Pea yellow is expensive in the "yellow" sound

"The master is in the folk", this saying has been tested countless times and is true. Pea yellow, very popular and has become a very shining Beijing food in many snack cities in Beijing today; it can be recommended to all parts of the country in various forms of packaging, and the traditional diet of the old Beijing flavor is so charming?

Pea yellow has long bid farewell to the former gold and nobility. A delicate sweet sand and meticulously crafted food that Cixi Lafayette had carefully admired has now been submerged in the temptation of countless new and old Beijing foods.

The worship of heroes in childhood should be a benign inheritance with genes buried deep in the bones. From time to time, legendary heroes are used as a steel memory, and perhaps pea yellow as a street food has influenced and scratched many "blank pieces" of the generation.

The old-fashioned details of the story about Cixi trying to eat pea yellow

The ancient capital of Beijing. The unique background, from here out of the "imperial food" and "imperial saying", there is often no longer a resistance. It seems to be true and false, and there is no painstaking explanation of Bala. Domineering – it has always been so.

It is said that at the turn of spring and summer more than a hundred years ago, Empress Dowager Cixi was lucky enough to visit Beihai Park. Of course, at that time, this garden was not a place where everyone could enter. The old lady finished wandering around the big garden, and then sat down and rested in the "meditation fast" in the garden in the garden.

It was also in this little garden that pea yellow, which sat firmly in the position of royal food, was born wonderfully.

If you don't come early or late, you will rush to the time when you are about to open your meal, and there is movement outside the high wall of the "Meditation Fast". The sound of several loud voices shouting and a few small gongs actually alarmed the curious nerves of which Child Cixi. The next people, frightened atmosphere did not dare to come out.

Fortunately, at this time, Lafayette did not shrug his face happily: "What is the noise outside here?" "Back to Lafayette, this is a shoulder pick vendor selling pea yellow and kidney bean rolls on the street." ”

In accordance with Lafayette's orders, Xiao Dan was searched first, and then the people called and led them into the small garden of meditation. See the Empress Dowager? The peddler was afraid to lose his head, "poof", and one knelt down. After waking up, I realized the meaning of Old Cixi's inquiry, and I was busy holding pea yellow and kidney bean rolls in both hands. "Please enjoy the light of Lafayette." The peddler's voice trembled.

Without thinking, a little pea yellow and kidney bean rolls "sipped" into her mouth, and Cixi had a pleasant face. "Stay!" This is considered to be directly approved by the organization. The hawkers entered the imperial dining room, put on the imperial dining clothes, and worked on the production of two varieties that had just evolved into "imperial food".

From the folk streets to the imperial city gates, and from the imperial city "devolved" to the folk, the life of pea yellow is repeatedly transformed in this way. Disputes with other resources in other towns have nothing to do with each other. There is no one, only one.

I have a doubt. Beihai Park, as a former royal garden, has always been surrounded by high walls; even, some of the old wall lots are still attached to this day. With such a towering, thick and solid wall, how could the sound outside be suddenly captured by Old Cixi's "old ears"?

Fabricated stories, oral legends, additional imperial gossip? It's possible. One more piece, one less piece, no one cares.

In fact, to confirm more accurately, the pea yellow burden, as early as the Ming Dynasty in the streets of the capital city, there was a cruise, but there was no "childcare", no way to go in to serve the Zhu family dynasty, and it was also hanging around the edge of the Forbidden City.

Beijing's pea yellow is divided into fine and rough crops

Forgot to emphasize, pea yellow, in the name of the capital, must have a "child" voice. One appears pure, which is unique to Beijing; the other is to make people understand that "Huang'er" is the core of the pea yellow characteristics; the third is kind, and the call is so soft.

There is a book in the capital of the Qing Dynasty, "Hundred Songs of Food in the Ancient Capital", which has a poem cloud: "Food has always belonged to Yanjing, and pea Huang'er has long been famous." The red dates are embedded in gold shavings, and ten pieces of text are bought for Huang Qiong. ”

hehe! "Er" is the name of the hundreds of years. There is another key word: Huang Qiong. Yellow color jade: the price is very expensive, the color is marked, and the fat is like beautiful jade.

Pea Huanggui is a traditional snack in Beijing. Originally, between spring and summer, there were always picks on the street with "pea yellow er! - Big! "Shout, the chic sound of a small brass gong with a rhythm.

Now it is good, all year round, season time, there is no shortage of pea yellow sales and buying. Preservation, antiseptic, packaging, refrigeration, handmade, mechanized production, do not worry about you can not buy, afraid that you will not be able to buy well.

There are two ways to make pea yellow in Beijing.

One is exquisite fine works: it refers specifically to the classic court "imperial food" made of imitation meals in Beihai Park. High cost, large consumption, shape cream, delicate feeling. For example: Huang Qiong. Suitable for cocktail parties and banquets, entertaining VIPs.

One is the daily rough work: it refers to the rough pea yellow sold by the original street vendors. Now sold in snack bars, supermarkets, and small restaurants, unless otherwise indicated, are of this category. The cost is slightly lower, the production is slightly simpler, and the consumption is slightly smaller. Color, form, and tenderness are not on the same level as the "court school".

Delicacy is a modification of roughness. Originally, the folk tradition was simple to say: soak peas, boil pea, flatten the plate, and let it cool and cut into pieces. In short: raw peas - cooked peas - stir-fried with sugar - crushed - into cake pieces.

The meticulous method is also simple, remove the rough residue of its pea syrup and take its essence. Before boiling, remove its skin; after boiling, use a fine grate. One more process can retain the most delicate slurry. The other part is not in the finished product. This ensures that "pea yellow" is just like "yellow qiong".

There is also a distinction, the folk pea yellow body has a red date inlay, and when it enters the palace, the mixing of dates is removed, leaving the purest and most delicate pea kernel alone.

To add another statement, fine pea yellow is stable and enhances the lubrication of the finished product, and is boiled with an appropriate proportion of agar during heating.

The ancient heroes that flashed around were also engraved in them?

I have a few buddies around me who are still "guarding" the city's large courtyard. There was a Dou brother who was repeatedly concerned by me because of my interest. You must ask: Why? Brother Dou talked to me about his story about "pea yellow" with his old family.

A slender figure appeared at the mouth of the alley. Carrying a few round cages on his shoulders, he knocked on a small copper gong in his hand. Watching the children all run over, the vendor placed the cage on the stone steps. The round cage containing pea yellow is tightened with brass nails; the three-layer cage drawer bites up and down tightly and seamlessly; the bottom layer is crossed by a copper strip, and the sides are fixed with good beef tendons - this is the pick that sells pea yellow.

Look inside the cage again: large pieces of pea yellow, sold in pieces. What I'm most interested in is not these, but the semi-finished products spread out together. Pea yellow with sugar and clumps, can eat is not a piece. There are also all kinds of molds and knives, which are the guys who "hook the soul".

I surrounded the pea uncle, and I gave my hospitality to touch the little gong: fingers playing, listening to the sound. Carry your feet and ask what is the flower work of today's pea yellow?

Later, I became acquainted and knew that the pea seller's surname was Chen, and his craft was passed down from generation to generation. The pea yellow made by his elders was even eaten by my grandfather's generation. I wonder if it's bragging? Uncle Chen dared to say that his grandfather's craftsmanship had served Lafayette in the late Qing Dynasty.

I whispered, "Is there a new Water Margin?" "Yes!" Uncle Chen responded. "Have a few molds to do a few!" I immediately got excited. Since childhood, I like "Water Margin", which is related to my grandfather flipping through idle books together. From my grandfather's mouth, I knew Song Jiang's wit and forbearance, understood Wu Song's kung fu invincibility, and admired Lu Zhishen's incomparable strength.

The semi-finished product of the pea yellow stalled together came in handy. Only to see Uncle Chen clean his hands first, use a white drawer cloth to hold up the material that only accommodates one mold, and stuff it into the mold. Press it with your hand, scrape it flat with a ruler board, and out of it is the lifelike Water Margin hero.

A total of ten water margin character molds, without much effort, were lined up in a row. The scene production, so good that several little girls looked dumbfounded.

They begged Uncle Chen, can they make flowers? Only to see Uncle Chen: take a piece of pea yellow pinch bar pinch it, and then use a knife to carve, cut a few flower looks. Peonies are graceful and luxurious; roses are exquisite and small; magnolias are self-assured and tall. All these things seem to be clearly explained with a skeleton knife.

The little fat boy in the courtyard was good at fighting, and begged Uncle Chen to carve a few guns. Uncle Chen's knife was fast, and the short gun seat cannon became a look together, and the little fat child slapped the little slap directly.

In the end, it was up to Brother Dou to nag himself. Find a few plates, load these ten "water margins", how to see how to authentic. That's love! I'm afraid of bumping into it. But pea yellow is eaten after all! I can't let it go for long. The old man said that he could only leave it for seven or eight days. I always put it in my mouth when I couldn't put it any longer. I still have to read in my heart, I can't stand the heroes!

This festival is eating pea yellow

Just like tangyuan and zongzi, want to celebrate? Okay, let's eat every day. Pea yellow, too. Whether it is a snack or a supermarket, a small package or no package, you can do whatever you want.

Originally, the night market with quite formal clothes was the first few people in the row of pea yellow. Because of this, there is a sign of Cixi; also because of it, there are also pea yellow seats in the cold food thirteen; and because of this, this thing melts as soon as it enters the mouth, and no one says that it is unhealthy to eat?

Pea yellow is han min's old food. Nowadays, the longest-lived halal chain snack bar sells old Beijing-style snacks really hot; buy boxes of fresh pea yellow, and that's it! Somewhere else? You go too.

Visiting the temple fair and eating pea yellow is also a kind of fun. It's like holding a kebab in your hand, like dangling a bunch of sugar gourds; then a plate of fried enemas and a small bowl of lamb broth. In short, if you don't eat a bite of the temple stall, you will feel that you have been wronged! The little ones on the side are screaming, do you really mean not to pay money?

Pea yellow is also a homesickness borrowed from it. Those who are wandering overseas must imagine a food as a reminder of their origins every festive season. Whether it is mixed well or in general, the nostalgia for the homeland is always the constant theme.

The following is an essay written by a Beijing-based Taiwanese veteran in the 1990s, "Impressions on Pea Yellow.". For the benefit of the reader, the excerpt is as follows.

Pea yellow, freshly baked. The color is yellow and clear, like a new green duck's head, and the willow tip is tender and golden. The white porcelain plate, stacked into a pyramid shape, is very reminiscent of a girl who has just come out of the bath - fresh without a trace of dust.

I carefully picked up a piece and put it in my mouth. Use your tongue to take a sip and melt it. The sand is sweet and sweet, rich and beany, the aftertaste is long and long, just like a hint of cool comfort, straight to the hometown of the dream that has been dreamed of.

Suddenly, I was like an empowerment. Finally know: why did Pea Yellow receive the grace of Lafayette, who tasted the world's delicious taste? Obsessed with a summer lunch break, waiting for the dappled sun shadow under the canopy of the courtyard, he brewed a pot of jasmine tea, tasted a few pea yellows that he thought about day and night, and froze in the residual candle shadows of those "not tired of eating and not tired of being fine" in the Qing court.

That scene is just like "stealing half a day's leisure, can reach ten years of dust dreams" - Beijing, your son came back from across the strait to see you and worship you!

So-called:

Soak in a boiling sieve filter,

There is no difference between rebirth and rebirth.

The partition wall has ears to attract food,

Greasy and creamy Sai Huang Qiong.

It is said that young people worship heroes,

Zheng skeletonized water margin hundred battle achievements.

Remotely pointing to the courtyard sunset,

Up close look at the flower tea with peas.

Text/Liu Hui (Wen Jun)