On a spring morning, eat a copy of Wuhan's three fresh bean skins, the mood is like a flower.
In most parts of China, "bean skin" refers to soy products, but in Wuhan, bean skin refers to a kind of early breakfast, and its status in the "premature" jianghu is no less than that of hot dry noodles.
Chew in one bite, six ingredients, unique
The classic scene is often like this: in the early morning, on the side of a street in Wuhan, where people come and go, a large iron pot with a diameter of more than 1 meter is supported on a warm stove, and the bean skin maker spreads a pre-spread dough in the middle of the pot (about 60 cm in diameter, which is made of mixing stalk rice and mung soybean milk), and then beats eggs on the dough and spreads it evenly. When golden in color, turn the dough in a pan and spread it out.
At this time, I saw the bean skin master stacking steamed white glutinous rice on the dough, about 40-50 cm square, and about 1 cm thick. The pot presents a beautiful "heavenly round place", round dough, and a proper white glutinous rice square on top!
Then, spread evenly on the laid white glutinous rice phalanx, spread the diced shiitake mushrooms, diced winter shoots and diced brine meat. In a few moments, within tens of meters, it has been covered with the seductive smell of egg aroma, meat aroma, rice aroma, bean fragrance, bamboo shoot incense, mushroom fragrance, and brine fragrance. The line next to the big iron pot with bean skins quickly grew. The bean peel master then flipped up the willow-like skin on the four sides of the pot that were not covered by white glutinous rice and wrapped the white glutinous rice square.
At this time, the bean skin making master lifted the iron pot with both hands and shouted in his mouth, "The person in front of the pot let Yi Ha, be careful to wipe the oil!" Then a beautiful reinforced pot-toning motion, only to see the glutinous rice phalanx wrapped in the dough in the pot, like an airplane taking off, taking off in the air, a 180-degree rotation in the air, "snapping" a sound, falling back to the middle of the iron pot. Intact, without any spillage or deformation!
At this time, the upward-facing skin was golden and translucent, slightly steaming. The bean peel chef sprinkles green onions. Holding a small white porcelain plate in his left hand and a special knife in his right hand, he put the 10 cm square of the large square in the pot into the plate with a spatula. If you stand in front of the pot at this time and listen to the sound of the peeling of the beans, and the contrast of golden and emerald green, you will involuntarily swallow your own saliva.
Next, you face this bean skin. In a white disc, under a large (or two) golden tabby dough skin doughnut You can't wait to pick up a piece with chopsticks and send it to your mouth, the taste is soft and sticky, delicious. In one bite, there are six kinds of ingredients such as brine meat, shiitake mushrooms, winter shoots, glutinous rice, mung beans, and eggs, which are probably unique among thousands of snacks in China.
Such a delicious food as bean skin is said to originate from snacks in rural Hubei. The earliest appearance in the city was the provincial capital of Wuchang during the Qing Dynasty (about 200 years ago). At the intersection of today's Jiefang Road and Zhangzhidong Road, called Wangfukou in those days, there was a Yang Hongfa Bean Skin Restaurant, which was quite popular with the neighbors, known as "Yang Bean Skin". What really made Bean Skin famous was the "Old Tong City" opened in 1929 at the intersection of Dazhi Road and Zhongshan Avenue in Hankou. Two anecdotes about this are the story of Chairman Mao who went to eat bean skins in 1958. The other is that on the eve of the liberation of Wuhan in 1949, the Kuomintang government asked the Han Civil Aviation Company to move to Taiwan, and the last request made by the pilot before leaving was to go to Laotong City to eat bean skins. After boarding the plane, the flight attendant found that each pilot was wrapped in a large bean skin with a lotus leaf! This also became their last memory on the mainland.
Old Pass City restaurant from the 1940s
When I was a child, bean skin was still a relatively expensive food. At that time, my family lived in Qingshan, an industrial area, and every month, my father would take me back to Hanzheng Street in Hankou to see my grandparents. Occasionally, I would go to LaoTong City to eat bean skins. I remember once my father ordered me an egg-light bean skin. But he was sitting next to me waiting for me. As I ate, I asked my father why he only ordered one serving, and he said he didn't want to eat it. Now that I think about it, my father wanted to save money (at that time, my father still had three younger siblings who did not work, and he also lost two salary increases due to illness). Of course, it is not sad to think about it, but there is a strong sense of fatherly love.
Although the bean skin is delicious, it is difficult to get out of Wuhan, even in Wuhan City, there are fewer and fewer delicious bean skins.
One is because it is easy to learn and difficult to master. Each process looks simple, but it is actually very knowledgeable. For example, spread dough skin. Traditional methods require stalk rice to be soaked overnight with dehulled mung beans. And the proportion of each bean skin is exquisite. Many early stall owners are too lazy to research.
Second, it is not easy to store. There are many raw materials involved in the bean skin, and they are all freshly made, and the taste is poor after a long time. Maybe one day, the bean skin will also be as industrialized as hot dry noodles.
Third, the cost is higher. There are many kinds of premature in Wuhan, and most of them are inexpensive. The cost of ingredients for bean skins is relatively high, such as shiitake mushrooms, winter shoots, and diced meat in the ingredients. Therefore, a real bean skin is made at a selling price. Therefore, many shopkeepers abandon the use of mushrooms, winter shoots, diced meat, with squeezed vegetables, dried brine instead, coupled with the use of stalk rice, mung beans, glutinous rice grade is not controlled, and reduce the use of eggs, but also increase the amount of brine, edible oil. The taste quality of many bean skins has deteriorated seriously. It is also greasy to eat.
Still, I'm optimistic about the early status of bean skins in Wuhan. After all, so many people like to eat, and there are some stores that adhere to the quality and ensure the production.
I'm past the age of crossing most of the city early. I haven't eaten much in recent years, but the taste won't be deceitful. Some of the places recommended by online food bloggers, I reserve my opinion. If someone asks me now, where is the bean skin in Wuhan delicious? My first reaction was that there were two places:
The first is the "three towns people's livelihood sweets restaurant" throughout Wuhan. Although it is a chain of restaurants, the price is fair, the quality of the products is stable, and it has maintained a considerable standard. At least, in his family's bean skin, there are also bamboo shoots, which can kill a lot of bean skin stalls that only add dried seeds and squeezed vegetables.
The second is the Zhou Ji bean skin of Hanyang Peach Blossom Island. It is said to have been done for four generations for more than a hundred years. His bean skin is unique, in addition to the regular addition, there is also a stamp. The price can buy a dozen to dozens of dollars, but it is worth eating.
Because of a bean skin, i wrote an essay. In the process, always in a good mood, like spring, like flowers. In life, what is lacking is not beauty, but perception. When we are willing to perceive, even a breakfast is a wonderful gift from Heaven.