Mianyang is a big county in Jianghan Plain, including today's honghu city in history, and changed to Xiantao in recent years. There are many waters and rich products in this area, and it is a land of fish and rice. People love to eat steamed vegetables and have the custom of "steaming without vegetables", which is called the hometown of steamed vegetables. Three steaming refers to three kinds of steamed vegetables, some refer to steamed fish, steamed meat and steamed chicken, some refer to steamed fish, steamed meat and steamed meatballs, and some refer to steamed pork powder, steamed pearl meatballs and steamed white meatballs. Sun, a China culinary master, once went to Xiantao to inspect the current situation of "three steaming" in Mianyang. He said that "three steaming" originally meant steaming fish, meat and vegetables. At present, it is still very popular with local people.

Pearl meatballs are minced pork and fish with uniform fat, mixed with egg white, mixed with six or seven kinds of seasonings such as pepper, Jiang Mo and wet starch, squeezed into meatballs with a diameter of 50 cents by hand, put into a sieve, rolled with glutinous rice, put into a small steamer and steamed on a boiling pot. The steamed meatballs are crystal clear and white in color, the rice grains stand upright like pearls, and the meatballs are soft, waxy and delicious.

Steamed white pills, mainly made of lean pork legs and fish, pay more attention to fire, with milky yellow color, soft and tender pill quality, oily and soft waxy.

Historical allusion

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 to eat rice as fine as pearls, so they can only grind it with a little miscellaneous grains, and steam it with fish, shrimp, wild vegetables and lotus root pieces to satisfy their hunger. Over time, it has developed into a famous traditional dish in Hubei. Steamed vegetables, one of the "three steaming", is the top grade of steamed Artemisia annua.

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.

According to reports, as early as the Qing Dynasty, many restaurants in the three towns of Wuhan hung the signboard of "Mianyang Sanzhengfang", and later opened stores in other cities such as Beijing, becoming the nationally famous "Hubei Sanzhengfang". The song "King of Steamed Vegetables, the face is superior, please come and have a taste if you don't believe me" is widely read. Later, Mianyang's three steamed dishes became more and more exquisite and high-grade, and precious steamed dishes such as steamed pearl pills and steamed white pills were born and entered restaurants all over the country. On the contrary, its traditional practice has gradually disappeared. Except for a small number of farmers in Xiantao and surrounding areas, restaurants are hardly used, and the characteristic "Mianyang Sanzheng Pavilion" almost disappeared as early as the end of last century.

Traditional practice of three steaming in Mianyang

Cut pork belly and herring into 5cm thick slices, dry the water with a cloth, add refined salt, soy sauce, red fermented milk, Jiang Mo, Shaoxing wine, chicken essence and white sugar, mix well and marinate 10 minute. Then wash vegetables (amaranth, taro, beans, pumpkin, radish, chrysanthemum, lotus root), cut into sections or pieces, mix coarse rice flour with fish and meat, steam it with rice in a steamer, put the rice on the bottom, spread the vegetables evenly on it, and then put the fish and meat pieces on the vegetables repeatedly. Cover tightly and steam for about 40 minutes.

Exercise (1)

Raw materials: pork belly, grass carp, japonica rice, green vegetables (freely prepared according to different seasons and tastes), salt, soy sauce, red fermented milk, Jiang Mo, Shaoxing wine, chicken essence, sugar, cinnamon, clove and star anise.

Steps: (1) Wash japonica rice, dry it, put it in a wok, stir-fry for three minutes, add cinnamon, clove, star anise and stir-fry for three minutes, and grind it into roe-sized powder.

(2) Slice pork belly and grass carp into 5cm square thick slices, dry the water with a cloth, add refined salt, soy sauce, red fermented milk, Jiang Mo, Shaoxing wine, chicken essence and white sugar, mix well and marinate for 10 minutes.

(3) Wash and cut green vegetables (amaranth, taro, beans, pumpkin, radish, chrysanthemum and lotus root), or cut them into pieces, mix them with fish and meat, and steam them with rice. The steamer is a small cedar barrel.

(4) Put rice at the bottom, evenly spread vegetables on it, and then put fish and meat pieces on the vegetables. Cover tightly and steam for about 40 minutes.

Exercise (2)

Ingredients: Choose pork belly (preferably pork belly with three layers), burn the pigskin first and then clean it for later use. Choose mandarin fish to start meat for later use. Shred white radish for later use.

Step: (1) Cut the washed pork belly into thick slices with a length of 10 cm and a thickness of 0.5 cm, rinse them with tap water for more than 2 hours, and drain them for later use.

(2) Mix ginger powder, red fermented bean curd, seasoning powder, oyster sauce, cooking wine, pepper, sweet noodle sauce and fresh soy sauce.

(3) Soak the prepared steamed pork rice noodles in a little hot water, mix them with the spare pork belly, steam them in a cage for about 90 minutes, and add a little chopped green onion to serve. Steaming meat takes a long time, so you can steam it in advance for later use. )

(4) Pomfret can be produced by mixing and cooking the prepared rice flour.

(5) The shredded radish should be seasoned with white rice flour and mixed well. Steamed with steamed meat and steamed fish.