During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chinese pastry-making technology made great progress, and three major schools were initially formed - Beijing style, Soviet style and Cantonese style. Jiangnan noodle restaurants were dotted all over the place, and various pastry processing techniques were more advanced. There are many styles and new products emerge one after another. Famous series such as Suzhou Shisi Fen Dian, Wuxi Taihu Boat Dian, Yangzhou Fuchun Tea Dian, Shanghai Nanxiang Flower Dian, Hangzhou Lingyin Zhai Dian, etc., especially the noodles cooked in soup, are also famous in various places in the south of the Yangtze River, and a hundred flowers bloom. , colorful, including the "three bowls of noodles" cooked in soup and famous all over the south of the Yangtze River.

"Saury Noodles with Sauce Sauce" has no bone spurs

Yangchun Noodles are the most popular noodles in Shanghai, and their original name is "Smooth Noodles in Clear Soup". Words such as "Qing" and "Guang" are naturally unpopular among the businessmen who are focused on making a fortune in a large industrial and commercial port. People hate these unlucky words, so those who have good intentions will take the "Yangchun" from the ancient music title "Yangchun Baixue" Two characters later, it was renamed "Yangchun Noodles". The preparation method of Yangchun noodles is simple. Put the hot white noodles in a bowl of soybean sesame soup and garnish with green green onions. After Shanghai opened as a port, many noodle restaurants improved the soup of Yangchun noodles, using meat bones to cook it, and some also added eel bones to cook it together. The soup is thick and fresh, and is very popular among Shanghainese.

Speaking of noodles in Shanghai, we have to mention the "Saury Noodles with Sauce Sauce" from Lao Ban Zhai, a century-old restaurant on Fuzhou Road. Sword fish is produced in the Yangtze River. The fish is delicious and has many fish bones. If you are not careful when eating, Easy to choke. According to legend, Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty liked to eat saury, but hated saury because of its bones. He once thought it was a great regret in his life. By the Ming Dynasty, officials and salt merchants in Zhenjiang and Yangzhou wanted to eat saury, which was abundant in the area, but were afraid of the bones biting their throats. So the chefs came up with new recipes to make boneless saury noodles to satisfy their owners' appetites. want. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty visited Yangzhou and ate this kind of saury fish sauce noodles and greatly appreciated it.

In modern times, Shanghai Laobanzhai Restaurant hired Yangzhou chefs to introduce this variety to Shanghai, and it became an exclusive supply of specialty noodles. It already enjoyed a high reputation in the 1920s. The method of making this noodle is to fry saury in an oil pan until it becomes fish floss, put it into a gauze bag, put it into the pot, then add pork bones, pig's trotters, old hens, etc. and cook together until the soup thickens. When it turns milky white, remove the fish bones, fish residue, chicken and hooves, then add seasonings and process it into saury sauce. When eating, boil the noodles and add saury sauce. The fish is delicious and the noodles are smooth without any bone spurs. In the old days, during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, saury was on the market, and Lao Banzhai's business was often overwhelmed.

Crossing the Bridge in "Tou Noodles"

Lu Wenfu, the late Suzhou writer and gourmet, wrote "Gourmet" and specifically mentioned the "Tou Noodles" of Zhu Hongxing Noodle House. It is said that Suzhou noodles are very particular about soup. In fact, Suzhou is not the only one with Zhu Hongxing. Signature noodle restaurants such as "Tong Dexing" and "Lu Changxing" all have their own unique skills in preparing noodle soup, and they even have secrets that are not passed down. This "soup" includes both the soup below and the soup in the noodle bowl. Basically, each noodle restaurant has its own noodle processing factory. Most Su-style noodles use Longxu thin noodles, and a few use small wide noodles. In the large soup below, constantly change the water to keep it clear. The cooking of noodles depends on the skill of the master. He has chopsticks in his right hand and a picket in his left hand. After a lot of twisting and turning, the noodles are rolled out like handicrafts. It is said that this hand is to fully dehydrate so that the fresh soup can be fully absorbed after opening. Some people say that a bowl of noodles in Suzhou can be "carried across three streets and still feel fresh."

Noodles are delicious, and the soup in the noodle bowl is also very important. First, make the soup. Use chicken, pork, bones, and eel bones as raw materials, add water and cook them thoroughly, and then draw out the clear soup. Some even It is simmered with clear water snails and herring scales, and even special Chinese medicinal materials are added to remove the fishy smell and add fragrance. The noodle soup should be fresh and mellow, fat but not greasy, and have a meaningful taste. Just like making broth in a restaurant, the noodle soup determines the success or failure of a bowl of noodles. With so much care, no wonder it has become the "secret recipe" of each store and is unwilling to reveal it to others.

The fertile Jiangnan is rich in food ingredients. In the past, Jiangnan people had the seasonal characteristic of "eating when it is ripe". In addition to the soup, the texture of a good bowl of noodles is naturally related to the "toppings". The noodle soup should be matched with the noodle "toppings". Use white soup for shrimps and stewed meat, and red soup for eel paste and fried fish. The noodles at Zhu Hongxing Noodle House are delicious because its ingredients have distinct seasons: three shrimp noodles, shrimp noodles, and popcorn noodles in spring; Fengzhen meat noodles and vegetable steamed buns in summer; and shrimp and crab noodles and crab powder steamed buns in autumn. , winter pork hoof noodles, etc., are all delicious noodles and good points. Do small noodle shops still have this feature nowadays? It's hard to say.