Yantai in the golden autumn is filled with the joy of harvest everywhere.
Since the opening of the sea in September, the seafood feast of Yantai people has also swept in.
Shrimp bouncing around, crabs that are fat to the point of running oil, white and tender scallops, huge fresh sea fish... For Yantai people who have eaten the sea by the sea since childhood, everything is a favorite delicacy.
Among the many seafood produced in Yantai, mackerel stands out for its tenderness and cheap price. Yantai people have developed countless kinds of clever mackerel recipes: home-cooked mackerel, braised mackerel, smoked mackerel, dried mackerel, mackerel cake...
However, the ultimate pride must be the mackerel dumplings.
Two Yantai people meet, a plate of mackerel dumplings, is the best language of communication, this tacit understanding of the gene generations engraved in the taste memory, just a taste can awaken people's infinite attachment to their hometown.
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Big and big
The bearer of the dumpling world
▲ Inviting guests to eat mackerel dumplings is the enthusiasm of Yantai people
Compared with the beauty of Qingdao mackerel dumplings, Yantai mackerel dumplings are more in line with the typical Shandong style - large.
A single oversized mackerel dumpling that can be up to 10 centimeters long and weighs up to 250 grams is the handle of the dumpling world, which is the size of an adult's slap. In the midst of a hot air, I bit down the filling, and my tongue was so hot that I couldn't bear to drop chopsticks. Mackerel dumplings, which are comparable in size to buns, can be eaten three or four times to make their stomachs round, and the bold enthusiasm of Yantai people is in this plate of dumplings.
▲ Yantai mackerel dumplings, the "big" to the extreme
How did this jaw-dropping dumpling come about? In Yantai Binhai at that time, people fished for a living and rarely engaged in farming, so it caused the concept of "fish is cheaper than noodles" and "noodles are more expensive than fish". However, eating dumplings every New Year's Festival has long become a deep-rooted "tradition", so the people of Yantai racked their brains and began to calculate: how to consume flour to a minimum and make delicious dumplings?
In this situation, the oversized stuffed mackerel dumplings are born. The founder of the great mackerel dumplings must not have expected that this kind of mackerel dumplings have now become a food business card in Yantai, especially in the restaurants in The Penglai area of Yantai.
▲ Yantai's mackerel dumplings, a plate of tubes is not enough to eat. Photo/ Taobao foodie
Delicious upgrade
Mackerel dumplings are fresh
Speaking of mackerel cuisine, mackerel dumplings are a well-known feature in Yantai, mackerel meat is tight and less thorny, with fat fish wrapped dumplings, is the housekeeping skill of every household.
The mackerel is broken into the belly and the gills are removed, and the head of the fish is stabbed and the tail is cut off, separating the flesh and bone of the mackerel. Using a kitchen knife to slowly slide against the skin of the fish, the fish meat slowly peels off with the blade, removing the head and tail and removing the bones, leaving only the white and tender fish as the filling. The fish is beaten with the back of a knife until delicate.
Add the fat and lean pork belly evenly, which can make the filling a little more oily and mellow, neutralizing the fishy atmosphere. Cut the pork belly into small pieces, chop into finely minced meat paste, mix the fish filling and meat filling, whisk vigorously in the same direction, and stir well until the meat is sticky. The filling is thoroughly whipped for a smooth and elastic texture.
Leeks and mackerel are a perfect match, and the best leeks must be chosen to stimulate the deliciousness of the mackerel. A little sesame oil, salt and MSG for better titian freshness and maximum retention of the most authentic flavor of the mackerel meat filling.
Mackerel dumplings are huge, and to ensure that they are not broken when cooked, the noodles are also the key. To choose a good rib noodle, add some salt, use cold water to adjust the noodles. Under the premise of ensuring that the face is awake and hairy, the skin will not be broken no matter how thin it is.
Yantai people have always been known for their hospitality, in the process of wrapping mackerel dumplings, the more stuffing, it means the better the hospitality, the larger the dumplings are wrapped, the more full of the meaning of good and rich.
There are also tricks when cooking, the fire should be open all the time, not stewed. The dumplings with large and thin skin are boiled out of the pot and become the protagonist of the table. The steaming mackerel dumplings gently bite open the outer skin, first the delicious soup spills out, and then, the white tender and smooth filling bursts out between the lips and teeth, so that the eaters can't help but shake off their cheeks and feast.
Practical tips
How to choose fresh mackerel
■ Look at the gills of the fish. The brighter the color of the gills, the better the freshness of the mackerel, on the contrary, if the gills are gray and dark, it means that it is an overnight fish, try not to buy it. The gills are the fish's respiratory system, and when eating, remember to remove them.
■ Look at the size. When buying mackerel, it is best to buy more than 2 pounds, so that the meat of the mackerel is fat, and it is used to wrap dumplings, stew, sauce stew are very delicious.
■ Look at the fish eye. Fresh mackerel eyes are black and translucent, while frozen mackerel fish eyes are white.
■ Press the stomach. The belly of fresh mackerel is very elastic, and it will immediately return to its original shape as soon as the finger is pressed.
Yantai people often say: "Good mood, mackerel dumplings." "Earlier, mackerel dumplings were to some extent a barometer of people's lives: if any family floated out the aroma of mackerel dumplings, then there must be something good in his family.
Yantai children who go out to break in, when they are homesick, as long as they eat a bite of authentic mackerel dumplings, homesickness suddenly comes to mind, the blue sky, white clouds, blue sea, fishing port in their hometown... Scene after scene also comes to mind, becoming a beautiful memory that haunts us wherever we go.