The Zheng 28 Sutra says oil cake
Author: Datong Lao Zhai
After eating oil cake countless times, I suddenly thought of the history of oil cake! Not to mention the history of the oil cake, I feel ashamed in my heart, I am really sorry for the soft and sweet fried cake!
When did the oil cake come to our table? You certainly don't know, to tell the truth, I don't know, I have been tormented by this problem for more than a month, even to the point where tea does not think, rice does not want to, but the oil cake is an exception!
Oil cake is oil and cake.
First of all, the oil, Datong's fried cake uses local sesame oil, that is, oil with flax, also called flax. The history of flax oil can be described as a long history, let's not talk about the history of cultivation, because it has nothing to do with Datong, we only talk about its history of coming to Datong. History: In 119 BC, Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qi, as a special envoy, to lead more than 300 people on a second mission to the Western Regions to more than 50 countries in China's present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia Minor in the former Soviet Union. At that time, the Han Dynasty had already defeated the Xiongnu and opened up the passage to the western region. The purpose of this mission to the Western Regions is to exchange property and establish contacts with the countries of the Western Regions. So a large number of crop seeds were introduced. According to historical records: flax seeds were one of the species introduced at that time. Originally planted in Qinghai and Shaanxi, flax, which was planted as early as Shanxi, is also known as hemp. Later, it gradually developed to Ningxia, Gansu and North China.
flax
That is to say, the Datong region has begun to have a history of growing flax at least since the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which also has the basis for eating oil cakes. Yellow rice, to be precise, is missing from the yellow.
The history of the black child should have appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, at least according to the saying of meat bubble cake: "The Analects "Kill the chicken for the sake of the yellow and eat it." "In ancient times and modern times, people have always been unable to distinguish the difference between millet and millet, in fact, it is very simple, in fact, it is the difference between sticky and non-stick, in the words of Datong people, it is the difference between yellow rice and millet. Of course, here is a word, even today there are many people who can't distinguish between sesame oil and sesame oil, because many places call sesame oil also sesame oil.
Oil is available, yellow rice is also available, when will you start eating fried cakes? There is no record of history. But I thought that the early dynasty did not know how to eat oil cakes, because almost all the millets planted at that time were brewed into rice wine to drink, and it is estimated that there was a custom of eating oil cakes in the Ming and Qing dynasties, which is just speculation, and there is no relevant record in the history books. Lao Zhai has always believed that if the Ming Dynasty had the custom of eating cakes, this custom is also related to sacrifice, because in history, as a place where Buddhist culture and Taoist culture are more developed, Datong has no precedent for offering steamed bread, and from various historical sources, Datong's offerings are mostly sacrificial objects, especially the head of cattle and sheep, and later in the Ming Dynasty, due to the decrease in trade with ethnic minorities in the north, cattle and sheep and other meat food were relatively reduced, and the garrison's agricultural reclamation also had surplus grain, so there was a basis for eating oil cakes.
In the past few months, trying to find some historical culture related to fried cakes from the "Datong Fu Zhi", "Datong County Zhi", "ShuoPing Fu Zhi" and other local documents in Datong, and finally fruitless, according to Mr. Hao of the Pingcheng District Archives, there are common things in the Zhishu that are not told, and the staple foods that are eaten every day like this can not be recorded, but the Zhishu has a record of the Zongzi of the Dragon Boat Festival, but it is not called Zongzi, which is called the Horned Rice Dumpling, which is the yellow rice dumplings that we ate in Datong in the past few years.
This article has been written for nearly two months, and there is no relevant history of oil cake in Datong, and recently I suddenly saw such a record in a magazine: the weather in the northeast is extremely cold, sticky food is resistant to hunger, and it is convenient to go out remotely to engage in hunting activities and military conquests. Sticky bean buns, also known as "sticky dumplings", are made of rhubarb rice or small yellow rice ground into flour. The method is to ferment the noodles, wrap them in bean paste, and steam them in a pot. If it is wrapped and fried in oil, it becomes a browned and crispy fried cake. In addition, there are also rice cakes that have been handed down to this day, which are also known as cut cakes and sticky cakes.
Manchu traditional flavor snack cakes include hibiscus cake, mung bean cake, five-flower cake, roll cut cake, cold cake, wind cake, beaten cake, sprinkled cake (also known as hair cake) paste cake, okara cake, fried cake, etc., not only variety, fine production, and unique flavor, enjoy a high reputation, so there is a "full of Chinese food" said. Perhaps Datong's fried cake is also a food culture formed after the Manchus entered the customs and integrated with the local culture.
The food culture of each place is always related to the local ingredients, and the food culture brought in by the Manchu customs seems to be very similar to the food culture of Datong now, such as pork stew noodles, sauerkraut, and hot pot. Then, it is not impossible for the oil cake to start to come to the table in Datong at this time. As an important place of commerce and trade in the Qing Dynasty, Datong was exchanged with merchants here in the exchange of goods, and the catering culture was also exchanged and integrated, forming the current Datong catering culture on the basis of local ingredients.
Oil cake may have become a staple food on the table of Datong since the Qing Dynasty, although Lao Zhai said oil cake for the Zheng ErBa Jing, but still feels improper, after all, the lack of first-hand historical materials related to oil cake. I hope that more Datong friends can put forward more accurate and relevant information in order to improve this article.