Friends who often eat a fast food brand with a K may find that besides hamburgers, we can already have breakfast in Regan Noodles and dinner on the Zhajiang River.

Source/network video screenshot

Hearing the news, some southerners scratched their heads: What? Can it be opened all over Regan Noodles? Not to mention the north, we southerners don't like to eat anything with sesame sauce.

Some northerners strike a table: Regan Noodles in the south (more strictly speaking, relative to Beijing) has also drifted to the north? This is sesame sauce. Open the fucking door and eat sesame sauce. It's home Can you taste the sesame paste made by southerners?

This thing, sesame paste, is just like durian. "Honey of A is arsenic of B".

However, in the eyes of many people, the likes and dislikes of sesame sauce are not based on individuals, but on the north and south regions. Over time, even northerners eat sesame sauce, and southerners only like to play mahjong!

Today, I will use the topic to talk about this long-running dispute between North and South.

The Birth of "Sesame Paste"

More than two thousand years ago, a plant called flax came from the western regions and began to be widely planted in the Central Plains. This "flax" is different from flax today, but refers to sesame. It only emphasizes its exotic attributes when naming-plants introduced in the Han and Tang Dynasties usually have the word "Hu" in front of them, besides flax, there are carrots, walnuts and so on; After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was often labeled with the word "fan" or "foreign", such as tomatoes and potatoes.

Soon, people learned to extract oil from sesame seeds. Because of its high fat content, ground sesame seeds will burst into a special smell, like grains and nuts-because of its fragrance, sesame oil has become the only oil named with words that praise the taste, which is what we often call "sesame oil".

When making sesame oil, a kind of "by-product" or "semi-finished product"-sesame paste appeared. In the local cookbook Wu Shi Ji in Song Dynasty, it was written that using hemp, almonds, dried salted bamboo shoots, pickles, pickled leeks and cucumbers as toppings, or adding or subtracting meat, was particularly wonderful. The "hemp greasy" here is today's sesame sauce.

However, it was not until the copper pot instant-boiled mutton was introduced to the Central Plains in the Qing Dynasty that sesame sauce dipped in hot pot became popular-it is said that the flavor nucleotide content of mutton itself (the main umami substance of land animal meat) is not high, and the leftover of sesame sauce can just refresh people. I don't know if it is because of the flavor enhancement of sesame sauce that Emperor Qianlong became a die-hard powder of hot pot. According to the historical records in the archives of the Qing Dynasty, during the month from August to September in Qianlong's forty-four years, he ate hot pot more than sixty times.

Wash the meat and sesame paste. Source/network

This way of eating has continued until now, sesame sauce and rinse meat have always been the fixed partners of northerners to eat hot pot; However, the "regulation mode" of sesame sauce has become more diverse.

Having said that, I have to insert a little knowledge: many people mistakenly think that "sesame paste" refers to pure sesame paste, but 100% sesame paste often has some bitterness, which affects the taste. Now we often see sesame sauce in hot pot restaurants, including sesame sauce retail in supermarkets, almost all of which are mixed sauce. The most common is 20% sesame sauce and 80% peanut butter. The eating method of sesame paste mixed with peanut butter only became popular in modern times, and the reasons are not complicated: on the one hand, it is to improve the taste and make the taste softer; On the other hand, it is to reduce costs. After all, the unit price of sesame is much higher than that of peanut.

The taste is mellow, and gourmets can add small ingredients according to their own tastes. I prefer the classic combination of leek and fermented bean curd, like the rich flavor of coriander and chopped green onion, and pour some sesame oil and garlic with rich flavor ... with soul sesame sauce, this taste is right.

Mixed sesame paste. Source/network

But now the hot pot restaurant is also "rolled up", and there are more and more varieties of small ingredients on the table. What kind of sand tea sauce, beef sauce, mushroom sauce, peanuts and diced mustard tuber have appeared, and everyone's eating methods are becoming more and more casual. This change is closely related to the influence of southern hot pot.

In the eyes of people who love the original sesame sauce, seeing these fancy dipping dishes may be like old people seeing their granddaughters wearing ripped pants and can't help but sigh, "Hey! The world has changed! " Photography /Funubihe, source/thumb creativity

Sichuan-Chongqing area and Chaoshan area in the south are both big hotpot households. The former is used to eating garlic rape, and people who like heavy taste can also add fuel consumption, Chili oil, millet pepper and so on. The latter is used to eating small ingredients of sand tea, and sand tea sauce is sometimes served with celery and coriander. With the cultural exchanges and population exchanges between North and South, it is inevitable to eat hot pot dishes.

If it's just the difference between hot pot dipping sauce, it seems that there is no need to "quarrel" between the north and the south about whether to eat sesame sauce-after all, your hot pot in Sichuan and Chongqing is different from that in Chaoshan.

After careful study, I finally found the crux of the problem: many people think that there is no habit of eating sesame sauce in the south, and a Wuhan man who is "neither south nor north" loves to eat Regan Noodles; But in the north, sesame paste can be dipped in anything, which leads to the "devil" collocation that many southerners can't accept.

Then, in order to make the dispute between the north and the south of "sesame sauce" meaningful, we must first make the saying that "southerners don't eat sesame sauce" stand up.

The answer is no, sesame paste has always existed in the lives of southerners. In order to completely smash this view, let's start with the Chaoshan area at the southernmost tip.

Chaoshan people like to eat rice rolls, but different areas add different sauces. Shantou likes soy sauce with scallion oil, Puning likes gravy, and Chaozhou likes peanut butter and sesame sauce. A special "rice rolls with sesame sauce" is rich in taste, tender, smooth and fragrant, and it is a "tidal flavor" that diners must order.

Sesame paste roll. Photography/Shadow Man Makes Dragon, Source/Figure Worm Creativity

Looking at western Yunnan, local people will also add "sesame paste" when making folk snacks (Yunnan people say that the actual practice is baking). Press the cooked rice into cakes, cut it into small pieces, bake it on charcoal fire until both sides are golden and bubbles overflow, and then coat it with sauce. The sauces here include sesame sauce and Chili sauce.

Add sauce to the bait block. Source/documentary "Fireworks on Earth" screenshot

Further north, to Hunan, where hot girls like to eat sesame sauce "scraping bean jelly".

"Make a bowl of bean jelly scraping" and "OK", only to see the boss open the gauze wrapped in bean jelly and scrape thin translucent vermicelli on the white and tender bean jelly chopping board with a shovel ... without extra ingredients, a bowl of delicious and refreshing bean jelly scraping is done.

Scrape bean jelly. Photography /f/2.0, Source/Figure Worm Creativity

Not enough? Then let's take a look at Shanghai again. No matter what season, old Shanghai likes to eat a bowl of noodles with sesame sauce. More passionate than cold noodles, more affectionate than chopped green onion noodles, making people want to stop. Today, there is also a small shop called "Weixiangzhai" on Yandang Road in Shanghai. It has been sold in Zhajiang Noodles for more than 80 years, and its business is still booming. Who says Shanghainese don't eat sesame sauce? "Friend, Nong, help me." Sesame paste noodles made me cry.

Coupled with the Regan Noodles in Wuhan, Hubei mentioned before, it can be said that there are traces of sesame paste in both the southeast and southwest, and in the two lakes basin and the Yangtze River Delta region. It is obviously arbitrary to say that southerners only play mahjong without sesame sauce.

Sesame paste noodles. Source/network

Because of different eating habits, southerners eat sesame paste much less frequently than northerners-basically used to enhance the taste of light pasta and pasta; The blending of sesame sauce is not as strong as that in the north, and it will feel uncomfortable.

It is not without reason that northerners have such a deep and deep "love" for sesame sauce. This love is accumulated over time.

A brief history of northerners eating sesame sauce

Northerners generally like to eat "sesame paste", among which Beijingers and Tianjin people are the most enthusiastic-the formation of "sesame paste base" in Beijing and Tianjin is closely related to geographical environment and historical development.

As the saying goes, "relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to draft." In the past, the transportation was inconvenient and the diet was mostly restricted by geographical conditions. Basically, we eat everything. Compared with the southern region, there are fewer kinds of ingredients in the north, and eating pasta is more than eating rice, so it will rely more on the sauce with the meal. However, due to the limitation of climate, the natural seasoning products in the north are mainly beans and cereals, and it happens that the north is also an important producing area of sesame, so sesame paste is naturally carved into the taste DNA of the people in the north. Even so, not everyone can afford sesame sauce.

According to historical records, North China liked sesame sauce very much during the Republic of China, but many people didn't have extra money to buy sesame sauce-the main sauce at that time was yellow sauce made of soybeans. In the semi-annual food consumption survey of 48 families in 1920s, the average household consumption was 6.47 kg of yellow sauce and 0.27 kg of sesame sauce. The unit price of the former is 0.08 1 yuan/kg, while the latter is much more expensive, which is 0. 193 yuan/kg.

At that time, adding sesame paste to food was a more advanced way to eat, which would also make food more delicious. Qi Rushan, a drama theorist, described the diet of ordinary people in North China during the Republic of China. He once described cold cucumber as follows: "In the countryside, salt and garlic are only added to slices. If vinegar and sesame sauce are added, it is a very wide way to eat."

Things are rare, I don't know how many people have been "greedy" by that bite of sesame sauce; Even after a good life, they have not changed their desire for "sesame sauce", including Mr. Lao She. One year, there was a shortage of sesame paste in Beijing, and Lao She, then a deputy to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, also "angrily proposed", hoping that the government would solve the supply problem of sesame paste because "Beijingers can't live without sesame paste in summer".

Chen Xiaoqing once said in the "Round Table School" program that Beijingers' love for "sesame paste" can be seen from their pronunciation-they never add a vowel. Source/program "Round Table" screenshot

The situation in Tianjin is similar to that in Beijing, and it may be "worse". Since its opening, Tianjin has become a major trade center in the north. This also means that "Weizuizi" in Tianjin can eat sesame, sesame oil and sesame paste from all over the world. Over time, Tianjin people have become loyal fans of sesame sauce.

However, no matter how expensive sesame sauce is, it is only expensive as seasoning, which is quite cheap compared with meat and other ingredients. Therefore, there is another important reason for eating sesame sauce in those days, that is, carrying hunger. Mr. Lao She, the "powder head" of sesame sauce, once wrote: "You know, sesame sauce is the best way to fill your stomach!" High in calories, full of oil and water, and it can also make food sticky-magic sesame sauce, which is not only really nutritious, but also visually enhances satiety.

In fact, Regan Noodles's initial popularity is also related to it. Wuhan used to be a port city with many porters and porters. For these "hardworking" people, food is not only cheap, but also fast and full. Regan Noodles, which can be eaten in hand and carried with an empty stomach, has become their first choice for "premature delivery".

The crowd in line at the entrance of Regan noodle restaurant. Photography /fxy 1223, Source/Picture Worm Creativity

In the 1990s, sesame paste was still attractive. At that time, tickets were needed to buy sesame paste, one person per household was two or two; Not all the year round, only from May 1 day to 1 1 day. On the way to the grocery store to make sesame paste, you can always see children in vests and underpants licking the sesame paste flowing from the bowl-this bowl of sesame paste is a treasure that can make all food delicious.

Nowadays, sesame paste is no longer bad. Northerners who are used to eating sesame sauce have not only regarded sesame sauce as a condiment, but also called it a necessity of life.

On the n power of "sesame paste"

Speaking of which, many people may be curious, saying that northerners can eat anything dipped in sesame sauce. So what are the special combinations?

Let's look at an interesting study: in 20 13 years, scholars from Yangzhou University and Shanghai Jiaotong University conducted data mining on recipes from all over the world. The results show that compared with other cuisines, Beijing cuisines have only two flavors-sweet noodle sauce and sesame sauce.

Zhou Xiaoyan, Zhu Wenzheng, Ma Wentao and Chen Jian: Data mining experiment of compound flavor formula in China cooking, food science and technology. 20 13 issue 4.

It can only be said that for northerners, a plate of sesame paste can be eaten from morning till night, from spring to winter.

It is its old job to mix meat with pasta and powder food. The dip dish of instant-boiled mutton is just the tip of the iceberg of sesame sauce cuisine. Whether it's local tripe, flower rolls, steamed bread and crispy rice, or overseas seafood, wonton, bean jelly and cold rice noodles. You can get along well with sesame sauce.

Peace in "I Love My Family", after I lost my memory, I was greedy for this piece of steamed bread with sesame sauce. Source/TV series "I love my family" screenshot

It can also be used to mix all kinds of vegetarian dishes: cucumber, eggplant, beans ... Only you can't think of anything that you can't "mix" with sesame sauce. The famous "dried Chinese cabbage" is quite simple, that is, hand-torn Chinese cabbage mixed with sesame sauce, aged vinegar, honey and other seasonings, which tastes moderately sweet and sour, crisp and refreshing.

Can also be made into a variety of snacks, snacks: noodles, sesame paste sugar, sesame paste biscuits and other classic; Novelty foods such as baked biscuits with sesame sauce, popsicles with sesame sauce and bread with sesame sauce ... In Jizhou, Tianjin, there is also a magical "egg with sesame sauce": this kind of egg is marinated with medical stone mixed with sesame sauce residue, spiced seasoning and red soil, and its taste is quite unique.

Sesame paste wafer cookies, bow to the great inventor of sesame paste food! Source/official website, Daoxiang Village, Beijing

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How many kinds of sauces are there in China? I can't count it at all. However, none of them have the super-strong ability of "sesame sauce", which has set off a bloody storm in the catering rivers and lakes.

In the mouth of vermicelli, the taste is mellow and smooth, which can save all food; In the mouth of the rebels, it is overbearing and heavy, which will obliterate the rich flavor of food-and even trigger an "unnecessary" dispute between the North and the South.

It can only be said that China people eat too much, while China eats too much. Even the same ingredients and the same production method will produce different flavors because of the different geographical environment and living habits. This "dietary difference" can also be regarded as a kind of "happiness and sorrow".

References:

Paper, how much do Beijingers love sesame sauce? /Baijiahao _ 13238724.

Keywords Sanlian Life Weekly, the mystery of sesame sauce,

/20 13/0802/4 1894 . shtml

Yang. Cultivation history of hemp, sesame and flax [J]. Agricultural archaeology, 199 1(03):267-274.

Zhou Xiaoyan, Zhu Wenzheng, Ma Wentao, Chen Jian. Data mining experiment of China cooking compound flavor formula [J]. Food Science and Technology, 2013,38 (04):107-11.

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