Chapter 7 Hengdong Head Bowl

I have been familiar with Hengdong local dishes for a long time when eating in restaurants opened by Hengyang people in Changsha. Hengyang people have a fondness for chili peppers, and I have a deep memory of the dish without spicy food.Hengyang people like salty and spicy, and chili is a must-have condiment for every household.Every household in the countryside grows bell peppers and Chaotianhuang.I have been to Hengyang many times, but I know very little about Hengdong, and I don't even know the customs.Not long ago, I went to Hengyang alone on a business trip. With the help of my literary friends, I went to Zhangmu Temple together.

Zhangmu Temple is located on the bank of Xiangjiang River, three kilometers upstream of the confluence of Xiangjiang River and Leishui River, and fifteen kilometers away from Hengyang.It used to be Hengyang's salt transport wharf. It was a bustling market in the past, where merchants gathered. Shops and prefabricated houses from the period of the Republic of China can be seen everywhere.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the business name of Cheng Shanglin, a great salt merchant, is still there. The three-story brick and wood structure shows its former glory.The most famous of Zhangmu Temple is the Buddhist temple Zhangmu Temple, which developed from Peiyuan Temple in Tang Dynasty and has always gathered monks. In the late Qing Dynasty, Yangsi Temple and Wutong Temple were full of incense, which drove the nearby commercial trade and gradually became a famous bamboo and wood distribution center. Every market, people and vendors from Hengshan, Hengdong, Hengyang, and the suburbs gather here, and the transactions are very active, known as Little Hong Kong.

After we finished watching Zhangmu Temple, a literary friend proposed to go to Hengdong to eat local vegetables. I just learned about the customs and habits of Hengdong, especially the Hengdong head bowl that I have never eaten. This trip can also fulfill my wish. Hengdong is in the east of Hengshan Mountain, where Xiaoxia Peak, Fenghuang Peak, and Jinjue Peak stand among the seventy-two peaks of Nanyue Mountain.The Minshui River flows through the foot of the mountain, and the mountains and water blend together to form a beautiful landscape. Hengdong local dishes have a long history, and the earliest and most widely spread is the Huanggong hot dish in the Qing Dynasty.Peng Jun, the champion of Hengdong, went to Beijing and brought home-produced yellow peppers from his hometown as a gift to the emperor.The emperor felt very spicy at the beginning after eating it, and his appetite whetted afterward, and the fragrance lingered between his teeth.Emperor Joy asked Peng Jun's hometown to offer yellow peppers every year.Since then, the value of yellow pepper has doubled, and it has been renamed Huanggong pepper.Huanggong pepper is native to Sanzhang Township, Hengdong, and is planted on the sandy soil of the Xiangjiang alluvial plain.This kind of soil is most suitable for the cultivation of chili peppers. It not only has high yield, but also has a strong spicy taste, orange-yellow color, unique taste, thin skin, thick flesh, sweet and crisp, and is especially loved by Hengyang people who love chili.

People in Hengdong pay attention to the noodles, which are called Xiangyao seats, and there are eight bowls on a table.Hengdong local dishes are transformed on the basis of Xiangyao mat, adding the characteristics of each town, and launching three camphor peppers, Nanwan soybean oil, Caoshi tofu, Yangqiao bran meat, bandit pork liver, Yangziping radish skin, Xialiu salty Duck eggs, Shitan real pond fish, Dayuandu live fish, Shiwan crispy belly, Tazhuang local chicken, Xintang bone-cut meat, etc., form a series of special local dishes.Hengdong local dishes are unique in taste, good in aroma and color, delicious, famous in Sanxiang and Huguang, and are characterized by spicy, fresh, delicious and convenient.

The most famous Hengdong native dish is the Hengdong head bowl, commonly known as the seven-storey building, also known as the Huaisu Pagoda. It is the first dish to appear in the Hengdong wedding banquet, which is the first dish among the eight bowls of the Xiangyao banquet.The head bowl integrates various cooking methods such as stewing, boiling, slipping, steaming, and frying. This dish requires stewing pig feet, scalding egg skins, and mincing meat to make olive balls and egg balls. , smooth meat, is a brand that reflects the grade of banquets and shows the level of chefs' skills. We chose to eat Hengdongtou Bowl under Xiaoxia Peak. By the way, we learned about Xiaoxia Qinglan, the eight sceneries of Hengshan Mountain. The former site of Huaisu Stupa, a translator of Buddhist scriptures and a master of cursive script.In the fifty-second year of Qianlong (1787), Xu Jin, who was then the magistrate of Hengshan County, built Chongwen Pagoda on the old tomb of Huaisu Pagoda.In order to commemorate Monk Huaisu, the master of cursive script, people in Hengdong made a special vegetarian dish, which is seven floors.Monks and pilgrims traveling from south to north go from Hengyang to Hengshan to burn incense. The first stop is Huiyan Peak in Hengyang City. When they arrive in Hengdong, they can only eat vegetarian food. When they meet a big wedding banquet, they must also eat vegetarian food, so the first bowl is to eat the seven-story pagoda. , to show respect for monks and pilgrims, and it is the customs and religious beliefs of Hengdong.

When I ate the Hengdong Tou Bowl, I realized that it is a hodgepodge. There are pork knuckles, whole eggs, minced meat, olive balls, egg balls, smooth meat, etc. The food portion of each layer is determined according to the number of people at a table, and the layers are different. It is black fungus, fish balls, egg dumplings, steamed meat, quail eggs, sweet potatoes, and jujubes. They are arranged in layers in a bowl. When eating, they are eaten layer by layer. After eating one layer, it is another kind of food. It's a very interesting thing. The Hengdong Tou Bowl is also related to Peng Yulin, a famous general of the Hunan Army in the late Qing Dynasty. After Peng Yulin made his fortune, the Hengdong Tou Bowl was the signature dish for entertaining guests.Peng Yulin modified the Hengdong head bowl, adding kidney flowers, pot roasted balls, oriole meat, fish balls, egg rolls, etc., called Yulin Xiangyao, Pagoda Xiangyao, Guanduizi Xiangyao, shaped like a pagoda, implying steps step up.The transformed Hengdong head bowl was introduced to the folks and became the stereotyped head bowl dish in Hengyang banquets. It is also an indispensable food in folk weddings, childbirth, birthday celebrations, and reunion dinners during festivals.In fact, the first bowl can also be modified according to the specific situation, and other dishes can also be added on top. Covering sea cucumbers is called sea cucumber fragrant waist, covering dried scallops is called scallop fragrant waist, and covering sliced ​​meat, pork liver, pig heart, etc. is ordinary pagoda fragrant waist.The bottom line can also vary from person to person, time, and material conditions.It is characterized by beautiful shape, bright colors, salty, sweet and delicious, delicious.

I slowly finished the Hengdongtou bowl, only to realize that this dish is rich in content and has many patterns. There are eight layers of dishes stacked on top of each other.The first layer of strip-shaped fish balls is tender, smooth, and strong in elasticity. The second layer of ball-shaped yellow bird meat is soft, sweet, tender and fragrant. The second layer is eaten layer by layer. The eighth layer is round eggs, a total of eight pieces. The shell is spiced. This dish was included in the "Chinese Recipes" compiled in 1979. Hengyang folks say that there is a saying that there is no headless bowl at a banquet.In rural areas, rice beans and red dates are mostly used as the bottom, round eggs, yellow sparrow meat, and fish balls are added to the top, and then kidney flowers and sea cucumbers are topped.

On the way back to Hengyang, I sighed that the power of the people is really great, and it is unimaginable in my study that a dish can be made to such a high level.