The guy said, you're kidding us. What's strange about this smoked fish? Hehe, I'm really not here to play with you. This snack I'm talking about is the tail of a scorpion-a unique (poisonous) tail!
Snacks in old Beijing taste different from dinner. In fact, it is a kind of "human fireworks", and there is a warm collision between people, just like the smoked fish we want to talk about.
Smoked fish, a snack, is a vendor's booth. Every afternoon around two or three o'clock, they carry a wooden cabinet painted with bright red paint and walk around the streets to sell it. Some vendors are waiting for diners outside a big wine jar (pub).
At that time, smoked fish was the most popular delicacy. Why? There are many stories in it.
First of all, vendors usually shout "smoked fish and fried gluten ..." It stands to reason that since you shout like this, both are indispensable. But, hehe, if you really want these two things, you will get a clear answer-no.
So what do they sell? I'm telling you, this is pig's head meat and pig's guts. You see, people who sell smoked fish don't sell fish or fried gluten. Most of what they sell has to be found on pigs. This is the first big monster.
You must be bored. What's wrong with that? Don't worry, make a cup of tea first and listen to me slowly while drinking.
Beijing is located in the north, and it is cold in winter. It is basically impossible to spend the winter if fish are raised by traditional methods. Even marine fish or fish in wild rivers and ditches have obvious seasonal restrictions, and things are rare and expensive. So it was not easy for people at that time to eat fish, especially ordinary people. Therefore, if vendors really want to sell smoked fish, they have no business for most of the year. What are we doing? The living can't let the urine suffocate. We have to find a way.
Old Beijingers are greedy. Some people say that it is because the children of the Eight Banners are idle and make trouble when they are idle, so they love to give advice on eating. Although this statement is somewhat one-sided, it still makes sense for the time being.
Another thing, Beijingers love to drink, especially midnight wine, which is often called "midnight snack" now. And this appetizer is very particular. You can't just go to the bar to eat a few fried peanuts or a nail house (it used to be called that). That's a mean trick! A slightly particular advocate must work hard on wine and vegetables: drink sheep's head meat, tendons, sheep's eyes and donkey meat in winter; Xia likes drinking pig ears and smoked fish.
This is the unwritten courtesy of the old Beijingers, from which vendors have learned the doorway, in a word: do what they like.
But after all, it's a small business, and it can't afford serious meat. Can only make some leftover halogen products, all of which are cold meat.
In earlier years, vendors put smoked yellow croaker sticks on straw stalks to prepare smoked shrimps and crabs for dried seafood. But later, customers were not interested in these things, and the vendors quickly changed their strategies, mainly selling smoked pig's head meat, and selling smoked pig's liver, smoked fat sausage, smoked pig's heart, smoked pig's lung, pig's brain and smoked mouth by the way.
Interestingly, some people also sell smoked bitter sausages. Why? Old Beijingers like to buy it back, chop it up and eat it with white rice. Why? Feeding the kittens and puppies at home, it is estimated that this is also a market explored in the practice of buying and selling.
So smoked fish is actually synonymous. There are many kinds of things on pigs, and they are delicious and not expensive.
First, selling smoked fish has also been an industry in the past few years. At that time, everything in Beijing had rules. Smoked fish sellers are no exception: first, while walking up and down the street, each hawker has his own jurisdiction and cannot rush into other places; Second, pig's head meat or pig's liver is sold, and the knife used for cutting meat must be ground by itself, and the knife work is better. The broadsword is shiny, which can cut the smoked pork liver as thin as paper, and each piece can be bright; Third, the pig viscera sold has everything, but there is no pig kidney.
This rule is still a mystery. It is said that it was left by our ancestors. What is the root cause? There is no reason, and which ancestor who sold smoked fish lost it. But don't look at such a business, the rules are clear, not angry at all, and people respect it.
Third, although the seller of smoked fish is a small business, it is absolutely unambiguous in practice and quality. In previous years, the exclusive workshops in Beijing were all cooking smoked wax and eating vegetables, which was then called "pot gang". Many families, each with unique skills and different tastes. General vendors sell this batch of smoked goods from the same pot (such as the famous Mahabharata Temple in the south of the city) to earn a little difference to support their families.
However, often the things smoked and salted by this pot group taste super good. For example, these pig livers sell best in small bellies, and then they are cured and smoked. Although the taste is light, they are full and tender, with a little My Sweetie flavor.
Another example is their smoked pig ears, which are crisp and rotten and most suitable for drinking. Ha ha!
Another example is smoked chicken. Beijing people generally call eggs chicken, which has moderate salty taste and rich taste. But one notable feature is its small size, which is not much bigger than that of pigeon eggs. If you ask, why did you choose such a small number of chickens to smoke? There is quite a saying among the sellers of smoked fish: the chicken should be cooked before smoking. The big ones are cooked and shaped, so they can't be smoked or tasted. Do you think that's the reason?
When it comes to wax extraction techniques, there are different rules in different places. In the south, brown sugar or tea is mostly used for smoking, while in the north, sawdust is generally used as smoking material.
What is sawdust? There was no chainsaw in the early years, and there was an industry in Beijing called "sawing". Two people stand on one side of the wood, you pull me and push me, and cooperate with each other. After a while, a lot of sawdust fell on the ground. This is sawdust.
It is said that there is another way to make smoked food with sawdust: it is best to use elm or Chinese fir. As for willow and poplar, it is said in the industry that the sawdust of willow has a green smell and the sawdust of poplar has a bitter taste.
The main cooking method of smoked fish is to boil and smoke pig's head meat, and the selection of materials is very particular: you want to find meat with tendons inside, which looks as white as jelly, plus layered pork belly and thin skin of plum red. After special cooking and fumigation with sawdust, the smoked pig's head meat is often purple and full of smoky smell. The biggest feature is crisp, tender, fat and not greasy.
Smoked products are one of the "hair products", and modern people are very taboo about them and think they are harmful to health. However, old Beijingers are inclined. They not only love to eat, but also often give some to their children when they are vaccinated. It is said that this can make the virus spread in an all-round way.
As far as four in one is concerned, the vendor selling smoked fish has an obvious sign: carrying a red mahogany cabinet. Don't underestimate this cabinet, its insides are all intact! Because delicious smoked food is hidden in this small mahogany cabinet!
The red cabinet has become a signboard for selling smoked fish. After meeting the buyer, the seller took the back of the wooden cabinet cover as a chopping board, skillfully transported the knife, cut the meat into thin pieces of paper, wrapped it in oil paper and handed it over. People buy wine or put pig's head meat in a two-layer skin-like "block fire" (a fire without sesame seeds), which makes it unique in taste.
It is said that there are a fixed number of red cabinets, and one pot can be filled. One more thing, many old Beijingers don't know that there is a magical secret hidden in this small cupboard.
What is the secret? It must be said that this kind of cabinet has unique advantages: first, the smoked food stored in the cabinet can always be kept clean and tasteless; Second, flies, mosquitoes, etc. Avoid falling when they meet.
How did you do that? Anyone who has sold smoked fish before knows that the method is amazing: before using the mahogany cabinet, fry a toad, in order to fry the toad venom on its back, and then brush the cabinet inside and outside with this oil. Not only does it have no peculiar smell, but it's nothing unusual to smell it with your heart. Ha ha!
Although the materials and practices of this kind of "smoked fish" are not complicated, neither the pot gang nor the vendors are simple in their intentions, which is also the fundamental reason for the amazing old Beijing snacks in their early years.
Only if you are willing to endure hardships, ponder and cut materials can you make amazing taste. However, it is a pity that future generations are unwilling to work hard in this respect, so authentic snacks like smoked fish will disappear with time.
Although times have changed, I still want to say, "No matter how far away, I really love you" to the smoked fish that I can't find!