Go south and eat north".
Written by Gao Wenqi.
Jincheng Press.
Publication. A gourmet's private collection of food stories, a cultural guide to travel "shopping and eating".
"Eating in the South and North" is a collection of food essays created by Gao Wenqi, a veteran Taiwanese foodie and food critic, with 50 articles including Gao Wenqi's appreciation and exploration of many delicacies. Although it is about food, it is also infiltrated with the folk customs, folk customs and cultural backgrounds of different regions, involving many contents such as life interest, health and leisure, life interests, etc., the origin and development of food, and the exquisite collocation are comprehensive, and the narrator's experience, breath, and warmth also flow through.
Selected readings from the text. Although I live in Beijing, I often travel for business because of my work, and sometimes I leave Beijing for more than half a month. Interestingly, I am a native of Taiwan, but whenever I am away on business for a long time and miss the taste of my hometown, the first thing that comes to mind is Beijing fried noodles, and Taiwanese braised pork rice ranks second. That's why every time I go back to Beijing, the first thing I do is eat a bowl of fried noodles. The traditional Beijing fried noodles are still relatively difficult to eat in other places!
I am a person who remembers by taste, and food and taste are my most direct and strongest memory points. For me, Xi'an is mutton steamed buns, Shanghai is open onion oil noodles, Jinan is Jiuzhuan fat intestines, Huangshan is stinky mandarin fish, Guangzhou is roast goose, Taiwan is braised pork rice, and Beijing is fried noodles! If you ask me for directions, the coordinates I give you must be various restaurants, no way, this is how I remember the route, only recognize all kinds of restaurants.
In Beijing, fried noodles are the closest food to the common people, and they are also the food that best reflects the style of Beijing cuisine. Beijing cuisine originates from the long tradition of Shandong cuisine, which is good at using sauces, paying attention to "heavy and salty flavor", and presenting a simple and simple style. A bowl of fried noodles full of sauce and chewiness exudes pure "Beijing flavor" without reservation.
Not only Beijingers, it is estimated that most northerners love to eat fried noodles, regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, regardless of men, women and children, simple and fast, rich and thrifty. The free and easy flow of jajangmyeon seems to be more suitable for the bold personality of northerners.
However, the subtleties of the jajangmyeon, which looks like an atmosphere, are not ordinary. Generally speaking, the noodles and the marinade must be matched, the refreshing marinade must be matched with fine noodles, and the heavy marinade must be matched with thick noodles, so that they can complement each other in taste and texture.
The noodles of Jajanjangmyeon must be slightly thicker hand-rolled noodles, this traditional northern noodles are more solid, chewy and refreshing than Nanjangmyeon, and they are particularly delicious with a rich jajang sauce, and the noodles are best eaten freshly, the sauce is thick and gluten, so as to present the full charm of Jajanjangmyeon.
Not only are the noodles special, but the noodles are also cooked. The pot for cooking noodles should be wide and deep, and the water should be boiled to get the noodles down, which makes the temperature of the boiling water in the pot not drop too much at once after the noodles are put into the pot, and if the water temperature drops too fast, the noodles will be soaked in the pot for too long, and the noodles are easy to spoil, and they are not refreshing to eat.
Some people like the noodles to be more refreshing and chewy, and the noodles that are fished out of the pot need to be cooled down to make the noodles more elastic because of the rapid cooling, and at the same time wash off the batter on the outside to make the taste more refreshing, which has a proper noun called "water".
If it comes out of the pot directly, it is called "pot picking". After passing through the water, the noodles are cooler, but stronger and more refreshing. The noodles are hot and soft. Generally, I have eaten water in summer and pot picking in winter; Young people like to be watery, and old people like to pick pots. If you ask me which one I like? I like overheated water. It has to be elastic, but it also needs to retain a little temperature, and it is easier to mix the sauce with a little temperature.
Source: Visual China.
The same is true for udon noodles in Japan, where the cut udon noodles are cooked, rinsed in running water, and gently scrubbed to clean the slightly mushy surface of the noodles before being refrigerated in a bowl. Hot food is quickly reheated, and cold food is served directly.
The other protagonist is the sauce, and the sauce is the soul of jajangmyeon! Because the sauce of the noodles has to be fried with a lot of oil, it is close to frying, so it is called fried noodles. In Beijing, the sauce family can fry it, each with its own ingenious differences, and the best fried sauce noodles are always the bowl at home!
The fried sauce has to be made with northern yellow sauce, with fatty diced pork, chopped green onions, minced garlic, sugar, and ingredients. First of all, the dried yellow sauce you bought should be evenly spread with water, and there is nothing wrong with some people who like to add a little noodle sauce. Don't make too much, the fried sauce pays attention to "small bowl dry frying", fried and eaten now, and the flavor is the best. I have talked to several Beijing friends about the processing method of sauce, some friends like to add honey, some friends like to steam the sauce first, each has its own tricks, in fact, it doesn't matter, you eat it yourself, just eat comfortably!
I fried sauce is directly with raw sauce, first fry the chives and garlic, the oil in the pot should be a little more, and then the diced meat pieces are stir-fried out of the oil, fried until eight ripe, add the good yellow sauce, at this time you have to change the low heat "boil the sauce", keep stir-frying and pushing to avoid the bottom of the paste, after the aroma of the sauce is fried, you have to keep stir-frying, until the sauce and the oil are completely integrated, do you think this is done? It's early! Then boil until the oil in the sauce is separated again, at this time the water vapor in the sauce is completely removed, and finally sprinkle a handful of raw onions and minced garlic, stir well, and the fried sauce is done! Choose the right materials, and the fried sauce at home will be fragrant even if it is cold.
In addition to noodles and fried sauce, you also need to add dish codes, that is, various matching vegetables, generally four kinds of dish codes, and six kinds of luxury orders. There is no dish code, and only the fried sauce is called "singles noodles", which belongs to the rough eating method that cannot be served on the table.
Common dishes are nothing more than mung bean sprouts, shredded cucumbers, and shredded radish. The dishes are not white radishes and carrots, but green-skinned and red-hearted "beautiful heart" radish. Particular about it is boiled soybeans, chopped diced celery, chopped green garlic, and a little toon sprouts in spring. The gluten and sauce are fragrant, and more vegetables not only improve the level of texture and taste, but also eat healthier.
People who are particular about not only the types of dishes, but also the processing of various vegetables. The bean sprouts have to be pinched and the tail removed, which is called "pinching vegetables"; "Beautiful in the heart" radish should be peeled off the green skin, leaving only the red radish heart; Instead of garlic cloves, use chopped garlic sprouts to ......Of course, you can also eat as much as you want.
Author: Gao Wenqi.
Text: Gao Wenqi Editor: Jin Jiuchao Responsible Editor: Zhu Zifen.