A friend went on a business trip and came to ask me, what Suzhou specialties to bring to give away? I said, Pick the zhi zhai zongzi candy.
This Zhizhai Zongzi candy, simple packaging, small one, exquisite triangle, like exquisite Zongzi, amber, condensed pine nuts, is the originator of Su-style candy, probably a Suzhou people have eaten.
(Image |.) Alibaba)
(Image |.) Pixabay）
"Pine nuts" harmonic pronunciation "send children", Caizhi Zhai Pine Kernel Zongzi candy was previously commonly found in wedding candy, and the packaging box was printed with relevant auspicious words. Later, the fashionable wind blew, the wedding celebration sent foreign foreign sugar, Zongzi sugar was snubbed, until recent years, the retro wind blew, pine nut Zongzi sugar returned to the wedding feast, lovingly hidden in the carton, peeled by adults to children to eat: Oh, 囡, this is the sugar we ate when we were children!
It is said that Zongzi sugar was listed as "tribute sugar" because it had cured Empress Dowager Cixi's illness. Caizhi Zhai Zongzi sugar is divided into three flavors and three colors: rose red, mint green, pure sugar brown, pure sugar uses the basic caramel, cane sugar, maltose, pine nuts, and rose, mint two flavors on this basis using the red rose of Wu County and taicang County of the leaf green mint. The material is exquisite, the production is meticulous, so the zongzi sugar is sweet and not greasy, it can also moisturize the body, rose sugar is invigorating the blood, mint sugar is obvious phlegm, and in the old days people used to call CaiZhi Zhai "semi-medicine pharmacy".
Suzhou Caizhi Zhai was founded by the Qing Dynasty jin yinzhi (ancestral home of Henan) and produced exclusively. Suzhou Guanqian Street Caizhizhai general store, still using the last century counter system, boxes of candy, preserves, are stored in a glass cabinet, with a white background blue label written on the price, the clerks are middle-aged Suzhou aunts, permed curly hair, a clean face, speaking a Su-style Mandarin.
In addition to the signature Zongzi candy, Caizhizhai also has more than 100 varieties of crisp pine candy, fudge candy, easy candy, rose sauce candy, pear paste candy, guiyuan candy, etc., of which fudge candy and crisp pine candy are more famous.
Crisp pine candy was once used as a reception at the Geneva Conference in 1953, shared by Premier Zhou Enlai to foreign friends, and was widely acclaimed, known as "Chinese sugar". Its raw materials use special grade pine nuts produced in Changbai Mountain and Xing'anling, which are full of color and crispy in taste; while fudge candy is famous for adding a large number of tonic materials, such as cinnamon balls, longan meat, red dates, black dates, hawthorn, roses, osmanthus flowers, etc., and with large fat and tender pine nuts, food does not stick to teeth, soft and fragrant.
In addition to the classic Su-style candy, the candied fruit in Caizhi Zhai is also a must, famous such as Tianxiang jujube, candied green plum, Su orange cake, sugar bergamot, nine-made tangerine peel, sugar dried arbutus, etc., which are very popular among the middle-aged and elderly people in Suzhou. If you visit your grandparents in Suzhou, they definitely have these preserves in the candy plates they put out.
Most of the raw materials for candied fruit are produced in Dongting Xishan and Dongshan in Wu County, Suzhou, such as Tianxiang jujube and golden jujube, which uses Dongshan's white pu jujube and "honey brand" golden jujube, which is said to be used in the Qing Dynasty as a tribute to Cixi. The candied dates are removed from the jujube kernels with a knife, filled with melon seeds, walnut kernels, green and yellow silk, pine nut kernels, winter melon sugar and sugar osmanthus flowers, and finally sealed with sugar liquid and baked.
The candied plums are made from the "Xiangxuehai" in Dongting West Mountain. After multiple processes, the finished product is immersed in high-quality sugar liquid, which is still green in color, sweet and tender and crisp. The high-grade dish "carved plum" is carried out on the basis of sugar-stained green plum, it is said that the fresh green plum is carved first with 13 knives and 6 rings, interlocked, and then core soaked, when served, the knife pattern is pulled open, with red cherry in the middle, if closed, it is still a complete green plum.
(Image |.) Xiangha Network)
Red orange produced in Dongting Dongshan, is the main raw material of the "cake" su orange cake, the color of the su orange cake is bright, the surface is like a persimmon cake with frosting precipitation, the cake surface is complete, the taste with the slight bitterness of the orange peel and the sweetness of the sugar, has the effect of unblocking the stomach, in addition to eating alone as a candied fruit, generally used in the moon cake, refreshment ingredients.
Crab oranges from Dongting Dongshan are the main raw materials for the nine-made tangerine peel. When making, the outer skin of crab orange is taken, and after multiple processes such as water scalding, rinsing, salting, drying, etc., it is called "nine systems", supplemented by licorice juice soaking, the finished product is orange yellow, raw and thirsty, often used as a snack for coughing children.
Sugar dried bayberry, made of high-grade arbutus honey stained from Dongting West Mountain, no excess additives, sweet and natural taste, red and white color, is cute, has medicinal effects, is often used to relieve alcohol, digestion after drinking, and also as a snack for pregnant women.
Nowadays, a variety of snacks are emerging, but the old Suzhou's favorite candy shop is still the old signature of CaiZhi zhai. The snacks of CaiZhizhai are not only delicious, but also have medicinal effects, and their popularity has remained high for a hundred years, which is the golden sign of Su-style candy.
(Image |.) Gusu Food Network)
(Image |.) Sohu Eat crazy skinny )
Caizhi Zhai serves rose wine stuffed cakes in spring, Wumei soup in summer, and "Jinjin brand" dried tofu in autumn, all of which are seasonal and timely things, catering to Suzhou people's "not eating from time to time". If there are guests who come to Suzhou to play and want to take something with them, I first recommend them to go to Caizhi Zhai for a visit, do not be deceived by the so-called Suzhou characteristics of the scenic spot.
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Author: Wonderful Pills
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