Special article of this journal Shi Hongyan
Sweet and soft oil cake
Tracing the oldest delicacy on the Loess Plateau, Shanxi oil cake is well deserved.
Shanxi oil cake is a food with local characteristics made of rice noodles as the skin, jujube puree, red beans, brown sugar, white sugar, etc. as the filling, and fried at high temperature.
Also known as "yellow rice" and "millet", it is one of the earliest plants used for farming in China. After cooking, it has a sticky nature, and it can be used to make sake and make cakes.
There are many types of Shanxi oil cakes, due to different production methods, there are jujube cakes, cloud cakes, fried cakes; Due to the different raw materials used, it is also known as rice cake, yellow rice cake and "vegetable" cake. The "cake" and "high" harmonic sound of oil cake, in order to take its step by step to ascend high, rich meaning, people are mostly in the New Year festival or wedding and funeral, children full moon, the elderly to do birthday, up to build a house to eat, so also called rice cake, happy cake. For thousands of years, oil cake has accompanied people to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, celebrating the joy, thus becoming a traditional food that Shanxi people especially like.
I remember when I was a child, before the New Year, my grandmother would always pick up the red beans in advance with a basket, wash them, and then soak them in warm water for a day. At the same time, soak the dates and pitt them, and simmer them in an iron pot together with the soaked red beans. After the high heat is opened, cook over medium heat until the red beans blossom, the red dates burst the skin, when the water is boiled almost, put in the brown sugar to continue to boil, and when the water is basically gone, use a rice spoon to stir continuously, so as not to paste the pot, until the beans and dates are crispy sand, remove the fire, and then you can wrap the oil cake. If you want the bean paste to be more oily and delicate, then there is another way to put it in the oil pan and fry it again. During this period, it is necessary to stir continuously so as not to have a scorching and mushy taste.
When Grandma fried the oil cake, in addition to the red date bean paste filling, she also likes to wrap some vegetarian stuffed vegetable cakes, at the same time, she also has to boil a large pot of spinach vermicelli soup to match it, and before the pot, sprinkle a handful of green leek cubes, which looks particularly pleasing to the eye. This practice, about the time of folklore, borrows the "long" of vermicelli and the "long" of leeks, which means "long and long"!
In the 1960s, my parents worked in Yanbei, Shanxi For a while, so I was familiar with the local way of eating "mao cake", which was to blanch the rice noodles and steam them in a pot, without filling, and dipping them in local sauerkraut soup. According to this, the father who loves sweets later changed it slightly, that is, after steaming the cake noodles, he directly dipped it in white sugar to eat it, which has a different flavor.
Most Shanxi people like to eat oil cakes stuffed with red jujube bean paste, and they are also more particular about the quality of the filling. Red beans must be bought with a full body and a bright luster. Red dates should also be purchased with fatty fruits, ruddy colors, thick cores and small flesh, and fine textures. Shanxi has been rich in red dates since ancient times, beach dates, jug dates, Jiaocheng Jun dates, Jishan plate dates, Yuncheng xiang dates, etc., these are the more famous varieties of red dates in Shanxi. As a cake filling, red beans and red dates complement each other and complement each other, which is a good ingredient for replenishing blood and qi.
The cake noodles should be made of peeled soft noodles, which will become soft and sticky when it is hot, and hardened when it is cold. Therefore, the cake must be made while it is hot.
The fried oil cake must be wide in a large pot of oil, so that the oil cake can be fully expanded and bulged, appearing full and plump, and tempting the appetite. Because the rice noodles have been steamed, the filling is also cooked, so there is no need to fry for too long, the fire should not be too large, otherwise the pan, the color of the cake noodles will become black and dirty, not only ugly to sell, but also unsatisfactory to eat.
The filling prepared before wrapping the cake in oil
Our cake filling is filled with the best dates and red beans, sometimes with black sesame seeds, walnuts and cooked lard, mixed with white sugar or brown sugar to make the filling for later. Each time, the work is done by the father who is very interested and sharp, and the mother is back to the most critical process - hot noodles and stuffing.
Semi-finished cake wrapped in filling
At the beginning of making the cake, the mother first mixed the cake noodles with warm water into a flocculent shape, and the father neatly placed the cake noodles on the cage grate that had already been full of fire and steaming, sprinkled a layer of cake noodles, steamed for a while, and then sprinkled a layer of cake noodles and steamed for a while. When the cake noodles are all steamed and steamed thoroughly, the four corners of the cage cloth are lifted and the cake balls are upside down in the clay pot.
At this time, the mother had already prepared a large bowl of cold water and a small bowl of cooking oil, and quickly rubbed the cake while it was hot.
Cake is the most crucial process, must be hot, cold can not be opened to shake, the oil cake made is not delicate and not tendon, the stickiness of the rice noodles can not be fully exerted, the taste is naturally much worse.
Watching the old mother make cakes, ten fingers into fists, both hands flying up and down, hitting the dough, but before a few clicks, the fingers were hot and red, so I quickly put my hands in the cold water bowl next to me and dipped them, and then continued to rub. Repeat this many times until the cake becomes delicate, soft and smooth, and then it can be considered to be rubbed. So I dipped a little oil in the oil bowl with my hand, pulled a small ball of cake noodles, rolled them into thick strips on the noodles, and pulled them into a uniform size of the agent, kneaded them separately, and then smeared a little oil on the board for later use. So repeatedly, after everything stops, take one of the pieces of agent, use ten fingers to pinch the edge and circle, nest into a slightly thick bowl-shaped thick slice, add the filling to tighten the mouth, form a round ball, and then press it into a flat circle.
When the mother is almost wrapped, the father has already red half a pot of rapeseed or sesame oil, the oil temperature at this time is about 70% or 80% hot, the father holds the grate, the wrapped rice noodle cake into the oil pot, until the oil cake floats, fried until the color is golden or golden red, it is already full of flavor, tempting appetite. At this time, fishing out with a large fence and putting it in an enamel pot with a little bit of oil can be eaten. If you like sweets, you can also sprinkle some sugar on the oil cake as you like.
The history of Shanxi oil cake, it is said, can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. After the death of Duke Wu of Jin, he vigorously assisted Duke Xiangong of Jin, not only to persuade Duke Xiangong of Jin to abandon the construction of a nine-story platform to comfort the people's livelihood, but also to annex the small states of Yu and Yu, opening up the passage for the development of the Jin state to the Central Plains. Before his death, Duke Xian of Jin appointed Xun Xi as Xiangguo and entrusted him with isolation. Xun Xi used the power of the humerus to help the new monarch succeed to the throne, but there were continuous palace changes, which eventually led to the killing of the young lord. Xun Xi deeply felt that he had the heavy trust of the previous king, so he committed suicide to thank the world, and used his life to interpret what the word "loyalty" was, leaving behind a name that was admired by future generations.
Chinese worshipping ancestors, they have always paid attention to using the best things as offerings. More than a thousand years ago, when there was a lack of oil and salt, fried foods such as oil cakes should be extremely noble foods. Therefore, the people of Shanxi, who were thick and simple, used this particularly "honorable" oil cake to sacrifice the Jin Dynasty Doctor Xun Xie.
Since then, the oil cake that has been passed down from generation to generation and continuously improved has been prosperous in the recipes of the people of Shanxi and continues to this day.
Although the oil cake is delicious, the production process is too laborious and time-consuming, so it is not easy for the family to do it during the New Year's Festival. As a result, there are some shops specializing in making oil cakes on the street, some of which are fried and sold, and some of which are sold raw products, which are bought by customers and fried by themselves.
Originally, in Chengfang Street, where my mother lived, there was a small shop specializing in oil cakes, the storefront was not large, and it was silent in an inconspicuous corner, but his family's oil cakes were red all over the Xinghualing District. People in other urban areas, after hearing about it, have also come to visit, especially for wedding banquets and New Year reservations, some of which are dozens of pounds, hundreds of pounds, sometimes late, can not be booked. Especially before the New Year, people even have to wait in long lines, not caring about the cold and snow, that scene is really lively enough. Later, due to the expansion and transformation of the city, it happened that our family also liked to move to a new home, and we did not know where it went in the end.
Oil cake, as an indispensable staple food at the banquet of Shanxi people, often becomes a hotel that people evaluate, and its Shanxi taste is not authentic and authentic, so some hotels have made enough efforts in this dessert alone.
If the hotel is made of freshly ground, absolutely fresh rice noodles, and the red date bean paste is made by the hotel itself, not the kind of sweet and thin bean paste finished product made by the hotel, then the fried oil cake not only looks golden and crispy on the outside, the color is lustrous, and it feels soft and sweet to eat, and the aftertaste is endless. If the cake is still sprinkled with snow-like white sugar and colorful sugar needles, and served on a plate covered with white lace baking paper, even if it has not yet been eaten in the mouth, just looking at it is already a visual enjoyment.
Rice noodle cake under the oil pan
Especially at the feast, as a freshly fried finale dessert, it will surely make people praise after tasting it, so as to become a very face-saving thing for the Lord's family at the feast.
The banquets in the hotel restaurant are generally ten people per table, so the plates must be ten oil cakes, evenly distributed. In order to get happy, although the front may have been full of soup and rice, when the oil cake is served, after a bit of courtesy, they will pick up a good head in the mouth. If the cake is done well, people will eat it with pride, and say "delicious!" from the bottom of their hearts, and if it is not done well, people will often take a bite and abandon it in their own plates, although it is not advisable to waste grain.
When the taste of the oil cake is the best, it is served as quickly as possible before eating, and once it becomes cold, no matter how delicious the filling, it will also seriously affect the taste due to the hard skin and the cooling of the sugar filling.
When eating oil cakes, do not be too anxious. The oil cake that has just come out of the pan does not seem to be steaming, but in fact, it is not easy to cool inside and outside due to high temperature frying. People who are anxious, do not know hot and cold, a large bite, straight hot swallowing, swallowing and swallowing, spitting and spitting out, barely swallowing it, will be hot before the heartache is also painful. Especially the brown sugar filling, the sugar juice flows all the way down the lips, either ticking, or scalding the tongue, inevitably grinning, making it ugly.
In fact, according to the old people, the oil cake is too "heavy", although delicious but also difficult to digest, eat three or two at a time, should not eat too much, so as not to bloat. Therefore, everything has a degree, even if it is delicious, you can't eat too much at once, you have to leave some thoughts for yourself, and you still want to eat after eating, which is the performance of really loving to eat.
Oil cake is an indispensable staple food at the banquet of Shanxi people
In fact, for Shanxi people who like to eat rice noodle oil cake, Shanxi oil cake is more like a bond connecting family affection. This nostalgia on the taste buds is unforgettable and becomes more memorable with the passage of time. This is the taste memory left by the water and soil of the hometown in every meal, and this taste code has long been buried in everyone's blood. No matter how far you go, no matter how long you have been, that familiar smell will always haunt you, constantly reminding you of the direction of your home, and making you haunt your dreams.
Speaking of this steaming rice noodle oil cake in my hometown, the wanderer who is far away from the homeland! Are you guys homesick?
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Hongzhi