There are several not necessarily authoritative claims about Shaxian snacks in Fujian, it is said that there are 240 varieties of Snacks in Shaxian County, and more than half of the population in the county makes a living by operating snacks; even in the streets and alleys of China, Shaxian Snacks are commonplace, and if you are a Chinese have not eaten "Shaxian Snacks" once, it seems to be an incredible thing. But, if the most authentic thing is that you have ever eaten Shaxian snacks in Shaxian County?
Photography, author: Yellow Orange
I want to come to Shaxian to eat Shaxian snacks
Friends in Shaxian always said to me, you must go to Shaxian to taste it, otherwise you will not be able to understand the true subtlety of Shaxian snacks. In their view, Shaxian snacks have largely lost their pure original taste when they leave the water and soil of Shaxian County. They created a suspense for me and made me nostalgic.
Night in the alleys of Shaxian County: Shaxian is located in the central part of Fujian Province, bordering Sanming to the west and Nanping to the east.
I arrived in Shaxian County, and at first glance this county town seems to have no characteristics. But why do people who have come to Shaxian County talk about it with a radiant look, their eyes shining, especially their tongues?
With a long history of Fujian Shaxian plate duck, Li Gang, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, praised the Shaxian plate duck as the top product of poultry meat.
Sauté hibiscus flowers
Nutritious noodles!
The journey of seeking incense means walking a lot of streets and alleys, and many dexterous hands are like magic to dry the intricate flat meat, taro dumplings, rice jelly, tofu balls, loach powder... Bring it to you. I only came for two days, and I couldn't taste the variety of Shaxian snacks, however, the rich taste between my lips and teeth told me that Shaxian people really regard snacks as folk art, and they not only created incredible varieties of snacks, but also enjoyed them every day. Snacks are their favorite; and then. It is the means to make a living. It can be said that China can no longer find a second place like Shaxian that is connected to the flesh and blood of snacks.
Snacks of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Shaxian flat meat, cold winter to a bowl of good praise
Flat meat is the name of Fujian, in Shanghai it is called wonton, in Sichuan it is called scribe, and in Guangdong it is called Wonton. Such an ordinary snack, but the Shaxian people made a classic snack that is difficult for others to look up to. There are at least two mysteries: one is that the pork hind leg meat made of meat filling must be fresh enough that "the knife will jump when the meat is inserted"; the other is that the pork can only be beaten into a meat paste with a wooden stick, not a meat grinder. Only in this way, the pork becomes a meat puree but the fiber is continuous, and the wonderful Q feeling of Shaxian flat meat originates from this.
Pounding a pound of pork takes more than half an hour of labor, so hard and patient to make a snack is a long-standing habit for shaxian people, it is more virtuous than the so-called professional ethics of urban people.
The flat meat filling gives off a bright luster
I especially like to see the minced meat mixed with a little salt, MSG, sugar and a little soy sauce, and the bright and feminine luster will make people love. It is hard to imagine such a docile meat paste, when it is hot in the water, it becomes a special object of elastic teeth. Suddenly, I realized that the name of Shaxian flat meat was the key to its production: flat pork; while Guangdong wonton should be taken from its floating clouds in a porcelain bowl.
In Shaxian County, where there are many snack masters, Baozhu flat meat can become a unique job for housekeepers, in addition to the owner's intentions, there should be unique flavoring, but the unique secret skills are not easy to listen to in depth.
The temple gate is flattened with meat, the façade is wide, and the fame is even greater than that of the Baozhu snack bar. I compared it, and the two families of the jewel and the temple gate are inseparable.
Most of the snack bars in Shaxian county operate more than 10 kinds of projects, and I am impressed by the baozhu snack bar with taro dumplings and loach powder; the Temple Gate Flat Meat Shop has delicious green onion mixed noodles, which are a perfect match with flat meat.
With the Baozhu snack bar as the center, the temple gate flat meat is on the right, and the Jialan roasted wheat is on the left, forming a three-legged posture. The roasted wheat here is famous for its fine-skinned tender meat, which is rolled out by mixing flour with tapioca flour, and the tender meat includes vermicelli, lean meat, shiitake mushrooms, winter shoots, etc. I saw four hands flying up and down, and the roasted wheat wrapped out was like snow white jelly, which was cute. Put it in a steamer basket to steam, and then thinly brushed with lard, the visual effect is excellent, each crystal like jade, blowing bullets can be broken; with a bowl of hot tofu, what do you want.
Jialan roasted wheat
In fact, there is still something to be asked for, and what is asked for is tempeh oil. Only when it is dipped, the deliciousness of the roasted wheat can be fully revealed. When the roasted wheat is served, there must be a plate of tempeh oil with a clear and reddish color. Tempeh oil is a by-product of making tofu, the taste is fresh and salty, the shelf life is not more than one day, and it can be said to be rare on the table of Shaxian snack bar in other places. Finally believed the words of a friend in Shaxian County: Shaxian snacks left the water and soil of Shaxian county, and largely lost their pure original taste.
Sweet roasted wheat and salty roasted wheat
There is also a kind of sweet roasted wheat in Shaxian County, which is a specialty of Xia Mao Town, and many snack bars in the county town cannot be found. Fortunately, there is a snack food city in Shaxian County, which is opened for guests who do not know or are too lazy to find small workshops.
In my impression, there is usually no food in any place that is called a food city, but this concept is not very applicable in Shaxian County.
The chefs here are all masters of snack making from the folk. My favorite sweet roasted wheat is tasted here. The skin of the sweet roasted wheat is also rolled out of flour and tapioca flour, and the filling is sugar, diced cakes, seaweed, ground peanuts, etc., and this combination is too easy to become a laughing stock if it is not mastered well.
At the food city, I also tasted a few unforgettable delicacies that I couldn't help but record: white cut foie gras (comparable to the French fried foie gras), red valley tofu ball soup, rice jelly, and rice dumplings (similar to taro dumplings, with different shapes).
Red mushroom tofu ball soup
Red mushroom tofu ball soup, that kind of comfort that melts in the mouth.
Eating too much, there is a gold rush mountain on the outskirts of Shaxian County that is very suitable for eating and walking. The name Taojin Mountain is very vulgar, but the scenic spot is not vulgar at all, the most bizarre is the wild thousand-year-old iron tree group, the three stacks of rocks left by volcanic eruptions such as giant screen barriers, and the eight-hundred-year-old famous brakes and Foguang Cave.
Natural oxygen bar Taojin Mountain
Gold Rush Mountain Millennium Iron Tree Group
While walking on the winding path of the Gold Rush Mountain, I also had an unexpected discovery, a piece of bitter oak trees that were seven or eight meters high, and one of the trees hung a small iron sign that read: "The seeds contain starch, taste bitter, and can be used as rice jelly." "It is conceivable that in the years of poverty that have passed, such tree species have brought much joy and comfort to the people of Shaxian County."
Rice jelly, originally a staple food, has magically become a dish.
Xia Mao Town, the birthplace of Snacks in ShaXian County
When you arrive in Sha County, Xia Mao Town can't help but go. It is the birthplace of Shaxian snacks, and the owners of Shaxian snack bars scattered throughout the country are most likely xiamao town people.
Xia Mao town style
Xiamao Town is located in the northwest of Shaxian County, adjacent to the three counties of Jiangle, Shunchang and Mingxi, and about 40 kilometers away from Chengguan of Shaxian County. When the car was about to drive into Xia Mao Town, it was very eye-catching to face an ancient camphor tree, and the thick trunk was tied with many wishing jars tied with red cloth.
The wishing tree of Xia Mao Town
What surprised me even more was that the small ancestral hall not far from the ancient camphor tree was written with a couplet: "Han Dynasty Si Nong descendants, Tang Dynasty princes and princes." "Horizontal batch: "Hundred Generations of Flowing Fang". I heard that this is the Luo Clan Ancestral Hall, and the Luo Family in Xia Mao Town only had a double viceroy and three generations of nine generals during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Street stalls in Xia Mao Town
The fire produces delicious food
When it comes to the cattle series in Xia Mao Town in Sha County, some people are drooling in public. A cow can cook more than 60 dishes.
Scalded beef tripe side and scalded beef louvers
Spicy beef jerky
I have heard of hot beef blinds before, I have not heard of hot beef tripe; I have heard of rice milk filling beef intestines, I have not heard of rice milk filling beef lungs; I have heard of bragging cow skin, I have not heard of onion fried beef skin; cow whip can be stewed, can be braised, can be hot pot; beef brisket can be fried, boiled, steamed... Racking your brains, your imagination of eating may not be as rich as the people of Xia Mao Town.
Chinese herbal stewed beef whip
Xia Mao Town not only produces food, but also produces fine wine, Xia Mao Dong wine tastes slightly sweet, like a girl's smile, easy to intoxicate. In the colorful variety of the cattle series, the winter wine is in the slightest, and I will inevitably be "corroded" if I refuse to drink thousands of miles away.
Xia Mao Town Creek Beach Ranch
Today, there are more than 80,000 stores in Shaxian Snacks in China; but the essence of Shaxian Snacks may still not be able to really leave the water and soil of Shaxian County. Only in Shaxian can you feel the place where the flesh and blood of snacks are connected.
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