"In Guangdong, everyone is a foodie!" Wrinkled yarn fish rot, steamed chicken in the water of the bridge, strangled fried milk... Those authentic foods hidden in the Countryside of Guangdong, the style attracts the tip of the tongue of foodies to "linger". Fang Zhi Guangdong and Guangdong Agriculture and Rural Area jointly launched the "Rural Food Month" series of articles, set off with us, looking for hidden delicacies in the village countryside, without losing the "food" machine!
"Where the sound of the flute rises, ask the trace to the pine forest." Silver candles a thousand heavy flames, yellow flowers a hole of gold. The building is not dusty, and the rhyme is difficult to invade. Stealing to forget the pleasure, drunkenly waking up to talk about learning to chant. "The Qing Dynasty He Huanzhang's poem "Ru Cui Lou Yan Ju" describes the scene of the chrysanthemum feast.
▲Xiaolan traditional chrysanthemum food. Source: Zhongshan City Cultural Center
A variety of chrysanthemum delicacies are served with chrysanthemums, which is both a pleasure for the taste buds and a feast for the eyes. Qing Kangxi's "Lingnan Miscellaneous Records" says: "The chrysanthemum cake of Xiaolan contains chrysanthemums, which is particularly delicious than the almond cakes." The flavor of chrysanthemum meat is also very good, and it is not comparable to other places. "It is recorded that the Xiaolan people eat chrysanthemums.
▲Crispy fried chrysanthemum leaves. Photo by Yu Fan
▲A variety of chrysanthemum delicacies. Photo by Yu Fan
The traditional cuisine of Xiaolan chrysanthemum is mainly spread in Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, and belongs to the Cantonese cuisine family. Relying on the local edible chrysanthemum petals of Xiaolan as raw materials, accompanied by pork, fish, sugar, flake sugar, glutinous rice, flour, mung bean flour, rice wine, lotus seeds, red beans and other raw materials, according to different varieties, in different proportions and production methods, it is made into chrysanthemum fish balls, chrysanthemum meat, chrysanthemum water olive, chrysanthemum wine, chrysanthemum eight treasure rice and other traditional chrysanthemum cuisine, forming a unique local traditional food customs.
▲Chrysanthemum three snake soup. Source: Xiaolan Town Party and Government Office
In 2008, the dietary customs of Xiaolan chrysanthemums were included in the list of municipal intangible cultural heritage by the Zhongshan Municipal People's Government.
Chrysanthemum bran
In the traditional cuisine of small olive chrysanthemums, chrysanthemum bran is an important ingredient in making the chrysanthemum diet.
▲Chrysanthemum bran. Source: Zhongshan City Cultural Center
Collect fresh yellow chrysanthemums, remove the flower trays, and take the petals to dry. When making, add a small amount of water to the white sugar, put it in a pot to boil into a paste, slightly cool, add the pre-prepared chrysanthemum petals, stir, wait for the temperature to slowly cool, when the chrysanthemum and syrup begin to solidify, press the rice spatula into petals, and the "chrysanthemum bran" is made.
In a delicacy made with chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemum fried fish balls and chrysanthemum meat are the most famous
It was also selected as one of the 100 traditional snacks in Guangdong
Chrysanthemum fish balls
Among the small olive chrysanthemum food culture, chrysanthemum fish balls are the most representative. In the old days, the Xiaolan people went abroad to make a living, and the food customs of Xiaolan chrysanthemums also spread to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas.
▲Chrysanthemum fish ball. Source: Zhongshan Municipal Cultural Center, Xiaolan Town Party and Government Office
Chrysanthemum fish balls are made of fresh edible chrysanthemum petals, drained and beaten, then mixed with chrysanthemum juice into the mud carp meat, added starch into the meat grinder and twisted, and then the meat is kneaded into small balls and fried in a frying pan.
The fried fish balls are crispy and elastic, with both the umami taste of fish and the strong fragrance of chrysanthemums.
Chrysanthemum meat
Chrysanthemum meat is selected from small olive small yellow chrysanthemum (also known as jade chrysanthemum, commonly known as chrysanthemum), after flowering, harvest its petals, remove the green petals, dry it until slightly dry, use the appropriate amount of granulated sugar under the pot, boil into syrup and then lower the petals, so that the sugar is evenly dipped on the petals to make chrysanthemum sugar.
Then, the first prepared sugar Tibetan meat (that is, choose the best pork fat meat, soak boiling water to grease and then use the sugar to hide for 1-2 months) cut into long and half-inch, one inch wide, two or three points thick slices of meat, put into the syrup several times, and put into the chrysanthemum sugar piece by piece, so that the meat slices are evenly dipped in chrysanthemum sugar, dipped in chrysanthemum bran, and the delicious chrysanthemum meat is ready.
▲Chrysanthemum meat. Source: Zhongshan Municipal Cultural Center, Xiaolan Town Party and Government Office
The chrysanthemum meat is golden on the surface and crystal clear, although it is made of fatty meat, it is crisp and not greasy to eat, and it is fragrant and delicious.
Chrysanthemum water olive, chrysanthemum sugar brick, chrysanthemum wine, chrysanthemum eight treasure rice... More innovative dishes are emerging. Chrysanthemums into the cuisine to make a variety of chrysanthemum delicacies, in the golden autumn chrysanthemum season to taste, is the industrious and wise Xiaolan people on how to use the gifts of nature to make the best interpretation, has become a beautiful landscape in the chrysanthemum culture.
▲The picture above is the chrysanthemum water olive, courtesy of the Zhongshan City Cultural Center; the picture below is the chrysanthemum eight treasure rice, yu fan photo
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Source: Guangdong Provincial People's Government Local History Office, Zhongkai Agricultural Engineering College "Guangdong Rural Cuisine" Writing Team
Editors: Zheng Peijiong, etc
The graphic materials are mainly derived from "Whole Cantonese Village Situation" and the whole Cantonese Village Situation Data Platform; some of the pictures come from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author.