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The second condiment bottle

/Cumin, Chili, Pepper, Qiwei/

Most families have two bottles of seasoning powder in their kitchens.

The first seasoning bottle is salt. No matter race, region or class, everyone needs salt.

The second seasoning bottle is very interesting, showing a completely different style according to the different regions, products, tastes and even historical evolution:

Northwest people use cumin, whether it is beef and mutton dipped in barbecue or eaten with cakes, cumin is rich and sweet.

Although people in Shaanxi can eat spicy food, unlike people in Sichuan and Hunan, peppers are not common. Only Chili noodles, together with Chili, cooked sesame, pepper, star anise and cinnamon, undertake the necessary duties in the kitchen. Can be used for cooking, pouring a spoonful of hot oil or the famous pungent oil.

Master Shandong once dried sea sausages and ground them into powder. It is said that the world-famous Shandong cuisine once conquered the stomach of the Qing emperor with this seasoning. Unfortunately, the rise of monosodium glutamate later lost the status of rice rolls.

The ground fish meal used by Cantonese people has the same effect as that of rice rolls. They call flounder "ground fish", which is dried and ground into powder, which is an important ingredient added to porridge, soup and even cooking. When there is no food at home, a spoonful of soil fish powder and a bowl of chopped green onion water are appetizing thick soup.

White pepper is the most popular in southern Fujian and Chaoshan in Guangdong. Boiling old fire soup, frying oyster sauce, raw porridge and white pepper are all necessary options.

People in Taiwan Province always have a bottle of crispy red onion at home. The so-called red onion is a small onion with strong fragrance, which is fried into chips with lard. This is the favorite of braised pork rice, dried noodles and even Taiwan Province people who make jiaozi, fried eggs and mixed cold dishes.

For example, the seven flavors used by the Japanese, curry powder used by the Indians, and black pepper used by the French ... After these things spread everywhere, chefs occasionally try them. But in some places, they all appear as the second seasoning bottle, which is the soul mark printed in the depths of everyone's taste buds.

02

Why do people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang like sweet food?

/geographical determinism and shemale's personality theory/

In Jiangnan, the second condiment bottle for most families is sugar.

You are not mistaken. In the narrow sense of Jiangnan area, that is, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Hangjiahu and Shanghai as the core areas, sugar is definitely the most frequently used condiment except salt in both ordinary families and high-end restaurants.

Some netizens in the north spoke out: "I went to Shanghai and ordered a' spicy beef noodles'. I took a bite, and the taste of alkaline noodles mixed with syrup came, which was horribly sweet. "

This is probably a vivid portrayal of the sweetness of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. From the perspective of geographical determinism, in the shadow of northern Siberia, the climate in China is colder than that in the same latitude, so sugar has always been a rare substance from the southernmost part. For a long time, only the royal family and wealthy businessmen can buy in large quantities.

In China's richest plain, wealthy businessmen and officials show their identity in order to burn money, accumulate more and more sugar and cultivate "sweet-mouthed" Jiangnan people.

Where is the sugar added to fry a green vegetable, where is the unexpected sweetness?

03

Jiangnan with thick oil and red sauce

/Soy sauce without sugar equals kissing girls/

Thick oil red sauce is the label of Shanghai cuisine. Cai Lan commented that it was "salty and oily". In fact, he missed two words "salty, oily and sweet".

The soy sauce used for cooking in Jiangnan is only soy sauce, unlike Cantonese cuisine, which is divided into "soy sauce" and "soy sauce". Sugar is the only way to make the red and bright color and crystal clear hanging juice of braised pork, braised ribs, braised pork intestines and braised pomfret.

Shanghai, with 34 Michelin restaurants, has its own celebrity temperament in food. At the same time, the thick oily red sauce rooted in this city is not at all against it. Without sugar and soy sauce, Shanghainese seem to have lost the motivation to be happy.

In fact, not only Shanghai, but also housewives in the whole Jiangnan area will hold soy sauce bottles in their left hands and sugar cans in their right hands. After pouring soy sauce into the pot, don't put any more sugar, just like talking about girlfriends holding hands without kissing-it's not interesting enough.

The braised mutton in Huzhou is probably the only way to eat it in China. Eight hundred years ago, Song Zhao's Nandu brought not only Kaifeng's dietary customs, but also Mianyang in Mongolia. Over the past 800 years, eating aquatic plants in the south of the Yangtze River has bred "Hu sheep", which has both the richness of southern mutton and the delicacy of northern mutton, and is most suitable for braising in soy sauce. Add a lot of sugar and soy sauce and simmer in a wooden stove. Huzhou people especially think it is not sweet enough, and then add sugarcane tips to it.

This sweet braised mutton, boneless and dough-free, is the most delicious food you can't miss when you come to Jiangnan in winter.

The braised hooves in Kunshan also have a sweet wind. It is said that Shen Wansan used this thing to entertain Zhu Yuanzhang. Since the conductor couldn't use a knife, he pulled out a hoof bone, cut the crispy meat and presented it. Of course, the story is fabricated, but "Wansanhoof" still retains the practice of stewing it with soy sauce and sugar until it is crisp. Dongpo pork in Hangzhou and ribs in sauce in Wuxi are essentially the same.

Foreigners eat lion's head in Yangzhou, mostly stewed. But Yangzhou locals eat a lot of stewed lion heads. The so-called braise in soy sauce is by no means simple braise in soy sauce. From the beginning, the process of chopping meat is different from stew: the lion head should be mixed with water chestnut or tender lotus root to increase the chewing feeling; After the meatballs are formed, they should be fried until the skin is tight; Finally, take a lot of sugar and soy sauce and simmer; After serving, pour the sparse red soup on the lion's head, which is sweet and delicious.

04

Jiangnan with fine features

/Steaming fish, cooking and making steamed buns/

Wang Zengqi described the pickles in the south like this: "Yangzhou pickles are the representative of the southern flavor, and the trademarks are Sanhe and Simei." Pickles in the north are salty and pickles in the south are sweet. "

In fact, sweetness is only superficial, and pickles with sugar can better represent the pursuit of "freshness" by Jiangsu and Zhejiang people.

This taste experience is exactly the same as the "freshness and sweetness" pursued by Cantonese cuisine, but the difference is that most people in Fujian and Guangxi use old fire to hang soup, stir fry quickly or dry fermentation to stimulate the flavor of food itself from the technology.

However, people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang often add just the right amount of sugar when cooking, which makes the fresh and elegant flavor of seafood, fruits and vegetables.

The shad ranks second in the fresh water of the Yangtze River, second only to the Yangtze River saury, which has been banned now. The most authentic way to eat is of course steaming. The most popular steaming method in southern Jiangsu is to fill the fish belly with slices of onion and ginger, put a few slices of ham on the fish body, and steam with sugar and wine. It is almost salty and light. When serving, put the distiller's grains aside and eat meat. The most beautiful thing is the colloidal fat under the scales, which absorbs the sweetness of sugar and distiller's grains. Sweet and delicious, much more delicious than dessert.

Hangzhou West Lake vinegar fish was born out of Henan carp baked noodles, but it also inherited the fresh and sweet characteristics of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Fish is not fried, but boiled in boiling water, which ensures the fresh taste to the maximum extent; The amount of sugar and vinegar in sweet and sour juice has also dropped sharply, and the taste of fish can be highlighted if it is not sweet. Liang Shiqiu has a very good description of this: "The juice is not too much, not too thick, clear and light, slightly transparent."

Sugar should also be put in big wonton, steamed buns and moon cakes filled with meat, which is a rare sight outside the border between Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Whether it is Wuxi Wang, Shanghai Nanxiang, Jiaxing Wufangzhai or Hangzhou Zhiweiguan, it is the same strain of sweetness. Those who don't like it always think it's cooked in dark, while those who are familiar with the taste since childhood think it's not sweet, so they lack delicacy.

05

Multilayer sweet cake dough

/Double stuffing dumplings, sesame dumplings, Ding Sheng cakes, lard rice cakes/

In contrast, the sweetness of Jiangsu and Zhejiang cakes is more acceptable.

The famous Daoxiang Village in the north was actually born in Suzhou. Although it accepted the improvement of the taste at the foot of the emperor, it is essentially the same strain as Jiangsu and Zhejiang sweetness. Like Suzhou Pingtan Quer, oily glutinous rice is multi-layered and sweet, which is the biggest feature of Jiangnan cake group.

From weddings to breakfast desserts, cakes have always played an indispensable role in Jiangnan people's lives. Different from fried dishes and pasta with more or less improved Sichuan and Guangdong flavors, the pastry group has always retained its childhood and original Jiangnan flavor.

Huang Tianyuan Cake Group Store is the "belief" of Suzhou people. Every year on the Double Ninth Festival, a long queue begins at 9: 00 in the morning. All kinds of double-stuffed dumplings, sweet-scented osmanthus rice cakes and Double Ninth Festival cakes are big and small. People who witnessed the grand occasion of the day said that it was not too much to empty Huang Tianyuan. Double-sided fermented dough is the most local characteristic. The so-called double fermented dough is to "brew" two kinds of fillings, bean paste and black sesame, into the pastry crust. Bean paste and sesame seeds can't be mixed, and they need to be layered, which can not only reflect the skill of the pastry chef, but also test whether the diners' mouths can appreciate the complex but layered taste.

Ningbo Tangyuan is the most familiar to outsiders. Broken sesame seeds are wrapped in glutinous rice flour with lard and sugar, and nothing else is needed. After boiling water, the skin is slippery and the oil inside is sweet. As an old-fashioned jar, duck and dog, of course, it's good, but if you just walk into a roadside shop in Ningbo, you can eat more pure flavor.

Hangzhou Ding Sheng cake is a kind of flour cake which is colored with red rice and then steamed in a unique way. Like jiaozi, the skin is thin, and it is filled with red beans or jujube paste, which is sweet and delicious. The so-called "victory" is the story of Yue Fei and Han Shizhong's victory, which is opposite to the "Fried cypress" born of hating Qin Gui. In Huzhou, Suzhou and other places, there are similar cakes dyed with red rice, but the name has been changed to "Ding Sheng cake" or "Ding Sheng cake", both of which contain auspicious and beautiful meanings.

There is also a miniature version of Ding Sheng cake: after adding sugar-stained orange peel to the dough dyed with red yeast, it is cut into small grains and steamed, which is called orange cake. Of course, it is sweet, but the sour taste of orange peel will make it sweet but not greasy. Sprinkle dried osmanthus and put it in your pocket to make snacks. This is the childhood memory of many children in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

There are also lard sugar rice cakes that Jiangsu and Zhejiang children eat for the New Year, which are not fried by pigs or poured with lard. Lard and sugar were added to the cake. The compound taste of steamed starch, free sugar and oil not only provides enough heat in the cold and humid winter in the south of the Yangtze River, but also is a childhood taste that almost all Jiangnan people can't stop.

Zhang Ailing once described the fragrance of camphor as follows: "Fragrant and steady, it seems to remember happiness clearly, sweet and melancholy, and it seems to forget sadness."

There is only one sweet word, but it can read deep emotions and complex tastes behind it. I'm afraid only this little girl from a villa in Shanghai can understand this subtle sense of proportion.