In fact, many places have their own set of cuisines. There are eight bowls in Yancheng, nine bowls in Sichuan and eight bowls in Zhuxi, Hubei.
Although they are all called "eight bowls", there are actually many differences. Let's talk about Yancheng today.
What are the eight dishes of "Yancheng Eight Bowls", just like all legends. What is rare is that it is also the first collective trademark of a series of dishes with local characteristics officially approved and registered in China and protected by law.
Nowadays, the living conditions are getting better and better, and the banquet is not just eight bowls, but no matter how it changes, the dishes in eight bowls are still a must for Yancheng people. Although not all kinds, but must occupy some seats.
The "eight bowls" are minced meat, meatballs, cakes, braised pork, saute spicy chicken with chicken, mussel radish vermicelli, shrimp soup and braised fish.
The first bowl of meat-skin chowder also has a domineering name-no fat and no seats, also known as "Jiangbei Tou Dao Cai". It looks ordinary, but in fact, the whole dried skin is fried to golden brown, soaked in water before cooking and cut into cubes. Soup is usually made of vegetables, pork pieces and quail eggs.
Among them, the title party is "big chicken holding chicken". This dish is actually just a peasant chicken. There are many eggs in the original chicken soup, which symbolizes family reunion, perfection and happiness; Later, the whole chicken was replaced by shredded chicken and the eggs were replaced by vermicelli. Change the name, that is, shredded chicken fried noodles!
As a foodie, Zhou still couldn't help Amway's favorite in the "eight bowls"-the cake is on the rise, and the highlight is eggs. After mixing many eggs with chopsticks, put a little salt; Put oil in the hot pot, then pour in the beaten eggs, and add chopped green onion and Jiang Mo when the eggs are not formed; When the egg rises, turn it over with a small fire and a shovel. Before the egg reaches a certain thickness and the color is scaled, the magic cake will rise.
I am crazy to see this dish because I love eggs very much. Eggs are fragrant and leeks are delicious. Put more leeks, get rid of greasy, yellow and green, nutritious and delicious.
Yancheng Eight Bowls was a dish lacking in materials (ingredients) in 1960s and 1970s. However, when the fish belly and tendons are in power, the skin (fat) will withdraw; When sea cucumbers and fresh oysters flood, mussels give way; Crabs are served, and shrimp soup is gone; When vegetables and beef are cooked at home, braised pork is not served; When steamed bass became the main fish, there were not many braised fish. When the whole chicken can fill the sea bowl, there is no need to fill the eggs. When the cakes cooked by long fish (shredded eel) fill the table, the traditional cakes will no longer exist. Only meatballs, traditional meatballs (glutinous rice meatballs) are also suppressed by pure meatballs. The times are progressing and the diet is developing. If a restaurant only talks about the so-called eight bowls of main products, it may have a temporary reputation, but it will not work in the long run. Innovation and development can be carried forward.
Yancheng's "Eight Bowls" were the necessary dishes for rural weddings and birthdays in 1950s and 1960s. Think about the past, look at the present, where are those eight bowls of deep homesickness? There must be a taste of sailing in your mouth, with endless aftertaste.
Today's Yancheng, eight bowls are not eight bowls, and there are many kinds. The society is developing and the times are progressing. The life of Yancheng people cannot be described in eight bowls. Eight bowls are not the taste of hometown, and elderly people can't understand it.
Although I am a native of Wuxi, I still have a deep memory of Yancheng's "Eight Bowls".
In the late 1960s, I jumped the queue as an educated youth to Xixiang, Yancheng. Not long after I went, it happened that our landlord's son married his wife. It is the first time to learn Yancheng's "Eight Bowls".
Although the rural areas in northern Jiangsu were poor and backward at that time, marrying a daughter-in-law was a major event in life, so the landlord tried his best to hold an "eight bowls" banquet for the villagers and several educated youths. At that time, the "eight bowls" in northern Jiangsu were absolutely comparable to the current delicacies.
After that, I ate several "eight bowls" in northern Jiangsu. Later, I left Yancheng and haven't eaten Yancheng's "eight bowls" for more than 30 years.
Until last year, we organized dozens of educated youths to return to Yancheng, our second hometown, and tasted the "eight bowls" of Yancheng again with the warm hospitality of the town government. Of course, the eight bowls are already improved, but there are actually more than eight bowls. But the main course still impressed me.
Let's start with the first course "soup"
In northern Jiangsu, nothing is impossible, so fat is definitely the first dish. The main course is oil skin, quail eggs, pork pieces and vegetables. Now the improved version also adds fresh shrimp, fresh shellfish and so on. Now eat, a word "fresh"! Eating fat meat is mainly about tasting its broth. Yancheng cuisine actually inherits the essence of Huaiyang cuisine, and the production of broth is quite strict. The food is also oily but not greasy, which melts in the mouth and is light and delicious.
Second course: Braised pork balls.
Braised pork balls, three for each person. If you eat one more, others will eat one less. Meatballs are also called lion heads. What makes Yancheng meatballs unique is the production of meatballs. Minced meat, glutinous rice, eggs, onions, ginger, salt. Make it into thick paste in proportion, make it into balls with a diameter of five or six centimeters, and fry it in oil pan until golden brown. Pick it up and put it in a pot, add water, soy sauce, spices and a little sugar, and simmer. It is also instant in the mouth, and the meat is fragrant and glutinous rice is fragrant. If you have a good appetite, you can't eat more than a dozen at once.
The third course, cake.
This "cake" is not a cake made by a birthday cake shop, but a cake made entirely of eggs. Then cut into squares or squares, and cook in stock, and you can add a little leek and louver. This dish also highlights a fresh word.
The fourth course, stewed radish with mussels.
Mytilus is seafood, cooked with radish and vermicelli and eaten. This dish is also very fresh.
The fifth course, shredded chicken soup.
Cooked old hen, tear the chicken into strips and cook it with vermicelli. The entrance is soft and delicious.
The sixth course, shrimp soup.
Use diced meat, diced mushrooms, diced dried beans, etc. Now add fresh shrimp and seafood to the improved version to make soup. Another feature is that it tastes delicious and melts in the mouth.
The seventh and eighth courses are braised pork and braised fish.
It is not much different from Jiangnan cuisine. Put some local specialties in the braised pork, such as arrowheads and taro. The cooked arrowheads and taro are more delicious than meat. Braised fish must be the last dish, with the artistic conception of "more than every year, more than every year"
What you eat all the year round is Jiangnan cuisine, and occasionally you eat Yancheng's "eight bowls", which has a unique flavor. I also hope that Yancheng's "Eight Bowls" will take it to the next level on the original basis and take it as the main product to attract foreign tourists. Build Yancheng tourism industry to a higher level!
The real Yancheng local dishes should be like this.
Yancheng food can't be served, but it tastes good! Ha ha laugh
Don't like to eat. I guess everyone likes it. I don't like soup that is too light.
I can't forget the eight bowls in my hometown when I was a child: (roasted meat, braised pork balls, braised chicken stuffed with braised pork, shrimp soup, braised pork, stewed radish, roasted spinach cake and braised fish) with pure taste, pure meat and pure nutrition and health.
The eight bowls in Xixiang, Yancheng must be like this. When I was a child, it was memorable in the age of material scarcity and has always been treasured in my memory!