Sand garlic, this mysterious creature of painting style is the "white moonlight" in the hearts of many people, and eating its delicacy is like falling into a gentle township in Lingnan Bay. The delicacy of sand garlic is soaked in salty seawater, white and fat, with the perspective of a foodie it also feels crystal clear, short tentacles are delicious calls...
The cooking process of the sand garlic bean noodles.
GIF Source: Documentary "Flavor of the World"
No amount of praise may not be able to beautify the appearance of its "short and thick" in your eyes, it is okay, boldly put it in your mouth and chew it, that mouthful of tongue-catching freshness, convincing enough.
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"Begging for the little sea" fishermen's treasure
The shape of sand garlic always makes people "think of it".
Taizhou people call it vulgar, and call it "sea egg" - saying that it is the yang of the sea, and it is believed that its effect of tonifying kidneys and aphrodisiacs is different. Taizhou people describe a person as a good braggart, saying that he is "sea egg spraying sky" - sand garlic likes to spray water, but spray not far, "spraying sky" is its wishful thinking.
Sand garlic is actually a sea anemone, and some people call it "sea tentacles". The name "sand garlic" is estimated to be derived from its shape like a garlic head and a soil head. The sand garlic mentioned in the coastal area from Zhejiang to Jiangsu refers to the "star worm-shaped anemone", and there are two common types of spherical sand garlic and chicken belly intestinal garlic, and the shape and taste have some subtle differences.
▽ Spherical sand garlic
Chicken belly intestines garlic △
In addition to being loved in the southern coast, Shandong Qingdao, Liaoning Dalian and other places also eat sea anemones, the local people have a direct and rough name is "sea belly root", the appearance of the sea anemone "indescribable" expression is very vivid.
"Dry pot anemone".
The delicacy of sand garlic was already known in the Song Dynasty, sand garlic was also known as "sand garlic" at that time, Xu Jizhi wrote in "Dejiu SendIng Sand, Letter writing for Xie": "Sand garlic sha qiao hides, stretching and shrinking freely to accept the new." Cave dwelling foam children recognize, probing tired like a god. Inquiry and the sea have not heard of anything, and my hometown is specialized in beauty and is good at the group. The cream is creamy on the outside and smooth and sweet to fangxin. ”
This short poem describes the appearance, characteristics and taste of sand garlic very deeply.
Soft and slippery sand garlic will be like a puffer fish after being caught,
It is a self-protection mechanism.
GIF Source: Documentary "Taste"
"Sand garlic grows in the coastal tidal flats, and the harvest season is high in the early summer of each year. After retreating to the dprk, fishermen or local residents of the "small sea" will dig up sand garlic buried in the ground on the wet and soft mudflats, and the deep and shallow footprints are to explore the delicious footprints, and the coastal fishermen also invented the "wooden mud horse" to facilitate the movement of the wet and soft beach.
Fishermen of the "Little Sea" move on wooden mud horses on the tidal flats.
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"It's so fresh"
As the fame of Taizhou cuisine becomes more and more loud, the value of sand garlic, which was originally a very grassroots ingredient, has also risen with the water. In the past, when the tide was low, it was "overlooked" on the beach, but due to the large number of catches, the price of about 10 sand garlic per kilogram can now reach more than 80 pieces, and various sand garlic dishes have also changed from a stall dish to a banquet dish.
Sand garlic and pork are stewed together to give off a rich flavor that is different from seafood.
There is nothing more fascinating about the flavor of sand garlic than its rich, penetrating "freshness". Wang Han, a writer from Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, once described the deliciousness of sand garlic this way: "If you want to be as thick as theory, probably only puffer fish soup can be compared with it - the thickness and umami taste of puffer fish soup is similar to that of sand garlic soup, but it is not as strong as sand garlic soup." ”
In addition to being as fresh as the pufferfish, some people describe its crisp and tough texture like duck gizzard and abalone.
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How to make sand garlic delicious?
"Sauce roast" is a favorite way for many people to eat sand garlic.
Gif Source: Taste Guru
There are many methods of sand garlic, mainly stir-frying, stewing, burning, boiling, and simmering. Sand garlic is difficult to cook, simmering can achieve a soft and crispy taste, but it is easier to taste, but sand garlic contains a lot of water and has a salty taste, so cooking does not need too much salt and water.
The delicious taste of sand garlic also depends on the meticulous preparation process in the early stage, which requires scraping off the outer mucous membrane and mucus, repeatedly washing with water and simmering. Among the many cooking methods, sand garlic bean noodles can be said to be the existence of the needle of the sea god, as the signature dish of the well-known restaurant "New Rongji", sand garlic bean noodles have also become the impression of many people on Taizhou cuisine, thinking that sand garlic seems to be born to be burned like this.
The "bean noodles" that suck up the soup of sand and garlic are the essence.
The smooth, soft and crispy sand garlic sucks up the rich soup, which is called a fresh! In Taizhou, the so-called "bean noodles" are actually sweet potato vermicelli, sneaking into the mouth, soaked in the sweet potato powder soaked in the soup of sand garlic, sliding through the root of the tongue and falling straight into the stomach bag, which is a heavy sense of satisfaction.
Sand garlic soup, gif source: documentary "Taste"
Another classic method - sand garlic soup is a different type of "fresh", less fresh and sweet sauce taste, milky white soup is more pure and warm, it is said that sand garlic stew soup "umami intensity is 3 times that of crabs".
Stew with sand garlic and pork, first use fat meat to lay the bottom in the casserole, prevent the sand garlic from touching the bottom of the pot and burn, the fat meat can moisturize the sand garlic, and then put the lean meat to increase the flavor, the sand garlic sandwiched between the fat meat and the lean meat slowly simmered, faithfully presenting the real deliciousness of the sand garlic.
Sand garlic custard (left), sand garlic roasted rice cake (right).
Taizhou locals believe that the rice wine stew sand garlic is more authentic and more "powerful". "Strength" is a word often said by Taizhou people, in addition to strength, there are also the meaning of "various aspects", sand garlic is often some "ambiguous" existence at the dinner table. Of course, we can also understand it as the "strength" of flavor, which can be said to be an extreme expression of the flavor of sand garlic.
Sand garlic can also be made into custard, and it is grilled with the water-ground rice cake of the Q bomb... As the saying goes, "the freshness of sand garlic is in the soup", and the ingredients simmered with sand garlic are like "gilded", fresh off the tongue!
Where to eat in Shanghai?
Yongfu
12th Floor, Jin Jiang Hotel, No. 59 Maoming South Road, Jin Jiang Hotel, Jinbei Building
021-33566777
New Rongji
No. 688 Nanjing West Road Henderson 688 Square L2 and many others
021-53861717
Drunken East
Hongqiao Road No. 1 Grand Gateway Plaza 66 North Block 5th Floor and many others
021-54660118
Crystal Caixuan
4th-5th Floor, Plaza 66, No. 1266 West Nanjing Road, etc
021-62412779
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Sea Anemone
Sand garlic
Origin The domestic production is mainly produced from the coast of Zhejiang to Jiangsu, and it is also distributed in the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea, the Bohai Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
Features The taste is soft and crisp and elastic, and it is incomparably delicious.
Classic cuisine: Sand garlic bean noodles, dry pot sand garlic, sand garlic soup, etc.
Cooking Tips Remove the mucus from the outer skin to avoid a fishy smell.
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Have you ever eaten sand garlic?
What's your favorite way to eat?
Text | Annie
Image from the web