The city is not only a good tongue, but also an attitude to life.
■ Wen | Ye Kefei, a financial columnist in Ichijing
A few years ago, I had dinner with friends from other places, ordered a steamed sandworm, and when my friend saw it, he said, "Isn't this the soil shoot in the Xiamen soil shoot jelly?", and I rushed to "debunk the rumors", saying that this is definitely "two different worms".
Sandworms, common in coastal areas such as Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan, are white throughout, like an intestine, generally more than ten centimeters, hairless, and the body is square-shaped because of the staggered arrangement of muscles. Its scientific name is also derived from this square, called the checkered star worm. The "soil shoots" in Xiamen are like very sandworms, but the body has variegated colors, the body size is relatively small and short, because it is rich in collagen, so it will freeze after boiling and cooling, that is, it becomes the soil shoot jelly, and its scientific name is the leather cyst star worm.
Sandworms are a formidable "dark ingredient" that many inland friends are daunting, but they taste delicious. "Three hundred sandworms" is a beautiful imagination, after all, such a high-protein food, eating three hundred will be a big problem, but eating thirty at a time, there are still many people.
Sand bugs
Sandworms are very picky about the environment and are most afraid of pollution. In recent years, the production of sandworms has been seriously reduced, which is related to pollution. In terms of artificial breeding, it has made a big breakthrough, but for diners, how can farming be better than wild? It grows in the sand and mud along the beach, drilling out at high tide, returning to the hole at low tide, and lying in the sand. Its name "sandworm" is derived from this living environment, and second, because people in the old days believed that it fed on sand. Sandworms do have intestines with sand grains in the body, if they are not cleaned up before cooking, they cannot be eaten, but it is not accurate to say that it feeds on sand, it is actually based on the diatoms in the sand grains, the sand grains are extremely small, the diatoms are even more invisible to the naked eye, there was no microscope and other means in the old days, of course, people can not distinguish.
The sandworm has a simple body structure, like a tube, and can be eaten in all parts. Therefore, there is only one step before cooking, that is, to wash the sand grains in the body, which is commonly known as "sandworm". But this is the only step that is quite difficult, and the knife must not be used, because if the worm body is cut open, the sand particles will enter the meat and it will be more difficult to wash. Generally speaking, the tool of "turning the sandworm" is a bamboo stick, the bamboo stick is penetrated from the head of the sandworm, the tail is penetrated, and then the sandworm cavity is flipped along the bamboo stick, the intestines are removed, and then washed with water, the whole process will not destroy the appearance of the sandworm.
Natural MSG
It is said that sandworms have high nutritional value, rich in protein, polypeptide components, containing seventeen kinds of amino acids and twelve kinds of trace elements, can be antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-radiation, antiviral, anti-fatigue... However, for foodies, these are not as important as the word "tender". Known as "natural monosodium glutamate", sandworms do not require other condiments, and are already very flavorful, which is a valuable trait for real food eaters who are keen on the original taste of food.
The best sandworms in China come from the Guangxi North Sea, and in addition, sandworms in places such as Zhanjiang in Guangdong and Haikou in Hainan are also very famous. As for the dishes, because the sandworms are tender, they can be boiled and fried, and the porridge can be boiled in soup. Self-explanatory view.
My favorite is the minimalist approach – incandescent sandworms. In fact, the most exquisite kung fu is often a simple steaming word, the more simple, the more you see the chef's kung fu and the quality of the ingredients, but also in line with the "original taste of the ingredients is the taste" of the food scriptures. Today, when many cuisines have been reduced to "gutter rapeseed" and the quality of ingredients is difficult to guarantee, the cooking method that can test the freshness of ingredients is relatively healthy.
The white-seared sandworm completely highlights the fresh and original taste of the sandworm, and its fresh flavor can be compared with the earth squid, but the taste is far better than the earth squid, and the crispy taste is like goose intestines, and it is far better than the goose intestines. Speaking of goose intestines, I think of an interesting thing, there is a return to eat braised goose, the chef uses dried sandworms as an accessory, surprising when opening the pot, dried sandworms absorb the sauce, and goose meat also absorbs the aroma of dried sandworms. A friend ate the dried sandworms and finally said, "How is the goose intestines of this goose so delicious?" This drew a table of laughter.
How to eat sandworms
If you really like more seasoning than white burning, then steaming sand worms with garlic is also a common practice, after setting the plate with vermicelli, spread the sand worms on it, sprinkle with minced garlic, ginger, salt and oil, and steam them in the pot. Minced garlic has the effect of lifting the taste, and the vermicelli is also stained with the fragrance of sandworms, which should not be discarded.
These two ways of eating, when the plate is loaded, are in rows, and the sand worms lie neatly on the plate, making me eager to eat in such rows.
There is also a way to eat it that is not common, but can maximize the crispness of the sandworms, that is, the ice-frozen sandworms that resemble sashimi. The method is actually very simple, "turn the sand worm" and put it into boiling water, rinse it on high heat, then cool the water, then dip it into the cold soup, refrigerate it in the refrigerator for thirty minutes, put it on top of crushed ice when serving, and eat it dipped in mustard and soy sauce.
There is also a variant of this way of eating, which I have eaten once in the field, and the menu calls it "vinegar bubble sandworm". The difference is mainly in the seasoning, from mustard soy sauce to aged vinegar, vinegar also has ginger shredded, chili pepper, mustard and garlic, etc., when eating also changed to dip into the bubble, soaked sandworms will have obvious contractions, at this time the entrance is more crisp.
I don't like fried food very much, but I have a good feeling for fried sand worms and salt and pepper worms, presumably because of its aroma and crisp taste. Stir-frying is also a common practice, stir-fried with celery or sprouts, the taste is very beautiful. Hainan has three-color sandworms, which are also stir-fried and can be regarded as famous dishes. The so-called "three colors", in addition to the white of the sandworms, there are also green peppers and red peppers, which are very beautiful.
Sandworm soup
There is also a kind of sandworm dish in Hainan that I will never forget, called side stove sandworm. The so-called "side stove", in the two Guangzhou and Hainan regions that is the meaning of hot pot, the practice of side stove sandworm is also minimalist, boil a pot of water, first put some ribs and clams hanging flavor, after the water boils into the sandworm, one or two minutes later can be eaten, no need for any other spices. The taste of the clams is already delicious, and the sandworms are a perfect match, and the soup that is originally clean water is also delicious and sweet, and it is wonderful.
In contrast, the more mainstream sandworm soup is actually discolored. It is made from sandworms, dried squid, vermicelli and broccoli, and the secret sauce is sandworm blood and pepper. These two secrets are really annoying, but to say that the original taste is definitely not as good as the side stove sandworm.
Fresh sandworms can also be used to make porridge or soups. Sandworm porridge can be regarded as the top quality of porridge, sandworms into the porridge before the first slight explosion with oil, a pot of white porridge even if only a few sandworms, can immediately become delicious. Other accessories can also be free to do as you want, red bean sandworm porridge wins in sweetness, Yaozhu sandworm porridge wins in umami. As for the soup, ribs, chicken and fish heads can be cooked with it.
Compared to fresh sandworms, dried sandworms have a different flavor. It is not as crisp as fresh sandworms, but the aroma is more intense and deep. Before the sand worms are dried into dishes, it is best to cut them into segments or strips, and then sauté them over high heat (without putting oil), so that you can fry your own flavor. Then soak the dried sandworms in clean water, and then add them to the dish. This is best used to make soups, which can be eaten in soy sauce. You can also make dried sandworms to soak chicken, first use dried sandworms and chicken bones to cook soup, and then discard chicken bones and put chicken meat, cooked and edible. If you are a wine lover, fried dried sand worms can be regarded as an excellent appetizer.
It is worth mentioning that the water soaked in sandworms can not be discarded, and when the soup or porridge is boiled with sandworms, these waters are poured in, which has a strange fragrance.
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