Meat is the flexible substance that covers the bones in the animal body and is the main source of material energy needed by the human body. Even people who are deliberately vegetarians cannot completely resist their natural desire for meat, and vermicelli is the best physical evidence.

▲The bouncy and glutinous vermicelli not only tastes like meat, but also visually resembles freshly braised pig’s trotters. Picture/Network

Eating vermicelli ≈ spiritual carnivory. Saying this may insult vegetarians or even blaspheme Buddhism. However, whether it is the four major cuisines or famous border foods, even the most niche tastes can go well with vermicelli. Because the purpose of inventing vermicelli is not only to satisfy the hunger, but also to be a "poor" imitation of meat. Human beings' eternal preference for meat has allowed vermicelli to travel through thousands of years and spread throughout Kyushu, becoming both "unknown" and "human". Everyone knows the food.

▲Pork stewed vermicelli. Picture/Picture Chong·Creativity

The rise of "copycat" meat food

On today's dining table, vermicelli is a vassal of big fish and meat. However, in an era of underdeveloped materials, meat was too much. It is too expensive for ordinary people to enjoy it, so the cheap vermicelli naturally becomes a substitute for meat. As long as it is cooked properly or with very little animal fat, you can make vermicelli dishes that are substantial and meaty.

▲Ants climb the tree. Picture/Tao Zi

The working people used their infinite wisdom to use the texture of starch to be elastic and tender, imitating the taste of animal fiber and collagen. There is not enough meat and the vermicelli is too much. Among the poor people, it is euphemistically called "the poor eat carefully." Although the words are playful, it is immersed in the deep helplessness of the people. Various cooking methods use vermicelli to imitate the taste of meat and match the taste of meat. It is still widely circulated to this day.

The development history of vermicelli is the history of imitating meat. The price of pork remains high, which reminds people of the "special function" of vermicelli back then. The vermicelli is long and has witnessed every era.

▲The vermicelli in the casserole is hard to say whether it is a staple food or a complementary food. Picture/Internet

Foods are divided into main and secondary foods, but the positioning of vermicelli is quite vague. Vermicelli is made from grain crops and can satisfy hunger. No matter in appearance or inward, it is a well-deserved dietary "king". But it is not a standard staple food. If you eat rice with fried pancakes, it will make your throat tight even if you eat it. But vermicelli with meat goes very well with rice, so it can be seen that vermicelli is considered a non-staple food.

In terms of scope of influence, vermicelli is even better than rice and noodles. It can be found everywhere on the dining tables in the north and south. It uses roundabout tactics to bypass the long-standing taste dispute between the north and the south and establish " The banner of "carrying big meat to command the princes" swept across the world. Ever since, when it comes to vermicelli, diners from the north and the south generally have the same opinion. They don’t care about the smell of rice and noodles, but they only know that vermicelli is delicious.

▲Hot and sour noodles. Picture/Picture Worm·Creativity

Unfortunately, it is often difficult to live up to the reputation. Except for a few snacks such as hot and sour noodles and flower armor noodles, vermicelli is not a staple food at all. It is difficult to match the endless variations of northern noodles, and it is not as delicate as the southern rice noodles. However, the natural food characteristics make vermicelli a good supporting role in meat dishes. It is crystal clear and can enhance the color of the dish; the tendons are smooth and smooth, which can enrich the taste; and it is light, fresh and sweet, which can bring out the aroma of meat. Therefore, the vast number of foodies voted with their mouths, allowing vermicelli to go further and further on the road of serving meat as a compliment. This journey lasted for more than a thousand years.

Vermicelli is made from potato flour, the tenderness of Northeastern stew

Vermicelli has a history of at least 1,400 years in our country. Initially, the raw material for vermicelli was mainly bean starch. "Qimin Yaoshu" written by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty recorded the process from vermicelli (starch) to vermicelli (vermicelli or vermicelli). "Ben Xin Zhai Shu Recipe" compiled by Chen Souda of the Song Dynasty mentioned "grinding green beads" and vividly described the practice of mung bean vermicelli.

▲Handmade vermicelli. After mixing the gravy and powder lump in proportion, you can drain the powder. This is a key step in the transformation of vermicelli. Whether the thickness of the vermicelli is even or not depends entirely on the control of the powder leakage technique. The colander or ladle should be held firmly, with the noodle lump in the center, and beat it with your hands at a constant speed. The vermicelli will leak out from dozens of holes and fall into the boiling cauldron. When the vermicelli is cooked, add cold water to cool it down. , hung outdoors to dry and then processed and eaten. Picture/Network

From the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes were introduced to China, and the raw materials for vermicelli were more abundant. Under the same cooking conditions, potato vermicelli was soft and smooth, and bean vermicelli was stringy. Crisp, corn noodles are tender, and each has its own unique flavor.

If we have to compete, in terms of toughness, bean vermicelli ranks first, and in terms of cost, corn vermicelli is cheaper. However, due to the strong environmental adaptability of potato crops, wide planting range and high yield in China, the production cost of potato vermicelli is relatively low, and it is favored by all walks of life and has become the bulk of the vermicelli industry.

▲ Remove the cooked vermicelli from the hot water. Picture/Picture Chong·Creativity

China’s sweet potato and potato planting areas rank first in the world. Potatoes are mainly cultivated in the northeast and northwest regions with a cold climate, while sweet potatoes are spread throughout the Qinling Mountains-Taihang Mountains-Shanhaiguan Mountains. In the warm areas south of the first line, vermicelli raw materials such as konjac, mung beans, peas, and bracken also have relatively concentrated production areas.

In the three northeastern provinces, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other places, dishes with rich soups such as water basin mutton and large plate chicken are often paired with local potato vermicelli.

▲Pork Vermicelli Pot.

In most people's minds, vermicelli and vermicelli are two different things. In fact, according to the national standard "GB/T 23587-2009 vermicelli" entry definition: "Using sweet potato starch, potato starch, and bean starch as the main raw materials, and The wire diameter of vermicelli is >1mm or more; the wire diameter of vermicelli is ≤1mm. "Both are vermicelli. Photo/Internet

The three eastern provinces are rich in potatoes (potatoes). Potato vermicelli has high gluten and will not become mushy after being stewed for a long time. The vermicelli is lingering with pork, wrapped with old sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, and they hit it off instantly. The climate in the Northeast is cold, and the locals like to eat hot, soupy stews. There are many famous dishes, such as goose stewed with potatoes, chicken stewed with mushrooms, sauerkraut stewed with blood sausage, and the rugged Northeastern chaos in the words. Stewed dishes are all real hard dishes, and the hardest among them is the simple and straightforward pork stewed vermicelli.

When you arrive in the Northeast, if you don’t eat pork stewed vermicelli, you won’t be able to appreciate the generosity and enthusiasm of the Northeast people. When cooking, you need to add bone broth first and simmer slowly. The potato vermicelli is easy to cook and endures cooking. When it comes out of the pot, it is yellow and white and bright. When picked up with chopsticks, it looks like a spring willow hanging upside down, with vines wrapping around a two-finger-thick, five-layered chunk of meat. , fresh white cabbage with green leaves, or pickled sauerkraut, cut into shreds as thick as a matchstick.

▲Molly fish stew is a famous Northeastern food. Before eating fish, you must first peel off the "quilt" vermicelli on the back of the fish. Picture/Internet

In the cold winter, I eat it with soup and water in the white rice, chew it vigorously, and maybe take a bite of the roasted knife to satisfy my craving! Enjoyable! The carefully crafted potato vermicelli, combined with the informal Northeastern stew, is like a hero wearing a sword, thick and fine, rough and refined.

Sweet potato flour, hug the thighs of meat

In farmers in Hebei and Henan, every cold winter, farmers will select high-quality sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes) to filter the flour and process it into delicious gravy. There are round, flat, thick or thin vermicelli. In villages rich in vermicelli, vermicelli like gold threads are hung one after another to dry, weaving into a golden world. The pure starch vermicelli made by farmers are the most authentic. They are wide and can hold up the stew for a long time. They are round, soft and chewy. They are slender and will become rotten when the pot is opened but will never melt.

▲Vermicelli being dried. Picture/Picture Chong·Creativity

Noodles are the least pretentious food. As long as you add a little vermicelli to meat dishes and use a few cooking techniques, you can get a great flavor. In the vast North China region, people love to eat pasta. Sweet potato vermicelli is the main filling of pasta. Chop the vermicelli into fillings, mix with tofu, leeks, eggs, minced meat, mix with ginger paste, green onion, and top with Sichuan peppercorns, Star anise and fennel are cooked and fried in oil, then wrapped in a skin made from hot noodles, and fried into golden and soft, meat or vegetarian dumplings, fried buns, and pies. Taking a bite, the sweet potato vermicelli is soft and glutinous with chewy texture and overflowing with aroma.

▲Steamed buns stuffed with sweet potato vermicelli. Picture/Internet

Whether it is a shop in a city or a bustling town, it only requires half a tile-roofed house, an umbrella tent, a tricycle, a stove and one or two hands, so simple Household items can also bring out the rich flavor of fried dumplings. Early in the morning, we sat down in front of the food stalls set up casually. There were indigenous people and foreigners, serving spicy soup, tofu curd, rice porridge and soy milk, and slurping to those who were about to run around for a day to make a living. The nourishment of physical strength also gives them comfort and tranquility.

▲Luoning steamed pork. Picture/Huitu.com

Vermicelli can not only enhance the flavor of meat, but also imitate the flavor of meat. The famous delicacy "steamed meat" in Luoning, Henan Province, originated from the demands of poor people in the old days who wanted to eat meat but could not.

This way of eating continues to this day. Mix sweet potato vermicelli with lard (in today’s richer days, ribs or pork belly will also be added), onions, garlic, flour, pasta sauce and other ingredients, mix them well, and wrap them in Steam it in a thin dough that is larger than the steamer basket. After the vermicelli is steamed, the roots are distinct, not sticky, and chewy. I knew I was eating vermicelli, but the vermicelli soaked in the aroma of meat was fragrant but not greasy, which was better than meat.

▲Luoyang’s famous dish is stir-fried garlic sprouts. Picture/Huitu.com

In the Luoyang water mat, chopped sweet potato vermicelli is steamed into long strips of "flat stack", which is called "fake sea cucumber" by the locals. Every year from the twelfth lunar month to the Spring Festival, every household makes flat buns. The flat buns should be eaten cool. After cooling, they will solidify into a hard ball and be saved. During small gatherings and banquets, grab a handful of flat buns and cut them into small dices or thin slices. , put into a pot with cabbage, meatballs, crispy meat and other ingredients, and it becomes a hard dish that can be eaten until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Not only can the flat stack be used to make soup, but it can also be stir-fried with garlic sprouts. The flat stack is shiny and moisturizing, and the garlic sprouts are green and fragrant. It is an enjoyment from sight to taste.

▲In Sichuan and Chongqing, sweet potato noodles (vermicelli) can not only be put into hot pot, but can also be made into iron plate sweet potato noodles. Picture/Network

In addition to the hinterland of the Central Plains, sweet potato vermicelli is also widely made and eaten in Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Yunnan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places. In Sichuan and Chongqing, juxtaposed with the familiar hot pot dishes such as tripe, yellow throat, goose intestines, and brain flower, "sweet potato noodles" can be said to be a breath of fresh air in the hot red oil. It is originally a simple and plain thing. , but as soon as the pot is cooked, it is like letting a tiger return to the mountain or a dragon swimming into the sea. It immediately shows its true body, sticky, soft and slippery. With the stimulation of the spiciness, the fish jumps in the mouth, carrying the spiciness from the taste to the touch. Slapping and wrapping around the tip of the tongue, the Sichuan pronunciation "Ba Shi!" can be said without stopping.

Mung bean vermicelli, the second brother said it is delicious~

In addition to potato vermicelli, bean vermicelli has also become a family favorite.

▲What goes best with oysters? Fans (articles)! Picture/Network

On the dining tables of Shandong people, the most common vermicelli is Longkou vermicelli (vermicelli) made from mung beans and peas. Zhaoyuan, Yexian, Qixia, Laiyang and Mouping in the northern part of the Jiaozhou Peninsula The county is rich in mung beans, and the climate and water quality are suitable for making vermicelli.

High-quality Longkou vermicelli (vermicelli) has a pure white and crystal appearance, almost transparent, uniform thickness and high toughness. Some people have even done experiments. When it is not too dry, each piece can withstand 15 pounds of tensile force. Boil it in boiling water for 20 minutes without breaking the strips. Boil it for 30 minutes without melting. Therefore, Longkou vermicelli (vermicelli) is suitable for cooking cold dishes and soups. A good product, it is frequently used in Shandong, Huai, Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine, especially when stewed in soup, it is very delicious and tasty.

▲In duck blood vermicelli soup and Huainan beef soup, vermicelli is indispensable. These vermicelli that go into soup mostly use mung bean vermicelli that is firm and elastic. Picture/Network

In Yuan Dynasty dramas and Ming Dynasty novels, the delicacy "fen soup" was frequently mentioned, which is made by boiling vermicelli (or rice noodles) in soup. Chapter 32 of "Journey to the West" "Pingdingshan Gong Cao sent a message, and the Lotus Cave Mumu encountered a disaster" has a plot where Zhu Bajie was lazy while patrolling the mountain and lied to Tang Monk. The author Wu Cheng'en used Zhu Bajie's words to show that noodle soup was a delicacy for entertaining distinguished guests in the Ming Dynasty. :

"The idiot stepped forward and knelt down. The elder helped him up and said, "Apprentice, it's hard work. Bajie said: "Exactly." People who walk and climb mountains have the hardest time. "The elder said: "Are there any monsters? Bajie said: "There are monsters!" There is a monster! What a bunch of monsters! The elder said, "Why did I send you here?" Bajie said: "He asked me to be the ancestor of the pig, grandpa pig. He arranged for some vegetarian food with rice noodle soup, taught me a meal, and said, send us across the mountain with flags and drums." ”

The delicacies that Zhu Bajie blurted out must be unmistakable.

In addition to potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mung beans, there are other starch-rich crops that can be used to make vermicelli, such as konjac , Jerusalem artichoke, yam, cassava, plantain potato, corn, adzuki bean and other relatively non-mainstream vermicelli raw materials, they are either used alone as the main ingredients, or mixed together to make various types of vermicelli with different flavors.

▲The production process of vermicelli has changed, but the basic production process has not changed much. Picture/Network

Although it is an authentic popular food, if you want to achieve superior quality, the production process is still the same. What is more exquisite is that after more than a dozen meticulous processes such as slurry, precipitation, fermentation, kneading, draining, and drying, the vermicelli recipe stands out. In modern food factories, traditional techniques such as "ladle draining" have been used more efficiently.

Vermicelli has spanned ancient and modern times. The process has changed, the appearance has changed, but the essence has never changed.