This is the unique local snacks in Jiangnan in winter.

When I was young, I ran to the street after school. Of course, this was when I had some money in my pocket. Through the alley and over the bridge, you can smell the smell of fried stinky tofu. The manager of fried stinky tofu is a thin old man with white eyebrows and beard. He always picks a burden. The burden is actually a box made of wood. In front of the box, there are stinky tofu, soy sauce, Chili sauce and a stack of small plates, as well as a can bottle with several pairs of chopsticks. There is a small coal stove and a pot in the back box.

The old man always stands at the corner of the street and devotes himself to frying stinky tofu. I have never heard his shouts, but there are always many diners looking for fragrance and standing in a circle in front of his small burden. His stinky tofu is very distinctive. At first glance, it looks black and no different from other stinky tofu, but once it is put into the pot and then taken out of the pot, it becomes golden and delicious, coated with a layer of soy sauce or Chili sauce (his Chili sauce is homemade, bright red, spicy and comfortable), yellow, red and beautiful. Take a bite carefully (because it is very hot), the outside is yellow and the inside is white, the outside is crisp and the inside is tender, spicy and exciting. At this time, you are not eating but swallowing with your tongue rolling.

Old people always fry only a few pieces at a time, and fry several pieces to sell a few pieces, so people who wait are all eating, and others pay attention to each other. Most people who eat fried stinky tofu are women and children. It's really strange that women in the south of the Yangtze River don't eat spicy food, but they all become "spicy girls" when they get to this burden. They have to apply a thick layer of Chili sauce, and women don't care about being gentle at this time. They eat until their lips are red, tears are mixed, and hot sweat drops. The old man just kept saying: it's too spicy to stick, so don't eat too much. After all, he didn't stop it. Therefore, the elderly consume a bottle of Chili sauce every day.

At that time, my father gave me fifty cents a month, and at least half of the money was contributed to stinky tofu. A piece of stinky tofu costs a penny, and after eating one piece, the day can be quiet. Sometimes I don't plan to overspend, so I will refrain from running there for fear that hooks will grow in my eyes. However, at that time, as long as I accidentally slip to the old man's burden, the old man will always have an insight into everything, as if he found that there was no half penny in my pocket, and he would fry the most crisp and tender piece for me to eat with a smile. I'm sorry to eat for free. When my father sends me money next month, I'll return it to him immediately, and the old man will accept it, but I must fry an extra piece of stinky tofu for me.

It's been more than 20 years since I left that small town in the south of the Yangtze River, and I've never eaten such delicious fried stinky tofu (although I've eaten fried stinky tofu in other cities in the south of the Yangtze River, the taste always seems a little worse). It always appears in my dreams, along with the thin old man with white beard and eyebrows who doesn't even know his name.

Pork bone porridge

I've only eaten meat and bone porridge once.

It was a Sunday morning in winter in Jiangnan, and my thrifty aunt suddenly offered to take me to eat meat and bone porridge. I was flattered and followed her all the way, for fear that she would suddenly change her mind.

Go along Qingshiban Road, cross the bustling food market and turn into an alley. Far away, I saw a small shop floating with white fog, and I heard the sound of an iron spoon knocking on the edge of the pot. My aunt led me into the shop, which was already full. Everyone is sipping this meat and bone porridge, as if it is really delicious.

The proprietress led us into the inner kitchen and said apologetically, "Let's eat here." The proprietress is a 40-year-old woman with ear-length hair and meticulously pinned behind her ear with a black hairpin. I was afraid that my aunt would run away when she got cold feet, so I quickly made my own claim and said, "Yes, yes." As a result, my aunt got two dirty eyes. "Ok, a bowl of meat and bone porridge." The proprietress grabbed the big iron spoon with one hand and uncovered the big pot cover with the other. Suddenly, a heat wave swept through the smell of meat porridge. She stirred the pot with a big iron spoon and handed me a big bowl of porridge. This bowl of porridge is gray, the rice has not been cooked to its original shape, and the porridge surface is dotted with a few small pieces of meat and bones. I tasted it carefully, well, it was fragrant and sticky. You really don't need to "eat", just drink. I just stood by the big stove, holding a big bowl, and hula hula drank the meat and bone porridge for the first time in my life. Finally, I chewed up those bones like a puppy. That bowl of porridge cost my aunt 5 cents.

Later, my aunt told me that cooking meat and bones was very troublesome. First, the meat bones (bones connected with some meat) should be boiled for several hours, and then the new rice should be washed and put in before cooking. You can't cook the coke, the key is to master the heat, and slow down the fire. Finally, add salt and monosodium glutamate. Therefore, the average family does not make meat and bone porridge, which is time-consuming and laborious without drinking. She also warned me not to eat more meat and bone porridge in the street, because some bosses put the bones eaten by the guests back into the pot to save money. I don't know if what she said is true or not. Anyway, since then, I have never eaten meat and bone porridge again, not because I am afraid of being unsanitary, but because the money in my pocket is not enough to distribute.

However, I often go to that meat and bone porridge shop, mainly to see what they do with the finished bones. But the proprietress seems to understand my intention and always greets me with a smile: "Little girl, come and have a bowl." Then, I ran away.

Plain Noodle Soup

Yangchun noodles have a nice name and a noble appearance. In fact, it is the most popular pasta that the people in the south of the Yangtze River like to eat the cheapest and therefore the most refreshing. In "Morning in Shanghai", the capitalist Xu Yide, in order to escape the public-private partnership and pretend to be poor, asked the waiter to send lunch, which is the Yangchun noodle. It can be seen that Yangchun noodle belongs to the patent of the working masses. As for why you chose such a name as Yangchun Baixue, it may be the antonym, but I am sure that the person who took this name is by no means from Xialiba.

More than twenty years ago, my uncle's family seemed to like eating Yangchun noodles very much. Every Sunday, my uncle would definitely lead the whole family to the noodle restaurant in the town to eat Yangchun noodles. My two cousins are in high spirits, but I don't like them very much. There is nothing on Yangchun noodles except some chopped green onion. It is bare and tasteless. I don't want to eat the second bite after eating the first bite. Every time I can't finish a bowl of Yangchun noodles, I always remind my uncle by innuendo that it's better to eat wonton, at least it's meaty. But my uncle resolutely refused, saying that wonton is too expensive, and it is not eaten. For the same dime, Yangchun noodles are full, but wonton can only be stuffed. Uncle's teeth are so big. I don't like eating, but I have to accompany my uncle's family to eat every Sunday, because this is their festival, and they have been waiting for this day for six days. Everyone in that noodle restaurant in the town knows my uncle. Every time I come, I don't have to tell him, I will soon serve Yangchun noodles. Then, my uncle's family began to work hard and make a happy sound. Whenever this time, I look at the sunny face in front of me and pull a long face.

Lu Wenfu specifically mentioned Yangchun noodles in The Gourmet, saying that the first pot of Yangchun noodles was the freshest and most delicious, so many people hurried to eat soup. I don't think my uncles eat this kind of noodle. But anyway, I have no interest in Yangchun noodles, and my appetite fell as early as twenty years ago.

Light cake

Light cake is a snack in Fuzhou. It is said that he came in memory of Qi Jiguang. In short, he has a certain relationship with this national hero.

When I was young, I always liked to stand in front of the tall barrel stove and watch the master make light cakes. There are masters who make light cakes everywhere. A chopping board and a stove are all props. The light cake master rolled up his sleeves high, smashed the dough with alkaline water and salt water, then divided it into one dose, patted it left and right with his hand, and a small round cake came out. Then he poked a small hole in the middle with a bamboo stick and stuck it on the inner wall of the barrel furnace. Wait, soon, the fragrance floated out of the furnace. It's estimated that it's almost time, and the light cake master used a small shovel to shovel it neatly, and the brown light cake jumped out.

This light cake is hard and yellow, and it's hard to bite. Without good teeth and tenacious fighting spirit, it can't cope with it, but once it's in the mouth, it's more fragrant and more fragrant, and it always wants to take away the second one. Light cakes are chewy and storable. It is no problem to leave them for ten and a half months. They are tenacious and have a strong national spirit. Perhaps this is the relationship between them and Qi Jiguang. Light cakes are very cheap, a penny. At that time, I often patronized the light cake stove, bought one or two pieces, and chewed all the way to school.

In winter, the light cake master is happier, keeping the stove warm, but in summer, he is bitter, shirtless or sweating, and sweat drips on the stove. I dare not buy it, because there must be hard-working sweat of the pastry chef in it.

Some time ago, I mentioned light cakes in Fujian's "hometown", and they all said that it was delicious and good for teeth. Chewing regularly was definitely better than "white arrow" and "green arrow". But I don't know if there is any now. I haven't eaten it for years. Hopefully, this light cake stove can still be seen on a street corner in Fuzhou.

Taro fruit

Taro fruit is one of the breakfasts in Fuzhou, also known as triangle cake. It is said that areca taro is cooked, peeled and ground into paste, and then mixed with rice flour and kneaded. Then, cut it into triangular shapes, fry it in an oil pan until both sides are brown, and take it out of the pan. When eating, wrap the lower end of taro fruit with a piece of paper (because it is very oily), take a bite from a corner, the outer coke is tender inside (the inner color is gray), and there is a fragrant smell of taro. Well, it tastes great.

Taro-fried stalls are also everywhere. Every morning, you can see stalls set up in the streets and lanes, full of smoke and fragrance. People who buy taro are holding bowls or carrying small bamboo baskets, waiting for taro to come out of the pot. Often fry a pot and buy a pot. But some of them can't buy the rest. It doesn't matter if they are put aside for an hour or two. They still taste delicious. Unlike fried dough sticks, they soon became chewy old dough sticks after landing. Therefore, the stall owners who sell taro fruits are very complacent. Sometimes it's 90 o'clock in the morning, and they haven't closed their stalls yet, slowly guarding a few pieces of taro fruits that have not been sold. They know that there are always hungry people who will find incense and go away.

Fuzhou citizens usually solve the breakfast problem with a bowl of pot paste and a taro fruit, which is delicious and practical. After eating, they go to work with a full stomach. This revolution is too energetic to say.

Guobianhu

Once I chatted with my colleagues in the office, I said that the pot-side paste in Fuzhou was delicious. They asked in unison: What is pot paste? These guys who eat invincible hands all over the world on weekdays have something they don't know. I proudly began to introduce Fuzhou snacks-pot paste to them.

Pot-side paste is found in many places in Fuzhou and even Fujian, but I have never seen it in other places. The reason why it is not produced may be that there is no condiment called "shrimp oil" in other places, and pot-side paste will not become pot-side paste without shrimp oil.

The making of pot paste is very complicated. First, the rice should be washed and soaked for several hours, and then ground into paste for later use. Take a big pot, cook a pot of soup, add shrimp, dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, onions, garlic and celery to the soup, and finally add a few spoonfuls of essential shrimp oil, and this thick soup is made. This is not over yet, the first step of the long March. Pour out the soup and put it in another container. When the water is boiled to 70% heat, spread peanut oil evenly on the side of the pot, then pour a bowl of rice paste around the pot and cover it. After three minutes, when the rice slurry at the side of the pot rolls up, shovel it into the clear water with a spatula, then add the clear water, and repeat the above behavior. When the last pouring is finished for the fourth time, add a thick soup and add auxiliary seasonings such as shrimp oil as appropriate. After cooking, put it in another pot and keep the temperature with low heat for sale.

In short, this is a cyclical process, and it can't be done without patience. Therefore, ordinary families don't make pot-side paste, so they go to the street to buy it if they want to eat it. All the restaurants and stalls in the streets and lanes of Fuzhou are bought, and they are very cheap. The paste on the side of the pot has a special taste and a strong seafood flavor. Every piece of rice paste is rolled, white, like a tube of green onion, which is very refreshing. It is accompanied by yellow shrimp, dried mushrooms, black mushrooms and green onions and garlic. The color is bright and appetizing.

Hearing this, my colleagues' throats moved. Then discuss, when you can go to Fujian on business, you must try this pot paste. I added that in Fujian, pot paste is used as a snack for breakfast and after-dinner, and it is not regarded as a dinner. Perhaps it is because it is not full. Think of the local snacks that are single and sweet, and everyone says: the people of Fujian are really happy.

Yes, the people in Fujian are really happy.

wonton

I think there are probably no snacks as popular and diverse as wonton. Wonton is called flat meat in Fujian; In Sichuan, it is called wonton soup; It is called Wonton in Guangxi, Yunnan; Only in Jiangnan is it called wonton.

The content is similar, but the form is somewhat different. Fujian's wonton pays attention to freshness, and adding shrimp oil is a major feature. When I was a child, I was always paid by my mother who liked wonton to buy wonton. When I bought it, I bought experience. I know that the wonton on the street is too strong, so I have to fill it with boiling water after eating. The wonton at the end of the street tastes good, but the skin is not meat; The best one is the "wild" shop across a few blocks. It's called wild because it doesn't open when it opens, as if it's all up to the owner's interest. The wonton in this family is the most authentic. Each wonton is white and transparent, with a little red meat filling looming in the middle and a few chopped green onion, just like a pool of white lotus in autumn water. Wonton in Fujian is generally frugal. A small wooden stick is put on the minced meat and then turned on the skin of the wonton, and a wonton is finished. Often, a plate of minced meat can handle the wonton to be sold in one day. Wonton eaters are usually girls. They can slowly tilt their orchid fingers and carefully scoop up the wonton with a small spoon and send it to a small cherry mouth, regardless of gains and losses. Therefore, compared with other snacks, Fujian wonton is more feminine.

Sichuan wonton, on the other hand, is distinctive and masculine. First of all, there is no soup, and the second is that it is too spicy to forget. That year, I went to Chengdu for research and specially visited "Chaoshou". Who knows that a few dry and solid jiaozi-shaped wonton were served, and a layer of red pepper oil was poured on it. With my knowledge of spicy food, I struggled to swallow this bowl of "Chaoshou". As a result, I can't remember whether it has any other flavor except spicy.

In Jiangnan area, wonton is the most common snack. There are two kinds of wonton here: big wonton and small wonton. There are many fillings in the big wonton, including fresh meat and vegetables, but it is not as thick as jiaozi in the north. Jiangnan people always refuse to make jiaozi style as northerners do, and they always want to keep the tradition of wonton, even if it is bigger, the true colors of Xiaojiabiyu will remain unchanged. Jiangnan Big Wonton is an enlarged small Wonton, which looks like a nun's hat and has plenty of soup, so most people will feel full after eating a bowl.

Authentic Jiangnan small wonton is the most Jiangnan cultural flavor. The skin is exquisite, and you can see the pattern in the bowl when you stick it to it. It is really as thin as cicadas. The meat should be lean, handled delicately and without residue. After burning the wonton, the skin is crystal clear and stretched, "white inside and red, different", like a beautiful white butterfly. At this time, the attention will not be eating. However, there are not many such small wonton now, and the people who cook and eat seem to have lost this delicate mood. Instead, there are all kinds of popular wonton all over the street. Simply wrap it, and when you are finished, don't even roll the skin, buy ready-made ones.

When I was studying in the north, I missed wonton (from Jiangnan, Fujian) and gnashed my teeth. The students in the north disagreed and said, what's delicious about that? Clear soup and scanty water are not as good as our northern jiaozi.

Yes, to be realistic, eat northern jiaozi; If you want to be slim, eat Jiangnan wonton.

Lamb Kebabs

It's strange that I never eat mutton, but I always accept mutton kebabs.

The first time I ate mutton kebabs was in Beijing. On that day, I came out from the Beijing Library and turned to the vicinity of Baishiqiao, where there was a restaurant and snack stall. First, I bought the imitation food Wowotou, and I ate sour water. After complaining about how the appetite of Empress Dowager Cixi was so easy to deal with, I stood in front of the stall of kebabs. I didn't want to eat it, but I was really attracted by the smell of fragrant smell.

My classmate is also a southerner and doesn't eat mutton, but I admire his spirit of dare to think and do. He bought three strings first, and then said, "I'll eat first." He carefully took a bite, rolled his eyes, and then accelerated the frequency. I stared at his upturned mouth and asked, "Hey, don't worry about eating, is it delicious?" He ate three strings in one gulp, then touched his stomach and said with satisfaction, "It's silly not to eat." Pay out your money quickly and grab a handful in each hand. This string of bites, that string of bites, is really delicious, fat but not greasy, full of burnt fragrance, and there is a unique, unspeakable strange smell (later I heard from my classmates in Xinjiang that it is the smell of cumin). We just eat while walking, eat it, and buy it on the spot. Anyway, there are mutton skewers everywhere. Even if we are full, we will smell like sheep. We can't eat any more. If we eat any more, we will become grassland herders.

I thought that mutton kebabs were so delicious, but my classmates in Xinjiang said: What kind of mutton kebabs is that? What is really delicious is the mutton kebabs in Xinjiang, which is the hometown of mutton kebabs. For the first time, I was so envious of Xinjiang people that I really felt that Xinjiang was a good place.

We don't have a chance to go to Xinjiang either, so let's treat Beijing kebabs as Xinjiang's.

After returning to the south, I have seen mutton kebabs, but they are not only small in appearance but also completely different in taste. If the mutton kebabs in Beijing are imitation famous brands, then the mutton kebabs in the south are fake and shoddy. There are exceptions. On a business trip to Nanjing, I found a long-lost mutton string in Xinjiekou. The taste and appearance are the same as those in Beijing. Once again, I stood in the street of Nanjing and chewed without regard to politeness. As long as you go to Nanjing in the future, you must try your best to sneak into Xinjiekou to have fun.

But I am always unwilling, and I always encourage the boss when I have nothing to do: "Let's also go to Urumqi to open a readers' and authors' association?"

Pita Bread Soaked in Lamb Soup

With the bottom of mutton kebabs, it seems that you have the courage to go to Xi' an to eat mutton buns.

I have seen the heroic Terracotta Warriors and Horses, touched Yang Guifei's bath pool, evaded the pursuit of small business vendors, eaten strawberries just picked in the fields, and of course climbed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the ancient clock tower. Next, it was time to taste snacks in Xi 'an.

The most representative snacks in Xi 'an are Chinese hamburger and mutton bread in soup. However, I didn't even look at the meat loaf. A big piece of fat meat was stuffed in a big cake, and the fat was dripping. Although the owner of the meat loaf said how delicious it was, I just couldn't eat it. Not afraid of being fat, but not eating fat since childhood. Chinese hamburger is given up, but mutton buns must be eaten.

So I went to find it. Wandering around Gu Lou, I got tired and sat down at a small stall. After sitting down, I found that an old man opposite was absorbed in his work: breaking a hard steamed bread into granules. He broke off slowly and intently, and the powder that fell was stuck in his mouth with his little finger. What is he doing? Is it a bad mouth? Just thinking about it, I saw the old man pour the broken products into a sea bowl full of thick soup, and the bowl of thick soup suddenly turned into a bowl of paste. The old man finished the bowl of paste with relish, stood up, wiped the residue on his beard, made a loud satiation, and his face was full of happiness. Suddenly I seemed to understand something, so I quickly found a buddy and asked, "What is that?" "Mutton paomo." God, this muddled thing is the famous mutton bread in soup? When I was young, I hated putting steamed bread in soup. It was too soft to reach, and it was tasteless to taste. No matter how delicious steamed bread was, no matter how delicious soup was, it was muddy.

Therefore, it is a pity that the biggest gain in Xi 'an is to buy a bunch of folk handicrafts, but when eating, it is a blank.

After reading the Shaanxi snacks written by Jia Pingwa, I spent a lot of pen and ink to describe the wonderful mutton bread in soup, but I was still not provoked to drool by him. This is rare in the history of reading books about eating.

North Korea cold noodles with sesame sauce

When I first arrived in the northeast, I was surprised to see authentic Koreans and Korean characters for the first time. Later, when I read too much, I was not surprised. Then I began to ponder how to deeply understand Korean national culture, for example, their food culture, more specifically, how to eat all the Korean snack bars around the school.

So, I first went to the kimchi stall to make a reconnaissance, befriended the Korean grandmother who bought kimchi, and asked, "What does Dao Laji mean?" The Korean old lady is really as kind as the old lady in Surprise. She not only patiently answered my questions about kindergarten level, but also recommended me to buy the representative work of kimchi-Platycodon grandiflorum. After tasting platycodon grandiflorum, I have confidence in Korean snacks.

On that day, it was MINUS18, and it was already a gray and white world outside the house. When you come out of the bathhouse, your hair will soon freeze into a firewood stick. I don't feel cold, just thirsty. I looked everywhere for places with water, and later I found that the cover of "Korean cold noodles" was fluttering in the wind. Cold noodles? Just to quench my thirst. Plunging into it, it was already weddings, and everyone was carrying a sea bowl to fill their stomachs with cold noodles, which was very comfortable. So I also asked for a bowl. When it was served, I felt as if something was wrong. The bright red noodle soup is quiet, and noodles are of course lurking at the bottom of the soup, but this soup seems to have just come out of the tap water, and it smells of bleach. Doubt turns to doubt. I'm really thirsty. I'll drink it, willy-nilly. As a result, my thirst was relieved, but all the residual temperature in my body was taken away. Running all the way back to the dormitory, covering the hot water bottle and pouring boiling water, it took a long time to melt the ice lump in the stomach.

I made a fatal mistake. Northeasters and southerners are different from each other. They can eat frozen pears and popsicles in the ice and snow, because they have a strong stomach that has been exercised since childhood. So they can eat cold noodles wrapped in big cotton-padded jackets, and I can only wear short sleeves.

However, I still don't have the courage to taste Korean cold noodles anymore. Even at the thought of these four words, my stomach began to chill.

I don't blame North Korean cold noodles, but myself.

Red-Cooked Chicken, Daokou Style

I am ashamed to say that I have been studying abroad for several years, and most of my attention is spent on eating. The reasons are as follows: firstly, the boring meals in the school canteen often make them hungry; Second, it is caused by nature. "Food is the most important thing for the people", and myself is no exception.

So, shortly after I arrived in Changchun, I found out that "Daokou Roast Chicken" was quite distinctive, and I was busy visiting it in person. Sure enough, the roast chicken in the window is fat, tender, Huang Cancan and hot, with a charming aroma, and the people who buy it are lined up, which further confirms that the roast chicken deserves its reputation. In the next three years, as long as there was some money left in my wallet, I rushed to the roast chicken shop and bought half if I couldn't afford the whole one. Buy chicken chop suey (chicken liver, chicken eggs, etc., which are cheap and delicious, and are the favorite things of poor students) if you can't afford half one. The joy of walking with a small bag of roast chicken is beyond words, only how wonderful it is to live at that moment. At this time, if you attack the reading barrier, no matter how thick the "brick" is, you can "chew" it down without any difficulty. This is the power of "crossing roast chicken". Sometimes, people's appetite is much more important than their brains. In other words, even the material can sometimes overcome the spirit rudely.

Every time the female compatriots in the dormitory celebrate their birthdays, they will buy a "crossing roast chicken" for everyone without exception. After the chicken is on the table, often before the plastic bag is opened, everyone has already picked up the guy and is eager to try. The delicious, hot roast chicken was tender and slag-free, even the bones were crisp, and a piece of chicken slipped into the stomach before it could stay on the tongue. At this time, there are often brothers and sisters who find the fragrance and come uninvited. When they say "Happy Birthday", they sit down and munch. At that time, brothers and sisters were asked to do things, or vice versa, and they begged us to do things, all of which were uncompromising: a roast chicken at the crossing.

The three years in Changchun can be said to be spent with the fragrance of "Daokou Roast Chicken". Although we can't eat it often, the fragrance that comes from a roast chicken shop not far from school every day makes our reading life interesting. )

When I was about to graduate, someone told me that there was a pie shop specializing in meat pie, which was too good to mention. Unfortunately, there is no chance. Otherwise, there will be another delicious food for me to enjoy.