Archives around me

Gong Jing ran the text/picture

Many years ago, I read Xu Xinyu's "Notes on Traveling in Shu" and found it very interesting. Xu Xinyu's father used to be a magistrate of Jiajiang County, and the lobby of the clip department was facing Mount Emei. At that time, Xu Xinyu was still young, and he often ran around the lobby with a group of children, and occasionally he was stunned by the beautiful scenery in front of him: "Seeing that the snow in Emei Mountain is deep, the official department is also dazzling, and the golden roof of the mountain is still shining brightly." Times have changed. There were already many high-rise buildings on the original site of Yamen in those days. I'm afraid it's not easy to see such a scene. However, my search for Jiajiang cuisine started here, which may make up for my regret and get a different experience.

Of course, we have to start with Mount Emei. Jiajiang County is located at the northern foot of Emei Mountain, which is the transition zone from the southwest edge of Sichuan Basin to Emei Mountain. The whole landform of the county is composed of hills, plain bazi and river valley platform, with a difference of thousands of meters above sea level. A unique regional ecological environment is formed within Fiona Fang, and its diet is also affected by this, which naturally brings some regional characteristics.

Xiema Roast Meat

Mountain Delicious: Xiema Roast Meat

Hong Chou, a Ming Dynasty, once summed up Jiajiang: "Jiajiang is a good city of Shu. In the upper reaches of Jiazhou, the figures are mountains and rivers, and the show is unique. " The unique geographical conditions endow Jiajiang with rich products, which is also the material basis of a place's diet. Jiajiang has the advantage of relying on mountains, so its food is naturally indispensable to the mountain family.

Jiajiang is the hometown of bamboo production. Yang Xiong once wrote in Shu Du Fu: "Jiajiang is on the edge of the mountain, looking for a pawn. Only when you are rooted can you fill in the wilderness. " It's about the lush growth of bamboo forests with mountains and slopes here two thousand years ago. In the past, bitter bamboo shoots were mainly produced in Emei and Jiajiang mountains. When bitter bamboo shoots were produced in April and May, only places like Jiajiang could eat bitter bamboo shoots. In the 198s, Zhang Chunrong, an apprentice of Blu-ray Jian, went to Jiajiang, and the local people asked him to endure hardships. He was surprised that he didn't know this thing.

Although bitter bamboo shoots are seasonal, the production cycle in Jiajiang is relatively long. The bitter bamboo shoots in Yingjiang Township have just been eaten, and the bitter bamboo shoots in Huatou Mountain have only come out for the first time. It takes more than March to eat bitter bamboo shoots, which is rare in other places. The practice of bitter bamboo shoots in Jiajiang is quite common, and roast chicken with bitter bamboo shoots, roast meat with bitter bamboo shoots and sour pickled cabbage dumpling soup are the most common, which are fresh for a while. Bitterness of bitter bamboo shoots is unique, which can best be reflected by cold bitter bamboo shoots. In fact, it is to cut bitter bamboo shoots into silk and add a little salt, but the bitterness is full, refreshing and refined.

soaking in bitter bamboo shoots

snow beans are produced in Jiajiang, especially in Huatou Mountain, with white sand and glutinous color and rich nutrition. Nowadays, the old chefs in Jiajiang still talk about the stewed chicken and trotters with snow beans before the 199s. Snow bean is easy to stew, can be melted into thick soup, and tastes excellent, so it is really a good tonic. However, snow beans are almost oily and fleshy in nature, and they grow in the mountains and have a graceful appearance, which is very different from bitter bamboo shoots.

The best feature of Jiajiang Mountain is "Xiema Roasting Meat". Xiema is a place name of Jiajiang, located in the mountainous area on the edge of Jiajiang, bordering Emei Mountain in the west, and Xiema is related to the ancient road. Probably in the past, pedestrians crossed the mountains to this point, and it was at the time of the sharp point that "resting horses and burning meat" came into being. "Xiema Roast Meat" selects five flowers, scalds the skin in an oil pan and cuts them into cubes. When cooking, fresh vegetables, such as green bamboo shoots and Chinese cabbage, are in season. When cooked in seven minutes, it is fat but not greasy, fragrant and delicious. It is a very delicious dish and can remind us of a taste bud memory of the post road era.

Macun fish head being cooked in the pot

Fresh in the water: Macun fish head

Jiajiang River is not only near Emei Mountain, but also on the Qingyi River. It is a famous water pier with numerous streams, and there is no shortage of delicious seafood. Qin Jiucheng, the chef of Jiajiang in the Republic of China, had two famous dishes: black mullet fillet and braised silver carp, which were a must, and this was related to the benefits of the river. There is a knack for black mullet fillets, which is based on fresh black mullet fillets, and is characterized by spicy but not impetuous, oily but not greasy. But now you can't eat mullet fillets in restaurants, but fresh mullet fillets are common, which is a local popular food. I went to eat this dish in a restaurant in Ganjiang Town that day, and it was red and white, but I felt that the white taste was better, and the dish was beautiful. Onions, ginger and garlic dotted it, and the meat was bright and white, which greatly increased my tongue.

nowadays, in Jiajiang, the fish head in Macun is the most admired in seafood. Macun is a small town more than ten kilometers away from Jiajiang County. The fish head comes from nearby Macun Reservoir, and a Macun River connects with Qingyi River. I personally witnessed the whole process of cooking Macun fish head: Macun fish head is generally made of silver carp, and the fish head is washed for use. A proper amount of water is poured into the pot, and the pickled cabbage fried in the morning is poured into the water until it is sour. It is said that frying pickled cabbage is very important, but the ingredients and proportions are so secret. Then cook the fish, add seasoning, and put a lot of Toona sinensis buds, Pogostemon and shallots on the surface after taking out the pot. Toona sinensis buds, in particular, have special fragrance, such as plant monosodium glutamate. Toona sinensis buds of Macun fish head are used all year round, but the picking season of Toona sinensis buds is less than one month, so there is a knack for storage. You can eat Toona sinensis buds with unique and rich fragrance in all seasons, which is indeed a major feature of Macun fish head.

Macun fish head soup is hot and sour, and the fragrant fish is tender, which makes people feast. Mr. Cai Chengjian, who is in his seventies, studied under Chengdu Rongleyuan in his early years. He is a very famous chef in Jiajiang. He also gave me an analysis of three characteristics of Macun fish head: First, the fish comes from Macun Reservoir, the lake is wide and the water quality is good. The so-called "river boiled fish" is fresh; Second, sauerkraut is unique, it is homemade sauerkraut, and the brewing is quite ingenious; Third, cooking fish with pure lard, rather than clear oil or blended oil, tastes better. However, it is also a miracle that a small remote village makes delicious mouths flock to it because of a fish.

Macun Fish Head in Pot

Flat Dam Mat: Nine bowls

Anyone who has been to Jiajiang will find that the whole county is actually on a flat dam, and the feeling is even more obvious if you stand on a tall building and look at it. Jiajiang River is bounded by Qingyi River, Hedong is a plain dam, and Hexi is a hilly and mountainous area. This geographical condition is very unique. In the early Qing Dynasty, Wang Yuyang, a great scholar, once wrote in "Shu Dao Yi Cheng Ji": "Entering Jiajiang River, that is, the ditch is dotted, the smoke village is warm, and it is like Wuzhong scenery."

"Wu Zhong style", this Jiangnan temperament is also reflected in catering. That day, I chatted with Mr. Zhao Xiaorong, vice president of Jiajiang Catering Association, and talked about the dietary differences in the triangle of Emei, Jiajiang and Leshan. He concluded that Emei was sour and liked to use vinegar. Jiajiang is sweet and loves to put sugar; Leshan is neutral between the two. These three places are just the core areas of Minjiang River and Emei Mountain, which are geographically similar, but even these hundreds of miles of mountains and rivers in Fiona Fang are quite different in language and diet.

bitter bamboo shoots and sour pickled cabbage dumplings soup

Chengdu-Kunming line crossing the border, Qingyi River passing through the city, and the prosperity of traditional paper industry have all brought catering prosperity to Jiajiang. During the Republic of China, Jiajiang held the Zhan Wanghui in August of the lunar calendar every year, which was a grand meeting of the local catering industry. There is also the Lei Zu Festival in March of the lunar calendar, where white case masters gather to show off their cooking skills. At that time, the most famous chefs in Jiajiang were Guan Jinshan, Qin Jiucheng, Guo Zhengqing, Jin Kaiming, etc. The most famous restaurant was the "Xingshunju" in Yamenkou, which was an authentic Nantang restaurant, and its business was booming. Its location was just next to the main hall where Emei Mountain could be seen in the past, and the food and beauty actually gathered together, which made people think. Mr. Li Fangyuan, a famous chef in Leshan, said that Jiajiang's catering industry used to be a leader in the whole Leshan area, and most of the top chefs came from Jiajiang. I think these are all the details of Jiajiang catering.

Jiajiang cuisine is still dominated by traditional Sichuan cuisine, and the nine bowls can best reflect its characteristics. The nine bowls in Jiajiang are called Tian Xi, which is a typical catering feature of Pingba in the past. However, Jiajiang has its own characteristics, such as differences in the cooking of crispy fish. Jiajiang generally uses fine flowers instead of big flowers in knife cutting; Use dry bean powder instead of water bean powder on the wrapping material; Jiajiang called watercress watercress, which was brewed locally in Jiajiang, paying attention to delicacy, freshness and fragrance. Another example is the elbow with ginger juice. Jiajiang uses cold ginger juice instead of hot ginger juice, and the ginger is scalded with hot oil without thickening, which has a strong local flavor.

Jiajiang cold chicken

Jiajiang cold chicken is also very distinctive, which is a hard dish in nine bowls. It uses boiling juice, which is made of chicken soup with various seasonings, without monosodium glutamate and chicken essence, and maintains the original flavor and fragrance. In other places, cold chicken often uses mixed juice, such as Leshan white slaughtered chicken. In fact, the reason why Jiajiang cold chicken is famous is also related to the ceramic industry in Daxing in the 198s and 199s. The number of raw teeth is increasing day by day. In those days, vendors selling cold chicken peddled along the street with baskets and slowly sold their fame.

Flavor seasoning: Tumen pickles

I heard that Jiajiang's bean curd is famous, and it has a relationship with the bean curd of Dechangyuan, a time-honored Chinese brand. Jiajiang bean curd began in Xianfeng period. Zou Sanhe, the earliest master, went to Jiajiang to start a workshop after studying in Dechang Garden. Later, the name gradually became louder and louder, and he became famous in Sichuan. Of course, Jiajiang bean curd has its own characteristics, not only the original flavor, five flavors, but also spicy taste, eclectic and innovative in inheritance. This also proves that Jiajiang has always been a gathering place for delicious food, and Zou Sanhe has opened up a new pier, which I think he didn't expect a hundred years later.

Ganjiang Tofu Brain

Jiajiang's kimchi is also very famous, especially Tumen kimchi. The earliest cook was Hu Zhiqiang, a native of Tumen Town. In the past, he opened a restaurant in the town and cooked some kimchi by the way. The guests thought it was delicious and wanted to take it away after eating, which triggered his idea of specializing in kimchi production. Nowadays, many pickles are processed by putting industrial salt and various seasonings in a large pit, stirring with a forklift, and then crushing and bagging with a machine. There is no altar at all, which is quite different from traditional kimchi. But the real kimchi must be brewed by the ancient method. In Tumen Town, after I saw the vegetables in the earthen altar, the vegetables fermented in the altar, and there was a bubbling sound everywhere. If you were in the countryside, the frogs would be like a tide, which was very poetic. Tumen kimchi ushered in the peak season in May and June, and garlic and Chinese onion began to enter the altar, followed by cowpea and pepper. Pepper is best with big Vitex negundo and second Vitex negundo, with thin skin and thick meat. The pickled sea pepper in Tumen pickle is moderate in sour and spicy, tender and crisp, which is really a must.

In addition to being eaten at home, bean curd and pickles are also seasonings for cooking dishes, which have the same effect as douban. It is with such high-quality food "embryo" that the food in one place will become amorous and enchanting.

Jiajiang Pickle Workshop

There are many snacks: meat soup

When you look at the delicious food in a place, you can actually get the general idea just by looking at its snacks. When you go to Jiajiang, you need to eat a bowl of bean curd. After eating, you can go to the small town for a turn, which is called glad you came. Ye Erba should also be tasted in the morning. The "Zeng Yeerba" on Yingchun Road has a good reputation, and the steamer is steaming together. The meat in this shop is very distinctive. The torn leaves are white as jade, with a slightly sweet taste and a hint of fermented rice fragrance, which makes the morning of this day fall into an instant trance.

turn to "Ye Baozi" in Fruit Street. The fresh meat steamed stuffed bun in this shop is not allowed to be ignored by Tianjin dogs, with thin skin and strong onion flavor. The biggest feature of Ye Baozi is that it only uses chives, not ginger and garlic, so the steamed buns are fragrant all over the street, and sometimes you will find that this is the fireworks that a small town should have.

"Zeng Ye Er Ba" in Jiajiang

There are many delicious things in Jiajiang, and it seems that you can find delicious food at any small stall. For example, when I was passing by Wuchang, I saw a small restaurant called "Wuchang Beef", which steamed, roasted, stewed, mixed and fried everything. But I only ordered a dish I had never eaten-crispy beef, which was spicy and tender, and really delicious. At that time, I thought that if I didn't order three or five dishes and then put on two or two small wines, I would never be sorry for others' craftsmanship.

Roasted duck in Jiajiang

Jiajiang diet gives me the impression that there are delicious foods hidden in alley. Inadvertently, Jiajiang delicacies such as roasted duck in Qijiang, Zhuo chicken, Lei barbecue, Longjiang flavored wonton soup and so on may come to my face, which makes people feel gluttonous. Understanding that a city often begins with delicious food, walking on the streets of Jiajiang, I can feel a kind of tranquility, leisure and complacency. During the Tongzhi period, Chen Yuzan, the magistrate of Jiajiang County, was sitting in the lobby of the agency, facing Mount Emei. Perhaps what he hoped was such a state: "I prefer the people to be safe and there is no emergency, so I can get a sentence and sing casually on the way."