"Bianjing is rich in the world." It's about Kaifeng, the Seven Dynasties. It used to be said that "the past cannot be traced", but people who are good at food always like to look for clues in eating, drinking and having fun. Since ancient times, the imperial capital has been the hometown of food. Think about it, the emperor is never tired of eating. Every time he eats, he has to have 180 dishes. At the same time, it has gradually formed a food culture. After thousands of years of soaking, the taste is longer.
In the Qing Dynasty, Cixi tasted the "bean paste" brewed by monks on the way to escape from Suoguo Temple in Kaifeng, which was actually delicious on earth. In the following years, it became one of the tributes selected in Kaifeng, Beijing.
With the changes of the times and dynasties, the chefs and secret recipes of the Shen Gong High Court have been circulated among the people, adding to the delicious charm of the capital of song dynasty. The Gulou night market, which has a history of more than 400 years, has the most snacks. Every day, as soon as it gets dark, there are already many stalls on both sides of the road at the Gulou Night Market in Madao Street. Each booth is hung with its own signboard, including Majia fried bean jelly, Caoji fried cold rice noodles, all kinds of red sesame cakes, fried cakes, leeks, spiced rabbit meat, Lamian Noodles, Hui noodles, rice noodles, rice skin, mutton and beef.
Stir-fried bean jelly is slightly spicy, with diced garlic, Chinese pepper and other seasonings. It is golden and shiny when fried, and tastes smooth and delicious, especially the burnt skin at the bottom of the pot. On a cold winter night, eating a bowl is like the warmth of winter; All kinds of noodles are normal, but with homemade halogen, the taste is very different, and it will be full of fragrance immediately; Many kebabs in Kaifeng are from Xinjiang, so they taste authentic. Pick a booth and tell me at once whether you want fat or thin mutton and kidneys.
Many snacks have a long history and there are many stories in the middle. Besides, spiced rabbit meat. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance went to Beijing, and Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi took refuge in xi 'an. On my way back to Beijing, I stopped at Kaifeng. At that time, the governor of Henan specially invited Changchun Xuan to cook spiced rabbit meat for the emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi. After the Empress Dowager Cixi tasted it, she greatly appreciated it. When he left, he also ordered to bring it back to Beijing for court officials to taste. Since then, Changchun Xuan Game Store has become famous. Of course, the specific method is also unambiguous. Rabbits weighing about 65438±0.5kg were cut open, peeled and eviscerated, air-dried for more than seven days, and soaked in cold water. Then chop it up, blanch it in boiling water, wash it, and put it into the pot in layers. Leave a round hole in the middle, then mix pepper, star anise, fennel, Amomum villosum, dried fruit, cardamom, clove, crystal sugar, soy sauce and white sugar in proportion, put them in the round hole, put them in the broth, cook for one hour with strong fire, and then cook for one hour with slow fire. Eating air-dried spiced rabbit meat, I feel that the meat here is particularly beautiful, and the rabbits in this family are especially to be killed.
More folk snacks are handed down from generation to generation. When I was a child, I didn't like fish, but I had a soft spot for braised fish. Stir-fried small crucian carp, supplemented by several kinds of aniseed, stewed in brine soup. The fish is delicious, the soup is delicious, and there is white and fat garlic floating on it, which is memorable. Among the many food stalls in Kaifeng, Shentong, a self-employed person in Shunhe, is the most famous one, and Shen En's family has been engaged in braised fish for three generations. After the business resumed in the 1980s, the flavor characteristics remained unchanged, and many friends from this city and other places often made a special trip to taste it.
In my memory, there is also a pea cake, which I have never found. It tastes sweet with peas and sweet with persimmons, but it is not greasy. Now I have to flip my mouth when I think about it. There are also peanut cakes, which are available in many cities, but only hand-made in Kaifeng can be so crisp and delicious. Perhaps Kaifeng is rich in peanuts, and the charm of the ancient city is good at such painstaking production to make this delicious food!
Looking back now, it seems that the lips and teeth are fragrant. When can I eat such delicious snacks again? Meeting each other makes me miss it even more.
BTW: In a magazine. I'll send it to you to see if it's ok.