"Fireworks on Earth" is a special plan for the 2023 Spring Festival launched by Tencent Technology and Ran Finance, recording every extraordinary "Internet event".
Burning Dimension (ID: chaintruth) original author | Zhang Lin, Cao Yang, Lv Jingzhi, Feng Xiaoting, Xie Zhongxiu, Editor, | Hui Peng Quan
"Nostalgia" in the afterglow is a small stamp; Xi Murong's "homesickness" is a tree without growth rings; And for many wanderers who work outside, the snacks in the county may also be part of homesickness.
Therefore, a bowl of steaming noodles, a lotus soup and hot dry noodles, a plate of rolled dough with red oil, or a bowl of fresh meat rice balls, for "Mary" and "Jack" who returned home, is not only a bowl of snacks with local characteristics, stirring their taste buds, but also a food to relieve homesickness.
Xiaoyue, a Changsha girl who has drifted north for two years, finally returned to her hometown this year, and the day after returning home, she ran to a nearby town and ate the bowl of Changsha rice noodles that she cherished. There are also many places in Beijing where you can eat Changsha rice noodles, but none of them are the taste of home. ”
And what makes Xiaoyue feel most comfortable is the price of rice noodles. "A bowl of rice noodles only sells for 6 yuan, and the price has not increased for 4 or 5 years, and I am worried that the boss will close the door because he can't make money, where will I find such delicious rice noodles."
Also worried about Xiaoyue is Mumu, a girl from Shenyang who is also a North Drifter. Before arriving home, Mumu couldn't wait to run to the high school where he had studied, went straight to the old-fashioned spicy hot in the alley outside the school gate, and ordered a spicy hot with hemp and spicy pot, a large bowl full of only 8 yuan.
Mumu's spicy hot shop has been open for more than 20 years, and a bowl of spicy hot has not increased in price for 7 or 8 years. Wang Yu, the owner of the spicy hot shop, said that most of the students who come to eat spicy hot are school students, so the price has not risen, and they could earn about 100,000 yuan a year before, but in recent years, the catering business is not easy to do, and they have earned less.
Even on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Wang Yu decided to open for half a day. "Many students grew up eating our family's spicy hot and now they have left Shenyang for work, but whenever they go home, they will come to me to relive the taste of their memories, and I don't want them to be empty."
In this issue of the bistro, Ran Jiyuan found several young people and talked about the taste of their hometown in their hearts, especially those affordable foods that have not increased in price for many years.
Some of them deliberately ran to the alley near the high school just to eat a bowl of old-fashioned mala hot; Some people run 3 kilometers to the nearby town, just to take a bite of authentic Changsha rice noodles; As soon as someone arrived home, they rushed to the snack street and lined up to buy a pork intestine; There are also people who have a bowl of 2 yuan of sheep soup and have been eating it for 30 years ...
For young people returning to their hometowns, these snacks that do not increase prices are not only affordable, but also because of these delicacies that they are proud of, that is, their attachment to their hometown, which has lasted for a long time.
01
A bowl of 2 yuan sheep soup, I have eaten for 30 years
Jian'an | 34-year-old entrepreneur
I can't remember how old I was when I first drank this goat soup, maybe 3 or 4 years old.
At that time, the winter in the northeast was very cold, and my family still lived in the suburbs of Shenyang, using old radiators with external plugs. In the morning, my clothes had to be warmed on the radiator for a while before I could wear them, but as soon as I walked out of the house, the heat was gone, so I wanted to drink something hot to warm up.
My mother would take me to this goat soup restaurant every morning to drink goat soup and eat baked cakes. The name of this goat soup restaurant is also interesting, it is called sheep soup baked cake.
A lot of goat soup tastes good, but the sheep soup in this small shop is very fragrant, there is no strange smell, and it is possible that this is the first time I have drunk goat soup, so the taste of other goat soup in the future is not comparable to this store.
In short, I have fallen in love with the taste of this bowl of goat soup since I was a child. When I was a child, the lamb soup was 2 yuan a bowl, and the baked cake was 5 cents a piece. Up to now, baked cakes cost 1 yuan a bowl, and lamb soup cost 4 yuan a bowl, but because I am a veteran customer, the boss still charges me 2 yuan.
Source/Visual China
This sheep soup shop may be small, but it has undergone a very dramatic "transformation". After the original founder of the sheep soup restaurant passed away, his two sons wanted to compete for the only right to operate the sheep soup restaurant, but in the end, the two brothers broke up unhappily and separated, and the original 60-square-meter sheep soup shop was also reduced to a small shop with only three or four tables.
One brother took his father's formula to a Hui street in Shenyang to set up another stove, while the other guarded the current small shop.
After our family's situation improved, we moved from the suburbs of Shenyang to the city center, but I still drove back to my original place from time to time just to drink a sip of goat soup. I have also been to new shops in Hui streets, but I don't know if it is a psychological effect, so I always feel that it is not that taste.
This goat soup restaurant is only open until 2 pm every day, and the sheep soup often sells out as soon as it opens in the morning. Every time I ate this bite, I had to get up early to drive to the queue.
The regular customers of the Yangtang restaurant are also old residents who have lived there for decades, they also do not dine in the restaurant, often carry a small iron bowl alone, when they get to the order, do not say anything, put the bowl away, give the waiter a nod, the waiter will know what it means. After a while, the iron bowl was handed back, filled with sheep soup, and the people in line smiled and took a bite or two while walking with the iron bowl.
And because I live too far away, I will sit in the shop every time, and the boss will come over to greet me when he sees me, which is why I can know so many new things about the goat soup restaurant.
In my heart, this bowl of goat soup, which I have drunk for 30 years, has become a part of my life. If I think of keywords like childhood and hometown, I will think of the steaming scene of goat soup steaming.
02
20 years have passed, and "cold noodles and hot food" is still 2 yuan
Jay | 32 years old Game planner
Around when I was in junior high school, "cold noodles + fritters" became the standard for my breakfast.
Although it is also called cold noodles, the way to eat it here in my family is actually different from the well-known "baked cold noodles" or "Korean cold noodles". In fact, it is a "hot noodle soup". That is, put the cold noodles in boiling hot water, it only takes 3-5 seconds, and it can be blanched. After that, take it out, put it in a bowl with shrimp skin, coriander and other ingredients, pour a large spoonful of noodle soup, and a small spoonful of secret marinade, and a bowl of delicious cold noodles is completed. So it also has another name, called "cold noodles and hot food".
In my memory, the price of cold noodle soup in junior high school was about 1.5 yuan, but at that time, a fritters was only 5 Mao, and a drawer of xiaolongbao was about 3 or 4 yuan. Later, as I grew older, I left the county in high school and came to the city to go to school, and my understanding of cold noodles slowly became "baked cold noodles" and real "cold noodle soup".
Source/Visual China
After graduating from university, I returned to the county less and less often because of work, but as long as I went back, I would definitely come to the breakfast stall near my home and have a bowl of "cold noodles and hot food", and this year's Spring Festival holiday is no exception.
The day after I got home, I got up early and went downstairs, ordered a bowl of noodle soup, a fritters, and a marinated egg, and the memories of my youth suddenly came to mind.
It's just that with the improvement of living standards, many early prices have also risen a lot, such as fritters have become 2 yuan a stick, marinated eggs 1.5 yuan a piece, and xiaolongbao has been sold to 8 yuan a drawer, almost all of which have increased in price exponentially. But only "cold noodles and hot food", compared with 20 years ago 1.5 yuan a bowl, although the price has also increased, it has only risen to 2 yuan a bowl, it can be said that the original price is almost maintained.
Not only has the price barely changed, but the popularity has also increased. Especially in winter, a steaming bowl of "cold noodles eaten hot" can open up the warmth of the day for the taste buds.
03
The fresh meat rice balls in Laojie have risen by 2 yuan in 10 years
27 years old Event planner
Every year when I come home for the Spring Festival, I have to go to the old street to eat a bowl of fresh meat rice balls.
This is a "rare" snack, and I have never seen it again when I leave my hometown, the county town of southwest Sichuan, to study in Guangzhou or work in Shenzhen, and even when I mention to others that "our rice balls there are minced with meat", I will get a puzzled look and guesses of "dark cuisine".
But fresh meat rice balls are not so "dark", it is a skin made of glutinous rice, filling made of fresh meat, you can imagine glutinous rice skin dumplings, one bite down "glutinous", soup and meat filling is extremely delicious. In addition to the county seat of our hometown, there are also some areas in Sichuan, as well as Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and some places seem to eat such fresh meat rice balls.
And my favorite tangyuan is located in the county old street. When I was in high school, my mother used to take me to the old street to go shopping, and every time we went shopping, we would stop in front of this store and eat a bowl of rice balls. So later, whether it was during college holidays or work breaks, when I returned to my hometown, I would make time to go to the store to eat a bowl of rice balls.
On January 20 this year, the day after returning home from Guangzhou, I also went to the store and ate a bowl of rice balls in my memory. I heard that this store has been open for 40 years, and now it has become an Internet celebrity store in the county, and when we took a taxi to the store, the ride-hailing driver also said to us, "This is a special food of our county." ”
On Dianping, many users also said that they "specially checked in" and "featured". When we arrived at the store that evening, many customers crowded around the pot where the rice balls were cooked.
Photo: Fresh meat dumplings from hometown
Source/Courtesy of Mengmeng
Regarding the price, when I came back this time, I found that the rice balls in the store had increased by 1 yuan again, and now they are 8 yuan a tael (5 rice balls). Over the years, with the rise in prices, the price of tangyuan in this store has also been adjusted, in 2012 when I ate it, it was still 6 yuan a tael, in 2019 it seems to have been 7 yuan, and now it has risen to 8 yuan.
But this is also reasonable, after all, 10 years have passed, whether it is materials, labor or rent have changed, an increase of 2 yuan, which is also a small adjustment.
Unfortunately, when I went to the store, I also found that a notice of demolition and relocation had been posted on the door of the store. The clerk told me that the old street was facing demolition, and they also had to move to another place. But this move is no longer the rice balls of the old street I remember. I may eat it again, but the taste in my memory is difficult to trace.
04
A bowl of Changsha rice noodles of 6 yuan has only risen by 3 yuan in more than ten years
Xiaoyue| 28 years old, company employee
When I came home during the Spring Festival, in addition to seeing my longing parents, another thing that made me happy was that I could finally eat a bowl of Changsha rice noodles that I cherished.
For most people in Changsha, eating a bowl of rice noodles is the beginning of the day. For those of us who are outside, eating a bowl of authentic Changsha rice noodles can really be considered home.
There is a fly restaurant in the town near my house that has been open for 6 or 7 years, and because it is authentic and cheap, it attracts many diners, including me.
This small shop, I heard that it has been open for more than ten years, in my impression, it used to be 3 yuan a bowl, now without eggs, it is 6 yuan a bowl, compared with the price of 20 yuan a bowl in other places, it is simply not too "grounded".
Photo: 6 yuan a bowl of Changsha rice noodles
Source: Photo courtesy of Xiaoyue
The rice noodles in my hometown pay attention to the clear soup lid code, and the key to achieving a bowl of rice noodles is the deliciousness of the soup. The owner of the rice noodle shop once said that the original soup in the store is made of barrel bones, beef bones, old hens and his own soup base secret recipe, boiled for 12 hours on low heat, absolutely no "technology and hard work".
The "yards" of rice noodles are also very rich, including six or seven kinds of fried meat with chili, white chili chicken gizzard, and stir-fried meat with capers, and pots of homemade chopped chili, moldy tofu, squeezed vegetables, capers and other small ingredients are also placed on the self-service seasoning table and left to customers to pick up.
I can say that I am the "loyal fan" of this shop, even though this rice noodle shop is about 3 kilometers away from my house, every year when I go home, I will eat a bowl as soon as I go home. On the second day back home this year, I even set the switchback point for my morning run at this rice noodle shop. Running over on an empty stomach in the morning and eating a bowl of Changsha rice noodles with good ingredients is simply not too satisfying.
Compared with the rice noodles in Changsha City, the 6 yuan bowl of rice noodles in this store is simply a "treasure", and the price has not increased for 5 or 6 years.
Curiously, I asked my boss if he could make any money, and he said that he was using this rice noodle shop to help his daughter go to college. "The consumption in the town is low, and 6 yuan is the breakfast price that the people in the town can accept. There are many repeat customers in the store, it can be regarded as a small profit and quick sales, and it can also earn more than 100,000 yuan a year. ”
"Usually business is okay, but it is better during the Spring Festival, and the young people in the town have returned, and some have come to take care of my business." While talking to the boss, two more young people came, and after the store was full, someone began to wait for a seat.
05
10 yuan breakfast supper, only in the hometown can eat
Deng Bai | 24 years old Freelancer
After I returned to my hometown, I was "presumptuous" in my diet.
First, I haven't returned to my hometown for a long time, and the special food of my hometown has been lingering in my heart for many days, and I finally went home and just wanted to taste them all once; Second, the price of goods in my hometown is much lower than that in Beijing, and you can usually eat enough for a snack for more than a dozen yuan.
My hometown is located in western Guangdong, a coastal city, and food is naturally indispensable. Because of the convenient logistics, I also received packages sent by my family in Beijing, sometimes dried seafood, sometimes lychees in summer. It can be said that I can eat most of the fresh food from my hometown outside, but I often think about the snacks in my hometown, especially a snack called "Pork Gut Lu", which is only served at the morning market and night market.
Don't look at the name of this snack at first glance it looks like "hard goods", but in fact, it is only shaped like "pig intestines", and has nothing to do with the actual "pig intestines". The method is also very simple, that is, wrap the fried noodles with the whole pho skin, and the "fried noodles" are not particular, the most basic is bean sprouts fried noodles, high-grade can be put egg skin, shrimp skin, meat foam, etc., the pho skin is rolled up and then sprinkled with a layer of sesame seeds on the outside. If it is a large pork intestine, it needs to be cut into segments, and if it is a small one, it is beautiful.
Photo: 8 yuan 10 pieces of pig intestines
Source: Courtesy of Deng Bai
And it's also very convenient to eat, the rolled pork intestines are delicious directly with hot sauce, but if possible, drizzled with a layer of brisket juice, it is even better.
The price of this snack is also not fixed. Hotels also sell 10 yuan or 20 yuan a plate in the morning market, and fast food restaurants near residential areas also sell 5 cents and 1 yuan a piece. When I was in elementary school, I used to have the price of 2 cents a piece and 5 cents a piece, but that was 10 years ago.
I just arrived at my hometown in the evening, and as soon as I dropped off my luggage, I went to the snack street first. I queued up to buy a pork intestine, 8 yuan a box, a box of 10, my meal, a box is just enough for a meal. You know, in Beijing, a McDonald's KFC for a late-night snack also costs tens of yuan.
06
8 yuan spicy hot, 8 years has not increased the price
Mumu | 26 years old Company employee
I am a native of Shenyang, who returned home by car on the 28th day of the lunar month. Seeing that I was almost at the door, I stepped on the accelerator near the high school, just to eat a bite of spicy hot food.
In the 3rd year of high school, I would eat this spicy hot food with my classmates 2 or 3 times almost every week, different from the current Zhang Liang and Yang Guofu and other optional weighing spicy hot, it is 8 yuan tube full. Although cheap, the ingredients are extremely rich, shredded tofu, bean sprouts, fungus, bean bubbles, vermicelli... Even a boy can eat enough, and girls sometimes can't finish eating.
Photo: 8 yuan a bowl of spicy hot
Source/Mumu photo
The old-fashioned spicy hot is not added sesame sauce, only seasoned by spicy and other spices, I heard the boss say that their soup base is made of bone broth without any additives, which is also the key to spicy hot and delicious. Every time I go, I eat a bowl and tell the boss "add more bean skin, add hemp and spicy". Soon, a bowl of spicy hot was served in a small stainless steel basin, followed by a big meal, until it was so hot that it was hot in the mouth and sweated on the forehead.
The owners of Spicy Hot are a couple, I heard that it has been more than twenty years since they opened the store, and they have entered middle age from a young age. What impressed me the most was that they could remember the tastes of almost every student. I've been there two or three times and then I don't have to shout the phrase "add more bean skin, add hemp and spicy" because the boss will directly serve a bowl of spicy hot that I want.
Now, it has been 8 years since I graduated from high school, and every year when I return to my hometown for the New Year, I will come to eat a bowl of spicy hot, the taste has not changed, it is still spicy enough, the price has not increased, it is still 8 yuan a bowl, the only change is that the store has added fried skewers. "Business is not easy to do in recent years, add a fried skewer to balance the profit." When I asked my boss why he didn't consider raising prices, the boss said humbly, "8 yuan has already been earned, and now that the epidemic has been released, if the business returns to before, it can earn more than 100,000 yuan a year." ”
Before leaving, I asked the boss when it would open in the next year, and the boss said, "It's still the afternoon of the third year of junior high school, you and your classmates come together." "Okay," I promised, sending a message to my best girlfriend in high school for dinner. We all know that the reason why the owner opened the shop on the occasion of visiting relatives and friends during the holiday is only so that we children who have returned home can eat the taste of this memory.
*The title image and some of the accompanying pictures are from Visual China.
*Mumu, Xiaoyue, Deng Bai, Jian'an, Jie Zai, and Mengmeng are pseudonyms in the text.
*Disclaimer: Under no circumstances does the information in this article or the opinions expressed constitute investment advice to anyone.
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