Pingxiang Food Customs

There is such a record in "Confucius Family Sayings": King Zhao of Chu crossed the river and got Pingxiang, which was as big as a bucket and as red as the sun. When he cut it open and ate it, it was as sweet as glutinous rice. . King Zhao sent someone to ask Confucius for advice. Confucius said: This is a symbol of auspiciousness! Only those who achieve hegemony can get it. From then on, this piece of land straddling Wu's head and Chu's tail was named the hometown of Pingshi - Pingxiang.

Judging from the origin of Pingxiang’s place name, this fertile soil surrounded by green mountains and green water has an indissoluble bond with food. According to archaeological data, we found: Pingxiang bells from the Western Zhou Dynasty, bronze tripods and pottery pots from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Tao Ge. A large number of unearthed cultural relics such as pottery B (wine utensils) confirm that the system of drinking and eating rituals and music has been formed in Pingxiang very early. In the second year of Baoding of the Three Kingdoms {AD 267}, Pingxiang was established as a county, and there were units engaged in catering and accommodation such as posthouses, restaurants, restaurants, etc. During the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, transportation was still dominated by waterway shipping. Pingxiang was the junction of the Ganjiang River system and the Xiangjiang River system. Officials and merchants had to transfer ships here, which contributed to the prosperity of Pingxiang's catering industry. ． Many historical celebrities also left many poems praising the fine wines and delicacies in Pingxiang. The food style of Pingxiang is deeply influenced by Wu and Chu culture, especially the Chu culture. In addition, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the war in the north, a large number of people from the Central Plains moved south to Pingxiang. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a large number of people from Fujian and Guangdong provinces moved inland to Pingxiang. Therefore, It has formed many characteristics of Pingxiang’s food style. After more than two thousand years of reproduction, while the working people of successive generations have created material civilization, they have also made the culinary culture related to "eating" prosperous and prosperous. Amidst the symphony of smoke, fire, knives, spoons, pots and ladles, people from the kitchen The author uses unique local products to deduce the magic and charm of Ganxi cuisine. Such as:

The fragrance of Da'andong sticky rice, the fatness of Changping goat meat, the smoothness of Yangqi stone chicken, the sweetness of Wugong winter bamboo shoots, the fresh and delicious Hehua carp, the hot and spicy Yang beard Rice noodles, emerald green rice noodles in early spring, golden bacon and bacon in winter...

These dishes that embody a strong local flavor are mostly made from local delicacies from mountains and rivers, and local products. They are skilled in knife skills, pay attention to heat, pay attention to soup making, gravy, seasoning, and use braising and stewing for cooking. , stir-fry, stir-fry, fry, boil, steam and other techniques. The finished dishes are either smooth and tender, or dry and crispy. They are colorful and have their own characteristics. The taste characteristics are salty, fresh, fragrant and spicy. Use less sauce and thick gravy, avoid sweetness, but Prefer individual beets.

There are countless special dishes in Pingxiang, the more traditional ones include: three-story (Pingxiang chowder), red and white tripe tip, pink-skinned mutton, live boiled grass carp, planted rice noodles and meat, lotus blood duck , Shabo beef stewed with taro, crispy river fish, shredded dog meat with chestnuts, pan-fried Taijitu (eel), spicy braised beef brisket (beef brisket), braised fish, turtle braised pork knuckle, oil-glazed chicken, bacon and various cured meats... …

Pingxiang’s dim sum snacks are also quite unique. There are many kinds of rice snacks, such as Pingxiang rice noodles, rice tofu, rice pulp, rice cakes, hard rice sesame slices, hollow sesame balls, various brown rice cakes, etc. Rice dumplings, glutinous rice balls, rice dumplings, mochi, scallion oil rice cakes, elephant water snacks, etc. This is related to the fact that Pingxiang is located in the rice town of Jiangnan.

Pingxiang people are addicted to spicy food. Even if there is a sumptuous banquet in front of them, if there are not two or three spicy dishes, they will say that they can't eat. This eating habit is related to Pingxiang's location in a "humid place". As the saying goes: "If the fish farts, the chili pepper will smell". "Bighead carp head, grass carp waist, eel and loach stir-fried with pepper." Chili peppers are compatible with almost all animal raw materials, and their flavors complement each other. Pingxiang's "small stir-fried dishes" are representative of this type of cuisine. The spiciness in Pingxiang includes fresh spicy, spicy, paste spicy, bad spicy, black bean spicy, soy sauce spicy and other flavors. From this, a variety of mouth-watering spicy dishes are derived. The spicy flavor is long-lasting and the spiciness is dripping and hearty. Pingxiang people are unique in processing chili peppers, such as Pu chili peppers, white chili peppers, crispy dried red chili peppers, hot sauce, spicy molded tofu, etc. They are all good side dishes to go with wine and rice. Housewives will diligently bring them out to any house they visit. Let your guests taste it and show off your mastery.

Some people may say that the people in Pingxiang only know how to add chili peppers when cooking. This is a fallacy and an overgeneralization. In fact, Pingxiang cuisine has a variety of flavors, and spicy dishes are only part of the home-cooked dishes. Pingxiang's cooking manuals at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China recorded more than 500 local government dishes and folk dishes, but there was not a single spicy dish. In 1996, the "Pingxiang Flavor Recipe" compiled and published by the Pingxiang City Cuisine Association also listed spicy dishes. part, and more are delicacies with different flavors.

Pingxiang’s cured meat and cured delicacies are also outstanding. There is a record in the Book of Changes that “when the sun shines on the sun and shines on the fire, it is called cured meat”. Every year after the winter solstice, farmers kill Chinese New Year pigs and smoke bacon and cured meats in preparation for entertaining guests in the first month. All livestock, poultry and their offal, fish, taro, and tofu can be smoked with salt before smoking. It is pickled for 2-10 days, and then hung in a fire pit more than one meter high. It is smoked by burning firewood, tree stems, sawdust and rice husks to keep warm in winter, killing two birds with one stone. It is advisable to smoke slowly with slow fire. After half a month, take it off, wash off the soot, and dry it in the sun until the color becomes golden red. If immersed in a tea oil vat, it will last for many years. Bacon can be steamed or fried. Pingxiang's "steamed pork belly" and "fried donkey meat with winter bamboo shoots" are delicious and unforgettable.

As time and space enter today's reform and opening up, Pingxiang cuisine is also connected from east to west, blended from north to south, competing for novelties and bringing forth new ones. On the basis of inheriting and carrying forward the traditional flavor, Pingxiang cuisine keeps pace with the times and moves towards "health care, nutrition, The higher level of cultural taste, color, aroma, taste, shape and utensils has opened up a new world for Gan cuisine.

Three major river basins and four major cuisines

Cuisines have different local flavors due to differences in geography, climate, customs, and specialties. The division of cuisines is based solely on the dietary characteristics of the Han people. , there are currently four major cuisines, eight major cuisines, and ten major cuisines, and the classification of cuisines continues to increase. However, generally speaking, my country's cuisine is roughly divided into four major cuisines: Sichuan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong. Judging from the naming of the cuisine, although it is named after a province, its influence extends far beyond the boundaries of the province. All food customs are affected by it, and the taste and cooking are generally the same. This is the scope of the cuisine. Of course, within a cuisine, there are many schools or branches, and these are just "small differences" within the "Datong". As far as the four major cuisines of Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong and Jiangsu are concerned, the scope of Shandong cuisine, in addition to Shandong, also includes the North China Plain, the Beijing-Tianjin region, the three northeastern provinces, and Shanxi and Shaanxi. They are all areas where the taste and food customs of Shandong cuisine have become northern cuisine. of the backbone. Sichuan cuisine is centered on the Land of Abundance and extends to the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the two lakes, and the Yunnan-Guizhou area. Cantonese cuisine is mainly produced in the Pearl River Basin, and both Fujian and Guizhou cuisines are also affected. Jiangsu cuisine, also called Huaiyang cuisine, is located in the vast areas along the lower reaches of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, as well as cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Ningbo. Of course, this is only a rough division, and some of the bordering areas intersect.

The origin of the cuisine can be traced back to a long time ago, because the characteristics of the cuisine are based on the natural conditions of the products. "Natural History" by Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty. "People in the Five Directions" makes it clear: "People in the southeast eat aquatic products, and people in the northwest eat land animals." "Those who eat aquatic products, turtles, clams, snails, and clams regard them as delicacies and do not realize their fishy smell; those who eat land animals, raccoons, rabbits, rats, and sparrows I think it's a delicacy, but I don't think it's smelly. "If there are mountains, you can pick them, and if there's water, you can fish them." In other words, "we rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and we rely on the sea to eat the sea." This is the main condition for the formation of cuisine, and it is precisely "Today in the nine states all over the world, the special mountains and rivers have different sounds; the land produces different foods." ("Qi Cheng")

Taking products as the basis According to this, the difference in taste is an important factor in the development of cuisine. "National Customs" said: "Food habits vary from place to place. The south likes fat and fresh food, and the north likes to chew raw vegetables (onions and garlic). Each has its own suitability, and one cannot force the same thing." This kind of food preference has become a common practice among people. A habit that is hard to break. "Diet is like a dialect, different from place to place. As long as the taste is right, the taste is wrong, and it is like people with inharmonious temperaments. They live in different places." ("Lv Yuan Cong Hua") Only in the past hundred years has transportation developed. Only with the development of economy and scientific civilization have the distances between regions been shortened. Products are no longer a one-time product, so products are no longer the only basis for its cuisine. However, this food custom has been inherited for thousands of years. Still not easy to change.

In addition to the above factors, differences in cooking methods are also one of the important conditions for the formation of cuisines that cannot be ignored. Yuan Mei, a food connoisseur and critic in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in "Suiyuan Food List" that there are two completely different cooking methods for pork belly in the north and the south: "Boil in oil and stir-fry until extremely crispy. This is also the northern method. "The southerners simmered two sticks of incense with white water and wine, and the best was the best." It can be seen that before Yuan Mei, cooking techniques had already formed a distinctive feature of other cuisines. Qian Yong in "Lv Yuan Cong Hua." It is more specific in "Governing Cooks": "It is the same dish, but the taste is different. For example, northerners like strong food, while southerners like light food; northerners like rich dishes and eat more delicious food, while southerners like delicious food with delicious food. For beauty. Each has its own merits and is quite unique."

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the different characteristics of the four major cuisines became more distinct. "Qing Yi Lei Chao" records the dietary situation in the late Qing Dynasty, saying: "Different food habits in different places are due to customs. People in the North like onions and garlic, people in Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan like spicy food, people in Guangdong like light food, and people in Suzhou like sugar. " He also analyzed the characteristics of the cuisines of various places in more detail: "The food of Suzhou people is particularly fond of fat, and the cooking methods are all five-flavor blends, but they use more sugar and add five spices." "The food of Fujian and Cantonese people is rich in seafood. Food must be accompanied by soup. Cantonese people like to eat living things, and they don't want to have a high degree of heat. "The food of Hunan and Hubei people? They like spicy food. Even if they eat in advance, they will eat it with chopsticks without pepper and mustard." "There are many of them." "People in the north eat onions and garlic, and they are also proud of what is produced in the north..." and so on. Although the citations are not enough to explain the full picture of the cuisine, we can see the characteristics of the four major cuisines in the country.

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