Saozi noodles

Saozi noodles are a traditional specialty pasta in the Guanzhong area of ??Shaanxi Province. It has a long history, especially Qishan Saozi noodles are the most famous. Qishan Saozi Noodles are famous for being thin, stringy, light, fried, thin, chewy, sour, spicy and fragrant. Its characteristics are: slender noodles, even thickness, fresh and fragrant sauerkraut, red oil floating noodles, sour and spicy soup, tough and refreshing, suitable for all ages. Saozi noodles play a very important role in the Guanzhong area and are indispensable on important occasions such as weddings and funerals, festivals, children's full moon, old people's birthdays, and welcoming relatives and friends.

Some places in Guanzhong pronounce 芊(sao) sub-noodles as shao(shao) sub-noodles due to dialect pronunciation. This has affected some restaurants with incorrect names.

How to make saozi noodles

The most important thing about saozi noodles is the soup. The soup is the soul of saozi noodles. The main ingredients needed to make soup are as follows:

Pork jerky: choose fatter pork with skin, and the pork should also contain more lean meat. Cut the meat into small pieces, the slices should be thin. Pour into a hot oil pan. There should not be too much oil in the pan. Stir and stir-fry continuously. During this process, add a certain amount of ginger foam to remove the fishy smell, and then add a certain amount of iodized salt. When the meat is six-mature, add vinegar and stir-fry. When it is seven-mature, add soy sauce and other condiments. When it is nine-mature, add an appropriate amount of red chili powder when it is about to come out of the pot. Stir and simmer for a while, then it is ready to serve. During this period, great attention should be paid to controlling the heat and time. The fire should not be too strong. If it is too strong, the meat may be overcooked or burnt, and the chili noodles will be burnt, affecting the color of the soup. If the fire is not enough, the meat will be undercooked, the fishy smell of the meat will not be removed, and the spiciness will penetrate too deep. . As long as the heat is controlled, the meat will be fresh, tender and slightly spicy, and the oil will be bright red and not very spicy. This is the most basic way to make meat dumplings.

Add the soup:

Soak the fungus in warm water, chop into pieces and set aside.

Cut the tofu into thin slices, add hot oil, fry until egg yellow, remove from the pan, cut into small diamond shapes, set aside.

Fry eggs into egg skins, cut into small diamond-shaped slices, and set aside.

Soak day lily (needle gold) in warm water, cut into about 1.5 cm, and set aside.

Leeks or garlic sprouts, garlic sprouts are the best. Wash, dry, cut into small pieces and set aside for rinsing.

Bottom dish: Usually carrots, cut into small pieces. If the meat sauce has just come out of the pot, it is best to stir-fry it directly while leaving an appropriate amount of meat sauce in the pot. You can also heat the pot with an appropriate amount of sesame seeds in a cold pot, then pour in the minced carrots, stir over high heat, and add iodized salt. When half-cooked, simmer slowly over low heat, stirring frequently to dry out the water in the pot. When the vegetables are almost cooked, add MSG, Sichuan peppercorns and other condiments. In this process, the oil and spiciness should be controlled appropriately according to the ratio of the sauerkraut and vegetables in the hot pot.

There are traditional hand-rolled noodles and machine-pressed noodles: Hand-rolled noodles should be tough, strong, and shiny when boiling water comes out of the pot. Usually, the dough is made, kneaded, covered with a damp cloth for five or six hours and then rolled out. This way the dough is tough, easy to roll out and cut into thin pieces, and the boiling water makes it shiny and smooth. The machine-pressed surface is mostly used for weddings and funerals, etc., which saves manpower and time.

With soup: It is best to choose an iron pot, fill it with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Put the prepared fungus, eggs, day lily, and base vegetables into the pot, and season as needed. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer and add the vegetables. Tang Cheng. Pour the hot soup onto the noodles that have just come out of the pot and you will have a bowl of smooth, fragrant and delicious noodles.

The above is the basic method of making noodles. To make authentic noodles, you need to pay attention to many details, especially when frying meat and adding soup. The flavor of Qishan Saozi noodles is mainly sour and spicy, so you should pay attention when pairing it with soup. Other places in Guanzhong also have their own tastes.

History of Saozi Noodles

Saozi Noodles have a long history, and there are many theories about the origin of Saozi Noodles in Guanzhong.

Story 1: In ancient times, the Zhou people moved from Bin (today's Bin County and Xunyi area, Shaanxi Province) to Qizhi Zhouyuan (today's Qishan County, Shaanxi Province), and thrived on the Wei River and Beiyuan. Later, there was an evil dragon in the Wei River that caused disaster. There was a severe drought for three years, and the people were in dire straits. The Zhou clan couldn't bear to leave the home they had developed over generations, so they fought back and fought for seven days before killing the evil dragon. In order to celebrate their victory, the hungry people killed the dragon and ate it with noodles, which they found extremely delicious. So when celebrating this victory in the future, pigs were used instead of dragons and noodles to eat together. Later it expanded to other festivals and sacrifices. This steamed rice noodles gradually spread, and its cooking method also gradually spread and developed.

Story 2: Mr. Li Xinru of Qishan Cultural Center also wrote a special booklet called "The God Comes to Eat Qishan Shaozi Noodles". According to his research, the steamed noodles originated from the "Junyu" etiquette of the corpse sacrifice system in the Zhou Dynasty, that is, worshiping the gods and ancestors first, then the rest will be given to the kings and ministers, and finally to ordinary people. This custom has existed for a long time in Qishan. No matter whose family holds weddings or weddings, the first bowl of whistle noodles will not be served at the banquet. Instead, the junior will take it out and pour the soup twice to symbolize the sacrifice to the gods of heaven and earth. The remaining soup is called "Fu Bangzi" ", pouring it on the ancestral tablet in the main hall, and then go to the table, and serve the food in order of generation and status. In the past, the leftover soup from eating noodles could not be thrown away and had to be returned to the pot. That is to say, it takes the meaning of the word "Yu" in "Junyu". Nowadays, the custom of worshiping gods and ancestors and eating twice-cooked soup has changed. Shaozi noodles are a casual meal for entertaining guests in Qishan and Guanzhong. When a new wife comes to visit, a child’s birthday, or an elderly person celebrates their birthday, Shaozi noodles are usually served to guests.

Myth three: It comes from the "longevity noodles" of the Tang Dynasty. Saozi noodles were developed on the basis of the "longevity noodles" of the Tang Dynasty.

"Yi Jue Liao Miscellaneous Notes" says: "People in the Tang Dynasty often have soup cakes on their birthdays, which is what is called 'longevity noodles' in the world." Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, said in a poem: "I am a guest sitting here, holding up chopsticks to eat soup cakes." One noodle This type of food was called "soup cake" in the Tang Dynasty. The "soup cake" mentioned in Liu's poem is "longevity noodles". It was a good way to entertain guests in the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, when Su Dongpo was an official in Shaanxi, he especially liked to eat this kind of noodles and wrote a poem praising it: "I wanted to go to work as a soup cake customer, but I was worried about writing the deer book by mistake. "

As for the reason why "Longevity Noodles" were renamed "Saozi Noodles", there is a story circulating among the people: A long time ago, a family in Qishan married a beautiful, smart, diligent and smart daughter-in-law. The day after the new daughter-in-law came to her husband's house, she made a meal of noodles for the whole family. After eating, the whole family praised the noodles for their smoothness and deliciousness. Later, her brother-in-law was admitted to the official position and invited his classmates and friends to his house, so he invited his sister-in-law to serve him. Everyone made their best noodles to serve the guests, and everyone was full of praise after eating them. Since then, "sister-in-law noodles" have become famous because they must add sesame seeds as a topping. "Saozi Noodles". According to historical facts, saozi meat appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. "Mengliang Lu" records that there were shops specializing in the processing and sale of saozi meat. However, it is not known whether "saozi noodles" had already appeared in the Ming Dynasty. Lian recorded the "Method for making steamed pork noodles" in "Eight Notes of Zunsheng", so it can be said with certainty that "sauced noodles" had already appeared at least before Gao Lian wrote this book.

Sauced noodles. It is highly valued in Shaanxi. In addition to following the custom of "longevity noodles" in the Tang Dynasty, such as eating it on birthdays, it is also used to entertain guests at every wedding, funeral, or festival. In the old days, Shaanxi. There is also a custom in rural areas: on the day after the new daughter-in-law comes to the house, a grand dough-rolling ceremony is held at her husband's house. The new daughter-in-law rolls the noodles in front of the guests to test her skill. The noodles that are rolled out are uniform in thickness, cut into long and thin strips, and do not break when placed in the pot. Only such new wives can win everyone's praise.

The influence of sauerkraut noodles

Saozi noodles. Noodles are a Shaanxi snack with dozens of varieties. They are thin, glutenous, light, chewy, sour, spicy, and fragrant, and have a soft and smooth texture. Among them, Qishan Saozi Noodles are the most famous. The noodles are long and thin, evenly thick, and the noodle soup is oily and rosy, with a rich and rich flavor but not greasy. Qishan Shaolin Noodles are particularly rich in local flavor and are famous for their sour and spicy taste. Hot and sour. The so-called fried noodles need to be hot and have more oil to reflect the characteristics of this noodle. Qishan noodles are a kind of local specialty noodles with high carbohydrates and saturated fatty acids.

Saozi noodles have a great influence on the lives of people in Guanzhong area. No matter whether it is weddings or funerals, festivals, birthdays of the elderly, children, or relatives and friends coming home, saozi noodles are indispensable for weddings and funerals in Guanzhong area. Birthdays, children's full moon, etc. are usually served with two meals, the so-called breakfast and lunch, and steamed noodles are the staple food for breakfast.

In rural areas of Guanzhong, steamed noodles are basically served on the morning of the first day of the new year. Before eating, a bowl of soup is brought to the door to commemorate the ancestors, and then the family members enjoy it. Some also offer a bowl of saozi noodles in front of the ancestor's statue to express their memory.

The history of Qishan's whistle noodles. It has been famous since the Qing Dynasty. Qishan restaurants of all sizes serve saozi noodles, or simply set up "Qishan saozi noodle shop", "Lao** saozi noodle shop", etc. which only sell saozi noodles. Some couplets wrote:

Drink a few glasses of Xifeng wine and sit here for a while

Eating two bowls of steamed noodles is a worthwhile trip

Nowadays, many tourists There is a specialty noodle shop near the district that specializes in farmhouse specialties. For example, there is one near Zhuge Liang Temple in Wuzhangyuan of Qishan Mountain.

Saozi noodles originated from Qishan, Zhou Yuan’s hometown, and spread throughout Shaanxi and northwest China.