According to the Chronicle of Jiangling County, when Zhao Zhen summoned Zhang Jing, a public security officer in Jiangling (present-day Jingzhou, Hubei), he asked, "What is the value of Qing in Jiangling?" Zhang replied: "The green poplars on both sides of the strait cover the tiger crossing, and a bay of herbs protects the dragon island." Zhang Jing was then the "Regent of True State Affairs". Renzong asked again, "What did you eat?" Zhang Jing replied, "New corn rice cooking caviar rice, tender winter melon boiled turtle skirt soup." It can be seen that the Jingzhou cuisine of winter melon turtle skirt soup was already famous at that time. The fat male turtle is selected and boiled with its skirt and tender winter melon, and then stewed with chicken broth and spices. Its soup is clear and mellow, and the turtle skirt is sticky and soft, and the taste is delicious. And winter melon has anti-inflammatory, diuretic, heat-clearing and other effects, turtles have the effect of nourishing and fitness. Therefore, winter melon turtle skirt soup is also a nutritious and effective dish. Jingzhou Juzhenyuan Restaurant cooks this dish according to the traditional method, which is very popular among the people.
Coincidentally, Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty also liked the emperor to discuss food. According to the "Huizhou Fu Zhi", Zhao Zhuo once asked Yu Yu Xue wangzao, and the algae held up Mei Shengyu's poem to say: "Snow day oxtail beaver, sand horseshoe turtle." "The oxtail cat mentioned here is also known as the white-fronted and civeted fox. Horseshoe turtles are a specialty of the mountainous regions of southern Anhui. There are high mountains and shade, the stream is clear, the shallow bottom is full of sand, and the turtles produced are blue and white, the flesh is tender and thick, and there is no mud smell at the food. The local folk song sang: the water is clear and the sand is clear, the belly is white without silt, and the back of the flesh is raised, and the size is like a horse's hoof. Junchen replied with two Huizhou famous dishes, "braised civet cat" and "stewed horseshoe turtle". Braised civets are processed and chopped, blanched with rice water, added to pear chunks, and boiled in a braised method until the soup is thick. There is also a fire pot civet: the fruit is processed and chopped, put into the fire pot (ceramic cooker), and then put into the pickled snow section, winter bamboo shoots, ham slices, rock sugar and other long stew. Civet roll: civet meat shredded, with ham shredded, mushroom shredded, bamboo shoot shredded, add seasoning pulp mixed into filling, and then wrapped in 10 cm square tofu clothing, unpacked section, basket steamed to make. Nowadays, civets are protected animals and cannot be eaten. In addition, bamboo rats raised in bamboo forests are replaced, and their taste is not satisfactory.
The stewed horseshoe turtle, also known as ham stewed turtle, is one of the oldest emblem dishes. After slaughtering and scalding the most famous sand horseshoe turtle, peel off the skin film, use a knife to cut along the carapace, lift the nails, remove the internal organs, use the knife to cut into one-inch long, half-inch wide blocks (tails, claws are not used, the nails are left), boil in a pot of boiling water until they are boiled again, and drain the water. The ham is cut into pieces and its bones are boiled in soup. Place the turtle pieces neatly in a casserole dish, surround the ham, green onion ginger and ham bones around the turtle, add the chicken soup and rice wine, cover the pot, bring the pot to a boil, skim off the foam, add rock sugar, simmer for an hour, pick the ginger and ham bones, then cut the ham into slices, put it in the pot, drizzle with lard, sprinkle with white pepper and serve.
Dialogue between monarchs and courtiers may be a tradition of the Song Dynasty. At the beginning of the founding of the people's republic, Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi ordered his ministers to take turns reading the food lists of the former emperors for him. One day, the chancellor Su Yijian was reading, and Emperor Taizong asked, "What is the most important thing in the world?" In fact, this is an unsolvable question, no matter what the answer is, the emperor can veto it with one vote, which is a question of deliberately looking for fault. Fortunately, the wise Minister Su had a quick wit, and he groaned a little and replied calmly: "The minister smells things without a fixed taste, and the palatable one is precious." This seemingly slippery answer is actually a big truth. In today's parlance, "Delicious is the last word." The first function of food is to eat, not just to see and not eat. No matter how good the presentation, no matter how beautiful the commentary, if it is not delicious, it is equal to zero! No! Sometimes it's a negative number, and overnight meals will vomit out!
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