<h1>Juntun Pot Qui</h1>
"Pot helmet", a snack rich in local characteristics, is often seen in cities, towns, streets and alleys in the western Sichuan Plain, and in roadside shops. It is said that Zhuge Liang invented it when he was in Juntun ,彭县,Juntun (present-day Junle Town, Pengzhou City).
The "crispy pot helmet" of Pengzhou Juntun is more one-dimensional, it is not only finely made, but also has a unique flavor. Anyone who has eaten the helmet of the military pot is praised and praised. There is also a historical origin of this military puff pastry pot helmet.
When I was a child, I saw that in this military town with less than 100 households, there were six or seven people playing "pot helmets". At that time, I didn't understand that there were many people on this street eating "pot helmets"! Later, I learned that although the streets here are short, it is the main traffic route from Pengzhou to Shifang, Mianzhu and other counties. In the past, there was an endless stream of merchants, especially those coolies who picked up their shoulders and grinded their backs and pushed carts to carry cars, passing by here, in order to rush the road in time, most of them bought three or five pot helmets, and when they were hungry, they ate while walking. This business has many customers and large profits, and naturally the number of people rushing to the market has increased.
These "pot helmet" shops, the best business, to count Xie Zijin. Xie Zijin, a native of Longchang, has a poor family, is unable to study, has learned the art of white noodle line since childhood, pasta and pasta, and can do everything. After completing the division, he made a career of playing "pot helmet". Because of his good craftsmanship, loyal to people, usually thrifty, cautious, never spend money indiscriminately, a few years of hard work, with savings at hand, but he is helpful and not stingy. Once, out of compassion, he helped a middle-aged couple with difficulties in life. Who knows what caused the slander of the husband who did not do his job. Xie Zijin was furious and injured the shameless villain, and in order to avoid the situation from expanding, he had to run away from home. He had been to Several Provinces in Guizhou, Yunnan, and Shaanxi provinces, and all of them were engaged in white-faced behavior, and it was difficult for him to gain a foothold, so he had to return to Sichuan and devote himself to Yang's department as a partner, and then left the army and ran to Fengle Township in Chongning County to help people play "pot helmets". When Xie Zijin was helping, he was very loyal to the boss, worked hard and complained, made a lot of money for the boss, and he also had some savings. When he was preparing to marry and start a family, he unexpectedly ran out to interfere with the local brothers. Xie Zijin was forced to be angry and simply left the land of right and wrong. After several twists and turns, he came to the streets of Juntun Township to settle down, and since then he has resumed his old business and opened a "crispy pot helmet" shop.
Xie Zijin has gone through several ups and downs, and he knows that a foreigner who has settled in a different place must have a set of excellent skills to survive. So he took out all the white-faced line technology, and kept improving the pot helmet process and renovating the pattern. On his "pot helmet" stall, there are often more than ten kinds of "pot helmets" of different sizes, such as puff pastry, soft heart puff pastry (put into a glass box as a gift), small sugar cake (thick edge, thin middle), beef tongue, yellow eel bun, mixed sugar bun, long oil thread, ten thousand rolls of puff pastry, mille-feuille puff pastry, kink knots, baked sheets, etc. of different sizes, shapes, characteristics and flavors. Peers saw the situation and competed to follow suit, thus forming a competitive climax, the eight immortals crossed the sea, each showing their magic, but no one could compare with it. As a result, his business continued to flourish, and his reputation spread. Many people have come to learn from him.
Later, Xie Zijin was ninety years old, still homeless and alone, and just as he was concentrating on teaching his disciples, he unfortunately fell ill and died. Some of his apprentices were not refined, some changed careers halfway, and some later changed careers, but unfortunately, a complete set of "pot helmet" operation processes did not have all inheritors in the end. Only the "crispy pot helmet" of Zhou Lequan on Juntun Street is the only authentic variety that has been preserved.
The process of Juntun 'crispy pot helmet' is gradually perfected on the basis of inheriting traditional craftsmanship and after careful study. According to teacher Fu Li Fenhua: In order to do a good job in the "crispy pot helmet," we must grasp three passes: The first is the fa noodle pass. The raw materials should be selected with good flour. When fermenting, the acid and base should be neutralized, the alkali is heavy, and the astringency is astringent; the alkali is light, the acid taste cannot be suppressed, the fermentation is immature, and there is no elasticity. The second is ingredient off. The main condiments are lard residue, fine peppercorns, pepper, ginger juice, monosodium glutamate, sugar, salt should be properly matched, too much and too little will affect the quality and taste. Finally, there is the baking off. When the pot helmet is formed on the stove, it is necessary to master the heat. The fire is big and the outside is scorched and the inside is dry, not soft, the fire is small, the shell is not crispy, and even the inner shell is raw. When baking, you can't cover the pan tightly, and the three levels are good to make the top product. The "crispy pot helmet" made in this way has the five characteristics of yellow, fragrant, crisp, soft and crisp. The so-called yellow refers to the heavy oil, yellow; fragrant: taste fragrant; crisp: chewed up to dissolve the slag; soft: the inner layer is more than soft; crisp: the shell is crisp. In this way, the pot helmet is not only hot and delicious, but also cold, but also keeps soft and delicious. If you cut him into diamonds or squares and fry him back into the pan, it will be a unique local flavor.
In recent years, there has been a new development of the crispy pot helmet, and the farmer Liu Yingsong inherits the traditional craft of the crisp pot helmet at the same time, but also uses his brain to knock on the door to make a fresh meat pot helmet. He ingeniously chopped fresh pork, accompanied by salt, pepper, pepper, ginger, monosodium glutamate, green onions and other condiments to make a filling, put it into a raw pot helmet, put it on a frying pan and blanch it, and then moved it to the oven to bake for a certain period of time and then took it out. Initially, the shell dried up and the meat inside was raw. After careful consideration, it was found that the oil was not used properly. Later, it was changed to cold oil, so that the "pot helmet" was heated inside and outside at the same time, so as to avoid the problem of external coke and endogenous, and after tasting, its taste was higher than that of "crispy pot helmet".
So far, no less than thirty stores have been set up in Chengdu from Junle Town. Huaxing Zheng Street, Dajiake Lane, Panku Street, Qingshiqiao Street, Qingyang Palace, Wenshu Yuan Street, Cultural Palace, Nine-Eye Bridge, Nine-Eye Bridge, Shuinian River, Northwest Bridge and other places have stalls with "Juntun Meat Pot Helmet" signboard to attract customers from all sides. In the suburban counties of Chengdu, there are also many signboards of "Pengzhou Juntun Pot Helmet".
In 2018, the production technology of Juntun Pot Kui was included in the fifth batch of representative projects of Sichuan Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Article source: Cultural Tianfu
Text: Zhou Yueqing Liu Guangwu
Pictured: Shawne