Chapter 12 Dim sum between the lines

Lu Xun is a literary giant, but judging from some daily eating habits, he has the same little habits and hobbies as ordinary people, such as particularly fond of eating snacks and snacks.According to my observation, adults who like to eat snacks and snacks are very romantic in their hearts. In Lu Xun's diary, there are many descriptions of snacks.One of the reasons why Lu Xun loves to eat desserts is that it can relieve the tension and fatigue at work. In addition, Lu Xun often works in the middle of the night, which also prompted him to form the habit of eating pastries to resist sleepiness and hunger.

When he was studying in Japan, Lu Xun's favorite snack was called yokan, which was very similar to Chinese sweetened bean paste.After returning to China, he often thought of this snack, so he asked someone to bring it from Japan to eat. On May 2, 1913, Lu Xun recorded in his diary: "In the afternoon, Tai Yu's family sent a box of yokan, and shared most of the food with my colleagues." When he was working in the Ministry of Education, Lu Xun tasted many exquisite and well-known snacks.On paydays, he would drop by a French bakery to buy two types of cream cakes, 20 silver dollars each, which was considered a very expensive food, mainly used to honor his mother, and he would also eat some.

Lu Xun's favorite pastry is Saqima, a Manchu dessert sticky with honey syrup. Saqima can be described as soft and crispy, crispy and delicious, sweet but not greasy.The specific method is: use flour, eggs and noodles, fry them, mix them with syrup, put them into molds to make blocks, and then cut them into small pieces.It is recorded in "Yanjing Sui Shi Ji" in the Qing Dynasty: "Saqima is a Manchurian pastry. It is made of rock sugar, butter and white flour. It is shaped like glutinous rice. It is baked in a charcoal oven and then becomes cubes. It is sweet and edible. "

The name of Saqima was originally in Manchu language, and the final process in the production is to cut into squares and then stack them together. "Che" is Saqifei in Manchu, and "ma" is Malabi in Manchu. "Saqima" is the abbreviation of these two words. Lu Xun also likes to eat fried food, including fried dishes. It is said that when she was in Beijing, Mrs. Zhu An often sliced ​​sweet potatoes, fried them with eggs and flour, and it was sweet and delicious, which was very popular with Lu Xun.Because this practice is very family-oriented, the restaurant does not.

Later, this dim sum was jokingly called "Lu Xun cake", but this practice can be seen in the food of the Tujia and Miao ethnic groups in Southwest China.The small vendors in that area will set up a stall, there is a pot, there is oil in the pot, there are raisins (molds) made of iron sheets in the oil, and there are fried oil cakes in it, but the difference is that this snack is made of rice and soybeans It's made, and the fried fragrance is more fragrant than eggs and white flour. In May 1912, when Lu Xun first arrived in Beijing, he lived in the Shaoxing Guild Hall, which was only two or three miles away from Daoxiang Village of Guanyin Temple.According to my rough statistics, in Lu Xun's diary, during the two years from 1913 to 1915, the number of times I went to Daoxiang Village to buy pastries was as many as 15 times.At that time, it was necessary to have some financial foundation to buy pastries in high-end pastry shops. It can be seen that when Lu Xun worked in the Ministry of Education, he was paid very well.

Lu Xun liked northern pasta. He wrote in his novel: "I took two packs of Wenxi boiled cakes to see my friends." Wenxi boiled cakes are still a famous snack in Shanxi, originating from Wenxi County, Shanxi. Although it is called boiled cakes, the method of making them is not boiling, but frying, and the shape is not cakes, but balls.It is a dough made of dough, wrapped with sesame seeds, sugar and other sweet fillings into a ball shape, and then deep-fried in an oil pan.We usually use glutinous rice to make this kind of cake in our hometown.When eating, break it into two halves, and you can pull out a strand of gold thread, and the crispy sand in your mouth is soft, sweet but not greasy.

After moving to Shanghai, Lu Xun fell in love with the famous Shanghai desserts again. One of them is called "Lunjiao Cake", which is produced in Lunjiao Town, Shunde, Guangdong Province. It is a famous pastry in Guangdong.Lunjiao Cake is made by grinding rice, fermenting with sugar water, and steaming. In April 1935, Lu Xun mentioned this cake in "Nongtang Business Ancient and Modern Talk", and once again mentioned the "Osmanthus White Sugar Lunjiao Cake" sold in Shanghai market in "Temporary Essay".The article said that the Lunjiao Cake has been changed from the original pure white cake to red and white, the white is osmanthus cake, and the red is rose cake.It can be seen that Lu Xun is very familiar with this kind of food, and knows the ins and outs and evolution history of each dim sum.

I also verified that Lu Xun liked a Jiangnan snack called "Wheat Bell", which is a bit like "Hangzhou Cat Ears". Wheat bell is mainly a specialty snack in Zhejiang, and it was made by Wang Chuncui, wife of the famous writer Cao Juren. Wang Chuncui recalled that she personally cooked potatoes, dried plums and wheat bells for Lu Xun, and Lu Xun asked how it was made while eating.Then Ms. Wang introduced to Lu Xun that first use the kneaded flour to select a small grain, then put it on a bamboo sieve, and press it gently.When you press it, it looks like a small bell, but the inside is hollow, and a wheat bell shaped like a tadpole comes out.Mr. Lu Xun ate a full bowl and repeatedly praised "delicious".

The wheat bell is pressed out with a sieve, which is very good.Put dried plums and potato slices together, I think, it must be very delicious.