At the end of the feast in the Yongchun area, most of the host's family will bring a plate of yellow and clear round snacks. As soon as you bite down, the tough epidermis bounces between the lips and teeth, and soon the unique aroma of the mung bean paste filling ripples in layers in the mouth.
Pangshe Turtle
This snack is called "Bangshe Turtle" and has a history of more than 200 years. It is not only an important dish for the finale of the Yongchun banquet, but also a "favorite" that Yongchun people and even overseas Chinese are eager to miss.
The Pungsher Turtle, who is related to the Daguan
"Turtle" is a collective name for a type of snack in southern Fujian. Because of the long life span of the turtle and the fact that it is one of the "four spirits" in ancient times, the three places of Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan have produced a unique "turtle worship" very early. Under the guidance of this worship idea, the people of the three places formed a set of rituals and contents with regional characteristics, including the unique offering of "turtle kun".
So, where does the word "bangshe" come from? This matter has to start from the Sun Bang during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. This young man used to sell glutinous rice turtles in Yongchun, and because of the high quality and low price, his pastry shop was almost full of customers every day.
At that time, the governor had a younger brother named Ye Shaoben, who was at the age of studying and enterprising, but unfortunately this guy was idle, and every day he only wanted to go to the Sun family to eat glutinous rice turtles on credit. One year, on the Lantern Festival, a teenager surnamed Ye met a beautiful girl at a lantern party, about the words Meng Lang, and was beaten up by the other family. Ye Shaoben, who did not dare to go home, had to find Sun Bang with a hard scalp.
After this lesson, Ye Shaoben changed from evil to righteousness and quickly passed the examination. After he returned to his hometown, the townspeople went to Sun Bang's house to celebrate: there are noble people as patrons, and you should be respected as a shepherd. Therefore, the glutinous rice turtle of the Sun Bang family has since had this special name.
Traditional old shops pay attention to stir-frying stuffing with firewood
The main raw material of the turtle is glutinous rice. To make it, the glutinous rice must be soaked for a whole night. Once the rice heart is soaked, the glutinous rice can be taken to the tofu shop and ground into rice milk. During this time, the rice milk had to be placed in a special cloth bag and pressed with large stones to squeeze out excess water.
On the other hand, the bean paste filling required by the turtle can also be prepared simultaneously. Peeled mung beans also need to be soaked in water for one night, after which they are boiled in hot water. Once these processes are complete, the mung beans can be mixed with sugar and kumquat, roasted in a hot pot and crushed into a powder. The slightly more exquisite Pungshe Turtle Old Shop will also use firewood as fuel. They believe that the fillings stir-fried with firewood will have a fuller aroma.
After the above procedures are completed, all you need to do is take out the glutinous rice paste balls and knead them into a circle and wrap the filling in them. In order to get lucky, the shop will usually add some brown sugar to the glutinous rice paste balls to make a beautiful pale yellow turtle skin. More specifically, unlike other "turtles", the turtle does not use bamboo leaves as containers. Ingenious shopkeepers will use soy milk to make a thin yarn-like bean skin to hold a flat and round turtle.
It can be fried or steamed, and the taste varies
After the turtle is made, it is steamed on the steamer basket for about half an hour, and the original pale yellow turtle skin becomes golden yellow. Just by brushing a layer of peanut oil on it, the snack is a sparkling light, and the aroma is accompanied by hot air.
Placed until it is half cold, take a bite, the turtle skin is both tough and tender, and the mouth is full of the natural aroma of the ingredients. If you prefer other flavors, you can also change the filling to peanuts, black beans, kumquats, etc. Of course, mung bean paste is definitely the most classic filling.
As for the way to eat, there is also room for flexibility, if you don't like the usual "steaming", you can also try frying. Under the action of hot oil, the epidermis of Huang Chengcheng's Pangshe Turtle quickly turns brown. Its aroma is set off by hot oil, and it is even more intense.
Basically, at the wedding feast of the Yongchun people, you can see the traces of the Turtle of the Pungshe every time. As for some occasions to reward the gods, the turtle is one of the indispensable offerings. Of course, those who have persistent feelings for the Turtle are not only Yongchun people. Overseas Chinese whose ancestral home is Yongchun always return to their hometowns, they must taste this rare hometown flavor. Before leaving, I also carry a bag for my relatives and friends in a foreign land to alleviate their homesickness that is difficult to let go.