Zhangqiu, an ancient city, is the birthplace of Longshan culture and the childhood of China history. In this land with rich culture, not only the prehistoric culture of world civilization has been created, but also many famous foods handed down from generation to generation have been created. Some of these famous foods have been carried forward and some have been lost, leaving only a legend about him.
As we all know, the most representative place of Xiuhui Ancient City in Zhangqiu is Huangjia Barbecue. Related to this, another famous food with Zhangqiu local characteristics-roasted bean curd stew was derived. Speaking of barbecue and tofu stew, there is a beautiful legend.
Legend has it that in the Ming Dynasty, there was a man in Zhangqiu ancient city who was too lazy to cook. He put the washed rice in a bowl, then put the chicken, onion, ginger and salt on a plate, put them in the same pot and cook them in one pot.
Later, it was accidentally tasted by a chef Yu who went back to his hometown to visit relatives. It feels very good. The rice smells like chicken, and the chicken smells like rice. The chef had a whim, and after years of improvement and innovation, he finally became a famous dish. He carefully selected local ingredients such as fragrant rice, native chicken and scallion in Zhangqiu Baimaiquan, combined with years of experience, carefully prepared secret recipes, steamed with slow fire, light and simple, and his lips and teeth remained fragrant.
In order to please the emperor, the container was specially designed in the shape of the sun and the moon, and the container was made of purple sand.
The bottom is hollow, and there is a soup pot below. The round sun and crescent moon are skillfully put together. "Day" contains rice, "month" contains chicken, and the meat rice is steamed together, and the chicken crisp rice is fresh.
Indirect heating is beautiful and edible, which is called "the sun and the moon shine together". After the emperor tasted it, he was overjoyed and gave the royal chef an official title. This dish has become a famous dish in the palace.
In the Qing dynasty, "the sun and the moon shine together" became a forbidden dish, and making the sun and the moon "bright" was a taboo in the Qing dynasty. Some changed its shape into a circle, only making chickens and turning them into crock chickens. Some only cook rice. Some steamed in the same pot, but lost the charm of "the sun and the moon shine together". Over time, this dish of the Ming Dynasty was lost in the Qing Dynasty because of the political sensitivity caused by its name, and no one mentioned it again. Only this legend has survived.
In 20 18, the ancient city of Xiuhui in Zhangqiu was rebuilt, and related legends were heard when it moved.
The crock chicken evolved from "the sun and the moon shine together" has not been lost so far. It turned out that the descendants of this chef concealed their life experience, lived in Zhangqiu for a long time, and passed on their secret recipe from generation to generation, but did not dare to tell.
The Ming Dynasty perished and the princess fled. One day, I came to Zhangqiu ancient city, hungry and afraid of revealing my identity, so I asked the locals for food.
Coincidentally, I happened to meet the descendants of the chef. Mr. Yu often heard from his ancestors about the living customs of some dignitaries. Although he didn't know that the beggar was a princess, he could see from his temperament that people were either rich or expensive, perhaps from the palace, so he specially made her a famous roast meat, stewed tofu and crock chicken. The princess felt delicious after eating it, which made her taste the delicious food in the palace. She was very moved and took out the gold and silver jewelry hidden in her body as a reward for her family. Seeing the beggar's exquisite eating and jewelry, Mr. Yu confirmed that he was a palace man. Because of the current situation, he didn't keep the princess. The princess immediately went south to Wen Zu and got married in Wanghei Village.
The news that Mr. Yu won the gold medal in cooking spread like wildfire. After the news spread, every visitor in four villages and eight townships invited the old man to cook. Barbecue, stewed tofu and crock chicken are essential dishes. After a long time, Mr. Yu became a famous chef in the ancient city, while barbecue, stewed tofu and crock chicken became famous foods for guests and friends.
During the Qianlong period, Lord Qianlong made a southern tour and passed by Zhangqiu City. The county grandfather tried his best to please the long live grandfather and carefully selected Zhangqiu snacks to entertain guests. The descendants of the Yu family, who have been cooking for generations, cooked famous roasted bean curd and crock chicken, cooked porridge with famous people such as Longshan Xiaomi and invited them to taste it for a long time.
After returning to the palace, the Lord named Longshan Xiaomi Gong Mi, and wanted to recruit people who could cook barbecue, stew tofu and crock chicken to serve in the imperial kitchen. At this time, a minister suggested that this was a crock chicken made by the ancestors of the Yu family for the fallen princess of the previous dynasty. The matter of entering the palace was forgotten. Longshan Xiaomi became Gong Mi in all previous dynasties, while barbecue, stewed tofu and crock chicken became famous folk foods.
It is understood that when Zhangqiu was famous for roasted meat and stewed tofu, the stewed meat and Longshan tofu from Huang family were used, and the iron pot was used. Yellow barbecue, take the medium lean pigs that grew up that year, slaughter them, cut a small mouth on the meat with a knife, and feed them with spices such as pepper, clove, cinnamon, Amomum villosum, fennel, cardamom, tsaoko powder and salt. Stewed in a special high-temperature oven, the skin is crispy and tender, fat but not greasy, and it is famous for its fresh fragrance both inside and outside the province. After cooking, the content of water and fat decreased, while the content of protein increased relatively, making it sterile. The content of protein is 23.4%, the fat content is 43. 1%, the salt content is 1.3%, and the water content is 3 1.6% (data from Shandong Food Hygiene Supervision and Inspection Institute). The Longshan tofu used is delicate in meat, rich in water, tender but not flowing, white as snow, elastic and delicious to eat. It is rich in nutrition and contains many trace elements necessary for human body, such as iron, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.
A study in The Lancet, an authoritative British medical journal, pointed out that the most common way to treat anemia is to supplement iron, but using an iron pot may be a simpler and more effective method. The research results show that compared with other cooking tools such as aluminum pot, cooking with iron pot can make children develop better, and the hemoglobin in the blood is also sufficient. Therefore, the roasted meat and tofu with seasoning stewed in iron pot will not only bring you delicious food, but also be a healthy way to eat.
Cooking chicken in a crock is not new. As early as the Longshan culture period, the ancestors used pottery to boil water for cooking, and the habit has been inherited. It is said that after years of tempering, crock chicken is more distinctive and more in line with the current concept of food fashion. There is also a nice name called "imperial concubine jar chicken" Can crock-boiled chicken really combine food and nutrition to eat healthily?
Purple sand is a kind of clayey siltstone containing iron, which is rich in trace elements such as iron, iodine, copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt, chromium, selenium, fluorine, silicon, tin and vanadium, and has health care function. Using purple sand as a container, using yin and yang, does not destroy the nutritional structure of edible materials. In addition, purple sand has good cold and hot mutation performance and will not burst due to sudden temperature change. The crock fully combines the umami flavor and nutrients of raw materials, ensuring that the natural nutrients of food are not lost. If it is mixed with precious medicinal materials, it can achieve nutritional compound and dietotherapy effects and has a unique taste.
Perhaps the ancients didn't know that purple contained so many beneficial ingredients. Their practical experience really impressed future generations, and the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.
Many excellent and classic traditional cultures, crafts and snacks in China are passed down from one family to another. Things handed down from the family are generally passed from the inside to the outside, from men to women. In this land with rich cultural heritage, there are many family cultural heritages, such as the Huang family barbecue, some of which have been carried forward and some have been extinct. Closed thinking not only destroys many traditional good things. Fortunately, the crock chicken that has been circulating for more than 300 years has not been lost. Not bad!
If there is a fate, you must talk to its inheritor and learn more about the historical origin of snacks in the ancient city. Of course, it is better to taste food.
Inheriting Zhangqiu ancient town culture and paying attention to embroidery. See you next time.