When I was young, one of my favorite snacks was called Honey Three Knives. At that time, my family lived on the south street of the ancient city of Zhao County, and there was a grocery store at the north end of the street. On the counter of the grocery store were two altars of loose wine, a transparent glass jar, which looked like a fat doll lying on his stomach, and contained loose tea, white sand sugar and snacks such as honey three knives, fried red goods, fried white goods, and Beijing eight pieces. The golden and shiny color, soft and sweet honey three knives, you can still remember its taste decades later.
It is said that due to the complexity of the workmanship, this honey three knives have been missing for decades in the Zhao County market. A few days ago, a large shopping mall with great influence in the country settled in Zhao County, and I only ate honey three knives again. Honey three knives a pound of more than a dozen dollars, several times higher than the past price. Along with it in the store, there is also a kind of honey fruit (honey leaf), which is also a delicacy of childhood, and the two kinds of dim sum are sweet and sticky, one is crisp, and the taste is different but complements each other.
Honey three knives seem to be available all over the country, and Beijing regards it as an old Beijing snack. However, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, believes that Xuzhou is the birthplace of the honey three knives. It is said that the earliest originated from the Northern Song Dynasty here in Renzhi Prefecture Su Dongpo. In the Qing Dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor passed through Xuzhou under the south of the Jiangnan, and after eating the local honey three knives, LongYan Dayue wrote the imperial handwriting "Xuzhou is a must, King Ding Tribute". No, honey three knives have become a famous snack in Xuzhou.
Honey three knives have the characteristics of bright and non-stick pulp, sweet and soft taste, and strong sesame flavor. In China's traditional dim sum, there are many varieties of honey snacks. For example, I mentioned honey hemp leaves, honey three knives, fried honey fruits, fried red goods, etc. In fact, honey is not honey but what we often call caramel, which is made of grains such as barley that have been fermented and saccharified, which has the effect of tonifying the spleen, improving qi, relieving pain, moisturizing the lungs and relieving cough.
How exactly is the honey three knives made? My neighbor, Uncle Wang Yin, is a pastry chef. He can make a variety of dim sum such as Kyohachi, Honey Three Knives, and Tap Red, and his craftsmanship belongs to the family tradition. After graduating from high school, Wang Yin now apprenticed with his father to make various dim sum, and at that time, his father was a pastry chef in the pastry workshop of Zhao County Food Factory. His father would make a variety of styles of dim sum. Every new year, I make some at home for the New Year, and this tradition has been passed down to the present.
This weekend, I specially asked this rural Uncle Wang to do a honey three-knife on the spot. Uncle Wang prepared flour, maltose, white sesame seeds and granulated sugar in advance. He said that to make honey three knives, you need two kinds of noodles, one is puff pastry and the other is leather. To make puff pastry, use medium gluten flour, peanut oil, maltose, baking powder and water and noodles; for the leather, use medium gluten flour, peanut oil, white sesame seeds and water, and wake up for 20 minutes to make the good noodles.
Uncle Wang rolled the puff pastry into a thin layer; then rolled the skin into the same size as the puff pastry, brushed a layer of water on the puff pastry, and covered the skin. Next he rolled out with a rolling pin into thick slices of about 8 centimeters, cut off the irregularities, and became rectangular. Then cut the mahjong tile-sized squares.
Uncle Wang pointed to the small square on the board and said, "The side of the puff pastry is white, and you should cut three knives with a knife on the puff pastry, don't cut through." This is where the three knives come from." These small cubes are all poured into hot peanut oil to fry, fried until golden brown on both sides, and then drained with a colander.
After doing all this, he took another pot and boiled the water, sugar and white sesame seeds over low heat, turning off the heat when it foamed. At this time, put the fried cubes down to quickly put them into the honey pot and let them over, then pick them up and let them cool.
The finished honey three knives have the characteristics of bright and non-stick pulp, sweet and soft taste, and strong sesame flavor. As soon as I saw the honey three knives out of the pot, I and the others who were watching next to me all stretched out their hands in a chaotic manner, but they were stopped by Uncle Wang with a smile: "I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, I must wait for the honey three knives to cool and then eat, so that the taste is good." ”