The ancients used tortoise shells for divination. Usually, the tortoise shell is inscribed on the tortoise shell, and then the tortoise shell is burned with fire, and a crackling sound is often interpreted as a god conveying the message of heaven. After the bonfire was extinguished, the wizard picked out the shells baked by the fire and dipped them in a bowl of water. Then, the shaman began to carve on the turtle shell with a re-lit bonfire, which was the will of the gods.
The ancients also wrote in tortoiseshell, the famous "oracle bone". Oracle bone refers to the text used by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty of China to divinate and inscribe on turtle shells or animal bones. In 1899, when the late Qing Dynasty epigrapher Wang Yirong was treating a disease, he discovered the location of the oracle bone from an oracle bone (locally called "dragon bone", a medicinal material that cures all diseases) from Anyang, Henan. This is the carrier of the earliest known Shang Dynasty script in China and East Asia.
Why use turtle shells? First, it is because the turtle is a very long-lived animal, and the long life span is well-informed and can predict the auspiciousness. Second, it is said that the turtle is one of the legendary four ancient god beasts, xuanwu, which can be psychic.
Of course, in addition to divination, turtles can also be used for food. Like the "Bagua Soup" in Wuhan's Small Peach Garden, it was once one of the four famous foods in Wuhan.
Its bagua soup is very exquisite. Select more than half a kilogram of live turtles, before slaughtering, put them into water to spit out the stolen goods in the abdomen, then break the shell, dig the meat, divide the intestines, take the eggs, peel, then undo the knife and wash, put into the pot and stir-fry, and finally go through 11 processes such as simmering and simmering, and then put them into the jar according to the share with various flavors, simmer over low heat. The soup is thick and the turtle meat is delicious and delicious
Interestingly, the founders of this restaurant, Tao Kunfu and Yuan Dezhao. They turned out to be kitchen cooks at The Catholic Church Hospital in Hankou, Tao was a Western cook, and Yuan was a Chinese cook. On December 9, 1944, American aircraft bombed the fallen Hankou, the hospital was destroyed, and Tao and Yuan were unemployed at the same time. The two of them first relied on Lanling Road to sell noodle nests and soybean milk to survive, and their advice was that the master was Dazhi Road selling Bagua soup and beef soup.
Later, they expanded the small shed selling soup into a shop of more than 20 square meters, and successively added more than ten varieties of hen soup, turtle soup, rib soup, duck soup, pigeon soup, pig's trotter soup, etc., especially hen soup is the most famous.
As business booms, there must be a signboard. Tao and Yuan were combined, modeled on the story of Taoyuan Sanjieyi in the Three Kingdoms period, and took the name of the shop with the surnames of the two, but because there were only two people, they wanted to add a "small" word in front of the word Tao Yuan. The "small" word has only 3 strokes, afraid that the business is too short, it was changed to the 13 strokes of the "筱" character, that is, "筱陶袁".
In 1979, Tao Kunfu, deputy manager of The Yuan Simmering Soup Restaurant, suggested changing the name of the store to "Little Peach Garden", so it was given this name.
I am afraid that no one can imagine such a change!
Now, XiaoTaoyuan has been greatly damaged by the transformation of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, and its delicious turtle soup has become difficult to have. Last year, after the epidemic, wild turtles were included in the relevant prohibited list, and turtle soup bid farewell to the rivers and lakes.
However, the tasty guys are not worried, because there are turtles that taste better and fatter than turtles, which are very popular in the Yangtze River Basin.
Water fish, also known as turtles, foot fish, tuan fish, in Changsha called Changsha turtle.
Three thousand years ago, during the western Zhou Dynasty, the construction of Luoyi was completed, and the princes of all sides came to pay tribute to the "Changsha Turtle". In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Linggong deliberately gave the turtle meat to the chancellor Zi Song, and Zi Song was furious and angrily raised soldiers to kill Zheng Linggong, because the story of the destruction of the country by turtle soup was even more laughable.
It is this kind of seductive delicacy that makes countless delicious guys nostalgic. Qian Guang, a well-known monk of the Northern Song Dynasty, praised, "I hope that the goose will have four palms and the turtle will stay two skirts." "
In the 1980s, track and field coach Ma Junren led long-distance runner Wang Junxia and others to break world records. The reporter asked about its secret method, and replied that it originated from the efficacy of turtles. Turtles are therefore a hundred times more important, and many areas in Hubei are even promoting turtle farming.
Nowadays, after thousands of years of brewing, the way turtles are eaten is more colorful, and the practices from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to the middle reaches are also different.
Let's start with the Xiajiang area.
Ningbo's rock sugar turtle, pioneered by Yongjiang Zhuangyuanlou, is one of the top ten famous dishes in Ningbo. Every year in April and May, the rape flowers in the Jiangnan region bloom, and it is the time when the turtle is the most fat, which was called "cauliflower turtle" at that time. At this time, ningbo people will cook rock sugar turtle. The addition of rock sugar makes the marinade thicker, and the glue produced by the turtle itself makes the dish yellow and shiny, and the mouth is moist. Before the students take the exam, order a rock candy turtle, which is "dominant".
The overlord of Xuzhou, Bieji, originates from the story of Xiang Yu and Yu Ji. According to legend, when Xiang Yu, the king of Chu, held a celebration in Pengcheng, he set up a "Dragon and Phoenix Feast" to entertain the heroes and guests, and the Dragon and Phoenix Club was one of the main dishes, that is, the combination of turtle and turkey. Later, after the defeat of Xiang Yubing, Yu Ji killed herself, and "Overlord Farewell" became a famous play in Peking Opera, which was very popular with everyone. Inspired by this, the Xuzhou chef changed the Dragon and Phoenix Society to "Overlord Farewell". Today, in the Wedding Feast in Xuzhou, there must be this dish.
There is also a yellow stewed turtle in Weifang, Shandong, which is based on turtles and fat hens, and its fame is said to be related to Zheng Banqiao. But this is similar to Xuzhou's "overlord Farewell" approach.
The middle reaches of the Yangtze River vary.
Hunan's yellow stewed water fish, Hunan cuisine representative, mostly use Hanshou, Dongting live water fish, and add the whole chicken or chicken legs.
In Hubei, there is Jingsha turtle, which is a classic of Chu cuisine. In the last year of the Warring States, the Jingsha turtle was selected for the banquet list of "Chu Ci Great Moves", which has a history of thousands of years. The so-called "fresh cockroach, and Chu cheese only." The ancients noted: "Take the fresh and clean big turtle to cook the soup, mix it with honey, reuse the meat of the fat chicken, and use the Chu country to make the cheese, and its taste is clear and strong."
Today's Hubei has done the turtle to the extreme, such as braised turtle, stewed turtle skirt, winter melon turtle skirt soup, stewed turtle, turtle roasted eel, turtle roasted mushroom, turtle roast bamboo shoots, turtle cordyceps soup, turtle stew bullfrog... Some merchants have even launched turtle self-heating pots, which are convenient for customers such as self-driving tours to eat, take home for reprocessing, which is quite interesting.
In Wuhan, the most famous turtle cooking is the big scarab under the Parrot Island Bridge, which is red with only one turtle. As for recent years, the most abundant practices in the three towns of Wuhan are yuanyinjia, and they are becoming more and more popular.
This year, Yuan Yinjia opened in the new store of Sixin Avenue in Hanyang, appearing in Hanyang with the appearance of the largest turtle restaurant in Wuhan, and the more intense turtle jianghu brought fresh blood, the first of which is the turtle bun, which has become the Internet celebrity of a new generation of turtle product series.
It is said that the filling of this turtle bun is made of wild shoots from Yixing, Jiangsu, dried beans from Zhongxiang, Hubei, green onions from Zhangqiu, Shandong, turtle from Honghu Lake, Hubei, and secret sauces.
This is a large bag launched by YuanyinJia to welcome the New Year in 2021, and it is the first creation of Yang Yuanyin, a famous chef in Jiangcheng and a master of Chinese cooking.
Now because there are not enough people in the store, it can only be limited to 150 per day, 32 yuan a cage, a cage of 6. After many tastings, guests pack and take them away, as well as book ones.
Many people feedback that it is more delicious than Yuan Datou and Simei buns!
A few days ago, there was also a funny thing in Qingdao Road Yuanyin ZhuangyuanJia, the little sister who ate together after eating turtle roast lamb chops, suddenly got excited, took out a few ancient coins such as "Kaiyuan Tongbao", and calculated the wishes of the people at the same table according to the tarot card algorithm.
Thinking of this is similar to the ancient turtle shell divination, not to mention the hottest turtle restaurant in Hankou, it is even more appropriate!
Author: Shu Huai
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