The morning sun of the new spring, the smoke of cooking, soaked with a hint of sweetness, vigorous memories of the year.
In the childhood memories of the small village in Shanghai, there is probably such a picture. On the large stove between the stoves, a large cauldron is supported, and the hot water is stirred back and forth. The cake maker held his breath, could not be distracted for a moment, and carefully persuaded the naughty little boy to retreat. Success or failure is in this crucial minute or two, if the steaming is not cooked, it is useless to return to the basket.
In Luojing Town, Baoshan District, every household still retains the practice of Four Happy Wind Cake. Each family has a secret recipe that is not passed on, and the taste ratio is as good as it seems. "Four Joys", as the name suggests, are the four great events in life - housewarming, marriage, birthday, birthday. It runs through the long years of life, and also carries people's good memories of "New Year's taste".
The "sweetness" of time
Luo Jing Likang Nursing Home, the dean Jin Huili was busy again. Every Spring Festival, as the inheritor of the Four Joy Wind Cake, she always has to "show her hands" for the elderly in the courtyard. First, let them beat the tooth sacrifice and "taste fresh"; second, it is also to let them reminisce about the past and retain this "sweet memory". The old man can not eat cakes "greedy", afraid of not digesting, generally can only occasionally "click the taste". But even so, the aromatic smell of rice cakes can always hook the fingers of the elderly in the courtyard.
Small pastries, but there are many doorways behind them. If you are not skilled, you will inevitably be in a hurry. Although it seems that it only takes a few minutes to cook, the kung fu has already begun the night before.
Luojing Town, which is close to the water source, is rich in high-quality rice resources. Kim uses local ingredients to match local rice with japonica glutinous rice in a golden ratio of 7:3. This is the "experience talk" that she has practiced hundreds of times. After that, it is necessary to wait for the food magic "catalyzed" by time.
After about four to six hours of soaking, the rice grains still have some moisture, which needs to go through several processes such as water filtration and flour rolling. There is an old rice mill in the town with a good reputation, and an experienced teacher can always make cakes of just the right thickness. Every New Year,the cakes here always become "hot goods". The most tested square is the flour mixing process. Seasonal changes and temperature rises and falls will affect the texture of the powder paste. The aunt who makes the cake needs to automatically adjust the sugar water ratio according to experience. The amount of weight, they only need to glance at. After mixing with sugar and water, it is best that the cake powder can be formed into small pieces.
After carefully making the flour balls, the aunts who make cakes still dare not take it lightly. The next step is more exciting - caged. Laymen only road, is it not simple to load the cage? Only the expert knows the middle door - the cake powder cannot be pressed too hard, otherwise it will dry as soon as it is on the pot. If you want not to "fall short", you must preset the "swelling amount" in advance. One process after another was not sloppy at all, and the four-hot wind cake with a very high steaming loss rate was only made.
"Country Socialization" That Links Emotions
In Luojing, the Four Joy Wind Cake not only has a "good mouth color", but also has a "rural social" function.
The endless fields are a gift from nature on which the locals live. Throughout the year, farmers get up early and get busy with crops. Small, easy-to-carry pastries have become the best food for hunger.
Here, the network of people formed by traditional production relations is close and intimate. Several adjacent production brigades can quickly divide the newly baked four happy wind cakes. Pieces of sticky but not greasy pastries, every housewarming joy also has the function of "recognizing the door", quickly narrowing the distance between the neighborhood.
Not only the cake, but even the cake itself carries the human relationship. Next to the rumbling rice mill, the villagers carried the grain and waited while chatting, talking about the parents' shortness and the expectations of the New Year. The wilderness is a natural social field.
Unique cuisine born from the vast countryside, its craftsmanship itself is closely linked to the land. In the evolution of the city, the four joy wind cake making skills were once challenged. "Many people have moved to demolish, and everyone has moved into a building," said Zhao Yufang, head of the district-level licensing and learning site of Xinlu Village's Sixifeng Cake, who said that after the villagers "went upstairs", the space for fireworks on the side that was moving around was small. A few special pots and pans for making cakes filled the kitchen of only more than ten square meters, and there was almost no room to show their skills. "There are too many tools to make cakes, everyone is troublesome, and there are naturally fewer people doing it."
In 2017, Sixifeng Cake was included in the intangible cultural heritage of Baoshan District. Heirs Kim Hye-ri believe that food also carries deep feelings. With the advancement of the inheritance and protection system of intangible cultural heritage skills, the sweet memories brought by the Four Happy Wind Cake will stop in more people's hearts.
"As long as the old house is not demolished, the sense of New Year's ceremony is still there," Zheng Xiaorong, head of the SixiFeng Cake Intangible Cultural Heritage Project in Luojing Town, said in a word, saying that the emotions of the Four Joys Wind Cake are related. Big chimney, eight immortals table... These old objects, which hold people's nostalgia memories, are inseparable from the four happy wind cakes that are full of steamed rice. Together, they weave a vibrant, pyrotechnic Shanghai countryside. In the new round of rural revitalization, Luojing Town has chosen to completely retain the original appearance of the countryside. Through the overall planning of "five villages linkage", emerging industries can "live" in the countryside and inject new impetus into the vast wilderness.
Nowadays, in Luojing, many small stalls will serve different shapes of Sixi Wind Cakes throughout the seasons. Round shaped pan cake, plum blossom shaped dingsheng cake... Regardless of the shape, color, size and variations, what remains unchanged is the unique taste of The Four Joy Wind Cake sticky and not sticky. With a gentle bite, the local will say, Oh, it's the taste in the memory.
Author: Wang Jiayi
Edit: Zhan Yue
Video, image material: Luojing Town, Baoshan District
Editor-in-Charge: Gu Yiqiong
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.