Chapter 19 Mutton Soup, Steamed Buns and Other Natural Food Partners

After winter, avoiding water is like snakes and scorpions, and the clouds will become heavy for a day or two. Without rain, the air will be damp and cold.When I went out to eat mutton soup, the boss claimed that the mutton came from Suzhou.After finishing the mutton soup, I asked casually: "Is there any cake for sale here?" The answer: "No, is there any rice?" It's a long story. When I was a child, I ate mutton soup in winter. After ordering the soup, the neighbors bought some pasta, such as crispy sesame cakes and white steamed buns.At that time, there were no halal restaurants springing up in the south of the Yangtze River, and naan was very rare. As long as the biscuits were not filled with sweet sesame seeds, they would be fine with soup.Later, when I grew up, I knew that there was something called mutton steamed buns in the world. I deeply felt that the ancient capital of Xi'an was really good at taste, and I grasped the perfect recipe.Using Plato's logic, God first created the perfect form of "mutton steamed buns", and then cut it into two, so that lamb and steamed buns struggled to find each other in the world, and finally achieved marriage... In the past two years, meat from all over Shanghai There are many foods in Qin, such as sandwiches, mutton steamed buns, cat ears, etc., but authentic steamed buns are hard to find.The next best thing is to go to the Xinjiang restaurant and ask for mutton soup, tear up the naan and soak it.The good thing is that the naan is loose and swollen, and the mutton soup is very fresh, and it is tough and tastes good.I used to be naive, thinking that the Tuotuomo in Shaanxi is just lumpy, why is it so rare?Later, I was taught that a good steamed bun needs 90% flour and 10% fermented flour, baked in the shape of a "tiger's back flower heart", black, yellow and white, colorful, crisp, crisp, fragrant and tender, and worthy of wax sauce. What about meat and mutton soup.

Therefore, a good fresh soup and a good pasta can make the flowers bloom and look beautiful.Just like coffee has a coffee companion, good soup is a good pasta companion.For example, when I went to Liaoning, there was a large pot of pork sauerkraut and blood sausage. If there is no vermicelli, it will make people feel unhappy.I have a friend who has thick and thick pasta. After eating the vermicelli, I went out to the street and bought two bacon cakes. When I came back, I continued to eat sauerkraut soup until my neck became red.Of course, they seem to have their own rules.Once I ate dumplings, cabbage and pork stuffing, three fresh meat stuffing, and mutton stuffing were served on the table, and the people next to me got a little jealous and got excited.However, I am used to eating soup wontons in the south, and I always feel that something is missing.Looking left and right, I scooped up a bowl of chicken stewed mushroom soup and ate dumplings. When I was eating something fresh, my friend stared at me: "Why do you still eat like this?"

Most of the soups in Jiangnan and Guangdong are as clear as water, which probably means that wise men enjoy water.But Leshan, the benevolent, is another matter.Both Anhui and Northeast China are mountainous, and there are many mushrooms and mountain delicacies, so the soups are fresh, thick and thick, not avoiding stickiness.In Anhui cuisine, dipping corn tortillas in thick sauce after stewing is a masterpiece.Whenever Xinjiang Dapan Chicken is eaten in the dark, potatoes and chicken nuggets are always mixed together on the plate, which is a delicious swamp.Liang Shiqiu said that the same goes for the sweet and sour carp in the Henan restaurant. The fish meat is thick and the soup is sweet and fragrant.The noodles are slightly fried, crispy and juicy, which is another flavor.If so, most of the soups in the north are full-bodied, and the effect of quenching thirst and clearing fire may not be good, but it is really good to dip pasta in winter.

There are also some fixed collocations in the south, but they are not so indispensable.Every store in Wuxi that sells wontons must also sell steamed buns, but there are also disadvantages.According to my mother, the soup dumpling has a strong taste, while the wonton is fresh. After eating the soup dumpling and then eating the wonton, the wonton tastes like it has no taste—it’s like eating grapefruit after eating thick and sweet jam, only to see its sourness. , It's not sweet anymore.Therefore, many middle-aged men in Wuxi like to eat wontons mixed with red soup, so as not to be overwhelmed by the dumplings.The classic pairing in Shanghai is suspected to be xiaolongtangbao or shengjianbao with beef vermicelli soup.According to Lu Yaodong's textual research, in the 19th century, there was already a "Nongtang Beef Soup" in Shanghai.As far as I can see, Shanghai beef soup is very Jianghuai style, and it probably has something to do with the Anhui merchants during the opening of the port.Shanghainese also love boiled chicken, and the classic match is chicken blood soup.The strange thing is that when I was a child in Wuxi, Changzhou and Nanjing, I saw far more duck blood soup than chicken blood soup.I personally guess that Nanjing people love duck blood soup, which is probably a continuation of Nanjing people's love for ducks, right?But the classic partner of duck blood soup seems not sure.Nanjing snacks have both the north and the south styles, the popular soup dumplings in the south of the Yangtze River, the scallion oil pancakes in the Jiangbei style, and the siu mai that Huaiyang is good at, all of which can be paired with the world-renowned Nanjing duck blood vermicelli soup.

The Southwest is still spicy, so there are some other wonderful companions.For example, in Chongqing, next to every spicy noodle and hot pot restaurant, there must be a stall selling cold shrimp with ice powder squatting quietly.When you come back with hot and spicy breath, he asks slowly: "How about fermented glutinous rice?" Then he mixes a bowl of cold, sweet and smooth food for you to cool off the heat.In Guilin, outside every horsemeat rice noodle and bean noodle noodle shop, there is always a shop that sells jelly or tortoise jelly. Roughly speaking, the perfect match is thick with thin, thick with light, spicy with sweet, hot with cool.The combination of two phases is the golden mean.There are also strong ones, but less.Lihei’s mother advised Scarlett to eat meat sauce and pie before the ball, which is high in starch, high in fat and high in calories. No wonder Scarlett gave up eating it angrily—in our hometown, the elders would drink this kind of combination after eating it. Afternoon tea can only break out the hiccups.