In China's 5,000-year-old food culture, pastries are the most unique category. It is not only a delicacy to satisfy hunger, but also an embellishment for after-dinner and display gatherings. Our country is a vast country, so each region has its own unique taste preferences and food characteristics.
As Guangzhou, which is famous for its food, there are too many types of pastries, but if you want to choose the most representative one, it must be the water chestnut cake. Water chestnut cake has a long history and is one of the traditional snacks in Guangzhou and even Guangdong, and it is also one of the most popular desserts. It is steamed by water chestnut grains and sugar water mixed with horseshoe powder, its color is tea yellow, translucent, can be folded but not cracked, pouting and continuous, soft, smooth, refreshing, tough and both, the taste is extremely sweet, and has the effect of clearing heat and removing dampness, and is widely welcomed by diners in this hot and humid area of Guangdong.
In the impression of Cantonese people, the horseshoe cake is the "mascot" that can be eaten, whether it is a festival, entertaining guests or giving gifts to relatives and friends, almost every household will prepare a horseshoe cake. The "step by step" on the lips of Cantonese people during the New Year is talking about this horseshoe cake. Because "cake" and "high" have the same sound, the horseshoe cake also has the implication of rising every year from the horse to success, and everyone is looking forward to the improvement of living standards and the happiness of life. Therefore, water chestnut cake is an indispensable cake for Cantonese people to celebrate the New Year. It can be said that a small pastry hides the spirit of Lingnan and the life attitude of Cantonese people who "know how to drink and eat, and live a positive life".
The quality of a piece of water chestnut cake is determined by its raw material, water chestnut flour. Many people fail to make water chestnut cake, do not form, have a bad taste and other problems, all because of the poor quality of water chestnut powder. A good water chestnut powder should be 100% pure water horseshoe processing, and no flavors, pastes, etc. can be added. And the horseshoe flour in the traditional production process is also more cumbersome and exquisite, including cleaning, crushing, filtration, precipitation, drying and other more than a dozen processes, each process is time-consuming and laborious, from the selection of raw materials, the production process, time control, etc. There are many precautions, and a slight mistake will affect the taste quality of the horseshoe powder.
Nowadays, Zhouxing can be said to be one of the few brands that still follow the ancient method and combine traditional technology with modern technology to make horseshoe powder, and the person in charge of Zhouxing Food said that only by adhering to traditional practices and pure nature without any additives can the quality of horseshoe powder be guaranteed, and the horseshoe powder can be powdered and delicate, with the unique fragrance of horseshoe. At the same time, Zhouxing horseshoe noodles have also won the titles of Guangzhou's top ten souvenirs and Guangdong Province's food cultural heritage.
Horseshoe cake is an important part of the food culture in Guangfu, and also has important technical value, historical and cultural value and social value, and contains rich folk culture information. The fewer people who adhere to tradition, the more we must persevere. Therefore, Zhouxing Food not only often participates in the promotion of major intangible cultural heritage, participates in various Guangdong traditional culture exhibitions, but also establishes an area of 780 square meters in the Zhouxing Food Factory in Datian Village, Jianggao Town, Baiyun District, and uses this as a platform to open a horseshoe cake intangible cultural heritage research course, so that more people can understand Cantonese horseshoe cake, like Cantonese horseshoe cake, inherit the Cantonese horseshoe cake production skills, and understand the Lingnan food culture it carries through horseshoe cake.
At the same time of inheritance, Zhouxing Food does not forget to innovate "Inheritance is not conservative and retro, but traditional concepts, quality spirits, and nostalgic memories; Innovation is not created out of thin air, but to bring forth the new, so that the tradition glows with new brilliance, so that the traditional water chestnut flour and water chestnut cake can keep up with the development of the times and enter the lives of more young people, so that it can be better protected and inherited, and let the Lingnan food culture be carried forward. ”
Therefore, on the basis of traditional horseshoe cake, Zhouxing Food has developed more than 20 flavors, such as matcha, red dates, wolfberry, red beans and other flavors; A kind of horseshoe powder, she can also make a variety of processed products, such as horseshoe syrup, horseshoe powder meal replacement, horseshoe snacks, etc. In addition, in addition to the changes in taste, Zhouxing Food has also entered major e-commerce platforms, and registered official accounts on major social platforms to update the relevant recipes of popular science horseshoe noodles and horseshoe cakes, and use these platforms to let more people know about this traditional Lingnan cuisine, increase brand awareness and spread traditional culture. Zhouxing Food believes that through this series of actions, it will be certain.
It can make water chestnut flour and water chestnut cake continue to flourish among young people, so that the fragrance of water chestnut cake will drift farther and farther.