▲ There is no Hanzhong person who does not like to eat hot dough skin. Photo/Visual China
Authentic Objects · Eleven albums
Qinling - Huai River
It is the geographical boundary between the north and the south of China
This line is due to special locations
It is compatible with north and south in terms of dietary taste
Yue Qinling, there are northwest heroic, Bashu Baiwei
Walk the Huai River, see the central plains thick, Huaiyang Qingwan
National Day, Mid-Autumn Festival holiday
Let's go along this line together
North-South "All-You-Can-Eat"
Third stop
Hanzhong, Shaanxi
Shaanxi cuisine, in the eyes of outsiders, will always be "represented" by Xi'an cuisine, as if the old Shaanxi people are noodles with pants and noodles, soup must be paste spicy soup, steamed buns must be meat sandwiched.
▲ Of course, there is also the steamed bun that everyone in Xi'an "can't go anywhere without eating". Photography / Li Jiani Photo / Figureworm Creative
In fact, Shaanxi's north-south span is extremely large, and the flavors of various places are also very different.
People in northern Shaanxi like to eat mutton, next to Gansu, Ning, Mongolia, Jin, all of them are "eating sheep provinces"; Guanzhong prefers noodles, sitting on the eight hundred miles of Qinchuan, absolutely "eating noodles master"; however, once you pass the Qinling Mountains, the staple food changes from noodles to rice, and the food style is also instantly gentle, the most representative city of which is: Hanzhong.
▲ Topographic map of Hanzhong. Drafting/F50BB
Hanzhong, at the intersection of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, stands the Qinling Mountains to the north, leaning on the Daba Mountain to the south, which is a narrow basin that grows in the midst of the mountains; the Han River originates from Ningqiang County in the southwest and runs through the whole territory of Hanzhong from west to east, and the abundant water sources give this land a southern style.
▲ In the rice fields of Bashan Town, Ningqiang County, Hanzhong people eat rice more often than noodles. Photography / Zhang Yihong
And the food flavor of Hanzhong, just like her geographical location, is "not south and not north", integrating the strengths of the three provinces - Hanzhong hot noodle skin made of rice, Ningqiang spicy chicken with Sichuan flavor, the noodles loved by the northwestern people, and the pot tea left by the Qiang people... Each one spans geographies and brings a whole new experience on the tip of the tongue.
First bowl of hot dough crust
"North Side of South America" Culmination
Hanzhong hot dough skin, and "northwest cool skin" are completely different things.
First of all, the Hanzhong dough is made of rice milk. The so-called "Qinling line, eat rice in the south and eat noodles in the north", Hanzhong dough, "noodles" is a technique - refers to the grinding of ingredients into a powder, but the actual material used is rice. The northern method, the southern ingredients, and a bowl of Hanzhong hot noodle skin are the masters of "South Rice and North Noodles".
▲ Hanzhong hot dough skin, a different kind of hot Shaanxi taste. Photography / Han Zhongge Photography Studio Photo / Figureworm · Creative
Unlike northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong, Hanzhong, located in the Hanshui Valley, has a more humid climate and is relatively stable and rich in history, so this land can be planted with rice on a large scale, and the Hanzhong people in southern Shaanxi are not as fanatical as other old Shaanxi people who love noodles and steamed bread, but prefer rice as the main food.
Compared with the "stubbornness" of the cool skin, the Hanzhong dough made of rice is more gentle and full of southern style. Soft and sticky in the mouth, it does not require laborious chewing, and the gentle dough naturally melts between the lips and teeth, emitting a charming rice aroma, and each bite is a capital satisfaction.
▲ Fragrant soft dough, there will be a variety of vegetables underneath, such as soybean sprouts, cucumber shreds and so on. Photography / Han Zhongge Photography Studio Photo / Figureworm · Creative
Foreigners often refer to Hanzhong hot dough skin as "hot rice skin" to distinguish between them; in addition to the dough made of rice, some areas of Hanzhong also have cold skin made of flour, which is called "dough skin" locally, and sweet potato flour is called "powder skin" (flour skin). Ning Qiangren in the west, using fern root powder to knead into dumpling skin, and then wrapped with filling, has become a unique flavor of "root noodle corner".
▲ Ning Qiang's "root surface angle". Photography / Bai Yuchao
Hanzhong people's breakfast often starts with a bowl of hot noodle skin, and the best partner is undoubtedly a bowl of vegetable tofu. Vegetable tofu is not a simple combination of "vegetable + tofu", but tofu made of syrup water instead of brine, with a slightly sour and fragrant taste, which complements the hot and spicy skin of the dough.
Another breakfast is the unique Hanzhong pot sticker. Unlike most people's impression of pot stickers, Hanzhong pot stickers have no filling and look more like fritters. Ingredients are made with bitter bean flour, peanuts, sesame seeds, peppercorns and rapeseed oil before frying, brushed over the dough to taste, and then fried until golden and crispy, the aroma is overflowing.
▲ Hanzhong pot stickers, vegetable tofu with pulp and water mixed with soup, Hanzhong people's classic breakfast. Photo/Documentary "Breakfast in China"
When a steaming bowl of Hanzhong dough skin with finger width is brought up, below is cucumber shredded, soybean sprouts, potato shredded, celery, spinach and other "bottom mats", poured on top of the "oil spicy seeds" made by each family with different districts in ten counties and one district, and then with a bowl of fragrant vegetable tofu, bite a crispy pot sticker.
Such a hot and soft dough skin is the "gentle township" on the tip of the tongue of Hanzhong people.
Second bowl of slurry water
The gastronomic dna of Northwestern flavors
Pulp water is the gastronomic bloodline that flows in the body of northwestern people.
▲ Pulp water surface skin, is a staple food and snack. Photography /onekeys, photo/market map
The rich sour taste and mellow aroma of vegetable tofu come from the special pulp water, and the mainstream way of eating the pulp water is still in a bowl of sour and attractive pulp water. East to the Taihang Mountains, west to the ancient city of Dunhuang, south to Shaanxi South Sichuan, north to the "Saishang Jiangnan" Ningxia, you can see the figure of pulp water, the practice is also similar:
Find a mouthful of black lacquered pulp water tank, take vegetables blanched in boiling water and chopped, add cooked noodle soup or rice soup, like the southern people pickles need to add "old brine", pulp water also needs to use "acid primers" (generally old pulp water) to stimulate the flavor. Cover and seal, after a few days, you can get the slurry water and the syrup water dish soaked in it.
▲ Pulp water surface. Photography /onekeys, photo/market map
Most of the pulp water surface in Hanzhong is made of "lala vegetables" (sherry), and it is also marinated with rapeseed and radish wisps, and then soaked with a few green pepper leaves to taste. When stir-frying the syrup, add ginger rice and dried chili pepper segments, then sauté them with lard, and finally put a few fried tofu strips until they are lightly yellowed, and sprinkle a handful of oil that has swept Shaanxi.
▲ Although it is also possible to use machine noodles for the surface of the pulp, the hand-rolled noodles taste better. The picture shows the hand-rolled cut surface common in the northwest, with wide and thin surfaces. Photography / Zhu Rui
The noodles are ordinary hand-rolled noodles, and the soul of the pulp water surface is all in the soup, sipping a mouthful of sour. The acid of the pulp water is not as angry as the old vinegar of Shanxi, but it is a thick acid, a peaceful and neutral acid, combined with the hemp of green peppercorns and the spices of spicy seeds, and at the same time, it reaches the brain door, full of stamina, making people instantly on the head.
A bowl of Hanzhong pulp water surface blends the flavors of Gansu, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces together.
▲ Canned tea, in addition to Hanzhong Luoyang, Gansu Longnan, Tianshui, Lanzhou, Dingxi parts are also quite popular. Photography/Seriousness
Another Hanzhong cuisine that is connected to the blood of the Gansu people is the pot tea of Luoyang. Luoyang, located in the western part of the Han Dynasty, is adjacent to Longnan in Gansu Province, where the Water of the Western Han Dynasty flows into the Jialing River and flows into the Sichuan Basin. In this ancient land, the eating habits left behind by the ancient Qiang people have traveled through thousands of years and constituted the unique "morning tea" custom of the Luoyang people - canned tea.
▲ The production process of the canned tea of The Slightly Yang. Graph/Network
Rather than tea, the Canned Tea of the Luoyang people is more like a pot of thick soup – in addition to the tea leaves, the tea jar is poured with oil, salt, flour, and walnut crumbles, and then seasoned with herbs grown in the mountains and boiled into a pot of thick soup. After the soup is completed, the medicinal tea is overflowing, and with a few flower rolls or steamed buns, it constitutes a common "source of vitality" for the Longnan people (in fact, there are Gansu cities such as Dingxi and Lanzhou) and the Liuyang people throughout the day.
Shaanxi Hanzhong, Sichuan flavor?
Despite being in Shaanxi, Hanzhong tend to have a higher degree of identification with Sichuan.
Located between the Guanzhong Basin and the Sichuan Basin, the two "Kingdoms of Heavenly Capital", Hanzhong is not only not short of water, but also has abundant rainfall and rivers and canals, which can bloom everywhere like Jiangnan, and also produce tea leaves like the Sichuan Basin", a southern scenery.
▲ Hanzhong has always been known as "Little Jiangnan", and in terms of flavor, it is more like "Little Chengdu". Photography / Mou changed to
And the flavor of Hanzhong is even more spicy and spicy like the land of Bashu. Almost every household in Hanzhong has a can of oil and spicy seeds, sprinkled with oil and spicy seeds on the hot dough skin, the method is like Shaanxi's oil spicy seeds, the spiciness is better, and the more south the more spicy, adding a wide variety of spices, different spices, more like the spicy taste of the Sichuan school.
▲ Spicy chicken made from Bashan native chicken. Photography / Bai Yuchao
Hanzhong Ningqiang's spicy chicken is based on the spicy chicken in Sichuan cuisine, which is said to have come from the hands of a Chef in Chengdu. After arriving in Hanzhong, the local chicken was used instead, and then seasoned with a large number of oily spicy seeds, and spices such as grass fruits, star anise, and peppercorns, and the entrance was numb and spicy, so that diners were in Hanzhong, but they mistakenly thought that they had entered the land of Bashu.
From the bacon of the town, the roots of the south can also be seen. The climate of the Guanzhong Plain is relatively dry, so it is rare to eat wax; while the southern part of Hanzhong is connected to the Shudi mountains, the climate is humid, the mountain road is rugged, and the locals will marinate and smoke the black pigs of the Han River, forming a golden and brilliant, fat and not greasy bacon, which is stewed with dried bamboo shoots, and the flavor is excellent.
▲ Town bacon, and bacon stir-fried dried bamboo shoots. Graph/Network
In the Book of Sui and Geography, it is said: "The people of Hanzhong are simple and uneducated, and they are not very profit-seeking. Sexual appetite, eventful field fishing, although the room is woody, the food must be meat. ”
Hanzhong people are quite particular about diet, and their temperament is also gentle and comfortable, just like the Shu people who are good at enjoying life. A bowl of hot noodle skin in the morning, a bowl of pulp water noodles at noon, and a leisurely whole day in the old city that is not south or north, and the four seasons are like spring, which belongs to the style of Hanzhong.
▲ "Is that Hanzhong delicious?" "It's delicious!" Photo: "The Tale of Wulin"
- END -
Wen 丨 September
Covered | Visual China
*Special thanks
Mr. Chen, an enthusiastic citizen of Hanzhong
Photographer Bai Yuchao teacher
Hanzhong Ge Photography Studio