Southeast Network September 6 news (this network reporter Xia Jing, Yan Caibin, Li Qi, intern Yu Dan)
The deepest memory on the tip of the tongue is undoubtedly the "taste of mother". In Tong'an, Xiamen, a sheet of pancakes and more than a dozen ingredients are rolled up with a "hometown flavor" that is difficult to give up.
The custom of eating crepes with Tong'an has a history of more than 400 years. In May 2017, Wu Zhaozhi's pancake making skills were included in the representative project of intangible cultural heritage in Fujian Province, and Wu Zhaozhi, the "pancake sister-in-law", became a provincial non-hereditary inheritor. For decades, she has guarded and inherited the taste of this hometown, so that wanderers at home and abroad can return to their hometown, and can awaken the warm time about home in their memories from the aroma of rolled pancakes.
Wu Zhaozhi, the provincial non-hereditary inheritor of "Tong'an Pancake". Southeast Network reporter Yan Caibin photographed
Stick to the old recipe and incorporate more than a dozen ingredients
Pancakes are the traditional snacks of Xiamen Tong'an, which are said to have been made for the Ming Dynasty's important minister Cai Fuyi's wife Li Shi (Xiamen Tong'an MaXiangren), and then became a treasure passed down from generation to generation by the Cai family, and the practice of pancakes was also widely imitated in Tong'an folk and has been passed down to this day.
Wu Zhaozhi is a native of Tong'an, who was adopted by the Cai family from an early age and began to learn the craft of making pancakes with his grandfather Cai Ti at the age of 8. For decades, because of the good taste of crepes and the kindness of people, she was affectionately called "crepes sister-in-law" by many people.
Wu Zhaozhi shows the making of crabies. Southeast Network reporter Yan Caibin photographed
In the Tong'an "Pancake Sister-in-law" traditional food garden, the reporter met Wu Zhaozhi, who was making pancake crusts. She skillfully tossed the dough and smeared it on the flat bottom, and after turning it around, a thin crust as round as a full moon and as white as a thin color was burned. "My hobby is making food." Wu Zhaozhi told reporters with a smile that she usually has no other way of entertainment, basically in the store, not resting, or busy making food.
The reporter noted that the filling of Tong'an pancakes is different from the "run cakes" in other regions, in addition to similar dish combinations, it also adds "oil rice" with special characteristics. Wu Zhaozhi revealed that the "oil rice" is made of glutinous rice, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms stir-fried and then simmered with bone broth; the vegetables are fried with more than a dozen seasonal vegetables such as cabbage shreds, oysters, carrots, and garlic. When eating, first put a skin on the plate, then spread a layer of fried seaweed, and then spread the oil rice, vegetables, plus a little peanut crisp, secret sauce, wrap up, bite down, mouth full of fragrance.
For more than 20 years, Wu Zhaozhi, who loves food, has always insisted on going to the market at six o'clock every morning to purchase the freshest ingredients. In her words, "If you want to taste authentic and delicious, you should not put less material at all, and you must be fresh."
Paired with ingredients for pancakes. Southeast Network reporter Yan Caibin photographed
Legend has it that in the early days, every household in Tong'an could only eat crepes on important folk days such as the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, the third day of the third month of march, the winter solstice, and the New Year. Nowadays, with the improvement of people's living standards, crepes have become a daily necessity. Although the times are changing, in order to adhere to the traditional taste of pancakes, Wu Zhaozhi has always adopted the old recipe to protect this unique "hometown flavor".
"Every dish, every ingredient, we prepare it with care. Different from the modern cooking methods that emphasize efficiency and speed, we have always adhered to the traditional way of cooking, burning rice with wood and kneading dough in large vats. Some people may think that this is a waste of time and a waste of manpower and material resources, but I have a deep affection for pancakes. Wu Zhaozhi said that this warmth must be passed on to others through a careful way, so that people can feel the strong "taste of home".
Wu Zhaozhi shows the packaging of Tong'an pancakes. Southeast Network reporter Yan Caibin photographed
Take on the responsibility of inheritance and teach the "skin wiping skills"
"Since I was 6 years old, I have followed my grandfather to the market to sell crepes and help wash vegetables." Recalling being exposed to the craft as a child, Mr. Wu said her grandfather often told her about the origin of crepes. Influenced by her grandfather, plus she likes to ponder, she unconsciously planted the seeds of "inheritance" in her heart.
Perhaps everything is a coincidence, in 1997, Wu Zhaozhi, who was playing in Beijing, found that the "Peking Duck" was also eaten with a thin skin wrapped in duck meat. After returning from that time, with the encouragement and promotion of his friends, Wu Zhaozhi opened a simple pancake shop next to the Tong'an Auto Repair Factory, and because of the good quality and affordability of the pancakes he operated, he slowly became famous in the local area.
In 1999, Wu Zhaozhi applied for trademark registration in his own name, clarifying his "identity" for his crepes. In 2000, Wu Zhaozhi's "Pancake Sister-in-law Traditional Cuisine" shop was renovated, and this three-storey antique cake shop that integrates cooking, culture, display and inheritance teaching also provides a platform for Wu Zhaozhi's skill inheritance.
A child is trying to make craves, and Wu Zhaozhi is teaching at the side. Southeast Network reporter Yan Caibin photographed
"Although I haven't made a lot of money since then, I've done a lot of 'inheritance' things." Now, Wu Zhaozhi is over the age of flower armor, but he still does not slack off in teaching the skills of pancake making. At the end of July, two French tourists found Wu Zhaozhi's store through online information. They expressed their interest in the skills of pancake making to the clerk on duty, hoping to visit Wu Zhaozhi himself and learn from her "skin wiping skills".
"At that time, I had just returned from the hospital after extracting my teeth, my face was swollen, and my body was very tired, but I thought that people had traveled across the ocean to study, so I immediately got up and patiently taught him the craft." Wu Zhaozhi said that at that time, his gums were so painful that he could not speak, and he could only use gestures to cooperate with the explanation of the clerk, so that they could feel the skills of traditional Chinese cuisine as much as possible.
Chen, a 9-year-old student who lives in Tong'an, came to the store with his mother to enjoy the food, and just happened to meet Wu Zhaozhi who was making crepes. In this way, Chen, who was watching intently from the sidelines, was warmly invited to experience how to "wipe the skin". He happily told reporters: "This is the first time to make crepes, it feels very interesting, and it tastes more fragrant than the previous crepes." ”
No matter how many people or few people are, no matter where they come from, Wu Zhaozhi actively teaches this craft to each tourist, and the whole process is free. In her view, this is the responsibility of the non-hereditary heirs. "I have an obligation and a greater responsibility to teach the craft to more people."
Playing the cultural card Of course, the reputation of pancakes is getting louder and louder
In order to better inherit the skills of pancake making, Wu Zhaozhi is also keen to spread food culture, and actively participates in the World Minnan Cultural Festival and cross-strait food culture symposiums, which also leads crepes farther and more famous.
It is not only the craftsmanship that is not inherited, but also the culture. Inspired by the cultural friends around him, Wu Zhaozhi gradually understood that snacks based on traditional customs should know how to play the cultural card skillfully. Previously, when the pancake shop opened, many painters and calligraphers came to the scene, some inscriptions, some paintings. Xu Wenhou, a well-known painter in Xiamen, also painted a work showing the origin of "pancakes" early on, which was displayed in the store. With the blessing of celebrity calligraphy and painting, the cultural heritage of the pancake shop has become deeper and deeper.
Not long ago, Wu Zhaozhi, with the help of friends, also made a "cultural flavor" full of "Tong'an historical celebrities and folk snack recipes". Dragon pants dish, Min Wang dish, Su Song medicinal food, Wen Gong dish... This Tong'an historical celebrity and folk snack recipe excavated by her friends will attract the attention of many diners every day, and also make the "cultural flavor" of the pancake shop more and more intense.
Wu Zhaozhi shows the tong'an pancakes that have been wrapped up. Southeast Network reporter Yan Caibin photographed
"Chinese time-honored brand", "Chinese famous dish", "Fujian famous snack", "Xiamen time-honored brand"... One after another honors have made "Wu Zhaozhi Pancake" famous at home and abroad. Nowadays, many Taiwan compatriots and overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese have come to Tong'an from thousands of miles just to eat this authentic hometown flavor. In their eyes, crepes represent not only traditional food, but also a nostalgia and a complex.
And "pancake sister-in-law" Wu Zhaozhi has also become an Internet celebrity, many people come to the store to meet her, and there are not a few who ask for a group photo. In April last year, another Mr. Yan from Anhui province specially sent someone to come to Tong'an by plane, bought pancakes, sealed meat, fried dates and then flew back to Anhui on the same day, and even did not forget to instruct the people sent to the scene WeChat video, so that he and Wu Zhaozhi could talk and greet him on the spot.
After decades of making pancakes, Wu Zhaozhi has made a brand of pancakes, but he is still trying to carry forward the pancake culture. Recently, Wu Zhaozhi is trying to blend the Tong'an pearl celadon fired by his son Zhuang Friendship into local cuisine to create a unique intangible cultural heritage "souvenir".
Looking back on the hardships of the past, she has too many feelings. But in such an era, doing such a thing, she is willing as a glutton, silent and joyful.