Traditional shrimp dumplings and red rice shrimp dumplings
Shrimp dumplings are very rich in filling.
Chef Chen Guoxiong holds two plates of shrimp dumplings in his hand.
Hit Golden Week
This National Day holiday, food for Guangzhou people, just a pot of fragrant tea and two pieces of dim sum during the morning tea period, how can it satisfy the meaning of dripping and cheerful? On the occasion of the launch of the "Window of Lingnan" series of activities in Guangzhou, all-media reporters locked in the shrimp dumplings that were called "Four Heavenly Kings" by lao Guang, went deep into its "ancestral home" as the "intangible cultural heritage of Haizhu District", and unveiled its hidden "gorgeous transformation skills" from tradition to modernity.
Text/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Tan Weiting
Photo / Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Su Yunhua
Who is the surname of "shrimp dumplings"?
Many old people who love shrimp dumplings may not know that the "ancestral home" of shrimp dumplings is in Haizhu, Guangzhou, and shrimp dumplings are "intangible cultural heritage of Haizhu District". It is reported that in the 1920s, Wufeng Village in Haizhu District, on both sides of a river, prospered incomparably. The crustacean river shrimp inhabit the river, providing chefs with fresh inspiration and abundant ingredients.
Because of the unique environment, the world's first cage of shrimp dumplings was born in the "Yizhen Tea House" on the bank of the Wufeng Village River, according to legend, the Yizhen Tea House is opened by the descendants of Wu Bingjian, the world's richest man, Wu Bingjian is a full "shrimp idiot", every spring, shrimp dumplings must be his plate. The descendants of Wufu gradually accumulated a set of secret shrimp and steamed bread making experience. In the end, the shrimp dumpling secret skill of Yizhen Tea House moved Yangcheng. The delicious and smooth shrimp dumplings that we can enjoy now have been handed down from generation to generation since then.
Until 2015, after exploring the area, Haizhu District declared the shrimp dumpling making technology as an intangible cultural heritage project. Since then, the shrimp dumplings that originated from the sea pearls have finally acquired an identity in their birthplace.
The shrimp dumpling "peanut show" was enthusiastically staged
Smelling shrimp dumplings, the reporter found a super dim sum known as "Shrimp Dumpling King" in the Xia Palace Restaurant of Shangri-La Hotel, Guangzhou, located in Pazhou, Haizhu District, and also harvested the "newcomer king" innovatively developed from traditional cuisine - red rice crispy shrimp dumplings. It is reported that The Summer Palace has won the Michelin Plate Award for three consecutive years, and it has the strength to speak about the culinary delicacy of Chinese food. Chen Guoxiong, Executive Chef of Chinese Cuisine at Shangri-La Hotel, said that people are particularly hungry for certain colors of food, "so I often think of a new dish in my mind, which has a mouth-watering new color and adds new taste to the traditional delicacy, which is perfect." Then, a modified and innovative version of the red rice shrimp dumpling "Fragrant" was born. If you quote the words of the fashion industry to describe, this is a super (shrimp) model (dumplings) that has crossed over, and has performed a show of "taste buds" with great affection, from the traditional "snow white neon dress" to the innovative "fragrant red robe", the level of beauty (beauty) beauty (taste) gradually rises, hot (floating) love (incense) yang (four) overflow (scatter).
What is the "struggle" between "snow white" and "Yan Hong"?
This is called "contention", which refers more to the "struggle between tradition and innovation" of production technology and techniques. Situ Yiyao, director of the regional catering department of Shangri-La Hotel, told reporters that in terms of the National Day holiday, there are 48 tables in the summer palace morning tea and lunch, and the number of shrimp dumplings alone is 60 cages per day, "Our dim sum master Huang Jianhua will become a manipulator, and the hand speed is fast and accurate." In this regard, Chen Guoxiong said that each process needs to be precisely controlled, "for example, in the process of making red rice into rice milk, the amount and weight of rice milk cannot be too much or too little, because this will affect the color ratio of red rice skin."
Round 1: The "Color" controversy
In the view of Master Chen Guoxiong, upgrading and innovation should complement each other, why the traditional shrimp dumplings can be called "king", is because it has increased the "size" on top of the tradition, on the basis of retaining the traditional "snow white" vision, it has enhanced the rich taste; and the red rice shrimp dumplings, its innovation is obviously based on the bright and dripping "Yan red" color to take the lead, in the preservation of the traditional shrimp dumplings on the basis of the filling to make the "red robe" innovation, "this is what we said before the use of red koji rice blended into the noodles", Master Chen Guoxiong said.
Round 2: The "Tendon Road" controversy
Chef Chen Guoxiong led all-media reporters to the dim sum kitchen of Shangri-La Hotel, and together with Huang Jianhua, a dim sum chef at Xia Palace Restaurant, he explained while doing a commentary, unveiling the key secrets of the production of "shrimp dumplings". "Traditional shrimp dumplings must be made of fir wood for skin shooting, because it is more robust." Chef Huang Jianhua explained on the fir wood with more than 10 years of "cooking age" while making the skin quickly and evenly. At the same time, Master Chen Guoxiong pointed out next to him that the thin skin of shrimp dumplings will not leak, the key is in this process, but when it comes to red rice shrimp dumplings, the situation is different.
"We can shoot the skin directly on the steel table, which seems to eliminate the process, but it actually increases the difficulty of the master when wrapping the filling." Master Chen Guoxiong explains, "Because the noodles made of red koji rice are weak in their own tendons, it is easy to crack in the process of filling." The reporter saw at the scene that even a teacher with 20 years of skill could not avoid the small accident of breaking 1 shrimp dumpling in the rapid completion of 8 shrimp dumplings. It can be seen that the process of pinching pleats in 12 to 13 lanes of traditional shrimp dumplings is not wrong, the difficulty is not small, and the difficulty of red rice shrimp dumplings is doubled.
Round 3: The "Cooking" controversy
Traditional shrimp dumplings are known to be steamed as the last process. Master Chen Guoxiong told reporters that the shrimp dumpling emperor is also like this, but because the summer palace shrimp dumpling emperor has upgraded in size, the shrimp stuffed with filling is quite large, if the ordinary shrimp dumplings need to be steamed for 3 to 4 minutes to cook, the shrimp dumpling emperor takes 8 minutes, "and the most important thing is that before cooking, we need to put it in the freezer to blow dry for about 20 minutes, increase the thickness of the skin after the filling, in order to steam, otherwise there is a possibility of skin leakage, and the shrimp inside the filling is not yet cooked."
So is the production process of red rice shrimp dumplings also so complicated? Yes, but in the case of the same leader, they practice different schools of kung fu. The tradition is to use steaming, then the red rice shrimp dumplings can be more difficult to play, fry in the pan! Master Huang Jianhua held 4 wrapped red rice shrimp dumplings, gently threw them into a hot pot with a high temperature of 180 ° C at hand speed, and shook the spoon to control the temperature while cooking. Master Chen Guoxiong explained from the side that the whole process can not leave the boiler half a step, to keep an eye, the change of shrimp dumplings and the control of the heat must maintain a precise rhythm, first high temperature, then harvest, to the end of the high temperature, and then "Li Cheng".
Round 4: The "Set Dish" controversy
It is as if passing the 18 bronze people's mark in the Shaolin Temple, the reporter observed the whole process in the back kitchen. After the formal plate is served, the traditional snow-white shrimp dumplings have a classic round steamer, while the innovative red rice shrimp dumplings are placed in a rectangular plate, with egg pie crusts pressed at the bottom, and a special slightly spicy vinegar sauce next to it, in the words of the master, this is a careful machine used to "freshen", so that the red rice shrimp dumplings cooked in this way have a rich taste of crispy outside and soft inside, if you add some special vinegar sauce, the taste buds experience will be doubled. In addition, it is worth mentioning that although this red rice shrimp dumpling is fried, its crispy outer skin can remain unchanged for 1 hour, unlike ordinary fried finished products, and it will soon become soft after being plated, which can be described as a divine skill.
"Inverted fan Luo Curtain cicada through the clothes, Yan Hong light smile half with delusion, taste the sudden feeling of perfume, not worthy of the lingnan unique branch"... Situ Yiyao, director of the regional catering department of Shangri-La Hotel, Guangzhou, read this poem from Master He Shihuang before the reporter just stepped into the summer palace and entered the back kitchen, and these descriptions of "shrimp dumplings" were like vivid pictures in the reporter's mind throughout the exploration process - as an intangible cultural heritage project, traditional shrimp dumplings have the thickness of history and the love of the whole people, in principle, it only needs to maintain its current state to continue to "flow through the centuries", right? No. After going deep into the sea pearl to explore, the gourmet masters tirelessly explore in the inheritance and innovation, they are not satisfied, in their view, the continuation of the vitality, but also in keeping pace with the times - just like the last reporter in front of the plate of a round plate, shallow plate, on one side is snow white, on the other side is Yan Hong, the left fold looks down, like a tribute, the right fold is upturned, as if looking at the future.
Source: Guangzhou Daily