Chapter 23 Xi'an thick wine and steamed buns

The delicacies of the ancient capital of Xi'an are too numerous to list. Not only are they full-bodied, but most of them have a long history and can have a lot to say.Going as far back as the Han and Tang Dynasties, the most recent time can also be traced back to the year when Cixi and Guangxu fled to Chang'an in the late Qing Dynasty.Gourd heads from Nanyuanmen, Yiju from Jiaochangmen, bacon from Renzhipo, gourd chicken, dumplings in sour soup, rose cakes, Qishan noodles, persimmon cakes, and pot helmets are all very special.In recent years, Jiaer and Jiasan soup steamed stuffed buns, which have been famous in the ancient capital, have the shortest history, but they seem to be catching up from behind.I have been to Xi'an four times, the most recent time was in 1993, when the brothers Jia's steamed stuffed buns were the most famous. At that time, I was staying at the Shanxi Hotel in Zhangbagou. Majia Cross, go to Jiasan store to eat steamed buns filled with beef soup and eight-treasure porridge with barley rice.Although the meal was over, there were still no empty seats upstairs or downstairs.As expected, Jiasan soup buns live up to their reputation and taste delicious.Later, Jiasan soup dumplings were made into quick-frozen semi-finished products and sold in many cities. The texture and taste are really not flattering.

Among the many delicacies in Xi'an, the ones I like most and have endless aftertaste are mutton steamed buns and Huanggui thick wine. The two most famous restaurants for mutton steamed buns in Xi'an are Tong Shengxiang and "Old Sun's".Both of these shops have a history of many years and are famous for being patronized by many historical figures.The locals have their own comments on the characteristics of the two, but for me it is difficult to distinguish between them.A few years ago, Tong Shengxiang entered Beijing and opened a restaurant at the south entrance of Wangfujing. The business is very prosperous, especially in the late autumn and early winter, when it is crowded at noon and evening, you have to wait for a number. If you are dining with one or two people, you often have to cooperate with others. Put together a table.Listening to the accents around you, there are indeed many Shaanxi Xiangdang. A bowl of steaming steamed buns served on the table will cause those Xiangdang living in Beijing to feel homesick.

The beef and mutton steamed buns of Tong Shengxiang and Laosun’s House are carefully selected. The lamb must be fat, tender and fresh sheep, and the beef must be four-year-old cows, and only the first half of the meat can be guaranteed. Quality, the cooked meat is fat but not greasy, lean but not woody.When cooking the meat, first remove the meat and separate the bones from the meat, then put the meat and bones in the same pot, cut the meat into large pieces, put the bones on the bottom, boil over a high heat and then simmer over a low heat to make the meat tender and not scattered.The condiments are prepared with their own secret recipes, and they are put into cloth bags and cooked together with the meat.Paomo is also called 饦饦mo, which is baked with refined flour and is absolutely irreplaceable.

The first procedure of eating paomo is completed by the customers themselves, that is, breaking the buns by themselves. People who are too hygienic often fail to pass this level.In any paomo restaurants in Xi'an, it is rare to see people wash their hands first before breaking the buns. Usually, the waiter will deliver the big bowl and the steamed buns with a numbered note after you are seated.So everyone started to break the buns and chatted all over the world.Those who are patient can break the two buns for half an hour, and the buns are broken as fine as rice grains.Impatient people often break two buns in less than ten minutes, which are as big as fingernails.I once asked an expert about the most appropriate size to break the buns into. They told me that it depends on personal taste, and a piece as big as a fingernail is too big.And it’s not necessarily good to be as small as a grain of rice. Generally, the corn grains are about the same size.Please ask the waiter to take the broken buns away, and put a note with a number in the bowl so that you can "verify your body" when you put it in the pot.No matter how busy the steamed bun restaurant is, there is nothing wrong with making the steamed buns in their proper places, and you will never miss someone else’s steamed buns.

The process of making steamed buns is to put a spoonful of ready-made old soup into the frying spoon, add twice as much water to melt the old soup, and after the fire boils, pour a bowl of broken buns and several large pieces of mutton or beef into the frying spoon. Add vermicelli and seasonings, roll the buns and cook thoroughly, and finally pour a little wax goat oil and serve.The boiled buns must be put into the original bowl. Someone once marked the lower part of the bowl with a red pen to see if the soaked buns are returned to the original owner. The result is not bad at all. To eat paomo in Xi'an, you can tell the waiter your personal requirements in advance, which is actually the amount of soup, which can be divided into three types: "mouth soup", "waterlogged soup" and "water besieged city". "Koutang" has the least soup, and generally there is only one mouthful of soup left at the end of the meal.This kind of soaking method is to take a little longer, so that the bun can eat most of the soup and dry it up. "Lao soup" is the most common way to make soup, and there are still a few mouthfuls of soup left at the end of the meal.If you don't ask the waiter in advance, most of them will take the form of "waterlogged soup". "Water besieged city" is to first eat the steamed buns to soak up the soup, put it into a bowl, and then pour in broth, the soup is the widest.In addition, it is also called "dry fried", which is to make the soup completely eaten by the buns, and then pour the oil in the frying spoon and stir it, and repeat it several times to make it completely soup-free.This way of eating is slightly greasy, and few people care about it.

Due to the special quality of the steamed buns and the technology of making them, even if you break the steamed buns into pieces as fine as broken rice, the steamed buns will not be bad or rotten.No matter how much soup there is or how little it is, the taste is fragrant and delicious, and the large chunks of beef and mutton that are lean and fat are fragrant and tender.The paomo should be served with coriander and chili sauce, and it is placed on a plate, and you can add it yourself.Sugar garlic is also essential, which plays a role in refreshing and relieving greasiness. No matter in Tong Shengxiang or Lao Sun’s Pao Mo restaurant, the atmosphere of eating Pao Mo is always warm.Talking and laughing while breaking buns, waiters shuttle back and forth, the steam from the big sea bowl, and the smell of beef and mutton soup and sugared garlic in the shop are all in one.The children of Sanqin are simple and honest, you will never be treated coldly when you strike up a conversation with others at the table, if you ask for advice on how to eat steamed buns, the township party members will talk endlessly, like a treasure.After eating a bowl of steamed buns, I was sweating profusely, feeling extremely hearty.

Huanggui thick wine is also a specialty of Xi'an. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, thick wine was used to worship gods and ancestors. "The Book of Songs·Zhou Song·Feng Nian""is the wine for the sake of the wine, and the wine is for the ancestors" is this thing.Later, it was also used as a food for entertaining guests, so "The Book of Songs Xiao Yaji Day" also said: "To protect guests, and to drink sweets and sweets." Although sweets belong to wine, the alcohol content is very low, only about two or three degrees. People who can't drink can also drink a pot.Liu Jiao, king of Chu and Yuan in the Han Dynasty, respected the senior officials Mu Sheng, Shen Gong and others very much, and often had banquets with them.It's like preparing Coke, Sprite, and fruit tea for people who can't drink at a banquet today.Later Liu Jiao passed away, and his grandson Liu Wu came to the throne. At the beginning, he also set up wine for Mu Sheng, but gradually he forgot about it.Mu Sheng felt that it was not good, and said: "You can pass away! If there is no wine, the king will be lazy. If you don't go, the people of Chu will clamp me in the market." It's a sign.

The taste of thick wine is similar to rice wine from Jiangnan and Laozai from Sichuan, but it is better than them.One is that there are absolutely no impurities, and the other is that the texture is mellow, not as thin as rice wine and waterlogged grains.I am also not addicted to alcohol, but I have a soft spot for thick wine.At a meeting in a Shaanxi hotel, there must be thick wine for every meal. At first, two jugs were placed on each table, and they were exhausted in no time. Xi'an's Huang Gui Chou wine is made of sweet-scented osmanthus. In addition to the mellowness of rice wine, it also has a faint aroma of sweet-scented osmanthus."Xu Ji" is the most famous Huang Gui Chou Liquor in Xi'an, but now "Xu Ji Huang Gui Chou Liquor" is used as a signboard everywhere, so it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity from the fake.A really good thick wine should be poured out like light milk, slightly yellowish in the milky white.The best container for thick wine is a tin jug. The wine should be drunk hot. Tin utensils conduct heat quickly and are easy to warm up.

Steamed buns and thick wine are two of my favorite Xi'an specialties. Unfortunately, "you can't have both." It's almost impossible to eat steamed buns with Huanggui thick wine in Xi'an.Because most of the Pao Mo restaurants in Xi'an are opened by Hui people, Xi'an Hui Min Pao Mo restaurants will never sell thick wine.There are only two times to enjoy thick wine after eating steamed buns. The first time is to go to the upstairs of Xi’an Restaurant in Xinjiekou, Beijing. Steamed buns are good, but thick wine is packed in glass bottles. Drink a bottle and open a bottle. It's cold.The other time was in Xi'an. Because I went to the Shaanxi Archaeological Institute for official business, the host insisted on treating me to dinner, which was hard to refuse. Come out and walk in the direction of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. There is a bun shop, but it is clean. While chatting with the buns, I happened to see a wooden frame next to the wall.I asked the waiter if there was thick wine, and he replied that there was ready-made hot thick wine, so he was overjoyed.A large bowl of oily mutton steamed buns, a large tin pot of yellow cinnamon thick wine, sweating profusely, is better than many delicacies from mountains and seas.

Eating steamed buns, drinking thick wine, and listening to Qin opera are the three major pleasures of going to Xi'an.When I went to Xi’an for the second time in the 1980s, after eating high-quality steamed buns (also known as fat steamed buns, the soup is fat and tender, and the price is slightly higher than downstairs) at the Tongshengxiang Tower near the Bell Tower, I drank it at the corner of the street. Have a bowl of Huang Gui thick wine, and then cross the road to the Yisu Club behind the Bell Tower Post Office to watch the Qin opera "Flame Horse", which is a real experience of Guanzhong children and Sanqin Xiangdang.