Guangdong people's rivers and lakes, half in the big file.

As a foodie who often walks through the streets looking for delicious food, friends from other places always ask me where Guangzhou is the most authentic and delicious. Without exception, I will take them to one place-big-name stalls.

it's best to choose an open-air stall that looks a little messy on a hot night, with a big round table, plastic stools, a big fan and a group of old people wearing shorts and flip-flops.

Stop it. Signs are all X-notes and old X-style routines. It's very noisy around. Guys will ignore you if you don't order loudly.

salt and pepper shrimp, stir-fried vegetables with shrimp sauce, stir-fried snails ... and a bottle of beer, sweating and blowing a cool breeze. Yes, this is the right place.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Cantonese people don't have big-name stalls in summer, they are no different from salted fish. I went to a big-name stall to know what it means to be like a duck to water.

The Jianghu atmosphere of midnight snack comes second in Guangdong, and nothing else dares to say first. If you want to get in touch with the most authentic nightlife in Guangdong, you must go to a big-name stall. If you don't come to the big-name stalls, you don't even know what the true nature of Cantonese people is.

Whether the big brand file with iron skin and bronze bones

is a "food stall" or a "big brand file" is now controversial. But in the beginning, this kind of stall form originated from Hong Kong. According to historical records, it is more accurate to call it "big-name stalls". When it was spread to the mainland, the generalized usage took the meaning of "sitting in rows", which was more written as "food stalls".

As early as 1847, the Hong Kong government began to set up hawker licenses. In 1921, the government divided hawkers into fixed hawker licenses and mobile hawker licenses, so there were "big cards" and "small cards".

△ Different stalls will handle different foods, and each stall owner will benefit each other and increase business.

In 1951s, street food culture was quite prosperous. At that time, there were all kinds of authentic "big-name stalls" in the streets and lanes of almost every district.

considering that it is easy to identify and can help the poor have a chance to make a living, the authorities have combined "big brands" and "fixed cooked food stalls", both of which are regulated by fixed hawker licences.

△ In the 1961s, food stalls were generally near the sidewalk, with folding stools, which was very simple.

Compared with roadside stalls, the license plate of big-name stalls was a large piece of paper, which was mounted and hung in a conspicuous position. Compared with fixed restaurants, although the layout is chaotic and unpretentious, the big-name stalls are more flexible and affordable.

in the earliest big-name stalls, there was at most a kitchen built of iron and steel frames, and the stove could be started with a canopy. When the business is open, the shopkeeper puts out several folding tables and chairs. When the furnace is closed at night, the shopkeeper will tie up the stalls with wooden boards and iron sheets on the roadside to shield them from thieves.

△ There were already many big-name stalls on the street in the 1961s

Where there are grass roots, there are big-name stalls. At that time, most of the stalls were hidden in the narrow streets, where coolies gathered, and the low-priced big-name stalls became a good place for these bottom floors to rest and eat.

In the 1961s, women and children chose to sit on folding tables and eat slowly.

Take Wonton Noodles as an example. In the 1961s, they were divided into large, medium and small bowls, with the big bowl selling 7 cents, the medium bowl selling 5 cents, the thin bowl selling 3 cents, and a wonton selling 1 cents.

You can get a dish of rice rolls for 51 cents, and barbecued rice is one yuan a dish. In short, if you spend one Hong Kong dollar, you can enjoy a breakfast.

The big-name stalls are a little rough, but the iron and bronze bones have fattened the stomachs of a large group of ordinary people.

At that time, there were at least 21 big-name stalls in a street, and most of them went out at night. At that time, most of the ordinary people's canteens were first big-name stalls, then tea houses, and then tea restaurants and other forms of restaurants appeared in competition.

Hong Kong movies have always made a fuss about big-name movies.

If we can't talk properly, we will blow water at the food stalls and drink wine at one stroke. The big-name stalls in the movie Infernal Affairs set off a unique Jianghu atmosphere.

Love can also be discussed in big-name stalls, such as "The Blind Detective" by Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng. Eating a romantic French dinner and eating abalone wings and belly is not as good as eating chicken feet in big-name stalls. That is the human fireworks to get rid of pink bubbles.

The master of big-name stalls is in Guangdong, which is adjacent to Hong Kong.

In fact, as early as after the reform and opening up, there were also vendors carrying loads and stepping on coal stoves to set up stalls in the streets or under banyan trees.

until the introduction of big-name stalls culture in Hong Kong, especially in Guangzhou, a city with a large number of delicious foods, big-name stalls became an indispensable landscape. In Guangzhou, the music teahouse, clothing night market and big-name stalls were the three symbols of the 1991s.

I still remember when I was a child, there were several big-name stalls in the streets and lanes near my home for the morning market. In the morning, there were usually some old people with newspapers and radios who ordered a store with a cup of milk tea.

At noon, there are a variety of styles available: a bowl of Wonton Noodles, barbecued rice with barbecued dishes, a pot of clay pot rice, and a few mouthfuls of fried beef river ... That's probably how the "Pingliangzheng" in Guangzhou's neighborhood came about.

The most exaggerated thing is that at night, we walk a few steps to Saigon Fishing Port. There are more than a dozen big stalls along the Pearl River. From 6 pm to 4 am, several tables simply go shirtless, watching the lights on the riverside while blowing river breeze, drinking beer and eating fried snails and all kinds of seafood, not to mention how much they enjoy it.

when friends from other places come to ask me where the big-name stalls are authentic and delicious, I will always tell them-

The most authentic big-name stalls must not be the kind of stalls that look clean and well decorated, so a tin shed is ok.

don't even think about turning on the air conditioner in hot summer, just have a big fan; Plastic chairs and folding round tables will do, and cleanliness addicts may see tableware and think about scalding it with boiling water several times.

Secondly, don't think too much about the service attitude of stall owners and waiters. It's customary to call a "handsome girl", so don't think too much. They are usually as busy as a bee, and seldom come to ask you what you want.

The menu is also very casual. Some people stick paper on the wall, and the font is crooked. Others simply omit the menu and order orally.

The leading characters of big-name stalls usually appear in the midnight snack market.

Some dishes seem to be simple, and the most common one is "stir-frying". This kind of skill lies in "frying", that is, you should see the chef's fire burning in the process of stir-frying, and "noisy" is a double pleasure of vision and hearing.

both the technique and the temperature are very familiar. You should see the skill of throwing the pot in the fierce fire, and be quick-sighted to make the wok just right.

"King of Soy Sauce" is a common and classic seasoning type of stir-frying. Don't underestimate one dish of "King of Soy Saute Noodles", which is made of nothing more than onions, shallots, sprouts and noodles, but many big-name stalls dominate the streets by this signboard.

people who know how to spice well will fry with lard, and it is not normal to go to big-name stalls without eating lard.

Many big-name dishes with black bean sauce are famous signboards, which can combine the freshness, taste and flavor that Cantonese people like.

Although it is not the top quality, this kind of civilian food can often kill restaurants, teahouses and other high-end restaurants.

Last year, many people were talking about why restaurants in Guangzhou were not selected. Old artists immediately guessed this. In Guangzhou's food circle, this kind of "grounding gas" is often talked about.

Many homely dishes that look like rotten streets are very inconspicuous, but these stalls are not enough to attract Michelin winners, and even the environment is not up to one star.

ordinary people in Guangzhou will not care about Michelin stars. The most popular ones are still the familiar street food stalls and snack bars, and the masters are in the folk.

If you go deep into the atmosphere of big-name stalls in Guangzhou, a dish of fried snails with a few mouthfuls of cold beer will make you feel delicious.

△ Stir-fry is the theme of big-name food

The vitality of big-name food is far stronger than you think

In the 1991s, because of the poor hygiene of big-name food and the serious pollution to the Pearl River, the government began to rectify it.

With more and more high-end restaurants entering, people are scrambling to catch up with the introduction of exquisite dining, and the problems such as noise, lampblack, garbage, disturbing people and food hygiene on the streets are becoming more and more serious.

There are many disadvantages in big-name stalls, and the phenomenon of mixed fish and dragons is particularly obvious. Now, the grand occasion of big-name stalls is not as good as before.

Modern young people's definition of big-name stalls just refers to restaurants that are poorly decorated on the roadside. For example, in some food streets, stir-frying a few dishes at will, plus a few beach plastic stools, is what they call a big-name stall.

They prefer to rush to online celebrity restaurants to punch in, and there are even big-name stalls in online celebrity, imitating the traditional style of big-name stalls in Hong Kong. Green iron sheet, dim light bulb and plastic stool are all in place, but there is always a feeling of being old.

The atmosphere can be used for nostalgia, but the core is eating. Classic dishes are not only not really close to the people, but also lack the original wok gas.

"Big-name stalls" used to be synonymous with civilian food culture, which was not only popular in food streets around Shanghai and Beijing, but also popular in Southeast Asia and even Australia. The New Words in Oxford Dictionary also included the word "Dai Pai Dong" transliterated from Cantonese.

Although the sanitary noise environment is worrying, big-name stalls are still growing wildly all over the world, relying on flexible iron and copper bones to exist in various forms.

In addition to the traditional Cantonese-style big-name stalls, Guangdong delegates also featured Chaoshan casserole porridge stalls and dog meat and mutton stalls in western Guangdong. Some broke out of Guangdong, from the north and south to the big-name stalls with local characteristics. Crawfish, skewers, barbecues and beer are the souls of big-name stalls.

The dirty stall in Beijing and the fly restaurant in Chengdu are actually twin brothers of big-name stalls.

The essence is the same-open air, delicious food and food. As long as you don't think the environment is dirty, people are shirtless, the diners next to you are crossing their legs and talking loudly, and the boss's attitude is a bit awkward, you may really get a surprise.

Some people have moved to restaurants, such as Fengtonghui, who dominated the barbecue stalls in Guangzhou for many years. They started from the barbecue stalls and now moved to the second floor of a rented restaurant to specialize in night barbecues.

I don't know that I've wandered around several places, and gourmets who know how to eat will "eat too much" to find the place where the wind blows.

some of them have become ghost files floating around, such as the fried snail that was once popular in big-name files. Once known as the "night market witch" in Guangzhou, he often wears long golden hair on his head and pushes an old bicycle with a small pot of fried snails on the back in the name of singing on the street while frying snails.

In the past, he often appeared in the big-name stalls in Beijing South, Baoye Road and Yuexiu South, but now he has gradually disappeared into the big-name stalls in the food street.

Regular customers all know that whenever they encounter fried snail, they will order a dish of snail and listen to a salty water song. Although there are always people who think that he is too vulgar, he is a real grassroots. In many people's minds, because of speculation, Guangzhou's big-name stalls have a trace of worldly fireworks.

Old artists think that this may be the reason why big-name files will not disappear after several twists and turns. The existence of big-name stalls is a hardcore demand of urban street culture.

shed the tired shell during the day, T-shirt flip-flops are out, and the night arrival is the home of big-name stalls.

It's always hard to be sad when you are alive. Grassroots citizens in the city need this kind of Midnight Food Store, and they have a stomachache and a heart ache.

In the big-name stalls, make an appointment with three or two friends, have a few sips of beer, have a few dishes of stir-fry, and chat with stall owners, and all the joys and sorrows of life are in the words.

in Guangdong big-name stalls, you never know how many houses there are in a Cantonese family wearing slippers. Here, no matter whether you earn 3,111 yuan a month or 31,111 yuan a month, you may sit in the same big-name stall and be fed by a dish of 15 yuan fried beef river.

The relationship between people can be very direct, even queuing, noisy and quarreling are unrestrained, which is a human touch that cannot be replaced by other restaurants.

The rise and fall are the inevitable fate of everything, and so are the changes of big-name files. But relax, the vitality of big-name files is far stronger than we thought.

suddenly, I feel glad that we live in a street nourished by big-name stalls and have had a golden age of big-name stalls.

Resources:

Research on the culture of big-name stalls He Yulian

The origin of big-name stalls Ta Kung Pao

Counting the big-name stalls with copper skin and iron bones, Oriental Interaction

Food stalls or big-name stalls? Details on the evolution history of big-name stalls Lianhe Zaobao

once flourished, can Guangzhou food stalls still eat? Information Times

What do you remember about big-name files?

Today's author

Crab Boss

Editor | Zhou Mu Yun

Typesetting | Crab Boss