Source/Tip of the tongue on Liuzhou
Written & Edited | Tang
Figure | Internet
Some time ago, Chef Shi made a review of 4 kinds of bagged snail powder, which aroused my interest in snail powder. As a native of Guangxi, after eating a lot of bag snail powder during the epidemic. Suddenly, I found that in addition to eating n bowls, I knew very little about this famous Guangxi cuisine. Driven by curiosity, i did some small data retrievals. Let's start with its origins.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > where does snail powder come from? </h1>
Speaking of the origin of snail powder, it was suddenly found that there was more than one statement. The public says that the public is justified, and the mother says that the mother is reasonable. I want to compete, but in the end I can't figure out a reason, so let's listen to it.
Street view of Liuzhou in the 1980s (Source/Liugong YihuaCheng)
1. Wang Ji Grandma
In the mid-1980s, the clerk of the grocery store on Jiefang South Jiefang Road in Liuzhou City, who also engaged in dry cutting powder, had to get up early every day to learn the technology, and after the end of the study at 9 o'clock, he would take a handful of dry cutting powder to the snail stall next door to Wang Ji's grandmother's snail stall to get a snail, and cook it with the dry cutting powder. Later, someone bought green vegetables and put them in the snails to cook together. These three things were mixed together, and Grandma Wang Ji tasted it herself and thought it tasted very good, so she sold snail powder.
2. Gubu Street Night Market
In the late 1970s, after the reform and opening up, the economic and trade recovery, the Gubu Street Vegetable Market gradually became the largest distribution center for snail wholesale in Liuzhou City, coupled with the nearby workers' cinema attracted countless audiences, and the flow of hungry people wandering around after the dispersal was huge, and the Gubu Street Night Market was also formed. Liuzhou people have always been addicted to snails and powder, and some shrewd night market owners have begun to operate boiled snails and rice noodles at the same time. A bowl of rice noodles became the standard for suppers at that time, and diners who were looking forward to feasting on their meals intentionally or unintentionally asked to add a few spoonfuls of snail soup to the rice noodles they ordered and enjoyed them together, unconsciously creating Liuzhou's original signature snack - snail powder.
3. Late night snail stall
Late one night in the early 1980s, several outsiders rushed to Liuzhou and arrived at a rice noodle stall that was about to close, but the bone soup with rice noodles had been sold out, leaving only a pot of boiled snail soup, and the stall owner put the rice noodles into the snail soup and cooked it, plus green vegetables and peanuts and other side dishes. The stall owner later gradually improved its ingredients and production, forming the prototype of the current snail powder.
The snail is simmered like this (source/authentic wind object)
According to the information of all parties, snail powder should originate from Liuzhou Night Market in the 1970s and 1980s. Liuzhou people have a tradition of eating snails since ancient times, and the night market is indispensable to eat snail stalls, and snails simmered with bone soup with sour shoots and red peppers have become a popular supper. Later, with the rice noodles entering the night market, there were stalls that also operated rice noodles and snails, and many diners liked to add snail soup to the rice noodles, and after the passionate collision of the two popular foods, the initial prototype of snail powder was produced. Later, as the shopkeepers continued to improve and improve, an upgraded version of snail powder appeared, which added other ingredients such as rotten bamboo, tofu fruit, fungus, and green vegetables.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > authentic snail powder without snail meat? </h1>
Friends from other places often ask me, "Is there any snail meat in the snail powder?" "Why don't I have snails in my snail powder?" "Huh?! Why is there snail meat in the snail powder I have eaten? ”
So, is there any snail meat in the authentic snail powder?
As a fake Liuzhou person who has lived in Liuzhou City for nearly 5 years and will go back almost every year, I want to tell you: there is no snail meat in the authentic snail powder!!!
Soup base material (source/snail bawang)
Snail powder is called snail powder because its soup is made of snails. The essence of snail powder lies in the soup base, and the sweetness of snail powder depends on this snail soup. Snail soup is made of Liuzhou green snail as raw material, plus pork barrel bone and then with grass fruit, fennel, tangerine peel, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, fragrant leaves, licorice, sand ginger, star anise and dozens of spices (some will be added to traditional Chinese medicine) boiled into soup.
Due to the different soup bases of snail powder sold by each family, each has its own unique secret recipe, so the taste of snail powder is slightly different in different stores. Everyone who does the snail powder business will work the soup, and in Liuzhou, a bowl of soup is light and tasteless snail powder that no one will eat. The elaborately boiled snail soup has a clear but not light, numb but not dry, spicy but not hot, fragrant but not greasy flavor, people can't stop wanting to eat powder and want to dry the soup.
Snail powder soup boiled (source/snail overlord)
As for why not put snail meat, I personally speculate, first of all, it is related to the origin of snail powder, which first appeared in snail stalls, using snail soup instead of powder soup, and snail powder appeared from the source, and there was no original intention of putting snail meat from the source, and later naturally continued the original habit.
In addition, the snail stall, of course, the snail is to be sold, fried snails, boiled snails, snail pots, everything is a piece of money, there is no need to put some snails into the snail soup, this kind of thing to reduce income, which savvy businessman will choose it? Most importantly, the snail powder soup that does not require snail meat has absorbed the essence of snails, and it can save money. Still want to eat snails? Order another fried snail or boiled snail on the stall, and the boss will smile and hand you a plate, so that you can pick up the snail while making powder.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" why does > snail powder stink so much? </h1>
Sour shoots, the soul of snail powder (Source/Network)
Snail powder stinks and has become a joke on the Internet. Some friends will say, "OMG why does the snail powder stink like shit, you are still so addicted?!" "Even for us who were eating powder, we threw disbelief. Friends who have hardly been in contact with snail powder in the field, especially can not understand, the smell of this thing has not gone away for a long time, eat a bowl of snail powder from head to toe, if you eat a bowl at home, it is simply whimpering, do not want to stay at home, need to go out to breathe.
Why does snail powder stink so much? This is all the curse of sour shoots. But without the snail powder of sour shoots, there is no soul. Chinese has had the habit of eating stink since ancient times, what stinky tofu, stinky mandarin fish, etc., is not the only sour shoot, awakening the taste memory of human beings sleeping in the genes. Sour shoots marinated with large sweet shoots and mountain spring water, soaked in a large tile jar for half a month, can smell a sour smell from afar. During the brewing process, you can't get a little bit of oil stain, otherwise it will be white foam, sour shoots will also deteriorate and stink, and the whole pickling will end in failure.
Sour shoots (source/snail powder on the tip of the tongue)
Sour shoots smell "smelly", but they taste fresh and refreshing. Guangxi has always had the habit of eating sour shoots, and our love for sour shoots is difficult for outsiders to understand. We don't just put sour shoots in the snail powder, but many other dishes will also use it to enhance the taste. Sour shoots are not only the soul of snail powder, but also the soul of the whole cinnamon dish. When you are fascinated by this "smell", you will not feel that it is smelly, the more intense the taste, the more you feel "fragrant", just like eating durian and eating stinky tofu.
It is precisely because of the sour shoots that the snail powder has the unique taste of this stinky sky. It is also the sour shoots that give the snail powder soul. As a fermented food, sour shoots produce umami amino acids during the fermentation process, making the food delicious and delicious. It is the "smell" of sour shoots that makes people want to stop, so we can't stop thinking about snail powder.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > red oil that must not be missing</h1>
How can snail powder get less chili oil (source/authentic wind object)
If there is anything in the snail powder that can not be less, it is definitely the bright red pepper oil. In addition to fresh, sour, refreshing and hot snail powder, spicy taste is also its unique feature. Eat snail powder without chili oil, you will not be able to appreciate the real fun of snail powder. For people who can't eat spicy, this is a great pity. Even a little bit of it will make your taste buds taste special. However, I have to say that the spicyr the better.
The red chili oil floating on the soup noodles makes people see its spiciness before tasting its taste, and unlike ordinary chili peppers, chili oil is more fragrant and more oily. The more chili oil is put in, the hotter it becomes, mixed with snail soup and invading our mouths. The heavier the snail powder, the more delicious it is, so spicy that we sweat, but we can't stop our mouths, how to get a "cool" word.
Chili oil is the key to enhancing the taste of snail powder (source/authentic wind)
The best snail powder must be to go to the Liuzhou store, there are decades-old small shops that are deeply cultivated in a corner, and there are chain stores that can be seen everywhere on the streets. I have not eaten snail powder, and I have come to Liuzhou in vain.
bibliography
Wikipedia - Snail powder
The history of Liuzhou screw powder
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