Many years ago, I watched a TV series "Tiandao" adapted from the novel "The Distant Savior". In this TV series shot on location, there was a scene where the female lead Rui Xiaodan and Shen Nan, played by Zuo Xiaoqing, were at Lao Sun's house in Xi'an.

』Eat mutton steamed buns.

In the play, Rui Xiaodan eats mutton steamed buns for the first time, while Shen Nan grew up in Yan'an and is familiar with eating mutton steamed buns.

Shen Nan personally demonstrated and taught Rui Xiaodan how to break the buns... In fact, in the minds of many people, the flavor of Xi'an is the bowl of fragrant mutton soaked buns.

According to legend, beef and mutton steamed buns originated from the pot helmets of the ancient Qin army. Although this kind of dry food was easy to carry, it was dry and hard to chew. So some soldiers of the Qin army tried to break it into pieces and cook it with mutton soup. They found it delicious.

It has been passed down to this day that today's mutton steamed buns exist.

With a longing for Xi'an, the ancient capital of thirteen dynasties, and for mutton steamed buns, I went to Xi'an, the city where my friend Lao Song lived.

Lao Song is an authentic Lao Shaanxi. He took me to choose a mutton steamed bun shop nearby. I saw the stove and soup pot right at the door of the shop. Just like the beef noodle shop in Xiangyang, it is truly original and is not afraid of you looking at the kitchen.

After finding a seat and ordering steamed buns, the waiter brought them to us.

I have also eaten steamed buns in other places. They are chopped and cooked before being served.

But the steamed buns I saw this time were original and complete steamed buns, which required diners to break them open with their own hands.

Moreover, the steamed bun in the mutton steamed bun is not what we call steamed buns, but more like the Guokui in Henan, but it must be the noodles, because as soon as I broke it, I knew that the steamed bun was very hard and strong.

Later I learned that when people in Xi'an make mutton steamed buns, they use a mixture of nine-tenths dead dough and one-tenth yeast dough. Roll it into a round shape as big as your palm, and press out a circle of edges near the edge of the bun.

This kind of steamed bun is also called fufu steamed bun.

▲Fu Fu Mo I remember in the TV series "Tiandao", Shen Nan said to Rui Xiaodan, "Generally, people who eat steamed buns cut them into very small pieces." Lao Song, who was sitting opposite me, said that when eating mutton steamed buns, it is important to cut the buns into smaller pieces.

, the finer it is, the more delicious and flavorful it is.

The most important thing is to break the buns into the same size as rice grains, which is the most delicious.

I raised my eyes and looked around, and saw that the diners were either engrossed in eating mutton steamed buns, or breaking into pieces of steamed buns without any distractions.

Breaking the steamed buns is a delicate job. I broke my two steamed buns until they were grinning and falling apart. Under the guidance and demonstration of Lao Song, it took me more than half an hour to break them into even pieces.

Lao Song Dynasty said that on the dining table of the most famous steamed bun restaurant "Lao Sunjia" in Xi'an, the most authentic method of breaking steamed buns is written: First break it, pick up a piece of steamed bun, first divide it into two parts from the middle, and then divide the two parts into four parts.

; Second tear, tear the bun into two pieces piece by piece from the middle; Third pinch, hold it in your hand while tearing and pinching, twist and break, pinch the bun into the size of soybean grains, not into pieces or into pieces.

Twisting and breaking it conforms to the texture of the steamed buns, and will not cause crumbs to fall out for no reason. The broken buns have small grains and can absorb the soup better. The cooked steamed buns are clean and neat in appearance, not mushy or falling apart, and every bite tastes delicious.

Even dry and wet, full and mellow.

Shake it four times, and while shaking it, check to see if any large pieces of buns have fallen into the bowl.

After breaking the steamed buns, I called the waiter and took the steamed buns away to be cooked. The waiter gave me a number plate, and there was also a plate with the same number on my bowl, so that even though there were many people eating, there would be no mistake.

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Shaanxi people are bold and rough, but they are definitely not rough people. This is clearly demonstrated in the matter of breaking steamed buns.

The size and thickness of the buns are directly related to the quality and eating method of the mutton steamed buns. Every Shaanxi person will not neglect the matter of breaking the buns.

Looking around at this moment, I saw a big man from Guanzhong, known as a bold and free-spirited man, entering the mutton steamed bun shop and sitting upright at the table, just like a little daughter-in-law in the old society, lowering his eyebrows and wholeheartedly breaking the blue-grained porcelain

Two steamed buns in a bowl.

After visiting Xi'an for a few days, I saw that in today's fast-paced world, every old mutton steamed bun restaurant in Xi'an has a cook who does not follow the crowd and never provides diners with bun-breaking services. If you want to eat steamed buns, you can break them yourself.

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What's more, if it's not cut well, it will be sent back to the diners to cut it again.

They will even decide whether to give you the highest quality mutton steamed buns based on your skill in breaking them.

It takes about ten minutes to be ready and served. The mutton steamed buns are actually boiled. The steamed buns are broken into pieces as big as corn kernels, and cooked with mutton, vermicelli, fungus and other side dishes.

That’s it.

The thick soup surrounds and soaks the chopped steamed buns, and is covered with a silky layer of vermicelli and mutton slices, garnished with black fungus and scattered green onions. It is neither luxurious nor stingy, simple and practical.

There are three ingredients served together with it, which are coriander, chili sauce, and candied garlic.

Cilantro brings freshness, chili sauce adds flavor, and sugar and garlic relieve greasiness.

But some people don't add these three things. They want a pure taste, a mouthful of pure lamb soup with original taste.

When I picked up the spoon and ate it slowly, Lao Song said that this is not how people in Shaanxi eat steamed buns.