Huang Yuanqi
Chaoshan cuisine can be traced back to the pre-Qin Dynasty. In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang sent an army to garrison Lingnan, one of which was sent to Chaozhou. The eating habits and cooking methods from the Central Plains collided and mixed with the customs of the indigenous Baiyue people, constituting the origin of Chaoshan cuisine.
There have been several southward migrations in China's history that have had a profound impact on north-south integration. During the "Yongjia Rebellion" in the Western Jin Dynasty, a large number of Zhongyuan scholars entered Fujian and then transferred to Chaoshan, and this movement brought about the colorful eating habits of the scholar class. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty moved south and went into exile in the Chaoshan area, and since then the court cuisine has entered the homes of ordinary people. In modern times, the opening of Shantou and the living of the Chao people have led to two-way exchanges between Western culture and Chaoshan culture, and have also brought the cuisine of Nanyang and even countries around the world.
Fish rice: the most delicious taste of the world in which heaven and man are united
Chaoshan is bordered by the sea, and rows of fishing houses are arranged end to end in the shallow sea, and fishermen come out early and return to the sea to live. The abundance of aquatic products brings ingredients to the staple food, and the concept of freshness as king makes cooking quick and easy.
Fishing Houses on the Sea The pictures in this article are provided by the author
At the dock in the early morning, baskets of fish were piled up like mountains, and the shouts and cheers rose and fell. Fishermen have given hundreds of kinds of edible fish such as "Balang", "Oil Gan" and "Monkey Water" distinctive names. Fish rice refers to frozen fish boiled in fresh marine fish. It can be eaten frozen, fried or steamed, or dipped in Teochew sauce. The Chaoshan people liken cooked fish to rice because they did not rely on rice and used fish, shrimp and clams as a staple food.
Fish rice group diagram
A balang fish rice is the most human taste of the unity of heaven and man in the hearts of many hipsters. Balangfish belongs to the family Cyprinidae, which produces high but is prone to decay, so it is the most exquisite for freshness. On the day of salvage, it must be processed into fresh and sweet fish rice. The fish does not go through the process of scaling, breaking the belly, or removing the gills, and the fishermen put them into bamboo baskets and cook them directly in salt water. In ancient times, when there was no freezing condition, the rapid production of fresh seafood into fish rice was very popular because it was guaranteed not to spoil for several days and retained its original flavor. Through the original taste of food, people have tasted the most tasteless food realm.
Cooked fish rice can also have a second sublimation - it is dried into dried fish and stored for a long time. Balang fish rice is also a member of the highly representative "Chaozhou cold" in Chaoshan cuisine. "Teochew Cold" is a cold dish, and fish rice, together with brine lion's head goose, frozen crab, frozen lobster, etc., constitute the cold dish on the hipster banquet table.
Raw fish
The humid and hot climate, the long and winding coastline, and the dense freshwater network have allowed the Chaoshan people who grew up in the water towns of the southern country to "rely on water to draft water" since ancient times. As early as the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu, who came to Chaoshan as a thorn in the history, wrote a poem "Chu Nan Food: Yiyuan Eighteen Laws" in the fourteenth year of Yuan He (819 AD), from which you can get a glimpse of the special flavor of the ancient Chaoshan diet that distinguishes it from the Central Plains.
Group view of fishing houses on the sea
The poem says: "The horseshoe is as solid as Huiwen, and the bones and eyes are negative." The oyster phase is sticky as a mountain, and the hundred and ten are as autonomous. The tail of the fish is like a snake, and the mouth and eyes are not compatible. Clams are shrimp toads, with the same name as Shilang. Zhang held up the vest pillar and fought with a monster. The rest of the dozens, can not help but sigh. I came to Mizumi, self-flavored southern cooking. Mixed with salty and sour, pyrene with pepper and orange". It records dozens of seafood and meat varieties such as Horseshoe Crab, Oysters, Puyu, Ha, Octopus and Gilet Pillar, Snake, etc. of Chaoshan people, and knows how to mix salty and sour, pepper and orange seasoning.
Fish rice with surimi
Thus. In ancient times, the Chaoshan people were highly skilled in cooking, and seafood products played an important role in the Teochew diet. They are not only able to cook dishes with their own local characteristics using local specialties, but also know how to use salt, sauce, vinegar, pepper and local fruits as seasoning condiments. In today's Chaoshan banquet, the grand finale dishes such as "ringing gong" and "flower glue" come from the ocean on which the hipsters live.
Kun: The Central Plains complex that still exists in ancient rhymes
In Chaoshan Province, cooking is called "cooking food", a pronunciation derived from the ancient sounds of the Central Plains from the pre-Qin to Han and Tang dynasties. It is an offering made of rice and noodles, derived from the ritual rituals of the ancient Central Plains, and has survived with several population migrations. Whenever a traditional festival comes, every family worships its ancestors. In addition to the fruits and vegetables of the three animals on the table, the kueh products played a very important role. It represents people's gratitude and nostalgia for their ancestors and their attachment to their homeland.
There are many types of koji and different uses, common ones are steamed sweet kun, red peach kun, caitou kun, rat koji kun and so on. Among them, the rat koji and the red peach are green and red, and they are clearly distinguished, and they are uninterrupted from ancient times to the present.
Kueh group diagram
In early spring, the fish leap and fly, and the warm wind hits the willow silk, blowing and stirring people's hearts. People go to the fields to find a green, flat and sweet grass - rat grass. The industrious housewife boils the sage grass in a pot to form a juice and adds it to the glutinous rice flour. Add the lard and knead repeatedly and knead into a round kon skin. The sweet bean paste is a common filling of koji koji, which is combined with the skin of the koji koji that exudes the fragrance of grass and wood to form a fragrant koji product. It is an indispensable sacrifice for ancestors during the Folk Spring Festival and Qingming Festival. Doing the season is a major event in the Chaoshan people's year, and at the end of the year, the red peach is on the scene.
In Longhu Ancient Village, I had the privilege of seeing the birth of a red peach kon. Located in Chaoshan Chao'an, the ancient village began in the Southern Song Dynasty and has been around for a thousand years. When walking along the 1.5-kilometer-long Central Straight Street, both sides of the straight street and the "Three Streets" and "Six Lanes" are full of monuments. At present, the village preserves more than 100 ancient buildings, which can be called "Chaoshan Ancient Architecture Expo", and it is also one of the top ten most beautiful ancient villages in Guangdong. A small number of Song-style architectural components with refined lines are preserved in the village; Ming-style buildings in a simple style; Qing-style buildings that are luxurious and beautiful and exquisitely carved; and overseas Chinese buildings with decorative styles on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. It can be said that ancient and modern coexist, both East and West.
Scenery of Longhu Ancient Village
In a narrow alleyway, Grandma Xiao, a descendant of intangible cultural heritage, demonstrated the production process. The delicate color of the red peach is delicate and the cherry blossoms blooming on the branches in early spring, and the charming color comes from natural red yeast powder. The red yeast powder and rice dissolved in water are in a ratio of one to two, the gouache blends, the old woman presses and kneads with her hands to make it blend and gradually thicken, and then pours water on the dough to ensure that the konkin is flexible and elastic, and with her skillful gestures, a clump of bowl-like konkin is placed on the table in turn.
Grandma Xiao demonstrated the production of red peach kway
The inner filling of the koeh is sweet and salty, and the salty flavor of glutinous rice, shiitake mushrooms, diced meat, shrimp and peanuts is blended on the day, and the pink kon skin has not yet completed its external evolution after wrapping the koeh filling. The two wooden plates are engraved with auspicious patterns and shou characters. Between the presses, the pattern is printed on the konkin. Folklore has it that there is a peach in the sky, known as the peach, which can prolong life after eating, so it also carries people's expectations for auspicious and blessed life. The molded red peach kon is placed in a steamer basket and steamed over high heat, and when served, the oil shines with a charming luster and is fragrant in the mouth.
Cook the red peach kongan on high heat
The red peach kon is fragrant in the mouth
It is not only the food shared by people and gods, but also the hometown complex that many hipsters do not give up. In modern times, when a Chaoshan man travels overseas in a red-headed boat to seek a livelihood, the bamboo basket he carries is filled with hunger and food products prepared for him by his wife. No matter how far they go, time and space are cut off from the constant taste of home, even if they do not return home for many years, the deep memory is enough to support them through the difficult years of entrepreneurship. In overseas days, if the raw materials and props cannot be made into the cantonese, they will still use the cantonese as a delicacy to fill their hunger.
A bowl of kon, a piece of nostalgia
In the delicatessen centers in Singapore, Malaysia and other places, many overseas Chinese stalls sell kway teows, they either stir-fry with soy sauce in a hot pot, or put the kway teows into the fish balls/beef ball soup and cook them together, all they eat is a Chinese nostalgia.
Editor-in-charge: Zhu Zhe
Proofreader: Liu Wei