Winter solstice dumplings fragrant wanjia

Author: Bai Laiqin

"The winter solstice is coming, and the dumplings are pretty.". Every year on the day of the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, whether rich or poor, dumplings are an indispensable holiday meal, and the dumplings are sold the most in major supermarkets, shopping malls and restaurants.

Dumplings are a traditional food in China, which has a history of more than 1700 years. According to historical records, as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, "dumplings" went up to the officials and nobles, down to the common people, and the world ate it. In the "Food Classic" compiled by Tang Zai Chancellor Duan Wenchang, there is a record of "wontons, wontons (dumplings)...", and his son Duan Chengshi, a tang dynasty literary scholar, called "dumplings" "prison pills in the soup". It is not difficult to see how important the status and role of "dumplings" in the diet at that time was.

Dumplings were mixed with "wontons" in ancient times, and the "clips", "horns", "jiaozi", "dumpling bait", etc. that appeared after the Tang Dynasty are the etymology of dumplings. According to the "Tokyo Dream Record", the city food in Beijing (Kaifeng) includes "crystal horns, fried horns", etc.; "Wulin Old Things" contains "Lin'an City" food of various colors of horns; "Drinking and Eating Is Essential" records "Skimming Horns, Dill Horns" and so on. Later, because the time to eat must be in the middle of the Chinese New Year's Eve midnight to move chopsticks, and this hour according to the old time of the dry time from the old year to the new year of the sub-time, so people called the "horn" "jiaozi"; over time, take its harmonic sound, the "more years of jiaozi" is called "dumplings". Eating "dumplings" during the New Year not only means "auspicious", but also means to resign the old and welcome the new.

There are many names for "dumplings", tang called "tangzhong prison pills", Song called "horns", and the yuan name was "dill horns". Zhang Zilie, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, once wrote that "dumpling bait ... Or pink horn, the northerners read as jiao, because of the bait" called" The name "dumplings" only appeared in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty in the "Tuning Ding Ji And Eating for WesternErs", such as more than ten kinds of fragrant dumplings, roasted pigeon dumplings, and egg dumplings. Today, the names of the north and south are also different. The northern dumplings are larger, and the city people call the boiled dumplings "dumplings", the cage steaming is called "steamed dumplings", the fried ones are called "pot stickers", and the northeast is called "pot burning"; the rural people call the boiled "flat food", the cage steamed ones are called "steamed corners", and even Xianyang some places also call the boiled dumplings "boiled dumplings"... The dumplings in the south are smaller, and some places call them "wontons", Cantonese people call them "Wonton", Sichuan people call them "hands", and Jiangxi people call them "clear soup".

According to research, dumplings before the Ming Dynasty were called "wontons". Northern Qi Yan's Tuiyun: "The wontons of today are shaped like a crescent moon, and the world is also full of food." "The moon is a semicircular moon, exactly the shape of a dumpling. In 1986, a Tang Dynasty tomb was excavated in the Tanabei district of Turpan, Xinjiang, and a large wooden bowl was unearthed with dumplings in it, which was as intact as ever, and its shape was exactly the same as today's dumplings.

Dumplings also have different local characteristics in terms of preparation and consumption. Judging from the skin of dumplings, some places in Shaanxi use tea cups to buckle the skin, Beijingers use noodle sticks to roll, and Shanxi Jiexiu, Zuoquan, Yangcheng and other places use hand twisting. Judging from the dumpling filling, there are three fresh fillings, assorted fillings, fish fillings, pork fillings, beef (sheep) meat fillings, chicken fillings, and vegetarian fillings. From the perspective of methods: there are hot noodle steaming methods, boiling methods, as well as hot oil frying methods, low-heat frying methods, etc. "Qing Barnyard Banknote" cloud: "There is a filling, or a pink horn... Steamed and fried food can be used, and the soup is called dumplings when boiled in water. "Judging from the shape of dumplings, there are generally three kinds of flat-edge dumplings (yuanbao shape, Xianggong hat shape), lace dumplings (corrugated shape, eyebrow shape), and flower color dumplings. From the perspective of eating methods, Beijingers like to eat "meatball filling", Tianjin people like to eat "water filling", Shaanxi and Shanxi people like to eat "meat less vegetables and more stuffing", northeast people like to dry and sauté minced meat and then soak it in soup to make filling, and the Daur people in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang like to put dumplings in the vermicelli broth and cook them, even eat and drink. Henan's "golden silk wearing yuanbao", Shaanxi's "silver thread hanging gourd", Hubei's "dragon and tiger bucket", are all elegant names for dumplings and noodles cooked together. Some big city restaurants, restaurants, hotels, launched with dumplings as the main, dishes as a supplement to the "dumpling banquet", is popular with diners, such as Xi'an Jiefang Road's "dumpling banquet" is famous throughout the country. In Shaanxi and Xi'an, people have developed the food culture of dumplings to the extreme, and some people roast dumplings to eat, especially people in Shangluo who love to eat grilled dumplings. The writer Jia Pingwa is a native of Danfeng, Shaanxi, who especially loves grilled dumplings and has written many articles on baked dumplings.

In the way to eat dumplings, the old Shaanxi people also invented sour soup dumplings. Outsiders generally eat dumplings, that is, cook the dumplings and fish them into the plate, eat them dry, and at most dip them with some vinegar and garlic juice. In addition to eating dry, the old Shaanxi people will also "eat soup", and the real food is "dumplings". The method of sour soup dumplings is very exquisite and special, the key is the preparation of sour soup, which has as many as a dozen kinds of spices - monosodium glutamate, coriander, sesame seeds, green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc., but the most important thing is vinegar and pepper, especially vinegar to put a lot, the taste must first highlight a "sour" word. After mixing the sour soup with water or dumpling soup, the cooked dumplings are fished in a sour soup bowl and eaten and drunk, which is very special.

The biggest contribution of Shaanxi people to dumpling culture is the development and development of dumpling banquets. The dumpling feast is known as the wonder of Xi'an cuisine, which has swept the country and spread overseas. The so-called dumpling feast is to make a feast of dumplings - these dumplings are filled with dumplings, dumplings and flavors, dumplings and shapes. A table of dumpling feasts can be dozens of dumplings or hundreds of dumplings; the filling of dumplings can be meat, vegetables, and seafood. More dumplings are exactly the same as the filling and shape, that is, the dumplings stuffed with duck meat are wrapped into a small duck, and the walnut filling is wrapped into a small walnut, the image is realistic, and the taste is delicious. What's more, each dumpling has a story or legend, and guests eat dumplings while listening to the waiter explain the story of dumplings, which is a great food culture enjoyment. For example, Cixi pearl dumplings, the smallest dumplings, are only the size of buttons, but they are wrapped in various fillings. This kind of dumpling is also called the empress hot pot dumpling, when eating, the dumplings are placed in a special hot pot, and the lights in the room should be turned off, only illuminated by the blue fire under the hot pot. Because the dumplings are too small, it is not easy to fish under the pot, and the waiter should use a small spoon to pick them up and distribute them to the diners. And fishing a few also says - fishing one, is smooth sailing, two is a good thing into a pair, three is three six nine up, ten is perfect. If you don't catch a single one, it's carefree.

Why eat dumplings on the day of the winter solstice? It is said that this custom is left in honor of the "medical saint" Zhang Zhongjing's winter solstice medicine. This is, of course, just a legend. According to exact records, dumplings only appeared during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but it is a good wish of the people to eat dumplings on the winter solstice to pray for good health. (Bai Laiqin)

Source: Xi'an Daily