Humanistic Tongxiang 丨 Hibiscus egg

On the day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the phone rang, and on the other end of the phone, my uncle, who was more than seventy years old, asked my mother directly: "How to make hibiscus eggs?" ”

oh! After leaving home to study, staying in Beijing, and going abroad, my uncle is now in a distant place and misses this dish in his hometown.

"Hibiscus egg" is a famous dish in Puyuan, an ancient town in Jiangnan, and in the past, Puyuan people had this dish on the table during the New Year's Festival or when there were distinguished guests at home. According to legend, hibiscus eggs are the local dishes that Zhu Shanxiang, a native of hanlin Puyuan in the Qing Dynasty, ate when he was the chief examiner in Yunnan, and he felt delicious and unforgettable after eating it, so he brought back the practice of this dish. Because of this, the dish is fresh, sweet, soft and smooth, and looks like a blooming white hibiscus, so it is called "hibiscus egg". After returning to his hometown, he combined the local eating habits of Puyuan and readjusted his taste and made it for his friends and relatives to taste. Since then, hibiscus eggs have spread in Puyuan.

Speaking of hibiscus eggs, the childhood scene slowly unfolded in my mind...

In the New Year, our old mansion began to get lively, and a large family of people who were away from home returned to their hometown Puyuan, where grandparents, fathers, and many of our cousins and cousins gathered together. Mother came in and out, busy with New Year goods, grandma with small feet constantly busy, with New Year dishes. Hi egg, cup egg, foundation meat, of course, hibiscus egg can not be less.

In memory, the hibiscus eggs made by grandma are the most delicious, because the hibiscus eggs are delicious, and the figure of the person who made the hibiscus eggs in the impression is also particularly beautiful. On the eight immortals table, Grandma will prepare four duck eggs, skillfully on the side of the bowl one by one lightly bumped, with a "poof" sound, the yolk wrapped by the crystal egg white from the eggshell slipped into a large porcelain bowl, Grandma gently fished out the yolk, put into the small porcelain bowl, the rest of the egg white is the "protagonist" of the hibiscus egg. Only to see her holding a large bowl containing egg whites in one hand, holding a pair of chopsticks in the other hand, adjusting the egg whites in the bowl, the rhythm of the eggs is from slow to fast, "da, da, da..." As if a string of cheerful notes, a pleasant "Ode to Joy" was tuned out. Adjusting and adjusting, the egg whites became whiter and whiter until there was no trace of consistency. Then, Grandma poured the prepared hot chicken soup into the egg whites, gently mixed them with chopsticks, and crushed the yolks in the small porcelain bowl, which is the first step in making hibiscus eggs. After that, Grandma put two porcelain bowls into the steamer, and during the steaming process, sometimes Grandma would say to Mom, "The heat is a little stronger." "After about ten minutes, the second step is completed— the egg whites and yolks in the pot are steamed.

At this time, we children were playing in the patio with great interest, from how to melt the thick layer of ice in the seven-stone jar, to which pomegranate tree that had lost its leaves could bear fruit next year, and how many turtles hibernated in the patio... There is always an endless topic to talk about. During the conversation, the cousin would suddenly say, "The hibiscus egg is all right, right?" "A bunch of kids just ran into the kitchen chattering." Grandma, are the hibiscus eggs okay? Grandma looked at the grandchildren and smiled lovingly and replied, "In a little while, let's go play again!" Together, we ran up the stairs from the kitchen and upstairs to play hide-and-seek.

Grandma at the pot table began to prepare the third step, the "supporting role" of the hibiscus egg, she took out the previously steamed egg yolk, cut it into glutinous rice-like particles, and put it into the pot with the steamed dried bees and chicken shreds, and used chicken soup to hook the soup. At this time, the mother took out the piping hot porcelain bowl containing the egg white from the pot, and the grandmother conveniently poured the dried scallop chicken yolk grains evenly on the steamed egg whites, and a bowl of delicious hibiscus eggs was made in such a tacit manner.

The cousin hiding in the compartment always smells the scent wafting from the kitchen first, and then he will loudly announce: "Hibiscus eggs are good, Hibiscus eggs are good!" Everyone couldn't care less about continuing to play, and with a carefree laugh, they rushed down the stairs, at the dinner table, or tiptoed to see it, or took a deep breath and smelled "drunk" first.

On the eight immortals table, a round countertop of the Republic of China has been laid out, and the large bowl of the golden-rimmed daisy lady on the table is tightly surrounded by warm pots, inlaid treasure ducks, white chopped chicken, white cut lamb, hooves and other Annual dishes, and the watery hibiscus eggs in the bowl are soft and smooth like silk, and in the heat hazy, like the "hibiscus fairy" who "holds the pipa and half covers her face", it appears from time to time. We sat around and looked at the long-awaited hibiscus eggs.

Grandma came, sat down in the south-facing chair, and asked with a smile, "Don't you want to eat yet?" Eat while it's hot. He also said to us children: "Eat hibiscus eggs is exquisite, to gently scoop up with a spice spoon, when scooping, you must scoop along the edge of the bowl a little bit from top to bottom, so that the dried egg yolk grains on the top and the egg white below together scoop up, eat into the mouth, will feel more delicious taste." The adults held porcelain spice spoons in their hands and seemed unable to bear to spoil this hibiscus-like dish. Grandma scooped up a small spoonful and gave it to the youngest cousin, and said deliberately, "Don't swallow it in one bite, eat it little by little, or it won't burn your mouth." At this time, everyone carefully scooped up the hibiscus egg with a spice spoon, slowly put it in the mouth, and carefully tasted the egg white, smooth and tender, delicious and endlessly delicious. Tempted by deliciousness, hibiscus eggs became the fastest dish on the table to eat.

Now I think why people have given it such a nice name for this dish, hibiscus egg, probably because the egg white part under this dish resembles the main body of the hibiscus flower, and the toppings are like flower buds, and once the two are matched, they are shaped like hibiscus. Thinking deeper, the hibiscus flower is as beautiful and elegant as the ancient town specialty "Pu Silk", which is not only the characteristic of the hibiscus egg, but also the beautiful portrayal of the water town in the ancient town of Jiangnan, and it is also a portrayal of gentleness and humility. The dish of hibiscus egg has become a strange flower of Puyuan food culture, which has long been opened in the hearts of people born in this land. And the hibiscus egg is from the water town puyuan, which is also reasonable.

When grandma was alive, my mother learned the craft of making hibiscus eggs in my ears, and now my mother inherits this delicious dish, and also tells her uncle in detail about the practice of hibiscus eggs and how to adjust the heat through the phone, and it seems that the words are not just about the production process of a hometown dish. At this time, I understood the affection for family affection in my mother's voice, and the crystal tears that gradually appeared in my eyes.

Source: Tongxiang News Network

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