Zhang Wenzheng poses the steamed flower bun (photo by Hu Panling)
Flower bun, also known as flower dumpling, noodle flower, that is, kneaded into various artistic shapes with dough, is not only a very ornamental traditional pasta, but also a folk art with cultural connotation, which has a history of more than 1,000 years. In Ningjin County, Hebei Province, steaming this traditional delicacy is indispensable on occasions such as festivals, birthdays, housewarming, wedding celebrations, etc., to express people's wishes for a better life.
Zhang Wen is wiping the flower bun display window (photo by Hu Panling)
Six years ago, Zhang Wen from Shuangjing Village, Tangqiu Town, started her flower bun business. A piece of ordinary dough, in Zhang Wen's hands, after more than 10 processes such as dough, fermentation, modeling, decoration, steaming, etc., the grains and grains are embellished with eyebrows, red, orange, yellow and green paint the colors, and more than 100 styles of flower buns such as longevity peaches, lucky bags, ingots, flowers, little tigers, and fish are steaming out of the pot, which is mouth-watering.
Zhang Wen is studying the production skills of flower buns with the students (photo by Hu Panling)
Zhang Wen, who was born in 1993, started to make flower buns at hand, rubbing, kneading, kneading, and dipping, and the operation was easy to operate, and he was also well-known in the local area, attracting customers from the local and surrounding places to come to customize the flower buns. At the same time, people from Hangzhou and other places also came to learn the skills of making flower buns from Zhang Wen, and at present, Zhang Wen has trained more than 10 flower bun students. "I just love making steamed buns, and they have turned from a hobby to a career. I hope that through my own efforts, more people can understand and taste the traditional delicacy of flower buns, and pass on the skills of flower buns. Zhang Wen, a flower bun craftsman, said.
Zhang Wen is making a dragon-shaped flower bun (photo by Hu Panling)
At present, while insisting on inheriting traditional skills, Zhang Wenzheng is constantly trying to update production techniques, improve the level of skills, create three-dimensional versions of dragon and phoenix Chengxiang and other series of flower buns, add more ornamental, edible, green and healthy products, and develop in the direction of "artworks", so that colorful flower buns can be "steamed" out of a happy life.