Cao Wei
Three volt days, what do Shanghainese eat? This is obviously not an easy issue to agree on, but there is one food that should not be very controversial, and that is lamb.
At the beginning of July, Fengxian Zhuangxing Town, the 14th Shanghai Zhuangxing Fuyang Festival arrived as scheduled. Eating mutton and drinking shochu on sanfu days, sweating and attacking the heat with heat, is undoubtedly a wonderful enjoyment for those who are keen on this way, and the town of Zhuangxing, located in Fengxian District, is also well known to people.
The opening ceremony of the 14th Shanghai Zhuangxing Fuyang Festival Organizer's picture
"A bowl of soup for the sheep, no need to prescribe medicine", "the millennium of the sheep look at the zhuang line". Nowadays, this folk custom has been included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Shanghai, and the Zhuangxing Fuyang Festival, which began in 2008, has long become one of the oldest and most influential mutton food festivals in Shanghai and even East China.
The scene of the Zhuangxing Fuyang Festival is warm data map
Fu Tian's eating of mutton can be described as a long history, and Yang Yun, a famous scholar and grandchild of Sima Qian, wrote in his famous article "The Book of The Emperor of sun hui": "The Tian family is bitter, and when he is old, he cooks lambs and cannons, and fights wine to work for himself." According to the Jiangnan folk saying, the three-volt mutton with shochu can promote sweating and detoxification, and remove the poisonous gas and moisture accumulated in the body in winter and spring, so there is also a saying that "medicine is not as good as food supplement, and food supplement should eat fu sheep".
Medicine supplement is not as good as food supplement, food supplement top to eat fu sheep data chart
The ability of Zhuanghang Town to become an "important town" for "mutton shochu" is closely related to its natural environment.
Located in the hinterland of Fengxian, not far from Hangzhou Bay, Zhuanghang has a humid climate, fertile land and abundant water and grass, providing a good natural environment and an ideal source of forage for raising goats. At the same time, there has been a tradition of drinking alcohol in the Shanghai area since ancient times, for example, in the pottery excavated from the Maqiao Cultural Site, you can see the utensils for drinking, and in the Northern Song Dynasty (1032), "Shanghai Affairs" was established, which was the first time that the word "Shanghai" appeared in the name of the administrative agency, and the responsibility of this institution was to collect liquor tax. Multiple factors make it possible to combine mutton shochu in Shanghai, and Zhuang Xing is a typical example.
Zhuanghang Town Infographic
During the Republic of China period, Zhuangxing's mutton shochu was famous, and whenever it was a day, local villagers would often cut a pot of mutton, sheep's feet or lamb liver, and then serve a pot of liquor and rice wine to entertain guests. In terms of specific cooking methods, the most common is to boil the lamb and cool it into a paste, then slice it into a pot and serve it as a cold dish. Fresh lamb is also served as a main course by cutting fresh lamb into chunks and sautéing them directly.
Haggis platter infographic
The Zhuangxing Fu sheep festival has now made a brand and a reputation, but in the vast Shanghai, of course, there will not be only one place to eat lamb. For the real food lovers in Shanghai, the punch points on the "Mutton Map" in Shencheng are undoubtedly much richer, and the flavor and eating methods of lamb are also different.
The Zhangze area of Yexie Town, Songjiang District, like Zhuang Xing, is also known as Futian Lamb, and in the circle of diners, which of Zhang Ze Mutton or Zhuang Xing Mutton is more delicious and more authentic has always been a difficult debate to answer.
In the Xu Family Ancestral Hall at the intersection of Zhuting Road on Zhangze Old Street in Songjiang, the gable is a semicircular Baroque Guanyin Pocket Gable
Zhangze mutton is rumored to have begun in the Yuan Dynasty, and in the Yuan Dynasty, Sha Quan, a Red Mongol in Songjiang Province, loved mutton, so he held a Menghan mutton contest in Zhangze and personally served as a judge. After the game, Sha Quan integrated the strengths of each family to cook Zhang Ze mutton with both northern and southern flavors, laying the foundation for its position in the jiangnan mutton industry.
Fragrant Zhang Ze lamb
According to experts, the authentic Zhang Ze lamb is made of one-year-old mutton, so the smell is less. The cooking method is mainly stewed and white boiled, which is tender and delicious, and the oil is not greasy. One of the most prestigious "rotten mutton", simmered in slow-fire soup, retains the flavor of the lamb in its original flavor, melts in the mouth, and then pours a cup of shochu at this time, which is just right. In 2017, "Zhangze Mutton Making Technology" was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Songjiang District, and the Zhangze Mutton Food Culture Tourism Festival has now become an important intangible cultural brand activity brand in Songjiang, attracting tourists and diners to come and taste the mutton culture with a history of hundreds of years.
Rotten Lamb Infographic
Zhuang Xing and Zhang Ze are located in the southwest corner of Shanghai, and in the northeast corner of Shanghai, Chongming mutton is also quite famous.
The delicacy of Chongming lamb comes from the excellent sheep breed Chongming goat, which is a local endemic sheep breed bred in Chongming's specific natural environment. Unlike Zhuang Xing and Zhang Ze, who are popular for eating lamb in Futian, the best time to taste Chongming goats is from the time of waxing moon to spring every year. Its white-cut lamb has a good taste and the braised lamb is fragrant. Add to this the turquoise greens, or simmered with taro, all of which are delicious and of the best.
Chonghua cuts the lamb
Although the season of eating mutton is different from that of Zhuang Xing and Zhang Ze, the combination of mutton and wine is also applicable in Chongming. Historically, there was a popular "mutton wine basket" in the area of Chongmingbao Town, the specific method is to deboned the cooked lamb, cut it into pieces into bean size, stir it well with the rice plate, pour the liquor medicine, put it on the "wine tank head", cover it with a grass cover and place it in the grass, and keep it warm with a cotton quilt. After a week or so, the grass lid was lifted, not only the wine was fragrant, but the lamb was also very delicious, without any taste, but for various reasons, this technique has gradually declined, and there is little chance to taste.
In addition to the suburban areas of Zhuangxing, Zhang Ze and Chongming, not far from the city, there have been many good places to taste lamb.
Zhenru has always been one of the most important towns in shanghai's history, and as early as the 18th century, Zhenru lamb began to be famous. It is recorded that Zhenru was originally influenced by Jiading, so it was also popular to eat lamb in Futian. The method of really like lamb is divided into two types: white cut and braised. Among them, braised lamb is also known as "raw rotten lamb".
It's like lamb in Shanghai Putuo
During the Republic of China period, there were many mutton stalls in the Zhenru area, and now located on the south side of zhenru Temple, the "Zhenru Mutton Restaurant" on Beishi Road is said to have been merged into the various mutton shops in 1958, as to whether the taste still continues the afterglow of the year, I am afraid I have to ask the old food.
Gaoqiao, located at the end of the Huangpu River, has also gathered a long-established brand specializing in mutton since the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. The most famous of these are the Huang Tai Long Lamb Noodle Shop in 1914 on East Street, and the Chen Dexing Lamb Noodle Shop in North Street, which opened in 1931. In order to ensure the quality of the meat, the two shopkeepers often go to the countryside around Takahashi to directly buy lambs for about a year and a year. Every year before the Spring Festival, there will be sheep dealers from Chongming who sell sheep to the above-mentioned restaurants, and the reputation of the latter is evident.
In addition to Zhenru and Takahashi, Longhua and Shippo were also famous for mutton. Longhua white-cut lamb was born from the famous Longhua Temple Fair, and became so famous with the latter's platform that the custom of eating white-cut lamb in the morning was cultivated among the residents of Longhua. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the temple fair withered, and the Longhua mutton gradually declined.
Longhua Temple Festival Shanghai Local History Office Picture
As for Qibao lamb, there is a saying that its practice actually originated from Longhua, which is now difficult to verify, but the popularity of the local lamb with shochu is beyond doubt, and the "Overview of Qibao Town" in the 1945 "Declaration" clearly records that local men have the custom of "eating mutton shochu" every morning.
Mutton shochu Shanghai Songjiang Picture
Eating fu sheep, drinking shochu, so that such a gourmet enjoyment, is not only a clear reflection of Shanghai's history, culture and natural environment, but also can glimpse the bits and pieces of urban development and change.
Editor-in-charge: Zhu Zhe
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang