Every spring, the knife fish, known as the "freshest in the Yangtze River", will always arouse the taste buds of many diners; but on February 1 this year, the Ban on Fishing in the Yangtze River came into effect, and the "River Knife" on the market has been difficult to find ever since. Yangtze River knife fish will definitely not be eaten this year; but those knife fish as the selling point of knife fish sauce noodles, this year, are there still some to eat?
When it comes to knife fish sauce noodles, the first thing that many people think of is the old half-storey. The knife fish sauce noodles of the old half-jai, with the Yangtze River knife fish as the main raw material, known as the "world's first light noodles", have been on fire for decades, and they have to be eaten in long queues every March.
A few days ago, the reporter came to Lao Banzhai and found that the posters of knife fish sauce noodles and steamed knife fish on the market have been prominently posted; but unlike previous years, the poster does not use the phrase "the first fresh in the Yangtze River". Gu Guoquan, general manager of Lao Banzhai, told reporters that due to the release of the ban on fishing, they have replaced the raw material Yangtze River knifefish that has been used for decades with "Chongming knifefish" and "Zhejiang knifefish" that are not within the scope of the ban.
According to reports, every spring, adult knifefish from the shallow sea up the Yangtze River, to the freshwater area to spawn. When migrating to the Yangtze River is called "River Knife", the salt on the knife fish is basically diluted at this time, and the body is also fat and of the best quality. "Chongming knifefish" and "Zhejiang knifefish" are sea knives that have not yet migrated. Knifefish are precious because of their short supply times and low production. In a year, the time to eat knife fish is only more than a month, around March, the knife fish bone spurs are not hard, you can eat the thorns together; after the Qingming in April, the fish bones gradually harden, there is no way to eat.
At noon yesterday, there were many diners in the store, and there were customers waiting for seats at almost every table. Several veteran diners said that knifefish sauce noodles were quietly listed last week. The reporter found that more than half of the tables in the store were ordered with knife fish sauce noodles. After asking several consumers, it turned out that most people knew the news of the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River knife fish, but they still wanted to come to Lao Banzhai to try this taste.
Mr. Zhang, who is over 60 years old, has come to Lao Banzhai to eat knife fish sauce noodles for more than ten consecutive years. In the exchange with the clerk, he learned that the raw materials were replaced by "Chongming knife fish" and "Zhejiang knife fish", but when he ate it, he felt that the knife fish sauce noodles were still very delicious, and the taste was basically the same as in previous years.
Mr. Zhang's statement has also been agreed by the surrounding diners. Many diners said that this bowl of knife fish sauce noodles is still the old taste of memory.
Knifefish has changed its origin, why do diners feel that the taste has not changed? This has to be found in the centuries-old skill of making knife and fish sauce noodles in the old Hanzhai. Writer Shen Jialu mentioned in the book "Taste of Old Shanghai" that the old half-jai knife fish sauce noodles are cooked: "Knife fish is not a noodle topping, mainly to eat soup, the master will fry the knife fish oil and wrap it in a gauze and boil it, at this time the fish is as fine as silk, the soup color is white than milk, and the hard noodles sink into the soup, and the knife fish you have me, I have you." Old Banzhai still retains the old skills, but due to the adjustment of the knife fish production area this year, the master team of the old banzhai has carried out many debugging before the knife fish juice noodles are listed, and finally increased the proportion of fish loose fried in knife fish oil, which naturally increases the freshness. The fish pine, which is full of essence, is boiled with the old hen and hoof, and it takes 4 hours to produce a pot of soup.
Gu Guoquan introduced that many old diners will not add any toppings to the noodles when eating knife fish sauce noodles, in order to taste the delicious taste of "the world's first glossy noodles". However, if a bowl of noodles feels like you can't eat enough, you can cover a piece of the old half-jai special dish in the knife fish sauce noodles, which will not mix the soup flavor, and when the meat is slowly melted, it can add a delicious taste.
In previous years, Lao Banzhai would also sell steamed knife fish - two-and-a-half-finger wide "river knife", without adding condiments such as ginger and onion cooking wine, sprinkled with pepper powder, to maximize the preservation of the original taste of knife fish. This year, the steamed knifefish varieties have naturally been replaced by "Chongming knifefish" and "Zhejiang knifefish". Gu Guoquan frankly said that compared with "Jiang Dao", the umami taste of "Chongming Knife Fish" and "Zhejiang Knife Fish" is actually similar, but because the meat is not thick and tight enough, the taste is slightly inferior. Lao Banzhai has tried many times to compensate for the decline in the quality of raw materials through cooking craftsmanship, and try to make the taste of steamed knife fish this year close to that of previous years.
This year, Lao Banzhai also launched knife fish wontons, the filling is real knife fish meat, a bowl of 10, priced at more than 40 yuan. The price of knife fish sauce noodles has not changed, or 2236 yuan, 3239 yuan.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Tang Ye Text Editor: Tang Ye