two banana leaves, the subtleties are only a few millimeters thick, called "Linglong scissors". It will take a whole week to do this set. Master Zou said that the contact between copper and liquid is not good for human health, and it is not suitable for use, and can only be collected. The improved crab eight pieces, shaped like bamboo knots, are made of tableware grade stainless steel. There is a set of eight pieces of silver crab, which was custom-made by a guest from Southeast Asia. Silver material is too soft, a little careless waste, in order to save materials, Master Zou hung a piece of plastic sheet in front of the grinder, collected droplets, re-melted into the material, knocked and beaten, - set down to do it took a month. This set of eight crab pieces is the highest price of "Changji" at present, 8800 yuan.
There is also a pair of Kang brothers in Suzhou, and the production of eight pieces of crab is also famous. Compared with the eight pieces of Changji crab, in addition to the very different appearance, the 8 pieces of Kang's have one more "dish" and less "tweezers". Master Zou Xianglin did not think so: copper itself is no longer suitable for tableware, and then made into a "dish", put into vinegar, that is not bad? And "tweezers" is the most useful tool in the eight pieces of crabs, reaching into the crab's feet to poke out the meat, or picking the small meat deep in the crab's body, how to use it at will.
"Changji" is a long-established brand of Suzhou knife and scissors, which was created during the Qianlong period, and was on a par with "Hangzhou scissors". "After some thought and some newness, the swallowtail is cut into a brocade, the red chamber of the embroidery pavilion is often accompanied, and the golden needle and jade ruler are neighbors." It is said that the sharpness and durability of Changji copper scissors are high-grade. Copper is not easy to rust, scissors are durable and even can be used as heirlooms, and have the meaning of warding off evil spirits, which has become a dowry for the pressure box in Jiangnan since ancient times. But copper is too soft to make a blade, but is made of steel (early iron), the melting point of the two metals is different, how to weld them together has become the biggest trade secret of "Changji". The scissors have a curvature at the mouth, and it is not easy to split when cutting hard objects, which requires all handmade. Therefore, Changji copper scissors were never supplies for the common people, but were hidden by rich people. In the early years, there were 7 Changji copper scissors that could be exchanged for a large mansion with a yard.
The 62-year-old Master Zou applied the copper scissors process to the "scissors" of the eight pieces of crabs, which are durable and hard, and this technique is currently mastered by only him. A large knife and scissor group from other provinces spent a lot of money to hire him, and he shook his head: "Without Suzhou, copper scissors are not copper scissors, and eight crabs are not crab eight." "Chang Ji" bought him a small box-spring bed, placed it by the door, and he was very satisfied that he could lie down and rest between work. If he encountered the apprentice helper who had a slight difference in his hand, he immediately changed his face and shouted loudly, saying, "I have this temper." ”
In addition, the shopkeeper Song Jianzheng, this person is thin and tall, speaks softly and slowly, and is interested in chanting poetry, which is very suzhou talented. But he is not from Suzhou, but from Changzhou, in order to restore the traditional handicrafts of Suzhou. He said: "By chance, when I saw Suzhou City East Ring Road building a new road, I did not hesitate to divide two roads for an ancient tree, and I suddenly had a sense of identity with the city of Suzhou. Song Jianzheng had earlier worked as a government clerk in Changzhou, and in 2002, when he heard that the "Su scissors" craft was on the verge of being lost, he rushed to give advice to "Changji". In 2003, he simply quit his job and moved his family to Suzhou, becoming the majority shareholder and manager of "Changji". His short-term goal is to borrow eight pieces of crabs and "commercialize" the products of "Changji". Craftsmen with extraordinary skills like to hide their secrets, and he convinces them to restore the glory of "Changji". Pure handmade production makes it impossible to mass-produce, and it is difficult to achieve industrialization. But he still dreams of letting the Chinese people and even the world use eight pieces of crab when they eat crabs. He believes: "The so-called crab culture is not about the crab itself, it is just a gifted delicacy, delicious, and it is actually talking about the process of eating crabs. After the restoration of the first set of eight crab pieces, he recalled that when he first tried it, it was as if he was enjoying an art, and what came to his mind was the humor of sigu, which was the charm of traditional craftsmanship. He also cooperated with Master Zou Xianglin to design a "five-ring copper scissors", which was given to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee, the scissor feet are five-ring shapes, and there is Xiangyun support under it, taking copper scissors to ward off evil spirits.