Beijing people eat meat on the first day of autumn. The poem reads: The autumn wind blows the rain through the south tower, and the coolness of the night is the beginning of autumn. How can a person not stay close to his body when he is wandering in the rivers and lakes?
On the day of the Beginning of Autumn, in old Beijing, there was a custom of children and girls wearing catalpa leaves on their heads. Nowadays, the custom of wearing catalpa leaves at the beginning of autumn has disappeared. Beijingers have had the habit of eating delicious food since ancient times, and they eat what they eat in any season. In this regard, Beijingers are particularly concerned and particular about it. "Posting autumn fat" is an indispensable custom after the beginning of autumn, which means eating more meat after autumn.
Wang Zengqi wrote in the article "Tie Autumn Fat": What Beijingers call "Tie Autumn Fat" has a special meaning, that is, eating barbecue. Pekingese barbecue is grilled on a broiler. "Zhizi" is a round plate made of iron bars nailed one by one, with large pieces of chopped firewood, pine or fruit wood burning underneath.
The mutton is cut into thin slices (there are also roast beef, less), and the waiter mixes the condiments in a big bowl - soy sauce, sesame oil, cooking wine, a lot of coriander, a little water, and gives it to the customer. The customer uses long chopsticks to spread it flat on the grill.
There are small gaps between the iron bars of the grill, and the firewood smoke below can penetrate through the gaps. Not only does the entire "broil" receive the fire evenly, but the grilled meat is also fragrant with firewood; The soup-braised pork crumbs on top can be stuffed into the cracks, adding to the roasted aroma. There are many who eat one and a half catties, two catties, two and a half catties. Bake it yourself, as tender or charred as you like. And baking is fun in itself.
Zhizi barbecue is actually very particular. Zhizi is an iron plate made of cast iron. It looks like a simple iron plate. In fact, the thickness of the iron plate has its own meaning. There are some gaps on the iron plate. , is too thin, the fire is strong, and it is easy to burn; but the iron plate is too thick, the heat is not enough, and the meat is cooked too slowly, affecting the taste.
The traditional and delicious Zhizi barbecue is eaten casually. The original meaning of Zhizi is just an iron pan with an iron basin for burning fire. An iron grill the size of the Eight Immortals round table stood on the table. The fire basin under the table was filled with red-hot charcoal. It used a traditional charcoal fire. The beef and mutton were cut into thin slices and then mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, scallions and coriander.
The chef is very good at controlling the heat. The marinated mutton is placed on the "roast" and grilled until it is sizzling and smoking. All the people sitting stood up instantly, with expectations in their eyes. If you want to eat the meat when it is freshly roasted, you must not forget to sprinkle the fried white sesame seeds. When you eat, you will understand its mystery.