Tengchong people's day mostly starts with the bowl of bait in the morning. It is no wonder that as a product of staple food, Tengchong people can not live without bait, and the New Year's Festival is indispensable to it, and the lunch on the first day of the New Year is to eat bait. In Tengchong, this meal of bait silk is "eating a long meal", which has the meaning of a long time, so what kind of position the bait silk occupies in the hearts of Tengchong people can be imagined. Here, let alone "large-scale processing". Once upon a time, the "big processing" of a bowl of a few cents was how mouth-watering, and I thought about it and thought about it...
In the 1970s, state-run restaurants and state-run tea houses were places where the people of Tengchong ate "big processing" and small pots of bait. The tables in the shop are clean and shiny white at all times, and this effect can only be achieved by scrubbing the wooden tables with sour oak leaves. When buying bait silk, first pay money and food stamps on the windowsill, remember that the small pot bait silk is a dime and two cents, two or two food stamps and a bowl. Get a copper bait card, and then joyfully turn to the chef's window, and out of it is a bowl of bait silk that exudes a strong sweet taste, the meat "hat" is enough, the soup is good, the bait silk is delicate and soft, and the bones are good. Then go to the door of the restaurant to buy two cents of pickled vegetables, that cool, really don't mention. In the era of "big processing", no restaurant was rationed with pickles, so someone specially sold pickles at the entrance of the restaurant, two or three cents, you can buy it. Authentic pickles do not need to put oil peppers, coriander and other condiments, as long as it is accompanied by meals, a bowl of oil purring "big processing", can make you cool.
I am glad that I caught up with the era of "large-scale processing", and listening to people's appreciation of the "large-scale processing" of that era, I also recalled my own good memories of the small pot bait silk -
It was when I was in elementary school, and I was fortunate enough to be drawn to the school bouquet team to participate in the street parade. After the event, the school gave each team member a copper bait card. At the end of the next day's event, another one was issued. For me who was hungry, what a great deal it was, holding two bait cards, choosing a date, and happily taking my mother and sisters to the state-run tea house to eat "big processing". To this day, I can't remember whether I paid for two more bowls, but I remember that although the sisters were very greedy, in the face of the oily bait, they always gave in and gave in, always pulling more into each other's bowls. Now, nearly forty years later, in the face of the fragrant bait, the scene of the family's happy harmony seems to be just yesterday...
"Big processing" and small pot bait wire are the good memories of that generation. At that time, many people had enjoyed the treatment of eating bait when they were sick. Amazingly, people who are sick and have no strength immediately come out of the shop after eating bait. People in the village also want to eat a bowl of bait silk on the street, and Wang Enrong of Yubi said that in the past, when they went into the city to catch the street, if they had not eaten that bowl of bait silk, it was as if they had not been on the street.
With the development of the times, the types of Tengchong bait silk have become richer day by day, such as according to the "hat" divided into roast meat, meat, meat, three fresh, chicken, goose, roasted bacon bait and so on more than a dozen kinds, including unique sour soup bait silk, more called "halal taste" beef bait silk, as well as the temple in the vegetarian bait silk and so on. Different types and different flavors can meet everyone's different preferences. As for the large boiling pot bait silk that was later launched with the development of tourism, it was the highest standard feast in the Tengchong bait silk - in a large platter, the various ingredients were arranged in turn, the bait silk was bundled into several small rolls, and the rest were roast meat, sashimi, leeks, pea tips, squeezed vegetables, wild shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes, quail eggs, salted duck eggs, cucumbers, etc., and the large bowls contained piping hot broth. Chili oil, pepper oil, sesame oil, garlic oil, green onion, coriander, pickles and other spices are placed in an orderly manner, and they have not waited for chopsticks, but they have long been salivating. But in the author's opinion, such a high-standard bait silk feast, its taste may never be better than the bowl of "big processing" and small pot bait that remains in the memory.
In 2012, Tengchong's traditional snack bait with thin bean flour and large flakes was announced as a municipal intangible cultural heritage project.
02
The "Great Rescue" that carries a period of history
On the eighteenth day of the first month of the sixteenth year of Qing Shunzhi (1659), the Southern Ming Yongli Emperor Zhu Yu ran through Burma, and the Tengren treated each other with fried bait blocks, because of the long-distance travel, hunger was unbearable, so that after eating, he sighed: "Saved the driver of Yuan!" "Big rescue" has become synonymous with fried bait blocks.
The so-called "big rescue" is to cut the bait into diamond-shaped slices, first pass it in cold water, filter the water and put it into the oil pot to fry, with meat slices, eggs, tomatoes, bad spicy seeds, soy sauce, etc., after the pot is a plate of bright color, rich flavor, strong taste, chewy. Spicy seeds are an indispensable spice that adds to the color of the fried bait blocks.
Generally speaking, eating fried bait cubes should be accompanied by a bowl of dry pickle soup, and the sour soup is appetizing.
Nowadays, "Great Rescue Driving" has been listed as one of the "Top Ten Famous Dishes in Yunnan" and ranks first in the list. Indeed, on the surface, it is nothing more than a home-cooked side dish or snack in the homes of ordinary people, but it is not surprising that it is well deserved because of its abundant ingredients, easy to learn cooking methods, and welcomed by diners everywhere.
03
Sour water dumplings full of old flavor
Round bait cubes are available all year round, roasted on the charcoal fire, the aroma of the simmering is scattered everywhere, smeared with a little soy sauce, chili oil, pepper oil, or charcoal fire burned on the tree sour tomato mixed with green pepper, or pickle sauce, marinade, water tempeh, strong sour and spicy flavor and the aroma of rice dumplings will surely attract you deeply, until you eat lick your mouth and smack your tongue. This can also be transformed from the protagonist to a supporting role, with thin bean flour, dry sour pickle water, roasted pork, beef soup, that is, thin bean flour rice dumplings, sour water soup, roasted rice dumplings, beef rice dumplings and so on, huh.
The square bait tube is cut into pieces, also known as the bait block, which was only available during the Spring Festival in the early years, so when the bait tube appears on the market, it is close to the New Year. This thick square rice dumpling is roasted on the fire and the skin is crisp and soft, usually torn into small pieces and put into the dried pickle water of huangshengsheng, plus a little bone broth, with chili oil, pepper oil, coriander and other spices, it is a sour and spicy sour water dumpling. This is the unique taste of the Spring Festival. In the early years, bait tubes were customarily made only during the Spring Festival, and dried pickle water could only be produced during the winter month and waxing moon due to climatic factors, so only during the Spring Festival could you eat authentic sour water dumplings. The dried pickle water fully absorbs the winter sun in the process of boiling and drying several times, and the sour flavor is strong, mixed with the paste aroma of the rice dumplings, teasing your taste buds. Unconsciously, I ate a lot, and only when my mouth was full, I wondered how I could eat so much, that is, a much more amount than cooking.
The bait tube can also be cut into small square slices and boiled to eat, adding diced bacon, flowering cabbage before and after spring, white, green and yellow, the flowering cabbage brings the natural sweetness into the boiled rice dumplings, which can be described as fresh and delicious to eat, and can also taste a hint of spring. These foods have a sense of season, and if you miss them, you have to wait for a year.
04
Tengchong folk customs of the kneading plastic products
There are dexterous craftsmen who can use the main ingredient of the bait block to knead it into a "steamed bun", "contribution" and "vegetarian table". When building a new house on the beam, it is necessary to throw away the "steamed bun head" made of "five parties", and every year in July and a half, when the "death" is offered, a plate of "contribution" containing pigs, dogs, monkeys, birds, peach pomegranates and other things is required. At the "mourning" ceremony, foreign families need to have a plate of "vegetarian tables" made of 12 zodiac signs to offer meals, so there are several families specializing in the craft of kneading and molding in the Dongshan community of Tengyue Town, the main production area of bait silk and rice dumplings. The kneader kneads the steamed and scooped rice dumplings with a pair of dexterous hands into portraits of twelve lives, kneads them into elephants, small fish, birds, peaches, pomegranates, etc., and then paints and decorates them with colors, making them vivid and very ornamental, especially attracting children to like. Who doesn't like that pair of cute little pigs, the puppies with curly tails, the nimble little ones, the long-nosed elephants? But no, before the adults' meals were finished, the children rushed to run. The big steamed bun-like "steamed bun" is a symbol of festive and auspicious, as long as there is a new house, the owner will definitely prepare a lot of "steamed buns", let people grab the lively and lively when they go to the beams, as one of my close friends said, at that time, ah, the same is not busy, is busy grabbing the "steamed bun".
05
A long history of bait silk processing
Tengchong's bait and wire processing has the longest history in Tengyue, with leading production technology and excellent product quality. According to the existing written data, there were Ming Dynasties, which were first produced in Hujiawan, and there are two kinds of varieties: fresh and dried. Before the founding of New China, bait silk processing was only Hujiawan and Liu Xiaozhai, after the founding of New China, in order to develop side business, the grain department actively promoted the Hujiawan bait silk process. In the early years, he used his feet to scoop up the sticks. In 1972, the use of boiler steam instead of iron pot to cook rice and steaming rice, the use of electric rice machine instead of foot scoop test was successful. However, until the early 1980s, it was mainly processed by artificial scooping. In 1983, after the implementation of the co-production contract responsibility system, each peasant household carried out self-employment, and the main production areas were concentrated in the areas of Dongshan, Xiaoxi and Chengguan. In addition to self-employment, the food sector has also run state-run bait and silk factories. Whether state-run, collective or individual processing, the vast majority have been made mechanically.
The production of bait silk is made of Tengchong high-quality indica rice old variety pulp rice as raw material, using Tengchong's unique water quality, blending traditional technology and modern technology. The production process includes rice, wake up rice, steamed raw rice, rice sharing, steamed rice, punching, rolling, forming, etc., mechanical rolling, rolling, making rice, and then cooling, cooling and shredding, the finished product has bait roll, bait wire, rice dumplings, bait tubes, etc.
From the 1990s to the beginning of the 21st century, Yunteng Fast Food Bait Factory and Hefeng Food Co., Ltd. have successively introduced equipment and technology, organized technical personnel to develop fast food bait silk, a variety of flavors of convenient bait silk, dry bait wire series products favored by tourists inside and outside the province, is the first choice for guests when leaving Tengchong.
Bait silk series products are not only accompanied by locals, but also loved by outsiders. Many guests who come to Tengchong are still looking forward to This bowl of bait or a plate of "big rescue" in Gaoligong Mountain. Tengchong Wenzhi Square has opened a "big processing" food garden by the Yanhu Lake, as well as a "Tengyue taste" snack bar, and countless bait stalls set up in the streets and alleys, specializing in various bait silk, thin bean powder and other Tengchong special snacks, catering to the taste of customers who like to eat bait silk, and meeting the public's demand for bait silk.
Text: Yang Xiaoqin
Photo: Yang Xiaoqin Duan Yingzong
Source: Tengchong Cultural Creation