When I was in college, I had a classmate in Yangzhou who liked to talk about the food culture in my hometown when chatting. For example, in an era when materials are not abundant, people will salivate when they hear these names. He said that there is a dish called "Yangzhou minced meat", which is fat but not greasy, and the entrance is crisp. I think it must be cut, just like our Changzhou home-cooked dish "Meat Longsong". But he kept it a secret and didn't say it directly. It is said that "Yangzhou sparerib" was originally called "Sunflower Sparerib", which began in the dynasty, and another kind is classical. Accompanied by ministers, Yang Di visited the four most famous scenic spots in Yangzhou at that time-Wansongshan, Qiandun, Ivory Forest and Sunflower Mountain. Let the chef cook four dishes with these four place names when you come back. In this sunflower villa, it is difficult for chefs to match the dishes with the place names. A man named Shangwu came up with the idea of mixing two kinds of meat, fat and thin, in a certain proportion, chopping them into minced meat first, and then steaming them in a cage. Steamed meat, the fat is crystal clear and thin, like black and white melon seeds in sunflower, so it is named "sunflower chop meat". I didn't understand until I heard it. It turns out that "Yangzhou ribs" are meatballs, which is often called "lion's head" now. There is another legend about the evolution from chopping meat to lion's head: In the Tang Dynasty, there was a powerful minister in the court named Wei Li, who was a gourmet. One day, he and two servants saw a restaurant in the street with eight signs, which indicated that the restaurant had high taste, so he decided to go in and have a look. Wei Li came to the shop and was invited upstairs by Xiao Er. Wei Zhi asked Xiao Er to call the shopkeeper and said he had something to ask. When the shopkeeper came, Li Wei asked, "How dare you hang eight pretexts in front of the door?" The owner said, "My hotel is the best in Beijing." Wei Li thought he was talking big, so he said, "Then let your chef cook the four best dishes. I'll see if it's like you said. " The hotel cooked him four dishes that Emperor Yang Di had eaten in those days. When Wei Li ate "sunflower minced meat", he found it soft and delicious, and the taste was particularly good. He asked the owner the name of the dish. After the shopkeeper told him, he said that the name was not nice and needed to be changed. Manned immediately flatter said. "Master spent half his life as a soldier and made great contributions, like a lion. Is this dish called' Lion Head'? " Wei Li was very happy. Since then, the name "Lion Head" has been handed down and become a famous food in China.
Now there is a "three-headed banquet" in Yangzhou's menu. These three heads are: braised silver carp head, braised lion head and roasted whole pig head. Now "Lion Head" has recipes all over the country and has its own characteristics. In the TV series "Imperial Doctor Xilaile", which country doctor played by Li Baotian particularly likes to eat Cangzhou Iron Lion Head made by the proprietress opposite, but whether he really likes "Lion Head" or becomes the proprietress of "Lion Head" is unknown.
The Spring Festival is coming soon. Is your home a lion's head? I hope everyone can make good use of this leisure time, eat well, have fun and have a good rest.
Yangzhou cuisine is famous for its three heads.
Huaiyang cuisine is thin, delicious and decent, not as sweet and greasy as Wuxi cuisine and Subang cuisine, especially Yangzhou's "three heads".
The so-called "three heads" in Yangzhou refers to the most famous steamed crab powder lion head, roasted whole pig head and braised silver carp head in Yangzhou cuisine, which are collectively called "three heads" in Yangzhou.
Let's start with steamed crab powder and lion head. It is different from ordinary meatballs, and its shape is extra large and round. It is an exaggeration to call it lion's head. In addition, its cooking and flavor are different, not fried, but stewed. Do not put soy sauce when cooking, but keep the raw materials. The materials used are more exquisite. Pork needs pork ribs and pork belly produced in Yangzhou, and crab meat needs fresh and big clear water crabs, which are finely chopped into powder, mixed with seasoning, made into big balls, put in a casserole and stewed with leaves. When the dishes are ready, they can be served. Steamed crab powder lion's head is clear but not miscellaneous, and the meat and crab dishes are fragrant, fresh and delicious, with endless aftertaste.
In addition, roasting the whole pig's head is an extremely complicated kung fu dish in Yangzhou cuisine. The preparation method of this dish is: take fresh pig's head, scrape it clean, remove ears, bones and brains, and soak it in clear water. After the blood stain is complete, put it in a boiling water pot and blanch it for about 20 minutes. After taking it out, rinse it with clear water. Then, gouge out two eyes, remove eyelashes and tongue coating, and then put the whole pig's head in a clear water pot and cook it twice. When it is about seven ripe, take it out of the pot and change it into clear water. Put a bamboo mat in the pot, spread ginger slices, onion slices, spice bags and a little vinegar, put the pig's head in, cover the pot and cook it over high heat until it is cooked thoroughly, then simmer for 4 hours until the meat is crisp and rotten, and the soup is thick. Serve. Roasted whole pig's head is rich in flavor, salty and sweet, and has a peculiar smell. It has the reputation of "the more you eat, the more fragrant it is, and the fragrance remains on your teeth and cheeks".
Braised silver carp head. There is a proverb in Yangzhou: "Silver carp eats the head, herring eats the tail, and ducks eat the thighs." Yangzhou silver carp, with much glue, fat meat and no fishy smell, is fresh and tender after winter. The cooking process of this dish is not complicated. After the head of silver carp weighing more than 5 kg is boned, it is put into the pot together with tofu, supplemented by chicken gizzards, chicken legs, ham and so on. Add water and stew for about 3 hours. The stewed silver carp head is boneless, with tender and smooth taste, thick soup and high nutritional value. Use a spoon instead of chopsticks when eating, which has a special flavor.