Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty was banished to Chaozhou. When he saw the local people eating oysters, snakes, toads and other "foreign objects", he was surprised to write a poem "Eighteen Laws of Eating Yiyuan in the Early South" to express his "amazing" feelings.

In terms of geography, climate and history, Guangdong is far away from the Central Plains, which is inherited by orthodox civilization, so there is a natural gap between its eating habits and most regions in China. Some people laugh at themselves. In the eyes of Guangdong people, except for Guangdong and Hainan, all regions in the country are north. It's like in the eyes of Shanghainese, all the places outside Shanghai are "hometown nests".

Even today, in the eyes of foreigners, Cantonese people eat snakes, birds, turtles, insects and Hu Jianren, which are the top species in the food chain. Although many Cantonese people say, "Our family never eats these", this excuse sounds so weak-because there are always people who can find examples of Cantonese eating insects.

1

People who eat everything

/ Locusts, bamboo shoots, hemp bugs, bamboo worms and bee pupae /

Eating insects is not a patent of Cantonese people. Accurately speaking, when insects produce a lot in a certain area, there are always people who try to eat this horrible-looking thing.

In ancient Central Plains grain-producing areas, locust plagues often occurred, so there were records of eating fried locusts in Beijing and Tianjin. The literati also nicknamed the locusts "locust rice" and "flying shrimp". The metaphor of rice and shrimp is probably just to convince myself that this most accessible high protein can be swallowed in the famine years.

South of Nanling Mountain, the climate is hot and humid, which is more suitable for the reproduction of snakes and insects, so there is a saying that the farther south you go, the more insects you eat. The frozen bamboo shoots eaten by Minnan people are actually made of a kind of worm "Eisenia deliciosa" born in coastal beaches. Southeast Guizhou likes to eat a kind of plant parasite-Gema insect, which is a famous local flavor; Guangxi Guiliu area likes to eat bamboo worms and bee pupae, which are fried until crispy and served with wine; Yunnan people's dipping sauce "sprinkle" made of wasp larvae and instant hot is even more on the scene of "Flavor World".

bamboo shoots frozen in southern Fujian

spreading in Yunnan

It is farther south, and eating insects is more common in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in Southeast Asia. For example, the Thai people eat the ant eggs out of flowers and make a salad with lime juice; Make pancakes with eggs; Boil soup with wild beets ...

It is said that Africans also catch a large number of bloodsucking midges, make pieces of dark meat pies, bake them and eat them with hamburgers. The scene is so tragic that people can't bear to watch it.

why eat worms? In the final analysis, most other areas in the south only regard worms as substitutes for meat, which is a passive choice for eating in poor times. Therefore, most of the cooking of insects is also deeply fried, sauced and barbecued. As for selling photos, it is even more extravagant.

but Guangdong is an exception. In the whole South China region, Guangdong has the most developed economy and the most open atmosphere since ancient times. The local people choose to eat worms, largely because they are hungry and have no food, but because they are rich in products and have superb cooking skills. After they are tired of eating abalone wings, they want to try something fresher.

Therefore, in Guangdong, apart from many kinds and proper practices, you can also eat some delicacies and grades, which is an experience that can't be found anywhere else outside Guangdong.

2

The local flavor of Sanshui

/ Long louse, osmanthus cicada and earthworm /

When it comes to the most famous place in Guangdong, Shunde, the kitchen town, definitely has a place.

It is said that nine times out of ten chefs in famous restaurants in Guangzhou and Hong Kong are from Shunde. Only this one is enough to show that Shunde people are striving for Excellence in cooking.

But separated from Shunde by a wall, it belongs to Sanshui District under the jurisdiction of Foshan City, but it is rarely known. In fact, Sanshui is one of the most famous distribution centers of insect ingredients in Guangdong. Perhaps influenced by the chefs in Shunde, the cooking methods of insect ingredients in Sanshui are also the most elaborate. Together with "foreign objects" such as toads, they are called "Tianji cuisine", which means wild food produced in the fields.

Shuidang is a famous dish sold in local restaurants in Sanshui, regardless of size, and it is also one of the most distinctive dishes in Tianji cuisine. "Waste water" means hard-shelled cockroach in Cantonese, so waste water is water cockroach.

The water squirt looks like a cockroach, but unlike cockroaches, it is carnivorous and feeds on small fish and tadpoles. Therefore, in Guangdong, the "dragon louse" that describes its fierceness is its more widely known name.

the best way for louse is "harmony", which means peace and lightness. First, it is soaked in boiling water to remove the odor of insects, which is called "urine removal" in Guangdong, then it is mixed with oil and salt, pickled and flavored, and finally steamed in water.

The best way for a louse to drink wine is to peel off two hard wings on its back, and then gently rotate its head with its thumb and forefinger to remove its intestines. People who don't understand use too much force when twisting the head of the louse, and the thread is torn off at once, and the intestines are still in the body, and it will smell a little after eating. After finishing this whole set, one sip of wine is much more beautiful than crayfish.

The best louse is the Phnom Penh louse, that is, the female louse. It is named after the edge of the worm has a circle of pale gold edges. The louse in Phnom Penh is small, with soft nail wings and no peculiar smell. It can be thrown into the mouth like peanuts.

Longlouse should be used alone. Some bad chefs think that Longlouse in Phnom Penh is expensive, so it is not pleasing to use it with other meat products. I've seen a lot of louse in Phnom Penh and Guangdong white-cut chicken, which are like rotten food crawling with cockroaches, which is disgusting.

osmanthus cicada, similar to louse, is also a very famous specialty of Sanshui. This aquatic insects, which looks like a cicada, eats like a louse, removing its wings and legs, and then pulling out its head and internal organs. Contrary to the louse, the male of osmanthus cicada is more delicious than the female. But in fact, the meat of osmanthus cicada is not as full and plump as that of louse, but it is salty and sour when chewed, and it has a rich and sweet fragrance similar to osmanthus, so it is named.

knowledgeable people know that the scent of osmanthus cicada comes from the fragrant glands near the forelegs. So eat from the front and chew slowly. Sweet-scented osmanthus cicada tastes stronger when it's cold than when it's hot. It's even better if it's refrigerated when conditions permit. It's a refreshing and unforgettable meal with iced sweet-scented osmanthus aged wine produced locally in Sanshui.

boiled earthworm is also an insect dish that can often be eaten in Sanshui. The so-called earthworm is earthworm. In some cities, there are often fried earthworm in night market barbecue stalls, which is crispy and delicious, but it is delicious, but it has no original taste of earthworm. The unique boiled water in Sanshui is that the earthworm is boiled in boiling water, mixed with sesame, onion, shredded red and white radish, shredded onion and ginger, and then sprinkled with soy sauce and cooked lard, and "scooped up" and mixed well like raw fish in Shunde. The earthworm eaten in this way is crisp and chewy, which is comparable to the rattlesnake.

3

Guangdong people are fond of worms/worms /

If Sanshui's Tianji worm dish is just a curiosity, it can't represent Guangdong people's wide tastes, then worms and worms are quite popular in Guangdong.

Sandworm, also called sea intestines, is actually not an insect, but a kind of marine worm with the scientific name Sipunculus. It is a distant cousin to Sipunculus deliciosus, a native of southern Fujian, and a close relative to the sea intestines of Shandong.

Shandong people love to eat sea sausages. A famous dish in Jiaodong is Fried Sea Sauté ed with Chinese chives, as well as Sea Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed Sauté ed in Shandong coastal areas. Even it can be chopped into meat and wrapped in jiaozi, which is much more delicious than sea Because of its indecent appearance, it is also considered as a panacea for aphrodisiac.

It is said that the Shandong cuisine masters who went to Beijing to perform in those days always carried a small jar with them and added a little powder in the jar when cooking, thus conquering the stomachs of countless Beijing officials. What's in the jar is actually ground sea sausage, which is also the predecessor of monosodium glutamate. This shows how delicious this thing is.

However, most of Shandong sea sausages are round and fat, and they are not as slender as Guangdong sand worms. Moreover, the style of cooking seafood in Shandong cuisine, most of which can't escape the big soup and big oil, is very different from the method of cooking worms in Guangdong.

Dried and fragrant is the first priority for the worm in the eyes of Guangdong people. Sun-dried fresh sand worms can not only concentrate the umami taste, but also make protein further mature and release more amino acids to express umami taste. The reason is similar to making dried abalone.

Before eating the dried sand worms bought home, bake them in a pan until they are golden on both sides, giving off the smell of seafood, and then rinse them with water. At this time, the worm is suitable for frying and frying, and the words "crisp" and "fresh" can represent all its characteristics.

Cai Lan, a native of Guangdong province, knows the way of worms. He likes to use worms to make soup. Just add pork bones and dried mushrooms, and simmer in a earthenware pot for two or three hours. The soup is naturally as white as milk, and there is no need for any seasoning except salt. If you add rice together, it will be a pungent casserole porridge.

Cai Lan's evaluation of the worm has only one word: "sweet".

The cereal worm, also known as "Nereis", is a word short of the worm, but its appearance is much more terrible. This kind of insect with alternating yellow, red and green colors and dense warty feet is a bit like an aquatic centipede covered with mucus.

Gramineae grows in the paddy field where salt and fresh water meet, so it is named "He". This kind of insect is extremely delicate. Once the environment is polluted or there is too much salt, Explosicum will commit suicide immediately. So it is impossible to dry it like a worm, so it is very seasonal and the price is touching.

However, every year in July and August, Cantonese people are still scrambling to eat rice worms, because the word "delicious".

The most popular methods of cereal insects are frying, baking eggs, scrambled eggs and boiled eggs. However, it is easy for Explosicum to disperse during frying, which is often not recommended by local eaters.

The most classic way to eat is to bake eggs, which are soaked in peanut oil to make them naturally Explosicum. Then, the eggs are added with minced bacon, dried tangerine peel, garlic and fried dough sticks, steamed first, and then baked with charcoal fire until the surface is golden yellow. Sprinkle pepper and shredded lemon on the table.

The paste made in this way does not flow, but is integrated with the custard. Bite down, the cream is soft and smooth, and the unique fragrance of animal protein fills the mouth. Cantonese people like to use this when entertaining foreigners. If you don't look carefully, it will only be regarded as ordinary steamed eggs with minced meat. When the guests find that the custard of the day is particularly delicious, they will pick out the creepy dead bodies of the insects and show them. Then a table full of scary screams accompanied by laughter, which is a distinctive wine table culture.

4

Insects smell like insects

/ The concept of Cantonese cuisine in one continuous line/

The BBC once produced an episode about insect food. After the host personally experienced the tasting, he suggested that insect food should be included in human recipes on the grounds of nutrition and environmental protection. The program gives a set of data. No matter resource consumption or carbon emissions, the production of one kilogram of insects is less than one percent of that of one kilogram of beef, but its protein content is much higher than that of beef. The conclusion of the final program is that people still need to change their minds and accept insect food.

However, foreigners may have to ask the Cantonese for advice if they want to eat worms out of flowers instead of just staying in the feed stage to solve the problem of food and clothing. Generally speaking, Cantonese cuisine pays attention to "chicken tastes like chicken, fish tastes like fish", and insects put into Guangdong should also taste like insects. Its core essence is that you can't cover up the original taste of insects with heavy mouths such as fried and fried peppers.

It's like appreciating the beauty of a woman, preferably when she wakes up or takes a bath with her face turned upside down. Instead of being decorated with exquisite jewelry and gorgeous fashion, it is radiant.