Guangzhou is located in the hilly area, with the mountains in the north and the water and sea in the south. There are many water towns, fertile land and vast fields. Although the lack of mineral resources restricts the development of heavy industry in Guangzhou, it also provides Guangzhou with a wide range of food resources. In addition, Guangzhou, which is at the south gate of the motherland, has a business trip from south to north, and an endless stream of business exchanges, which has promoted the development of Guangzhou's food culture. "Eating in Guangzhou" comes from this.
Guangzhou is famous for its delicious food. A foreigner once wrote in his travel notes: "Here, geese are bigger and better than anywhere else in the world ... many snakes are caught for delicious food." Guangzhou people also boast that there are so many dishes in Guangzhou's restaurants that one can't finish them even if he stays for a year.
Guangzhou snacks can be divided into several categories: oily, porridge, flour, cakes, desserts, zongzi, omnivores, etc. Each snack has a different flavor.
Shahe rice product with varied flavor
It is made by steaming rice pulp into thin sheet and cutting into strips. Popular in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, it is the most famous one produced by Shahe in Guangzhou, hence the name. Because it is made of water soaked in Jiulong Spring on Baiyun Mountain, the powder produced is thin, white and transparent, soft and tough, and it is suitable for frying, soaking and mixing. In recent years, Shahe Hotel has infiltrated vegetable juice and carrot juice into the slurry to make colored Shahe powder, which has other characteristics.
according to legend, as early as the late Qing Dynasty, there was a Jia Yi He Ju snack bar in sha he, a northern suburb of Guangzhou. The owner, Fan Axiang, and his wife sold rice congee fried dough sticks in the morning, and the seller often had meals at noon, but their lives were smooth and steady. One morning, an old man in rags came to the door of the shop and fell weakly on the bluestone in front of the door. A Xiang couldn't help feeling pity and asked his wife to send hot porridge. The old man said that you can't eat for nothing without money. A Xiang said, "Although our shop is small, this rice congee has always been free for the elderly, so you can rest assured to eat!" Who knows that since then, the old man appeared almost every day, and A Xiang and his wife didn't abandon him, so they gave alms.
Suddenly, one day, A Xiang unfortunately fell ill, and he couldn't afford to lie down, so the shop had to close down. At noon, the old man appeared in front of the store again. When he learned about A Xiang's illness, he said, "A Xiang's rice is difficult to get into, and the disease is naturally difficult to heal. Let me make a bowl of delicious food today to give him an appetizer!" After a little thinking, the old man soaked the rice with the spring water drawn from the mountain, skillfully ground the rice slurry and boiled the water, and then dipped the rice slurry into the bamboo plaque for steaming. After a while, the rice paste became vermicelli, and the old man peeled the skin and cut it into strips, added onion salt sesame oil and sent it to the patient's bed. A Xiang suddenly had a big appetite. After several bowls of food, his condition really improved. After repeatedly thanking him, he naturally asked about the origin of the old man.
It turns out that the old man was originally a royal chef in the palace. Because of his honest and frank personality, he accidentally offended Empress Dowager Cixi and escaped from Beijing by luck. Since then, he has been hiding his name and escaping from the chase. The old man said, "This powder comes from Shahe, so call it Shahe powder! I've been in this town for a long time, and I'm afraid I'll bring trouble to my host's family if I don't leave! " When I finished speaking, I left and never saw anyone again, but Shahefen, who lived in Yihe, became famous from then on.