In Mianyang, Hubei Province (now Xiantao City), there is a folk saying that "a year is smaller than half a month", and the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is regarded as a more important festival than the Spring Festival. Because in their view, this is the last happy reunion that a year's hard work is about to begin, so they cherish it all the more. But on this day, the locals don't eat Yuanxiao like many other places, but eat a flavor snack called "Tuanzi". This custom has a long history.
According to legend, at the end of Yuan Dynasty, Chen Youliang, a fisherman in Mianyang, rose up and rebelled. His wife, Pan Shi, once rewarded soldiers with "Mianyang Three Steams" (steamed pork with rice noodles, steamed pearl balls and steamed chrysanthemums) and passed them on to future generations. When the "Mianyang Third-rate" originated is still inconclusive, but it is related to Mianyang being a water country. According to records, Mianyang at that time was: "Rain fish feed for a year, and snails, shrimps and clams are full of intestines." Ordinary people can't afford rice as fine as pearls. They can only use a little miscellaneous grains to grind, and fish, shrimp, wild vegetables and lotus root pieces are mixed and steamed to satisfy their hunger. Over time, it has developed into a famous traditional dish in Hubei. Steamed vegetables, one of the "three steaming", take Artemisia as the top grade.
The folklore "Mianyang three stocks" originated from Chen Youliang, the leader of the peasant uprising at the end of Yuan Dynasty. His wife, Pan Shi, who is in charge of logistics, knows the military situation very well (insurgents often March to fight, eat raw rice and pickles, and many suffer from digestive tract diseases). After the rebels occupied Mianyang county, she rewarded the soldiers. She cooks for herself, which is unique. She mixed the meat, fish, lotus root and rice flour together, and put them in a bowl with seasoning. The steamed meat, fish and lotus root are delicious and harmonious, and the soldiers are full of praise. After such a good meal, the rebels' morale was greatly boosted and they often won battles. Chai Sang defeated the Yuan Army in World War I and made Chen Youliang king in Jiujiang.
There is also a legend that Qinggan traveled to the south of the Yangtze River and tasted the folk three steamed dishes. After that, steamed vegetables entered the imperial cuisine, and precious steamed vegetables such as pearl pills and precious white wine were born, which was a great development of "three steaming".
During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, many restaurants in three towns of Wuhan hung the signboard of "Mianyang Three Steamed Houses". Later, "third-rate" developed to Beijing. There is a restaurant "Hubei Sanzhengfang" in Hupao Square in Beijing. According to the symbol of the old man, one day, surrounded by guards, Zhang Xueliang, a young marshal of the Northeast Army, passed by the Tiger Run Workshop and saw the "Three Steamed Factories in Hubei". I didn't know what "Three Steamed Houses" meant, so I went into the museum and tasted it. After I had a good meal, I wrote the title: once I tasted it, I patted my hand on Sanli and smelled it nine times.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Mianyang Sanzheng became the necessary main course of Mianyang Lunar New Year. Later, someone rubbed the rice noodles left after "three steaming" into a ball, filled with vegetable stuffing, and steamed them before eating, which was unique. This method of making, gradually spread. People take the meaning of reunion and call it "Tuanzi" as a reunion dinner on the fifteenth day of the first month of each year. Now, pay attention to the present practice. Its main ingredient is rice flour, which is thicker than steamed vegetables. Stir-fry in the pan until it is half cooked, then add some boiling water and mix well. How many to ten jiaozi can you pack per catty of rice flour? Stuffing is not limited to vegetables, but also bean stuffing and sugar stuffing. Filled with diced bacon, dried bean curd, vermicelli, celery and other spices.
The process of wrapping jiaozi by hand is complicated and delicate. First, grind polished rice into fine powder. Before the reform and opening up, every household used a mill to grind. Now, it is taken to the street to pay someone to grind it with a machine. Bring it back, steam it in a wooden barrel until it is half cooked, add water and stir it, and knead it into a paste. Then, stir-fry the stuffing until it is half-cooked, and start filling. Squeeze the white rice dough into a stone nest for rice, and then wrap the stuffing in the nest and knead it into an apple-sized ball, which means round and round. Size depends on personal preference. If you pinch it too fine, it will break, and if it is too thick, it will be difficult to cook and bite. After kneading, put it on the wood and steam it. When the bucket or lattice comes out of the atmosphere and smells the fragrance, it will be fine. If you do what others don't do, you have to share the bowl with others. There are more than ten processes from steamed rice and broken rice to steamed and fried stuffing. Jiaozi, which has just been steamed, smells fresh and fragrant. With a bite, jiaozi smells fragrant and tastes good, which is enjoyed by the elderly and children.
Jiaozi has no secret: wash the early Gu Mi, cook it in an iron pot until it is half cooked, take it out and put it in a basket to cool. Crush rice with a stone mill. Stir the broken rice with hot water until it has a certain viscosity and knead it into the shape of a stone nest for rice. Put the fried stuffing in and knead it into the size of an apple. Steamed with wooden retort, the fragrance will be cooked.
There are many fillings, including meat, dried bean curd, pickled mustard tuber, garlic, ginger and leek, as well as pickled peppers, lotus roots, dried plums and peppers. Chop into fine particles, season, fry in a pot, cool, and start wrapping jiaozi. Size depends on personal preference. If you pinch it too fine, it will break and the stuffing will be ugly. It's too thick, undercooked, and can't bite, and there is no such pleasure as eating with stuffing together.
Jiaozi, which has just come out of the steamer, smells fresh rice, especially jiaozi, which is stuffed with bacon and qianzi bean curd. After biting, the smell is fragrant and floating around, making people drool.