Steamed buns are commonly known as "steamed buns" locally. It is said that during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang created it out of desperation to save people's lives.
According to legend, after Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times and secured the frontier, in order to respect the customs of his fraternal ethnic groups, he once participated in a local sacrificial activity. Everyone saw Zhuge Liang coming to participate, singing and dancing, which was particularly lively. Suddenly, the wizards held swords in their hands and wanted to chop off the heads of seven or forty-nine young men as sacrifices. Zhuge Liang couldn't bear to see it, so he came up with a clever plan. He asked them to release the living people and replace them with "face heads" made by him using dough to wrap beef and mutton stuffing to sacrifice. He also said that the gods had enjoyed it and that everyone eating it could ward off disasters and prevent diseases. When everyone tasted it, it was really delicious and they all said it was better than using human heads as offerings. From then on, people called this food that replaced the heads of barbarian brothers "barbarian heads". They were eaten not only during sacrifices, but also in daily life. Zhuge Liang also felt that eating "mantou" disrespected his brotherly nation, so he changed the name to "mantou". Over time, people began to call those without stuffing "steamed buns" and those with stuffing "baozi".
Dumplings are commonly known locally as "jiazi", "boiled jiaozi" and "flat food". Why do people eat dumplings? There are many wonderful legends circulating among the people.
One theory: After Nuwa refined the colorful stones to mend the sky, when she kneaded the soil to make a human being, because the ears of the Loess people would be frozen off in the winter, Nuwa pierced the ears of the Loess people and tied threads. , and let them bite the thread with their mouths so that their ears will not freeze off. "Xian" is homophonic to "stuffing", and biting the thread means "biting stuffing", that is, eating dumplings. Although this legend is far-fetched, it reflects the spirit of the ancient working people's fantasy of fighting against nature.
One story: During the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, a famous doctor in Nanyang, Henan Province, retired from his post as governor of Changsha in his later years and returned home. It was the twelfth lunar month of winter. Along the way, he saw poor people who were busy working for a living. Their faces were sallow and skinny, and their ears were rotten by the cold. . On the day of the winter solstice, he set up a medical tent in Nanyangguan, burned a large pot, and gave away "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction" to the poor to treat frostbite. He cooked the mutton, chili peppers and some cold-repelling and warming medicines, chopped them into pieces, and wrapped them in dough into "Jiao Er" shaped like ears, and cooked them. Each person is given a large bowl of soup and two "Jiao Er", which are kept from the winter solstice to the New Year's Eve. When the poor man ate it, he felt warm all over and had fever in his ears, and his ears were healed by him. From then on, in order to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing, people made "Jiaoer" (dumplings) to eat every winter solstice and spring festival. For the convenience of later generations, they called them "dumplings".
One theory: "Dumpling" and "Jiaozi" are homophones. According to the timekeeping method used in our country for many years, the time at midnight is Zi hour (equivalent to twenty-three to one o'clock today). Zi hour It is also the time when the old and the new come to an end and the old is said goodbye to and the new is welcomed. This moment is called "Jiaozi". Eating dumplings at this time coincides with the "Sui Geng Jiao Zi", which means good luck and good fortune.
Guokui, commonly known as "roasted buns". The larger one is called "Guokui", and the one with a larger mouth is called "dry food". The "Guokui" baked by Mrs. Qiao has a uniform fire color and a shape like a chrysanthemum. The skin is as thin as paper and the buns are rich and fat. You can break them into layers with your hands and cut them with a knife like suet. The more you chew, the more you chew, and the aftertaste is aftertaste. endless. It tastes crispy, smells fragrant, and is durable in storage. It is the best food to pack for a long journey. So who invented the food "Guokui"? According to legend, in ancient times, when mausoleums were built for emperors, there were many migrant workers and few cooking stoves, so many people could not afford to eat. When the migrant workers were hungry, they used their helmets to bake flour cakes to eat. It was spread to ten and hundreds, and the food problem of the migrant workers was quickly solved. This method is the original "Guokui". Later, with the improvement of people's material life, the technology of making steamed buns was continuously improved in practice. The quality of "guokui" became better and better, and it has been passed down for a long time.
Dried noodles.
According to legend, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs took over the power to cause rebellion. The court repeatedly imposed land taxes, gentry ran rampant in the countryside, and farmers went bankrupt and raised their flags to rebel. Emperor Chongzhen saw that the situation was over and the country could not be saved. He was worried and had no good plan.
One night, he dreamed of a female fairy who said to him: "As long as you eat ten feet of thin noodles, you can live a long life and have a peaceful country and a peaceful people." After waking up, the emperor immediately issued a decree, Order officials from all over the country to quickly bring the thin noodles to Beijing. After one month, there was still no one who was ten feet long and thin and had no one to enter the palace. Chongzhen was furious and killed several ministers in succession, which made the officials panic and the people complained incessantly. There was an official in Guanzhong named Song Qijiao. He rushed back to his hometown at night and told his cousin Song Baiqiao, who was a chef, about the situation and asked him to find a way. But after several trials, I still couldn't get a thin noodle that was ten feet long. One day, Baiqiao was so tired that he fell asleep while making noodles. In the haze, an old man with white hair said to him: "Bai Qiao, making such thin noodles is a leisurely thing. Don't be anxious, just give it a try, don't do it recklessly." Bai Qiao was about to ask in detail. , suddenly woke up, the old man was nowhere to be found. After sitting up and thinking about it, I realized the truth. He put salt in the flour and kneaded it into a dough. He didn't rush to do it, but left it in the basin for a long time. Then he kneaded the dough back and forth, using his hands. As expected, it was strong and stretched continuously. He was very happy. He immediately set up a big rack, hung the noodles on the rack, and let the noodles slowly hang down. Finally, he made thin noodles that were ten feet long and presented them to the court, which relieved the crisis of the officials and the people. This is what later became noodles.
Drinking soup, people in Guanzhong and Longdong areas call dinner "drinking soup". "Drinking soup" does not mean that there are no steamed buns or vegetables, but that it includes soup and rice. So why is dinner called "drinking soup"?
It is said that Yuan soldiers occupied the Central Plains. In order to collect food and strengthen the army, Kublai Khan asked the people to change their three meals a day to two meals a day.
The government was afraid that the people would be dissatisfied with the meal change and start a rebellion, so they sent a Yuan soldier to every fifteen households to take charge of it. The soldiers are in charge and should be carried on the waist at all times. But in the past, we were used to eating three meals a day, but suddenly it was changed to two meals. How can we survive a day's work without eating some food in the evening? At that time, there was a young man named Wang Er, who had been pushing tofu mills to Cai Dong's house for a day. When he got home after dark, he was so hungry that he couldn't bear it, so he secretly lit a fire and tried to cook some rice soup to satisfy his hunger. When the soldiers found out, they kidnapped Wang Er without asking. Wang Er was sent to Kublai Khan's tent. Kublai Khan heard that Wang Er had eaten dinner secretly and planned to rebel. He ordered him to cut off his head. Wang Er shouted "I'm wronged", and Kublai Khan stepped forward and asked: "Why have I wronged you?" Wang Er said: "The king asked the people to change their diet to save food, how dare the common people disobey. I just boiled some boiling water to quench my thirst after dark. , did not put rice in the pot, what do you mean if it is not an injustice?" Kublai Khan thought to himself, Wang Er could also use water to quench his thirst, which would save food and satisfy his hunger, and he would have plenty of water. It was really an injustice to chop him down. So Wang Er was released. After this, Kublai Khan allowed the people to cook soup for dinner. In this way, people take the opportunity of making soup to cook rice. After a long time, dinner was called "soup".