In the past, people in Changsha called embezzling money "eating oil cakes", and oil cakes were really delicious food in Changsha at that time, and they were a little rich in the case of general poverty. I lived in Changsha since I was a child, and I began to enter the teahouse noodle restaurant in 1946. However, students' pocket money is limited, and their consumption level is limited to "one sugar and one dish" (two steamed stuffed buns) and "a bowl of shredded pork" (noodles). Oil cakes are generally accessible. 1949 After joining the work, I got my salary, so I had the opportunity to eat oil cakes (not "eat oil cakes").
There are two kinds of oil cake fillings: sugar and meat, most of which are sugar fillings. Sweet-scented osmanthus and other spices are added to the sugar, and fat meat cut into fine particles is also added. The cake comes out of the hot oil pan, and the sugar and fat oil in the filling are mixed into a semi-liquid state, which is very sweet. What tastes better is the "shell" wrapped in stuffing and divided into several layers, which must be kneaded into "crisp" with flour and oil. The master's craftsmanship is mainly manifested in this point.
The oil cake made in the teahouse is very small, three inches long and about two inches wide. Some teahouses have oil pans in front of them, which passers-by can buy. They are wrapped in lotus leaves or old newspapers cut into small pieces, and the oil cakes are not very hot.
The noodle restaurant makes authentic oil cakes, which only serve on the table to see how many diners there are. The biggest one is full, or eight inches, or six inches. On the table, it has been cut into several "brakes" for chopsticks to clamp. There is also a kind called "Yuanyang oil cake", with sugar on one side and meat on the other. I thought it was made of all sugar or meat, cut in half and put together. The meat stuffing tastes particularly good, which is better than the noodle soup covered with steamed stuffed bun and shredded pork.
Eating oil cakes has become a real senior enjoyment during the "three-year natural disaster period". Once I passed by Qifeng Pavilion (the original site was at the entrance of Changsha Evening News) and saw someone grabbing a seat. At that time, he was young and quick-witted, so he rushed forward to grab a seat. Those who don't take seats stand behind the lucky ones, one by one, preparing for the next round, and a passenger stands behind two people. Everyone excitedly said to each other, "There are oil cakes to eat."
After more than a dozen tables in the lobby were full, people stood behind them. Waiters slowly collected food stamps and money from table to table, scolding the people standing there and saying that there might be no second round of supply. Customers, whether standing or sitting, are very respectful to the waiters at this moment, smiling at Nuo Nuo, and no one dares to contradict them. Among the eight people at each table, there are already people who are enthusiastic about public welfare who are responsible for collecting food stamps and money and carefully handing them over to the late waiters.
Once, I was sitting on a stool with a retired teacher. After paying the money and food, we waited a long time for the cake to come up, and we both wanted to find something to say. He told me a "six-character formula for queuing", and added "equal choking" before and after "steady and malicious", namely:
Stand and wait, endure being scolded.
Squeeze the seat hard and deliver chopsticks accurately.
The cake is firmly clamped, and you are not afraid to choke if you swallow it.
Having said that, I smiled a few times. After the cake was served, there was no time to talk. The eight "brakes" cut are one brake for one person and realized on the spot.
At that time, I lived not far from Weird Peak Pavilion. Since I found that there is an irregular supply of oil cakes here, I have tried to contact and pay attention to the information. As soon as I got the letter, I hurried there, but the whole hall was full, and I was arranged by a friendly waiter to wait in the "storage room" under the stairs. At the same time, several people are well treated. One sat on the soy sauce jar and ate one-eighth of the oil cake like a pig eating ginseng fruit, and stood up. The white poplin shirt was dragged behind the jar, and the soy sauce had climbed onto the vest.
In recent 20 years, with the improvement of life, people gradually do not like to eat heavy sugar and heavy oil, and oil cakes have already fallen from the throne of food, which is rare in recent years. When I am old, my feet are weak and noodle restaurants are rarely used. Teahouses have become places where young people fall in love behind closed doors, and the supply of coffee is already West Point. A few days ago, my wife and I were invited to have snacks at my daughter's house. It is said that it is the best one in Changsha with the largest variety of colors. Among the dozens of samples on display, there are golden hook radish cake, potato cake, pumpkin cake and scallion cake ... but we didn't see the familiar oil cake. Maybe it's gone forever like the days under the stairs in Qi Fengge. In the street stalls, you will occasionally see something similar to the small oil cakes made in teahouses in the past, but they have become excellent glutinous rice cakes and sugar oil, which have no value in the past. Now corruption and bribery are no longer called "eating oil cakes". We should at least eat shark's fin and abalone.
(20021October)