Chapter 15 Morning tea, all kinds of breakfast

Since the reform and opening up, Cantonese-style morning tea has appeared in many cities across the country as the style of Hong Kong and Guangdong has spread to the north.Cantonese-style morning tea is not so much drinking tea as eating Cantonese-style dim sum.Especially in the north, drinking tea is even more important.Cantonese people really want to drink tea for a while when they eat morning tea. Whether it is black tea, oolong tea or green tea, they must drink it to their heart's content.After drinking a pot of tea, put the lid between the mouth and the handle of the pot, and the waiter will refill the water for you, so that you can continue to drink the pot of tea.No wonder some people ridiculed the Cantonese as "getting up early to get water".

Cantonese-style morning tea dim sum is extremely delicate and varied.In Taotaoju, Datong Restaurant, Nanguo Restaurant, China Hotel and other places in Guangzhou, there are as many as a hundred varieties.These dim sum can be divided into six categories.One is steamed meat, such as chicken feet, pork ribs, pork belly, beef brisket, cold melon rolls, bean curd skin rolls, etc. Although the glutinous rice chicken is huge and wrapped in dried lotus leaves, it should also belong to this category.The second is desserts, which include egg tarts, shredded coconut tarts, hibiscus cakes, shredded coconut balls, bean paste crisps, crystal cakes, barbecued pork crisps, etc. There are also more than 30 varieties.The third is small steamed buns.Such as the famous shrimp dumplings, dry steamed bean curd skin, Xiangqian seafood buns, etc., these kinds of things can only be made well in the real morning tea in Guangdong restaurants. Bad but not powdery, it is difficult to meet the standard in Cantonese-style morning tea in the north.The fourth is big steamed.It is said that it is a big cage, but it is not much bigger than a small cage, but the difference is in the skin. Most of these things are made of dough, such as barbecued pork buns, custard buns, rose bean paste buns, lotus mushroom buns, fresh meat buns, etc. .These things are relatively real. If it is not for saving money, Cantonese people generally don't want morning tea.Because after eating two buns, don't eat the others.The fifth is porridge.Such as raw fish porridge, chicken porridge, Jidi porridge, preserved egg and lean meat porridge, etc.Cantonese people pay attention to drinking porridge, and they can still drink porridge after drinking a pot of tea, which is impossible for northerners.Now most of the Cantonese morning tea in Beijing only have Jidi porridge and preserved egg and lean meat porridge, and the main raw material of Jidi porridge is pork liver.In fact, the best porridges are fish porridge and chicken porridge. Yusheng is sashimi, and chicken is raw chicken slices. In addition, there are carpaccio porridge, fish skin porridge, fish paste porridge, etc. Now Not much anymore.These porridges are to be cooked and eaten now. The so-called boiled porridge means to boil sashimi, raw chicken and raw beef tenderloin with the boiled porridge, which not only keeps the fish, chicken and beef fresh and tender, but also makes the porridge and the porridge more delicious. All kinds of raw materials are mixed together.Now the porridge for morning tea is also sold on the cart. Although there is a heat preservation device, the temperature for boiling raw fish and raw meat cannot be reached.Only in places such as Guangzhou Taotaoju and China Hotel, where there is a special porridge table, can you eat fish porridge and chicken porridge.The last category is fried, such as fried dumplings, salty dumplings, fried horseshoe cake, fried water chestnut cake, fried spring rolls, fried wonton, fried radish cake and so on.This is to be eaten and fried right away, and cannot be sold on a cart. In Guangzhou's morning tea restaurants, these things are always fried in a separate corner, and I don't think there is a smoky smell in the shop.The radish cake of Guangzhou morning tea is well done. In addition to noodles and shredded radish, there should be more dried shrimp and minced ham.Ask the waiter to sear both sides and dip it in the garlic chili sauce, it's delicious.

In addition to the above six categories, there is one thing that needs to be cooked and eaten. Generally, it is not pushed around for sale in the car, and that is rice rolls.Rice rolls should be classified as small steamed buns, because the raw materials of their skins are very similar.Guangdong rice rolls generally include beef rolls, shrimp rolls, barbecued pork rolls and so on.The skin of rice rolls is a bit like jelly in the north, white as jade, beef, barbecued pork, and shrimp are wrapped in the skin.On an oval plate, put rice rolls like mutton fat jade in the middle, and add one or two stalks of green Chinese kale, just like a handicraft of white jade and jadeite.The skin of rice rolls must have toughness, so that it will have a good taste when eaten.

There are six or seven categories of Cantonese-style morning tea, and more than a hundred kinds of patterns. It can be said that there are so many beautiful things in eyes, and it is inevitable that you will feel hungry and full.Although morning tea is very popular across the country, its variety and quality vary widely.Needless to say, the northern provinces, even the morning tea or afternoon tea in Beijing Hong Kong Food City, Da Sanyuan, and Cuixiang Tea House can hardly compare with the real Guangdong morning tea.Shanghainese used to admire Xinya’s morning tea on Nanjing Road. I visited it twice a few years ago, and it’s hard to compare with mid-range restaurants like Nanguo Restaurant in Guangzhou.And even in Guangdong Province, I have eaten morning tea in Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Shunde, Zhongshan, and Shaoguan, and they are not very authentic.At present, in the whole country, only Guangzhou and Hong Kong have the best quality morning tea, the most variety and the best taste.The morning tea in Taipei is also hard to live up to its name, far inferior to Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

I live in a hotel in Hong Kong, and there is almost no chance to go out for morning tea. The hotel always offers a free breakfast, which is a Western-style buffet breakfast. Although there are a few Cantonese-style morning tea snacks, they are just for show.There is porridge, which is neither piping hot nor many varieties.However, all kinds of pastries, seasonings, and cheeses are very rich, and there are more than a dozen kinds of fresh fruit juices. Of course, the varieties of morning tea are left out.A friend in Hong Kong invited me to have afternoon tea once. I can’t remember the location, but the shop is very luxurious, and the variety and quality of afternoon tea there are excellent.I was particularly impressed by the extremely delicate crab roe and fresh shrimp buns. The crab roe is clearly visible after biting open.

Some snacks of Guangdong morning tea are not only available in morning tea restaurants, such as desserts, freshly baked egg tarts can be bought at any time in small street shops in Guangzhou.There is a small shop at the intersection of Wende Road, which sells supper every night at six or seven o'clock until late at night.The porridge and rice rolls in this small shop are the best. Although it is a very civilian street shop, the quality is very good.Both raw fish and raw chicken are cooked and sold immediately, and they are cooked for one customer.The porridge is hot, and the fish and beef inside are smooth and delicious.The rice rolls are also freshly made for each serving, which is very delicate.I often go for supper at 11 or 12 o'clock in the evening, a small bowl of raw fish porridge, and a portion of rice rolls with shrimps, only seven or eight yuan, very comfortable to eat, no worse than those in big restaurants.

Cantonese do not eat breakfast every day, and it is not always possible to go to morning tea every day. Although the price of morning tea in Guangzhou is cheaper than that in Beijing and Shanghai, it costs 30 to 40 yuan for two people to eat breakfast, which is not within the reach of ordinary working-class people.In addition to eating breakfast at home, Guangzhou people also have a variety of breakfast shops of different grades on the street, such as biscuits, deep-fried dough sticks, and soy milk in the north.In addition, gruel, wonton, noodles, etc., also abound.There is a very popular breakfast, which is Teochew fish ball powder. The fish balls are Teochew fish balls. These fish balls are small but very tender.The vermicelli is Chaozhou fine rice vermicelli, a bit like northern vermicelli.In addition to fish balls, the rice noodles are also topped with beef balls of the same size, a little sea cucumber slices and shrimps, etc. A bowl of fish ball noodles costs only two or three yuan. There are also beef brisket noodles and barbecued pork noodles, which are very popular breakfasts. .

The largest restaurants in Guangzhou generally have three tea markets in the morning, afternoon and evening, and the two times in the morning and evening have the most customers. The large restaurants can accommodate hundreds of people for dining and drinking tea at the same time, which can be called a scene in Guangzhou.In addition to satisfying appetite, drinking tea is also a good place to meet friends, discuss business, and engage in public relations. It usually takes an hour or two to sit.Every time I go to Guangzhou, Mr. Zhang Wenguang, an old philatelist in Guangzhou, must invite me to have morning tea every morning. The restaurant where I drink tea is determined by him. It is a place he is familiar with. The waiters there know him and always reserve a seat in advance. .Mr. Zhang is 80 years old, and he goes to drink tea almost every day, and he never tires of it.When he invited me to drink tea, he also invited other friends. We chatted and sat down together, and we got to know each other very quickly.

Shanghai, Yangzhou and other places also have the habit of getting up early and drinking tea, but they don't say to drink tea, but to eat snacks.The Fuchun Tea House in Yangzhou is not drinking tea but eating snacks.Northerners, even Shanghainese, are not used to eating chicken feet, beef brisket, pork ribs and other meat dishes with tea in Cantonese style morning tea.However, in Yangzhou-style breakfast, you can eat a plate of meat or a bowl of boiled ham and Kaiyang dried shreds. In fact, there is no difference in nature.Every time I go to Shanghai, I always live near Jing’an Temple, which is about ten stops away from Laobanzhai. Even so, I have to get up early to go to Laobanzhai for breakfast.Laobanzhai's breakfast is usually only sold until nine o'clock in the morning, unlike Cantonese morning tea that doesn't close until eleven o'clock, so go early, and there will be fewer varieties when it is late.Laobanzhai also drinks tea when he eats breakfast, but of course he doesn’t need tea.The fried noodles, shrimp and eel noodles, crab roe buns, mille-feuille cakes, and crystal buns are all very famous.

In addition to the exquisite Huaiyang-style breakfast, Qiaojiazha’s cakes are also a kind of breakfast that Shanghainese like. This kind of food with glutinous rice flour and rice flour as the main raw materials is very popular, and it is made in red, green and green, and has various shapes. Different, it arouses people's appetite.For example, rose cakes, glutinous rice dumplings, Ruyi cakes, mint cakes, as well as sponge cakes and Dingsheng cakes sold from the twelfth lunar month to the first lunar month, etc., Shanghainese can have breakfast.Just like Suzhou Huangtianyuan’s pastry balls, which are sold from morning to night, whether it’s fried rice balls, rose lard balls or the most common youth balls, they can be used not only for breakfast, but also for lunch, snacks and supper. is unimaginable.When I was in Suzhou, my friend invited me to eat duck blood glutinous rice early in the morning.Just imagine, just waking up in the morning, what would it be like for two people to have a big plate of sweet and greasy purple glutinous rice.Fortunately, I am open to anyone who comes, I can eat anything, but if I eat half of the plate, I will never want to eat again the next morning.Qiaojiazha in Shanghai always waits in a long queue to sell cakes when getting up early, and occasionally there are quarrels over the line, which shows that the business is good.In recent years, Cantonese-style morning tea has taken a big place in Shanghai. In particular, many mid-range morning tea markets have been opened near Fuzhou Road. Not a seat.Unlike Cantonese morning tea in Beijing, it is still a relatively aristocratic enjoyment.

For most Shanghainese, the breakfast at home is still big pancakes, deep-fried dough sticks, Yangchun noodles and fried rice, which are called "Four King Kongs" in Shanghai. Office workers" are more friendly.There are two kinds of rice, one is deep-fried rice cake, also known as rice cake, which is made by cutting the rice into half-inch thick, two-inch wide, and three-inch long squares, and frying them with oil. It can be dipped in sugar or not, and the outside is burnt and the inside is waxy.The other is rice balls, which are steamed glutinous rice flattened in the hands, put on fried dough sticks or fried burnt rings, crushed, added sugar, and squeezed into oval balls with a damp cloth.Rice balls are generally eaten with salty soy milk, which tastes better.For salty milk in Shanghai, first put crushed fried dough sticks, mustard mustard powder, shrimp skin, seaweed, a few drops of soy sauce and vinegar at the bottom of the bowl.If you like spicy food, you can add a few drops of chili oil.These things are native to Shanghai, but in recent years, Taiwanese businessmen have introduced the "Yonghe Soy Milk Shop" in Taipei's Zhongzheng Bridge to Shanghai, and they have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Branches have opened one after another, specializing in sweet and salty soy milk, deep-fried dough sticks, and rice balls. Wait, isn't that aggressive and weird.There is not much market for salted soy milk in Beijing. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a Shanghai snack bar near the Youth Club on Mishi Street, which specialized in this product. It was later demolished and the store was discontinued.Recently, Taipei's "Yonghe Soy Milk" has moved northward, and it also sells rice balls and salty soy milk outside the west entrance of Dongsi Batiao, which is also a new look for breakfast in Beijing. Breakfast choices in Shanghai are much greater than those in the north. If you don’t want to eat the “Four King Kong”, there are also Huaiyang soup dumplings, fried steamed buns, etc., which can satisfy your hunger.Thin ones include coffee beef soup, chicken and duck blood soup, crepe wonton, etc. These things always feel a little greasy when cooked for breakfast.I once talked about this with a friend from Shanghai, but the friend retorted, saying: "You have to eat a big bowl of thickened pig intestines for breakfast in Beijing, isn't it boring?" fried liver. China has a vast land and abundant resources, and breakfasts from all over the country have their own characteristics. Although some things are similar everywhere, there are always some special breakfasts that are unique. Take the half-dry and half-thin food as an example, which varies from place to place.Beijingers pay attention to drinking tofu nao and old tofu. In Jining, Shandong, the tofu is served on a wooden board with condiments and peppers on top, which can be "drinked" loudly. full of nutrition.Tianjin people have a special liking for "Gaba cuisine", and a set of pancakes and fruits is a beautiful breakfast.In fact, "Gaba cuisine" and pancakes are originally from the same root.Let the spreaded pancakes cool, cut into small elephant eyes, and pour the ready-made brine to become "Gaba dishes".I have been fascinated by Tianjin's "Gaba cuisine" for a long time, but I have never tasted it. Later, a Tianjin friend made it for me at home, and it tasted really good.He told me that the key to "Gaba cuisine" is marinating, which is crudely made outside, but he uses chicken soup for stewing. In addition to the basic ingredients, he specially added pearl mushrooms from Zhangjiakou, and the taste is naturally different.In Kaifeng, Zhengzhou, and Luoyang, Henan, there is a kind of Hu spicy soup, which is a good medicine for colds in winter, but the taste is not flattering. Taiyuan, Shanxi pays attention to eating "minds" and has a long history. It is said that it was invented by Fu Qingzhu. Since the Qianlong period, Taiyuan Mansion has sold "minds" and has continued to this day. The raw materials of "mind" are mainly mutton, yam, lotus root, yellow flower, rice wine, etc., and there are many other seasoning recipes, which are kept secret. "Mind" is mainly sold in autumn and winter. It is said that eating it at this time can strengthen the body, promote blood circulation and expel wind, and it is not sold in all seasons.I have eaten "Brain" twice in one of the most famous "Brain" restaurants in Taiyuan, and once I went there by myself. It took nearly an hour to wait in line, and I vowed not to eat it no matter how good it was.Later, a friend from Shanxi took me with me and walked through the "back door". The situation was naturally quite different.He also taught me to eat "mind" with "hat box". Among them, they complement each other, and the taste is even more different. Noodle soup is very common in many cities. In the past, Yangzhou had a kind of "dumpling noodles", which boiled wontons and noodles together, and eaten noodles, soup, and wontons. It is a very coarse food, but for the working class, it is very solid and can support a morning of physical exertion.On the contrary, Suzhou people also pay attention to eating noodles, but they eat them delicately.Lu Wenfu, a contemporary writer, wrote a novel called "Gourmet". He wrote a lot about the main character, Zhu Ziye, who drove to Zhu Hongxing by rickshaw every morning before dawn to eat tou noodle soup. Why did he eat tou noodle soup?This is because the water used to cook the noodles in the head soup is pure and has no noodle soup gas.I live in "Yushe" in Suzhou, not too far from Zhu Hongxing, but I don't have the courage to get up early in the morning to catch the soup noodles. Besides, the quality of Zhu Hongxing's noodles has indeed declined, compared to the first time I ate Zhu Hongxing's shrimp noodles in the 1960s It was too far away.Chengdu and Chongqing are the hometowns of dan dan noodles, but dan dan noodles are not served as breakfast in these two cities, and most of the famous snacks in Chengdu do not appear as breakfast.People in Sichuan tend to be sloppy about eating breakfast, but they are serious about drinking tea. Most teahouses in Sichuan do not sell breakfast, but only simple snacks. Finally, let’s talk about breakfast in Beijing.The traditional breakfast in Beijing cannot be said to be very rich. Shaobing fruit, soy milk, and noodle tea are all traditional breakfasts, but the quality is quite different.Beijingers pay attention to Jackie Chan's matching for breakfast. If you eat sesame sesame seed cakes, you can put fried dough sticks in it.Horseshoe biscuits have been out of stock for many years, and Jiao Quan'er is also hard to eat authentic products that meet the target.Authentic coke rings should be deep-fried in fragrant oil and sold right away. Nowadays, many breakfast shops fry them at 6 am and sell them at 8 am.Tofu nao is often hot tofu, while the stew is cold, so it can be barely eaten after stirring well.The fried liver also has quality problems, not even as good as the ones at Donghuamen Night Market.In addition, some things are not breakfast, but now they are sold as breakfast, such as haggis soup, which is really not something to eat when you wake up in the morning. I saw many people eating haggis with sugar ears, which is a bit of a nonsense.In recent years, most of the people who run breakfast on the street are foreigners, so many foods with unknown origins and unidentified identities have also entered the Beijing breakfast market, such as Lanzhou ramen, Shandong’s meat buns, Shaanxi’s Baiji buns with meat, and Shanxi’s sliced ​​​​noodles, etc. , There are many varieties and tricks, but the hygienic condition is suspicious. China's breakfast is indeed rich and colorful, which is incomparable to any country in the world, but there are some deviations in nutrition.The British also pay attention to breakfast, which is often a cup of coffee, a half-boiled egg, placed on top of a small cup, and eaten with a spoon.Two slices of golden toasted bread, spread a little butter, with "bacon" (a kind of cured bacon), some boiled soybeans in tomato sauce, and a glass of fresh orange juice.In a five-star hotel, the breakfast is of an international standard. Although there are 10 or 20 varieties of bread, it is still bread; no matter how many brands and colors of cheese there are, it is still cheese.But there is one thing worth learning from, that is, the combination of nutrients. In addition to fat, protein, and carbohydrates, it is also necessary to take in a variety of nutrients. If you can eat some fresh fruit or fruit juice at the same time for breakfast, vitamin intake It will be more beneficial to your health.Therefore, fresh fruit juice is indispensable for an international standardized breakfast. With the improvement of Chinese people's living standards, the improvement and development of breakfast should be more focused on nutritional value.