The rich Gaoyou Lake gives birth to a beach plain with abundant sunshine and abundant water, providing the most suitable environment for the growth of cattails. In summer, the cattail grows long, narrow leaves, dense and lush. In the autumn, the leaves gradually turn yellow, harvesting some storage. Drying, so that it fades the bright turquoise, into a brown cattail leaves with a fragrance of their own, fine and flexible, with strong tensile strength and bending resistance. After weaving, it becomes a puddle, which is used to make a delicious dish of pudding meat.
Where did this food called pu bao meat come from, the written record is only one and a half words, which is difficult to convince the public. If you have to explore the end, you can change your thinking and find a food that seems to have no connection with it. There is a folk saying that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a Nanjing Yankee who could make fragrant belly came to Gaoyou to make a living, and in order to adapt to the local market, the fragrant belly was improved, and the pork bladder was replaced by a pu bao woven with kabu leaf, and the kabuki became a fast-selling product, and the pu bao meat came from it. As for how high the credibility of such a statement is, it is not easy to evaluate, after all, the folk snacks in the streets and alleys lack traceability records, which is also excusable.
Pu Bao meat is a business card that Gaoyou people are proud of, and its selection of ingredients and production should not be underestimated. Fresh pork, hind legs are preferred, seven points thin and three points fat, cut into strips and dice. Serve with minced ginger and shallots, stir slightly, stir evenly and let the minced meat taste for the first time. Before tucking into the bag, lining it with a layer of tofu skin, then put it into the bag, seal it, and tighten the waist with a thin rope. For the second time, the role of brine is crucial. Brine is inseparable from the tangerine peel, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon and other basic spices, the distribution of spices moves change in a thousand ways, you can add new spices to continue to use, every slight change, you can brew a different flavor. After a long period of accumulation, the brine becomes the old brine, which embraces all tastes, but never flaunts any kind of taste.
The traditional, near-standardized method is a sign of the advancement of pu bao meat, but it is one step away from completion, that is, brine, which will guide pu bao meat to the end of perfect flavor.
A large cauldron is set up, the boiling brine (old brine), and the pu bao meat swims in it to the fullest. High temperature is an invisible worker, under its efforts, protein and fat are fully decomposed, and the old halogen and pu bao release fragrance substances at the same time. At this time, the tofu skin played a big role, the original tofu skin is used to fix the meat filling, when brine, due to its mesh structure, and the maximum absorption of the essence of the old brine and pu bao, salty and fresh and fragrant here miraculously meet.
After nearly two hours of brine, the pork belly is done. Finally, it cools down naturally and the meat gradually tightens and contracts. Unwrapped, crimson lean flesh surrounds pale pink fat, is whipped into a gourd shape and delicate texture presents an alluring visual sense. Pick up a few tablets or open the bag and eat, put it in your mouth and chew two bites. At this time, a delicate balance is maintained between puddle, pork, tofu skin and Gao Youren. The unique powdery texture, the fragrance of the grass with fat but not greasy, soft and hard balance, thin and not chai, showing slightly salty, and then mellow and fragrant, the expressiveness of the taste surges several times, and the appetite can be fully satisfied in an instant.
The use of cattail leaves to contain a taste of meat, quite a strong water town interest. The gift of Gaoyou Lake provides a vast space, and the coincidence of sudden whimsy inadvertently shapes it into a delicious taste, which is the embodiment of wisdom and creativity. The craftsmanship is passed down from the ancestors, the old and new ingredients come together to complete the re-creation of food, and the pu bao meat is finally pushed to the extreme in evolution.