Regarding China's staple food, we often hear the phrase "southern rice, northern side". Our country is vast, the land is vast, the difference between the north and the south is large, and in general, the southerners like to eat rice, while the northerners prefer to eat pasta. However, this sentence is not absolute, for example, Jiangsu people in the Jiangnan region are particularly fond of eating noodles, and some people say: "Eating noodles is the habit of Jiangsu people flowing in the blood." There is really some truth in this statement, looking at the whole of Jiangsu, this well-known noodle is really a lot, Yangzhou's Yangchun noodles, Zhenjiang's pot lid noodles, Nanjing's skin belly noodles, Suzhou Kunshan's Aoza noodles, etc., each of which is famous. Of course, it also includes what I want to introduce today: Wuxi silver wire noodles.
Photographed in Huishan Ancient Town, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
The same as the noodles, compared to the rough and heroic noodles of the northerners, the noodles of the Jiangsu people have a little more elegance and refinement of Jiangnan, and it can even be said that the noodles have achieved the ultimate beauty and taste, and the silver wire noodles can be described as one of the representatives. The noodles are as thin as silk, white as silver, this is the Wuxi silver silk noodles, which are very beautiful and appetizing to look at.
Wuxi has been eating silver noodles for more than 100 years, and there are many noodle restaurants that make silver noodles, but the most authentic and the most popular among the locals is this "New Wanxin Silver Noodle Restaurant". Located in Wuxi's famous Huishan Ancient Town, the noodle shop is an antique traditional Chinese building along the street, with two large lanterns hanging at the door, which read: Old Wine Shop, Silver Silk Noodles.
For the exquisite Wuxi people, every morning a bowl of silver noodles, a few plates of special small dishes, and then a few old wines, such a breakfast is their standard, is the first meal of the new day. Perhaps it was the rich and powerful people on the rich side who gathered here to have such a decent breakfast lineup. Of course, some people will say: "Today's Wuxi people are also very rich." "Indeed, if you don't have a few pieces of silver in your pocket, you can't afford to eat such a breakfast every day."
As soon as you enter the door of the noodle shop, the counters on both sides are filled with local side dishes such as brine duck, fried fish, spiced chicken, secret pickles, six hi gluten, etc., and the kitchen cabinets in the back are densely packed with a variety of old wines. Wake up early in the morning, see such a position, you will involuntarily light a few things.
Of course, this protagonist is still a silver wire noodle. Xinwanxin Silver Silk Noodle Restaurant is an old shop in Wuxi that has been making noodles since the early 1940s. There is a 77-year-old wuxi intangible cultural heritage inheritor master Hu Fajin, who is the authentic heir of Wuxi silver silk noodles. However, due to the old man's advanced age, it is usually difficult to see him show his hands.
Of course, the noodles made by the master in the shop are also authentic and full of skill. Noodles are made freshly in the shop every day, and there is not much reservation for the whole production process. To make silver noodles, use high-quality high-gluten flour and add the whole egg, in the proportion of one egg per pound of flour. After kneading, roll the dough into a dough and then pull it into a long filament. Finally, the master will cut the hanging noodles into noodles of the same length, one bowl of noodles per bowl.
Although there is nothing special about the whole process of making noodles, the silver wire noodles that have just been made are as thin as silk and as silver as color, which is particularly beautiful, and there is indeed a difference between ordinary noodles and ordinary noodles. This is what we often say about insiders looking at doorways, and laymen looking at hilarity. In fact, the production of silver wire noodles, from the increased amount of water, water temperature, and the method of making noodles, is very exquisite. It is said that the ingredients of the silver wire noodles are also added with cooked lard, no wonder it is so bright.
When you come to the back kitchen, the scene here is even more spectacular, the left and right rows of stoves are densely packed with large bowls ready to fill the noodles, and a master is preparing to serve with a large plate of noodles. There are two main types of silver noodles in this noodle shop: chicken noodle soup and golden hook shallot oil mixed noodles.
Silver noodles and chicken soup are a perfect match. With ten old hens, only a little salt, no other excess seasoning, carefully boiled for more than ten hours, the umami taste of the chicken into the soup, the pursuit of this natural ultimate taste. The speed below must be fast, the water is boiled over a fierce fire, and as soon as the chopsticks are pulled out, the noodles float on the surface of the water can be out of the pot and into the bowl. Pour in a spoonful of chicken broth, add a few shallots to the flavor, and a bowl of delicious silver noodles is done.
Of course, if you prefer a heavier flavor, you can have a bowl of golden hook shallot oil to mix with noodles. The noodles are the same, except that soy sauce and other seasonings are added to the bottom of the bowl, and after the noodles come out of the pot, sprinkle with shrimp and green onions, and finally pour a spoonful of boiling oil, with a crackling sound, the golden hook shallot oil is mixed with the noodles, and when eating, just stir it well. The smell of onion oil, the strong silver silk noodles, with a few small dishes, and a sip of aged wine, such a breakfast is definitely a kind of enjoyment, which is the taste of Wuxi.