■ Li Shaohua, inheritor of Pantang horseshoe powder making skills, displays a pen wash with the elements of "Pantang Five Shows".
■Pantang horseshoe powder.
To say that the history is long, I am afraid that there is no district-level intangible cultural heritage that can compare with the production technique of Pantang horseshoe powder, because horseshoe powder can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty, more than 1,000 years ago. The "ancient" feature is also an important symbol that distinguishes Pantang horseshoe powder production skills from other projects. The reporter of the New Express News learned that Guangzhou Pantang Food Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Pantang Food") located on Bamboo Avenue in Zhongluotan Town has been rooted in Baiyun District for more than 100 years. As a time-honored Chinese brand, Pantang Food has always abided by the ancestral rules, from planting to raw material processing, product production, etc. in accordance with ancient methods. Interestingly, the "Pantang Horseshoe Powder Making Technique" declared by Pantang Food was selected into the eighth batch of district-level representative items of intangible cultural heritage in Baiyun District, and this food is a typical Xiguan food in Liwan District.
■The time-honored selection plaque of Pantang Food is full of traces of time.
The craftsmanship dates back to the Tang Dynasty
The time-honored brand has been rooted in Baiyun for more than 100 years
In Guangzhou, Liwan, Panyu, Baiyun and other districts have grown horseshoe (water chestnut), among which horseshoe powder and horseshoe cake from Pantang, Liwan District are the most famous.
According to legend, in the Tang Dynasty, the descendants of the royal Li family had already invented the production technique of horseshoe powder. Since five kinds of crops, including horseshoe (later known as "Wuxiu"), were widely cultivated in the area of Pantang at that time, the production technology of horseshoe powder gradually matured.
In a previous interview with the media, Li Shaohua, the inheritor of the traditional skills of Pantang horseshoe powder, once displayed a jade bowl, saying that it was passed down from the Tang Dynasty to the present. There are patterns in the jade bowl, and in ancient times there were no abrasives, so the patterns in the jade bowl were used to grind horses' hooves. This proves that the production technology of horseshoe powder has a history of more than 1,000 years.
Since the horseshoe powder making technique originated in Pantang, Liwan District, why was it selected into the list of intangible cultural heritage items in Baiyun District? The story also begins in the Qing Dynasty.
Pantang Food was founded in 1798, that is, the third year of Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, when Li Kunyao and his wife Kong Lianying, a member of the Li clan of Pantang in Guangzhou, brought their family's Wuxiu vegetables and seeds to plant in the Pantang area of Longjin Road (now Liwan Lake, Liwan District), and established the "Pantang Wuxiu" self-production and self-marketing workshop on Fengyuan Road. Due to proper operation, the business continues to expand and develop, and the products were once sold to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Europe, America, Southeast Asia, etc. in China.
How popular was horseshoe powder at that time? We can prove it by the popularity of a food product. This food is horseshoe cake made from horseshoe powder, which is now Lao Guang's "popular food". In 1947, Li Wenlun and Li Shengkeng, descendants of the Li clan of Pantang, jointly erected wooden boards at the entrance of Pantang Village and set up a restaurant, named "Panxi Restaurant". On the first day of the restaurant's opening, Li Wenlun and Li Shengkeng steamed two plates of horseshoe cake. One of the pots of raw ground horseshoe cake ranked first in the food spot, known as: "Pantang horseshoe cake".
Lingnan's well-known painters Li Dezun and Li Wenlun, childhood friends, were invited to attend the opening ceremony, and he made a caricature praising horseshoe cake on the spot, which hung in the lobby of Panxi Restaurant, attracting many diners. Since then, Panxi Restaurant has become famous, and Pantang Horseshoe Cake has become Panxi Restaurant's signature dim sum.
In Baiyun District, Pantang food has a history of more than 100 years. Initially, there was only one small workshop and distribution point in Baiyun, but in 1990, Li Shaohua moved the factory to Tangxi, Baiyun District. In 1994, because of the need to expand production, Li Shaohua moved the factory to Shijing Dagang, Baiyun District. Due to the urbanization of Guangzhou, there are fewer and fewer ponds suitable for planting horseshoes, and since 2000, Li Shaohua has expanded the site to the bamboo area of Zhongluotan Town, Baiyun District, and has continued to this day.
■Workers carry raw materials before making horseshoe powder.
From planting to production, ancient methods are used
Not excluding innovation, we are planning to touch the net
"The taste is moist and original, and even the seeds are pure seeds that we reserve." Li Shaohua introduced that Pantang food with "Pantang Five Shows" as raw materials is a healthy product to clear heat and reduce fire, detoxify and rejuvenate, and more importantly, Pantang food has always abided by the ancestral rules, kept the seeds pure, and never used other seeds sold on the market. At the same time, as a time-honored Chinese brand, Pantang Food has always adhered to traditional gastronomic techniques, from planting to raw material processing and product production, all in accordance with ancient methods.
However, despite sticking to tradition, Pantang Food does not reject innovation.
As the 14th generation of the family heir, Li Shaohua began to learn horseshoe powder making skills from his father Li Songkai at the age of 17 and continued to improve. Considering that horseshoe powder has many shortcomings in drying in the sun, she and her father consulted foreigners, studied the hot air operation data, and made a hot air drying room, and after testing, the effect was very good.
Today, Pantang Food has also improved the method of retaining and planting seeds, from being planted in ponds to "going to the field off the pond". At the same time, the shift from fully manual processing to semi-automated production can not only maximize the preservation of traditional food flavor, but also meet common hygiene and quality standards.
At present, Pantang Food has not entered the e-commerce platform. Li Shaohua is still busy on the road, planning to set up a brand operation company and achieve win-win cooperation with more outstanding individuals and companies; Plan to enter the online platform to increase brand awareness and sales channels.
"The foundation of the inheritance of time-honored brands is traditional ideas, craftsmanship, nostalgic memory, and innovation is also essential. We hope that traditional skills will be better protected and passed on, so that our Lingnan food culture will continue to flourish. When it comes to the future development of Pantang Food, Li Shaohua is full of expectations.
■Guangzhou Pantang Food Co., Ltd.'s horseshoe powder production technology has been continuously improved and innovated.
【Zhiduo D】
There is also an intangible cultural heritage in Baiyun District related to horse hooves
In addition to the Pantang horseshoe powder production technology, Baiyun District also has a district-level intangible cultural heritage item related to horseshoe, that is, Cantonese horseshoe cake production technology, which belongs to the eighth batch of intangible cultural heritage representative items in Baiyun District together with the Pantang horseshoe powder production technology, and is also a municipal intangible cultural heritage project, the reporting unit is Guangzhou Zhouxing Food Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhouxing Food").
Datian Village is located in the southwest of Jianggao Town, Baiyun District, where the Liuxi River and the Bajiang River meet and flow into the Pearl River, and for hundreds of years, the river has deposited a large amount of sediment, creating a fertile field in Datian Village, suitable for planting horseshoe. Otamura's horseshoe has little moisture, more starch, and sweet taste, and has gradually become famous. As a deep-processed product of horseshoe powder, horseshoe cake has become a must-have snack for the New Year.
Feng Xiubing, the founder of Zhouxing Food, was born in Qinxing Village, inherited the family's excellent planting, milling and steaming cake technology, and began to grow water horseshoes and process horseshoe powder with her husband in 1983. In 1992, Daejeon Horseshoe Powder Factory was registered; In 2003, the factory was renamed Guangzhou Zhouxing Food Co., Ltd.; In 2007, the company launched an automated assembly line production model.
In fact, Zhouxing Foods also produces horseshoe powder, and is the largest producer of horseshoe powder in China. Zhou Xiaojun, general manager of the company and daughter of the founder, introduced that the main products of Zhouxing Food include three series: horseshoe powder, horseshoe cake and horseshoe dew, of which the market share of horseshoe powder is as high as 70%.
Zhou Xiaojun said frankly that his parents' success in starting a business was because they caught up with the spring breeze of reform and opening up, so the true colors of farmers who value quality and honesty remain unchanged. After returning from studying abroad, she joined Zhouxing Food, which brought a new atmosphere to this provincial key agricultural leading enterprise. Since 2018, the company has successively opened sales platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin, and sales have skyrocketed. In addition, the company has produced more than 500 videos and used the Douyin platform to spread traditional culture.
■ Planning: New Express News reporter Wen Zhuotao
■ Coordinator: Xie Yuanyuan, reporter of New Express News
■ Written by: New Express News reporter Li Yinghua, correspondent Quan Bifang, Shi Jianhua
■Image: Courtesy of interviewee
Editor: Wu Jiahong
Source: Jinyang Network - New Express News