The sound of the countryside is difficult to change, the nostalgia is difficult to give up, and the taste of the countryside is unforgettable.
Regarding the nostalgia in Zizhong, I have written about it in pieces.
In the past year, I have neglected to write, and this time I accompanied Henan Satellite TV to shoot "The Taste of My Hometown" in the return of capital, and I had the idea of gossiping and remembering a few strokes.
As an ancient city of culture and history, Zizhong County has been established for more than 2,000 years. There is a lot of information on the Internet, and I will not repeat it here.
It is worth mentioning that the Zi Chinese Temple, which contains the statue of Confucius in the Dacheng Hall, is a standing statue unique to the whole country. Zizhong is the hometown of Confucius's teacher Cang Hong, who respects teachers and emphasizes teaching, so he cannot sit.
The Seven-Hole Zhaobi is also one of the Seven Absolute Temples of the Chinese, which is composed of the Waves of the Sea of Clouds, the Crab Shrimp Fish Dragon, the FangTa Stone Tree, and the Fish Leaping Dragon Gate. Other places in the fish jumping dragon gate are carp jumping, but here is catfish, you say strange or not?
It is not strange to say that it is strange, but it has to start from the most distinctive famous dish in the storytelling.
Ball Creek River catfish
The catfish of the Qiuxi River, and the spicy chicken, sauerkraut fish, Bishan rabbit, postal pavilion crucian carp and other jianghu dishes along the Chengdu-Chongqing line rose at about the same time, which is a typical highway economy. Originally, it was only made in a small local shop, and it was not famous, because the drivers who came from the south to the north were on the list of rivers and lakes by word of mouth.
It is said that the earliest catfish dish was not Made in Ball Creek, but in The Adjacent Yuxi Tianma Mountain, which is more than ten kilometers away. I don't know when it started, but the catfish in the ball creek river sounded, and it has been customary ever since. Just as grilled fish originated in Wushan, it was later the wanzhou grilled fish that was the loudest in the country.
Some things are unclear and unclear, and there is not much need to investigate deeply, after all, these two towns are next to the soil, and the fields are connected to the fields.
This time, through a friendship relationship, I contacted a catfish shop in Yuxi Tianma Mountain, which is said to have done it earlier, and explained in advance that there would be no charge, and the vegetable gold was paid, and I only hoped to cooperate with the shooting, but when I was sure the day before I was ready to shoot, the other party was broken.
Not reluctantly, turn to Ball Creek, get off the highway, and there are more than a dozen catfish shops on both sides of the highway.
Casually chose a home, the owner's grandmother is very enthusiastic, not only cooperate with the shooting, but also know everything and say everything.
Everything in the world, seemingly accidental, is often inevitable.
Zizhong is rich in catfish, but it is very difficult to catch, I remember when I was a child, I often fished out of the silt at the bottom when the reservoir weir pond was cleared. I vaguely remember that the earliest native products were bearded catfish with six beards. Now the popular catfish have two distinctly long whiskers. Who is better, it seems that it is impossible to say, anyway, it is a scaleless fish, the taste is almost the same. The key is still the practice.
The eldest sister who killed the fish was sharp in her hands and feet, and when she was dangdang, she cut the fish body into a strip with a few knives.
Fish should first be salted and flavored. She explains that it is necessary to grasp the saliva with your hands before you can add beer and red amaranth starch to grasp well.
The woman in charge of the spoon has been making fish for thirty years, saying that she learned the craft from her father. Introduce us to the cheats while doing it, without reservation.
How to test the oil temperature of fried fish? Scoop up the hot oil with a spoon, drizzle it on top of the fish, and listen to the sound to identify the temperature.
The starch of the yard fish is no more and no less, and after the fish is fried, the oil is clean and clean, and not a single bit of powder is dropped.
The ingredients for grilling fish are not complicated, nothing more than ginger garlic, watercress, kimchi and other simple things, but how to fry is the key, must be slow to fry the aroma.
Add vinegar twice to roast fish, add when stir-frying, add before cooking, don't add soy sauce...
"Seeing the simplicity, you can't make this taste when you go back to the city!" "The city uses tap water, we use well water."
One side of the water and soil to make one side of the dish.
Ball Creek catfish is not a specific dish, but a category, its appearance is characterized by large enamel tea trays, rough and bold.
The owner's grandmother fried a pot of ingredients, but it can cook homemade, spicy, spicy three flavors. The first thing that comes out of the pot is homemade, and the red oil and pepper noodles are added heavily, which is spicy. After serving, pour in the braised dried chili and peppercorns, which are spicy. Seeing that there were friends from out of town, Grandma also made a special pot of sauerkraut flavor.
We ordered two fish, almost ten pounds (68 yuan per kilogram), made four large plates, plus a pot of fish head tofu soup, the average person is about seventy, eat very enjoyable. The most acclaimed, of course, is the spicy taste.
In the past, they were all on the highway to catch sight of the town of Xixi, but this time they drove to the river in the town and turned around, and the red brick house was built next to the river. Drizzle breeze and beautiful view.
Rabbit noodles
In the zizhong and Zigong areas, in the past, every family in the countryside raised rabbits. When I was a child, the first thing I did when I came home from school was to put down my school bag and carry my back pocket to the hillside to cut rabbit grass. Zizhong countryside for livestock and poultry, usually with a child's word, pigs, dogs, cats, cows, geese, sheep, ducks, chickens can not be called casually, but called chicken dolls.
Raise more, naturally eat more.
Rabbit noodles are the practice in the city. The first time I saw the on-site stir-fry was in 2007 in Zizhong City, Xiaodong Seventeen. Passing through the county town in the back also occasionally eats, but it is not too deeply impressed.
This time, because of the shooting, I specifically asked Liu Qiankun, who is also a fellow of Zizhong. He recommends the frequently eaten "hand in hand".
The environment is very old, especially the alley next to it, which is exactly the kind of memory I have when I first entered the county town in the late 1980s. Seeing this scene, I also sighed, nostalgic for the past pure and disease-free moaning fake beating. I remember going to an ancient town for an interview many years ago, and some people lamented that those old houses were so good that they must be kept. The owner listened and sneered, "So good, let you use the house in the city to exchange it!" "Don't talk about changing rooms, you may not be able to stand it for a few days."
The boss surnamed Wang, very easy-going, said that he has been driving here for many years, and all the people who come are old buyers.
The rabbit that was cooked in advance, the soup taste was harmonious and soft, not as spicy as the cannabis I had eaten before. Rabbit meat is crispy and soft, deboned, and has been eaten before, which is relatively dry and hard, which shows the profound skill.
Most noodle restaurants in Chengdu are accustomed to using stick noodles, noodles as thick as chopsticks, long cooking time, and the interior is not easy to taste.
Zizhong rabbit noodles are made of thin noodles (Neijiang's beef noodles are also used this kind of thin noodles). The cooking time is short, the texture is strong, and it is also more flavorful.
Noodles in other places should be sprinkled with some green onions before being served, but the rabbit noodles in the capital are added with leeks, which is also one of the characteristics.
Zizhong noodle restaurant, in addition to rabbit noodles, will also sell gouache. The red amaranth powder is particularly soft and smooth, in addition to the rabbit meat that can be cooked, but also with crispy peas, and another layer of taste.
The next day, he also ate a branch of Xiaodong Seventeen. The coordination and thickness of the taste feel less than hand in hand, but in terms of management, there is another hand. "Buyer, eat the double shame!" "Buyer, come back to the bowl of soy milk wow!" The enthusiasm is so good that you can't refuse. Add a mixed sauce to the cheeks, come to the bowl of soy milk, consume a quarter more, will do business.
Seeing that this group of people had a foreign accent, they immediately took out the takeaway spicy rabbit diced to taste for us, in case we bought a few bags, it was a big business.
Hot mixed hooves
I am actually not familiar with Zizhong County, and I have eaten very few restaurants, except the Lotus Hotel.
In recent years, whenever I pass by the county town at meal time, I will go to eat a meal. There are three must-orders: hot hoof flowers, spicy beef and wind radish slippery meat.
Cold sauce hoof flower is the signature of the signboard, I know that there are bosses in Chengdu who go to study and investigate.
The stewed hoof flowers must be [fire], and melt in the mouth. The mixed hoof flowers require crispness, boiling to a certain extent, to fish out the flushing, so repeatedly, in order to be cooked thoroughly and crisp, while hot mixing, more flavorful. In addition to reusing ginger garlic rice, you also have to add millet spicy and vinegar, sour and fresh, the more you eat, the more you think.