● Qiu Junlin text / Yifan picture
When it comes to "Water Margin", most people will have the image of a hero who "drinks wine in a big bowl and eats meat in a big piece" in their minds. As for what kind of meat the heroes eat, everyone probably thinks of beef without hesitation. But in addition to beef, heroes also like to cook delicious foods with other ingredients, such as fish.
As one of the most common meat foods in people's daily life, fish has a lot of "scenes" in "Water Margin".
For example, Lu Tizhi punched the town of Guanxi in order to save Jin Laohan's father and daughter, and then fled to Yanmen County, Daizhou, and happened to meet Jin Laohan's father and daughter who fled to Daizhou to settle down. So, Jin Laohan took Luda to his home and went to the street to buy some fresh fish, tender chickens and other food to entertain Luda.
Later, Wu Song met Wu Dalang for the first time in Yanggu County, and Wu Dalang took Wu Song to a rented place in Yanggu County, and the food used to entertain Wu Song was some fish, meat, fruits and vegetables. At the dinner table, Pan Jinlian also said to Wu Song: "Uncle, why don't you eat fish and meat together?" As he spoke, he handed the selected one to Wu Song.
As for "Shuibo Liangshan", there is no shortage of fish. Lin Chong came to Zhu Gui's hotel at the foot of the mountain before going up Liangshan, Lin Chong wrote a poem after drinking, and got acquainted with Zhu Gui, and Zhu Gui arranged a fish plate and wine and food to entertain Lin Chong. Later, after Chao Gai became the leader of Yangsan, he defeated the officers and soldiers brought by Huang An, the regimental training envoy of Jeju Prefecture, and held a feast, including fish, meat, goose and chicken.
Of course, "Water Margin" also mentions how to eat fish. It is said that Wu Song avenged his brother, fought and killed Ximenqing in the Lion Tower, and then was assigned to the Mengzhou prison camp. It happened that Xiaoguanying Shien wanted Wu Song to help recapture the Happy Forest Hotel, so he treated Wu Song with good wine and meat.
And customized a nutritious package for Wu Song, including dinner: a large spin of wine, a large plate of fried meat, a bowl of fish soup, and a large bowl of rice.
The fish soup that Shi En provided to Wu Song should not be porridge, after all, there is already rice, so there is no need to provide porridge anymore. Therefore, this fish soup should be made with fish as the main ingredient and then added to other ingredients and condiments to make a thick soup, which must taste very good.
In addition, there are also many people who make a living from fishing in "Water Margin", such as the three Ruan brothers who live in Shijie Village, next to Liangshan, who were fishermen who made a living by fishing before they went to Liangshan. But when it comes to the fish with the most "scenes" in "Water Margin", it must be carp.
It is said that Wu Yong wanted the three Ruan brothers to participate in the action of outwitting the birth gang, and at the beginning, he tried to test the Ruan brothers on the grounds that the local wealthy family mainly held a banquet and needed more than a dozen golden carp weighing 145 catties. Rich and noble families need to cook golden carp for happy events, which is naturally because the carp is really delicious, but also because the carp is still a symbol of good luck, so carp is indispensable for happy events.
However, it is a pity that Wu Yong did not ask for these dozen or so golden carp weighing fourteen or fifteen catties, and the Ruan brothers explained that it was not difficult to do it before, but then they couldn't get it, and such a big carp as Guy Yin only has Liangshanbo, and Liangshan has been occupied by strongmen headed by Wang Lun.
Of course, Wu didn't mean to drink alcohol on this trip, he just tried to find out the current living conditions of the Ruan brothers' family through the golden carp. Sure enough, he successfully learned that the Ruan brothers were living in difficulty now, and they couldn't catch big fish, so they swallowed their anger for a long time. After the temptation was successful, Wu Yong graciously invited the Ruan brothers to participate in the operation of outwitting the Birthday Gang.
Perhaps, Wu Yong himself doesn't like to eat fish so much, for him, the Ruan brothers are the golden carp that weighs fourteen or fifteen catties! However, Song Jiang likes to eat fish in his heart, and Song Jiang himself said that "after drinking, he only likes to eat fresh fish soup".
It is said that Song Jiang was sent to Jiangzhou, got acquainted with Dai Zong and Li Kui, and went to the Pipa Pavilion Tavern for a banquet together.
After sitting down in the tavern and drinking a few glasses of wine, Song Jiang suddenly wanted to drink spicy fish soup, which is a delicacy with fish as the main ingredient, and it has to have a spicy taste. However, during the Northern Song Dynasty and even the early Ming Dynasty where Shi Nai'an lived, chili peppers had not yet been introduced to China, and the bowl of fish spicy soup eaten by Song Jiang must be different from the boiled fish of later generations, presumably this spicy taste was the result of the action of ginger, Sichuan pepper, dogwood and other seasonings.
However, as a senior fish eater, Song Jiang took two sips of the juice and found that the fish was not fresh: "This fish is really not very good." "It's Li Kui, no matter how good it is, and chews the fish and the bones.
Later, Li Kui didn't know Zhang Shun in order to ask for fresh fish, Zhang Shun learned that Song Jiang wanted fresh fish, so he took fish with Li Kui, saying what kind of fish did Zhang Shun take? It was the golden carp that Wu used to pretend to want to eat.
Zhang Shun chose four large carps, and as for how to deal with the carp, there is also an explanation in the article: Zhang Shun instructed the bartender to make a spicy soup with a fish; Steam a tail with wine and ask the bartender to cut it. After coming out of the Pipa Pavilion Tavern, Song Jiang returned to the camp, Zhang Shun sent two more carps, and Song Jiang gave one fish to Guan Ying, and kept one for his own use. Song Jiang was greedy for eating too much because he saw the fresh fish, but by the fourth watch of the night, he had diarrhea for more than 20 years, fainted, and slept in the room.
Song Jiang had diarrhea, and some readers analyzed its causes: first of all, Song Jiang may have eaten sashimi, because in the Hui Commentary, Zhang Shun's carp also has a way of processing called "cut fish", and "鲙" is also known as "脍", and the "fish belly" that the ancients said is usually sashimi.
And the ancients did like to use carp to make sashimi, and in the Tang Dynasty, there was even a "flying knife carp". However, in ancient times, sanitary conditions were limited, and it was very likely that eating too much sashimi would cause diarrhea.
Secondly, Song Jiang may have caused gastroenteritis due to overeating. Song Jiang himself admitted: "I was greedy, I ate some fresh fish, and my stomach was bad." "The protein content of carp is very high, but if you eat a large amount of it in a short period of time, the protein in your body will increase dramatically and it will not be easy to decompose, resulting in indigestion and eventually diarrhea. In this way, no matter how delicious it is, you have to grasp the degree, and you can't be too greedy!
Although the fish "scene" in "Water Margin" does not have beef feet, it appears a lot of times, whether in the north or in the south, you can see the figure of fish. Therefore, in the hearts of the heroes of Liangshan, fish may not be as important as beef, but it is also a delicacy. ■
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