In Xinzheng City, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, when it comes to tamales or rice noodles, many people will associate it with the Ding family on the West Street of the Old City, and "Ding's Tamales" has become the "authentic brand" of this dish in everyone's heart. As a hereditary delicacy of the Ding family, "Ding's Tamales" has been passed down for six generations and has a history of more than 160 years, and was selected into the first batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage list in Xinzheng In 2010.
According to Ding Hongjian, the sixth generation of the family's heirs, this dish originated from the Ding Family Restaurant in the late Qing Dynasty (later changed to Cui Bin Lou). According to legend, an ancestor of the Ding family was once a well-known culinary master in Xinzheng, who had successively served as the head chef of the county court and the state capital, and then entered Beijing to become a royal chef, and opened the Ding family restaurant in Xinzheng after returning to his hometown.
After the opening of the Ding family restaurant, because xinzhenggu is the main road of "Kyushu Tongqu", it is a necessary place for officials and merchants who travel from south to north, especially during the Qing Dynasty, the local officials stationed in the local capital often come here to eat, so the local flavor and official cooking skills are also transmitted here. The chefs of the Ding family have absorbed the essence of the northern and southern flavors, improved on the basis of the traditional "strip meat" button bowl, and created this gourmet dish, which soon became a well-known dish in the New Zheng family.
Sweet and delicious, fat but not greasy Ding's tamales Mu Feng photo
"Ding's Tamales" is different from others, the most important thing is that during the production process, each Ding descendant follows the instructions passed down by word of mouth of the previous generation, and the production process is traditional and mysterious. They will be fried rice mashed into powder, and then with noodle sauce, large ingredients, etc., and then the sliced pork belly is placed in it repeatedly kneaded, then the meat is squeezed out of the water, the large material is poured into the meat, one in and one out, the ingredients and the pork belly are perfectly integrated, and then put seven or eight slices in each bowl, and then placed in the steamer. After two hours, the tamales behind the buckle are crystal-like, red and white, and tempting to eat. In the mouth, it is fat but not greasy, sweet and delicious, the sauce is prominent, and the five flavors are strong.
Nowadays, with the increasing influence of "Ding's tamales", the Ding family has taught nearly a thousand apprentices throughout the country, and this generational production process has gradually become a gastronomic culture after several generations of improvement, and continues to carry forward the inheritance. ( Mu Feng)