? My hometown is steamed cakes in Linze, where there is a Heihe River flowing from east to west, which breeds hardworking and kind people in my hometown. Hometown people's favorite food is steamed cakes.
When I was a child, my family made steamed cakes on a large scale every summer during the slack season. After breakfast, my mother prepares the dough. She uses a large basin to hold about two liters of flour and make it into a few big bumps with moderate hardness. After half an hour, she kneads it for a while until the dough is smooth and delicate. Washing face is my favorite job. I can sit on a small stool and wash my face while playing with water. More importantly, I can chat with my mother at will. We find a big clean basin, pour half a basin of clear water, put the awakened dough into the water, and rub it back and forth with both hands. When the clear water thickens, pour the batter into a bigger bucket, then put the clear water and rub it again until all the starch in the dough is washed away, leaving honeycomb gluten. Mother poured all the washed starch paste into buckets, cauldrons and other household items and deposited it in a cool place. Gluten is smashed into many small dots, evenly mixed on the filled dry flour, and mixed with flour and kneaded. When these things are done, it's time to make lunch.
After lunch, I almost woke up from the second good dough. My mother taught me to knead the dough again and wake it up. This time, you should pull up the awakened big dough into a small dough smaller than your fist and knead it smoothly. After awakening for a while, try to flatten the dough with the palm of your hand, then roll the flour cake into a plate-sized flour cake with a rolling pin, put it on a circular steamer woven with wicker, press one side of the flour cake on the steamer with your hand, then stretch the flour cake around until the flour cake is as thin as a wing, and when it is transparent, tear off the thick flour cake with uneven edges and steam it in the pot. Let the steamed pancakes cool, tear them off, spread them on the chopping board, spread them with cooked oil one by one, roll them into round rolls, cut them into filaments or thin strips, shake them in bulk and put them on the plate. When you eat, mix your favorite ingredients and side dishes, smell the aroma and taste the unique flavor, which is delicious and attractive. Leave enough steamed cakes for a day or two, and the rest should be rolled into fist-sized rolls and dried in the sun. It is also very popular to eat in winter.
? Early the next morning, the yellow water on the precipitated flour paste was poured out, and the remaining starch was mixed with water again and cooked with slow fire to make jelly. Continue to eat some and dry some. Drying is vermicelli. Cooking and making soup in winter are very delicious.
? This large steamed cake is time-consuming and laborious to make, but it is delicious. We often do it simply. Mix the dough, roll the dough, stretch the dough, and steam it in the pot. Although this simple steamed cake is not as delicious as the steamed cake mixed with gluten after washing your face, you can eat and cook as much as you want, which is convenient and fast, and it is also high-end and elegant to greet guests.
? It is said that this steamed cake has an extraordinary origin. It is said that in the twenty-seventh year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, Tang Priest's master and his disciples returned to Chang 'an from Yangguan to learn Buddhist scriptures. When they took Bai Longma to Siba, they saw a jade belt-like river flowing among the green trees. On both sides of the river, there were pink, willow and green reeds, and a circle of white walls surrounded the columns of a courtyard, which was a quaint and elegant manor. At first glance, it was a large family. The Tang Priest dismounted in front of the door and went into the courtyard to pay his respects to an old man. He said that he had come back from the western Tang Dynasty in the east and passed through your place in the afternoon. He wanted to rest here all night and get enough food and grass for his journey tomorrow. This old man is also a good man, who repairs bridges and roads on weekdays, helps the poor and is deeply loved by the villagers. On this day, when the old man heard that it was the monk who was knocking at the door, he immediately bowed down and saluted Tang Priest, called Tang Priest into the house to rest, and ordered him to wash vegetables and cook. Suddenly, chickens crowed and ducks crowed in the courtyard, and a group of girls and women were very busy. The old man was chatting with the Tang Priest. When he heard the noise outside, he thought it was wrong. Monks are vegetarian. How can I kill anything here? So the old man strolled out of the house and wondered what to treat the holy monk with. At this time, he suddenly felt a flash of light and remembered the steamed cakes that he ate only on holidays. Perhaps because of the Buddha's protection, the steamed cakes made that day were thin and thin, and the snow in Bai Rubing was as thin as cicada feathers and as soft as silk. They were cooked with fine linseed oil and smeared on the cakes, cut into thin filaments with a knife, and mixed with a few vegetarian dishes before they were served. That day, Tang Priest was really hungry. He ate this meal with relish, and his forehead did not feel hot sweat. The next day, when he left, the old man filled a bowl for Tang Priest, packed it in a cloth bag and let him eat it on the way.
? From then on, steamed cakes from Linze Four Dams became a kind of local snacks, which has been handed down all the time.
The steamed cakes in my hometown are now well known. Welcome to taste them.