The first time I saw Laoyou Fish was at Gui Xiaochu in Vientiane City. When I saw the name of this dish on the menu, my first reaction was that of Nanning Laoyou Fans. I thought this fish must also be prepared according to the method of Laoyou Fans.

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Thinking of the sour and spicy taste of Laoyou powder, my mouth is already watering and my mouth is watering.

When the fish is on the table, the whole deep-fried fish is lying on a square plate. The fish is covered with tempeh, sour bamboo shoots, chili, shredded ginger, minced garlic and other condiments. The soup is red and bright, and is garnished with green cilantro and chives.

Before I tasted it, I was already amazed by its appearance. Yes, it is the style of our old friend.

Peeling away the golden fish skin, the fish meat is white and tender, with a delicate texture, delicious and spicy with a hint of sourness. It is really delicious.

Chili peppers and fish are naturally good partners. The stir-fried dried fish fillets with sour beans and chili in Guilin cuisine can make people scratch the pot while eating. The chili peppers used in Nanning's Laoyou fish are very spicy chili padi.

, coupled with high-quality sour bamboo shoots and tempeh, it is cooked to create a strong sour and spicy flavor. Eating it in the cold winter will make you feel so spicy that your whole body will heat up and your forehead will sweat. It will be addictive.

After the fish is finished, the remaining soup is an excellent choice for mixing with rice or noodles. It will definitely scratch the cauldron.

Although I am very afraid of spicy food when eating Laoyou noodles, and always ask the chef not to add chili pepper (by the way, is Laoyou noodles without chili still called Laoyou noodles?), but when I eat this Laoyou fish, I don’t feel that spicy.

It was so spicy that it brought tears and runny noses to my eyes. Maybe it was because the fish was so delicious that I ignored the spiciness.

In fact, the predecessor of Laoyou Fan should be Laoyou Noodles. There is a very warm legend about Laoyou Noodles: In the 1930s, an old man visited Zhou Ji Teahouse to drink tea every day. For a few days, the old man did not go because of a cold. Zhou Ji

The boss was very concerned, so he cooked a bowl of hot noodles with sauteed minced garlic, tempeh, chili, sour bamboo shoots, minced beef, pepper, etc. and served it to this old friend.

After eating this bowl of hot, sour and fragrant noodles, the old man sweated profusely and his cold was cured.

Afterwards, the old man was so grateful that he gave it to Boss Zhou with a plaque saying "Old Friend Always Visits", hence the name "Old Friend Noodles".

Later, people used this method to cook rice noodles, which was loved by many diners. Gradually, the reputation of Laoyou Noodles surpassed that of Laoyou Noodles.

Laoyou Noodles is a local delicacy in Nanning, Guangxi. In 2007, it was selected into the first batch of 26 intangible cultural heritage lists announced by Nanning. It is one of the "four major rice noodles" in Guangxi along with Liuzhou's snail noodles, Guilin's Guilin rice noodles, and Wuzhou's fried rice noodles.

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In its own unique way, Laoyou Noodles skillfully combines sourness and spicyness to form a unique spicy and sour flavor. It can be eaten to appetize in the summer and to ward off the cold in the winter.

The authentic taste of Nanning Laoyou Noodles should be "sour, fresh, spicy and salty". In order to make the authentic taste, there are certain things to pay attention to from the production of raw materials to the proportion of ingredients, from cooking techniques to time control. This is

It really tests the skills of the noodle cook.

Therefore, not every Laoyou noodle shop in Nanning is so authentic and delicious. Those famous Laoyou noodle shops are often overcrowded during meal times, and people would rather wait a little longer to have a bowl of authentic Laoyou noodle.

I saw a piece of news today, saying that the relevant departments are going to formulate or revise a batch of local food safety standards in Guangxi. Laoyoufen (convenient type) is on the list. Some media conducted an online poll on this. What are the standards for Laoyoufen?

Netizens heatedly discussed what the ingredients were, and whether to include sour bamboo shoots became the focus of debate.

Because sour bamboo shoots have a unique taste, people who don't like it will find it smelly, but people who like it will love its unique flavor.

Some people say that Laoyou noodles without sour bamboo shoots are still called Laoyou noodles?

Think about it, if a diner walks into a noodle shop and shouts to the chef, "Cook a bowl of Laoyou Noodles without sour bamboo shoots, chili, or black beans." Is that still called Laoyou Noodles?

However, what they want to set is the standard of Laoyou Noodles (convenient type), which is probably a convenience food like instant noodles, not freshly cooked, so diners don’t have to worry about it not meeting the standards if they don’t order sour bamboo shoots in the store.

An old friend whose standards are not up to standard is a fan.

Everyone has their own preferences for radish and greens, so just let the chef cook them how you want to eat them.

Nowadays, there are bottles of Laoyou sauce sold in supermarkets, which is much more convenient. You can buy a bottle and make your own Laoyou powder when you want to eat it.

After eating Laoyou Fish at Gui Xiaochu, I once made a copycat version of Laoyou Fish using Laoyou Sauce. However, I didn’t dare to put too much sauce because I was afraid of the spiciness, so it didn’t have the spicy, sour and delicious flavor of Laoyou Fish at all.

Moreover, the old friend fish made with sauce does not have those strands of sour bamboo shoots and peppers entangled in it, so it is much less interesting when served to the table.

Next time I will definitely buy the sour bamboo shoots and black bean pepper to make a real copycat.

Attachment: How to make Laoyou Noodles or Laoyou Noodles (the content comes from the Internet, thank you): Ingredients (for one person): two to three ounces of cut vermicelli (hor fun) or Yi noodles; one or two sour bamboo shoots, shredded; a small amount of tempeh cut into pieces

Finely minced; a little minced ginger and garlic; two small chili peppers chopped into fine pieces; a few slices of green vegetables; a little chopped green onion; one to two taels of meat slices (depending on your preference, you can use pork, beef, pork liver, or rice sausage).