Chapter 32 Juzizhou Yellow Duck Calling

Juzizhou, also known as Shuiluzhou, is formed by whirling torrents and accumulation of sand and rocks. It was originally composed of Juzhou, Zhizhou, Shizhou and Quanzhou. Until the Qing Dynasty, there were only Shangzhou (Niutouzhou), Zhongzhou (Shuiluzhou), The three islands of Xiazhou (Fujiazhou) have evolved into a string of long islands today, and are famous for their rich citrus.Located in the center of the Xiangjiang River in Changsha City, facing Yuelu Mountain in the west and Changsha City in the east, it is surrounded by water, stretches for about 6 kilometers, has a width of about 0.5 kilometers, and a narrow part of about 40 meters. .Spring comes, bright light shines, and gulls dot; midsummer, play games, cool off the heat; autumn arrives, pomelo yellow and orange red, fragrant all over the ground; deep winter, cold ice cutting, river wind and snow, all year round, charming all the time.Juzizhou is also the location of "Jiangtian Muxue", one of the famous Eight Xiaoxiang Scenic Spots, and many literati poems and songs have been left behind.

In 1904, Changsha was established as a commercial port open to the outside world. On Juzizhou, there are British Consulate, Changsha Customs, Christian School, Zuogong Temple, etc.When Mao Zedong was studying in Hunan No. 1 Normal School, he liked to swim in the Xiangjiang River. In autumn, he went to Juzizhou to taste oranges and enjoy the moon. In the autumn of 1925, Mao Zedong wrote a famous poem "Qinyuanchun·Changsha" when he visited Juzizhou. Sing for posterity. In the cold autumn of 1952, Mao Zedong revisited Juzizhou and wrote the cursive script of "Qinyuanchun Changsha". Juzizhou became famous and yearned for by cultural people. In 1960, the Changsha Municipal Government established Juzhou Park at the head of Juzizhou. The embankment was surrounded by stone fences and weeping willows were planted to protect the embankment; thousands of citrus trees were planted. Many lines of bliss.The Wangjiang Pavilion and corridors are built in Zhoutou, and a huge white marble monument stands facing the river, engraved with the four characters "Juzizhoutou" in Mao Zedong's handwriting.The park covers an area of ​​14.2 hectares, and is connected with the Xiangjiang Bridge by a branch bridge, with convenient transportation.Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai made a pair of couplets, the first couplet is "Orange Island, the boat next to the island, the boat goes to the island and does not leave", the second couplet is "Tianxin Pavilion, the pigeon in the pavilion, the pigeon flies to the pavilion but does not fly".

Because of the history and culture of Juzizhou, it has become a natural and cultural landscape in Changsha. Many tourists come here just to admire the great man's footprints.During the peak tourist season, Juzizhou is crowded with tourists, and I don't want to join in the fun at all. Every April, Changsha is full of spring outdoors, the sun is shining brightly, and it is full of romance and fashion.I often like about seven or eight literary friends, and I go to Juzizhou to wander around, to learn ink and poetry from cultural people, and occasionally make up two crooked poems to thank my friends and keep the spring.

In the eyes of outsiders, Juzizhou is a tourist attraction, with the charm they yearn for and admire; in the eyes of Changsha people, sightseeing is no longer important, but when it comes to the delicious food in Juzizhou, everyone is hungry.As far as I know, Hunan specialties such as stinky tofu and yellow duck are very popular and loved by people. Yellow duck called, in such a big city of Changsha, there are many places where you can eat yellow duck called, and there are also many places where the taste is so-so, but there is no place where the taste exceeds that of Juzizhou.Many high-ranking officials and wealthy people drive their own cars and take foreign merchants to Juzizhou to taste the yellow duck call, as a kindness of the landlord.I once thought: the yellow duck in Juzizhou is so delicious, it should have something to do with its soil and water.Juzizhou is located in the middle of the river, and the water is filtered through gravel, but the tap water in Changsha city is disinfected with bleach, so it tastes different.

The yellow duck is a wild fish in the Xiangjiang River, not a duck. It is small and has thorns.According to "Hunan Fish Records", the yellow duck is called yellow catfish, and its scientific name is yellow catfish. It is also called Huang Yagu, Huang Yagu, and Huang Yagu in the local area. It is about 82-229 mm long. There are thorns and serrations on the place where it is, if you do not pay attention to the method when grasping, you will definitely pierce your hand.When the yellow duck is swimming in shallow water, it looks golden and very shiny. The fishermen named it the yellow bone fish from the surface of its body.There is also a fish similar to the yellow duck, but the body surface is completely snow-white, called the white duck, tracing its origin, and the same family as the yellow duck.There is another saying about the name of the yellow duck: before liberation, there were swarms of yellow-bone fish in the Changsha section of the Xiangjiang River. When people went swimming near Juzizhou, if they encountered a school of yellow-bone fish swimming past or besieged, they would stab the swimmers and scream. More than that, the sound is like a yellow duck.I have lived in Changsha for more than ten years, and I know something about Xiangjiang River and Juzizhou, but I can't trace the root of the yellow duck's call.

The famous scholar and publisher Mr. Zhong Shuhe also recorded the yellow duck call in his works, but he did not explore it deeply; the famous writer Mr. He Liwei often went to Juzizhou to taste the yellow duck call. When they visited Orange Isle, they would definitely hold a big banquet on Juzi Islet, taste wine by the river, sing poems and eat fish.The culture of Juzizhou evolved among the literati. Many times, we like to walk to Juzizhoutou, cross the Xiangjiang Bridge, enjoy the scenery in the Xiangjiang River while walking, and sometimes take a taxi to the gate of Juzizhoutou Park.Tickets are expensive, and we don't get any discounts, so we rarely go inside to enjoy the feeling of standing on the river.I have been to Juzizhou Park many times, and I have no intention of going in to play, but I changed my mentality of playing to the opportunity to eat yellow ducks.

Along the way from Zhiqiao to Zhoutou in Juzizhou, there are "yellow ducks" restaurants, and there are at least thirty or forty restaurants.There is no distinction between "Huang" and "Wang" in the Changsha accent, and many signboards are written as "King Duck Calling", which makes tourists laugh.The largest one is the food court of Huangyajiao, which is invested by foreign businessmen. The venue is spacious and can accommodate three to five hundred people to eat at the same time, which shows the status and demand of Huangyajiao in the hearts of Changsha people.Yellow duck call has been popular since Juzizhou, and it has been more than 20 years. It is also the most popular special and signature dish in Juzhou night market.

We are all old Changsha, generally spend more money, have a tricky mouth, and have high requirements for food, so we will go to the authentic Huangyajia restaurant run by a private owner.At the head of Juzizhou, there is a restaurant called Fan Simao's Yellow Duck. The dishes are very good, and everyone in Changsha knows it.We like the Maojia Huangyajiao Square, because it has a large square facing the river. The scene is very spacious and can accommodate forty or fifty large round tables, which is a very typical way of doing food stalls.In fact, there is another reason why we choose the Maojia Yellow Duck Square. While eating, we can also fish to satisfy our fishing addiction.Holding up a fishing umbrella, sitting on a rattan chair to catch yellow ducks, you can also talk about the river, and you can watch the cruise ships passing by in the river. It is really multi-purpose.If you like romance, you can blow kisses with the girls on the cruise ship, and everyone will scream loudly to express their happiness.

In March and April, when the Xiangjiang River floods in spring, the fish swim back and the yellow ducks call in groups.At that time, the river will gradually rise, the surface of the river will be open, and the cruise ships will be lined up in a row. The leisure and tranquility will make us extremely comfortable.I yelled: Nature is so good!In the weather with wind and rain, the wild yellow ducks in the Xiangjiang River are the easiest to catch. As long as you have a little fishing skills, you can catch four or five catties of yellow ducks in three to two hours. inch long.Earthworms are generally used as bait, and a No. 8 long-handled hook is stringed with a hook of earthworms and thrown into the edge of the embankment.Yellow ducks are ferocious eaters and will swallow the hook completely, making it difficult for fish to escape if they take the bait.If you are an insider, you can directly pinch the soft part under the front fin with your right thumb and index finger, and it will not be able to struggle; if you are not sure enough, it is best to bring a pair of medical pliers, and hold the yellow duck around the waist to make it easier to take the hook.The artistic conception of fishing for yellow ducks does not lie in the fish, but lies in the Xiangjiang River and the mind, will, patience, perseverance, and complete cultivation of the mind. The greatest pleasure is to enjoy and integrate into nature.

The yellow ducks in the Maojia Square are kept in a large glass tank at the door for guests to watch, and they are also allowed to choose when ordering. The guests can pick which one they want by pointing at it on the spot.After the chef catches the yellow duck, rinse it under the shaking well, clamp the soft part under the front fin, put your index finger in from under the cheek, tear open the belly, take out the internal organs, rinse it, apply a little salt and cooking wine, and wait a while , the water droplets flow out naturally, and the mucus is continuous. There are two ways to make yellow duck: one is boiled and the other is braised.I like braised in soy sauce, which tastes more textured; boiled in water has high nutritional value and can supplement a large amount of high protein in the human body.

To braise in soy sauce, you need to boil the oil first, put the yellow duck into the oil pan, the oil will make a puffing sound, and white water vapor will continue to be emitted. As a professional chef of yellow duck, you can tell whether the yellow duck is from the color. It's cooked; non-professional cooks, I can tell you a method, fry until the water vapor is gone, the meat of the yellow duck will be tighter.Pour out the oil and drain, and fry the sliced ​​ginger, green onion, and watercress until fragrant.Add pickled peppers, sauerkraut, perilla leaves, chili noodles, cooking wine, etc.Add salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, vinegar, add shredded red pepper, garlic, a little water, and cook for a while.It tastes tight and firm, with a strong taste and fresh fish.Make more dry pot to eat, eat while heating, it will not rot after cooking for a long time. There are two types of boiled, stewed and fried, which mainly depend on the preferences of diners.Diners like light dishes, so they cook yellow duck calls boiled in clear water, scald the slaughtered yellow duck calls with boiling water, wash off the synovial fluid on the body, and boil them in water until the soup is milky white, add perilla, pepper, etc. .Make hot pot or stone pot more.A layer of red peppers and yellow ducks are piled up in a big pot.Diners like to eat strong flavor, so they fry it first and then boil it until the soup turns beige, like chicken soup, and it is filled with a delicious, spicy fish aroma, which makes it more delicious. Every time the yellow duck crows and comes to the table, my saliva will flow out long ago. I smell the smell of fish, and I have the idea of ​​eating it right away.Like a gourmet, I often take out the posture of looking carefully and enjoy the deliciousness of the yellow duck.The meat of the yellow duck is fresh and tender, with spicy and sour ingredients, dipped in soy sauce, it is very chewy and saliva, you can feel the deliciousness and sweetness in the fish. April is also the rainy season in Changsha, when the red bayberry is just beginning to bloom, you can have a plate of bright red bayberry as an accompaniment while eating yellow ducks.Eating the huge red bayberry, the sweet and sour feeling stimulates the saliva in the mouth, and the taste is enhanced.Looking at the Xiangjiang River, Ye Ye is in a boat, feeling good and having a great appetite. Mao's Braised Yellow Ducks were brought in, one by one like small fir trees that had been peeled off, the light yellow color was very attractive.The fried fish skin is wrinkled like ripples, it is really a beautiful handicraft.Pick one and put it in a bowl, and bite off the fish head first. There is not much meat in the fish head. It is fragrant, sweet, crisp, glutinous and intriguing. It makes people reluctant to spit out the bones, and slows down the speed of tasting. .To eat the fish body, first hold the waist of the fish, take a bite on the back, tear off a long line of back meat, and then tear and eat it line by line, until the spine is exposed.Then eat the other side, and peel it off line by line until only the ribs are left. After eating, there will be a whole fish skeleton left.After eating one, I feel a sense of accomplishment and relief, and feel that I have done a great thing.It also reminded me of the principles of being a human being: to be a human being, you must savor slowly, grasp carefully, and try to be as delicate and serious as possible. Changsha people like to tell a joke when they eat yellow ducks: they call yellow ducks lovers.When someone asked why, someone pointed at the yellow duck with its beautiful appearance, enchanting appearance, delicious taste and tender meat with chopsticks and said: You can see it when you look at it.If you still don’t understand, some people say: yellow duck is beautiful and delicious, but it has a disadvantage that the thorns are too hard, and it is easy to hurt yourself if you are not careful. Go to Juzizhou to eat yellow ducks, and the golden autumn is also very good, when the leaves are all gone, you can enjoy the red maple of Yuelu Mountain.I still like April, it’s when everything grows and tastes fresher.