This famous snack looks golden and shiny, and tastes soft and crisp, which is the flavor feature of Jingziguan, an ancient town. It has a long-standing reputation and is a must.
Stone buns have a history of 120 years. I really like this unique food, or that spring. On that day, Wang Honglian, chairman of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, visited Jingziguan. At noon, Master Xiao Huang of the town government canteen cooked several traditional snacks: steamed pork, wind noodles, fairy bean jelly and stone buns. These are the smells of Jingziguan, a flood and drought wharf connecting the three provinces and running through the north and south, all of which are full of a unique cultural implication. Nowadays, enjoying such delicious food at Guzhen Wharf is really worth visiting Jingziguan. In particular, the unforgettable stone buns will make people drool when they are mentioned.
The method of making steamed stuffed buns with stones is very special. The bottom of the pot is covered with pebbles picked up from the Danjiang river beach, and the pebbles are poured with sesame oil and stirred repeatedly in the pot. Until the pebbles are fried until they are hot and shiny, put a piece of dough made and rolled into a semicircle, cover the hot pebbles, cover the pot, and continue firing. Burn a few torches and double the buns, add a few more fires and double the buns. After several rounds, the fragrance emerged from the gap in the lid and could be smelled every half mile.
As a descendant of the ancient town, Master Xiao Huang's authentic craftsmanship makes us eat well and relax our lungs, which is very pleasant. Let people applaud and admire. But Xiao Huang said: "I am a beginner, far behind my teacher Fu."
People in Jingziguan told me that in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, there was a man named He Mazi in Jingziguan who was very good at making buns with stones. People call it "pockmarked steamed stuffed bun", which is colorful, delicious and fashionable. At that time, Jingziguan was still a flood and drought wharf connecting the north and the south, which was extremely prosperous. Businessmen, vendors and boatmen all want to taste hemp bags as long as they go to the streets. He Mazi's stone buns pay attention to the choice of stones and the skills of kneading dough. The recycled stones must be symmetrical, and the size of broad beans is the best. Then fry in incense for three days. In order to ferment dough, yeast (commonly known as "flour residue") should be mashed and mixed into dough fermentation the day before. Get up before dawn the next day and knead dough. Finally, make the kneaded dough into a half-moon shape, put it in a hot pot with stones, and turn to a big fire. The steamed stuffed bun baked in this way is pitted, golden and shiny, crisp and soft. Let the population stay fragrant and have a long aftertaste.
The steamed buns of Hemazi are in the "trilateral" area of Henan, Shaanxi and Shaanxi. In many places along the Danjiang River in Xichuan, the "fragrance" of making stone buns has never been broken. I remember when I was a child, my mother and I went to Baiting, an ancient village where my grandmother lived. Every year on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, there is a material market, and the stone buns made by Lao Wang's family monopolize the market. As soon as I approached the small village street that was not long but also paved with bluestone, I smelled the smell of steamed buns from a distance, and it made people drool to see the top grade as bright as seven or eight moons. Baiting Street, located in the middle reaches of Danjiang River, is an ancient village street with historical records, eight or nine miles away from Jingziguan. Although the street is not big, Lion Mountain may be influenced by Jingziguan, which is not inferior at all. Food is always unforgettable.
Eating stone steamed buns is the early summer of the year. On this day, as soon as I set foot on the streets of the ancient town, I heard that the local government organized and planned a traditional flavor performance competition during the May Day Golden Week. Stone buns stirred by fire and water are no longer lonely, and more than 40 attackers have returned to the rivers and lakes, showing their magical powers. More than ten kinds of local snacks, arrayed, have become a beautiful scenery in the ancient street of the Millennium. Feng Da-nv, a middle street girl in her fifties, won the championship with her authentic craftsmanship and traditional taste. Let the tourists who come in droves open their eyes and feast their eyes. When my friends and I came here this time, we naturally wanted to watch and taste. This time the taste seems more authentic and mellow. It's more appetizing. After some overeating, it is a more distant aftertaste.
I think the flavor of steamed stuffed bun comes from rivers and docks. One or two hundred years ago, the Wuli Long Street here was so busy. Along the river bank, there are many sails, river street pier, people come and go, businessmen come from north and south, travel stops at river street, and there is a sleepless city at midnight. On the upper, middle and lower docks along the Yangtze River, there are eight groups of businessmen walking, and the diaojiao building in Xiangxi style is reserved for poets and writers. Stone buns, which combine the tastes and customs of the north and the south, welcome vagrants, bureaucrats and footmen who come from the south to the north. In this way, the meaning of steamed bun is not only the attachment between the tip of the tongue and the taste buds, but also the echo of the essence of life.
Jingziguan's stone buns, like the Ming and Qing architecture in the north-south style of Wulichang Street, depict the food culture spread by Danjiang River. Small pebbles, soaked with the smell of Danjiang wind and water, ring the waves of the river. Together with high-quality wheat dough, they have experienced the fate of water and fire, and they have been reborn as a food.
I like local food and simple food culture.
Author: Xiong Junping