Ballad

The cake is two feet in diameter, round and thick like a pot cover. Shaanxi calls cakes Guo kui, which is crisp inside and crisp outside and easy to carry.

Explanation

Speaking of this second monster, it has a long history. Legend has it that in the pre-Qin period, when Qin Jun unified the six countries and fought everywhere, the dry food carried by the soldiers in the army was easy to become moldy and palatable, so it could be carried for a long time. In Guanzhong area, Shaanxi Province, the pot used to make the helmet is not an ordinary small pot, but a large pot used to cook meals for more than a dozen people. The diameter of this pot is about seventy or eighty centimeters, and the lid used on this pot is also raised, so the branded helmet is as big as the lid and looks like it.

Guo kui is well-made and is known as "dry, crisp, white and fragrant" in Xifu. The pot used to make the helmet must be a large pot made of pig iron, and the flour used to make the helmet must be flour ground from the best wheat after the harvest of that year. After fermentation, the flour will wake up. Then, through the master's kneading, throwing, pinching, patting, twisting, pressing, rolling and other techniques, the noodles are mixed very evenly. At this time, the master picked up a rolling pin the size of a duck egg and slowly rolled the dough into a pie.

So it's time to start cooking buns in the next process. This is the most important process, because the temperature determines the color and texture of the pot helmet. Most people don't know the temperature well when cooking, either they are undercooked or they are burnt. The materials used for the fire are generally very particular, and the authentic pot helmet uses the best wheat straw of the year. Nowadays, most people use coal, liquefied gas and even induction cookers for cooking, so it is difficult to have the pure taste of wheat again.

There are sincere wishes for foreign grandchildren! Another function of Guo Kui is that the grandmother in Guanzhong area gives gifts to her grandson for the full moon. When children in Guanzhong area have a full moon, grandma will carefully make a small pot helmet for her grandson, and then tie the money with white thread, pass through the hole in the middle and hang it around her neck.

The cooking of the pot helmet is done by a master with many years' experience. The techniques are as follows: "One turn, two turns, three twists", that is, the pot helmet keeps turning in the pot; Double flipping means flipping one side and then flipping the other side; Three scratches. Just scratch the helmet when it is cooked and listen to the movement. If it makes a crisp sound with white marks on it, it will be fine, otherwise it will not be cooked. When it is almost time to cook, sprinkle fresh sesame seeds, and then you can cook. After the pot, the yellow inside is burnt, the burnt inside is yellow, the bite is crisp, and the taste is sweet, which deserves the reputation of the top ten monsters.

Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, Guo Kui has set up post offices in many places in Xi 'an. Foreign merchants come from east to west, north to south, and Guo Kui, as a merchant carrying dry food, has gone far away. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, pot helmets have been sold all over the county, including Zhang Cong and Liu Youxue in Guangxu period; Xing nerd, Zhao Gan and Zhang Guangshan in the Republic of China; Since liberation, Pang Tianhong and Xi Jinyou are all experts in this trip.

Another function of Guo Kui is that grandma in Guanzhong area gives gifts to her grandson for the full moon. When children in Guanzhong area have a full moon, grandma will carefully make a small pot helmet for her grandson, and then tie the money with white thread, pass through the hole in the middle and hang it around her neck. There are the most sincere wishes for foreign grandchildren!