Chapter 37 The loneliness of water shield soup

Hangzhou is a city with beautiful scenery and a world-renowned ancient cultural capital.Since the great cause of the Sui Dynasty, canals have been dug, gradually forming a large county with "the rivers and lakes are fertile, with sea and land; rare and exotic, so merchants gather together".Wuyue of the Ten Kingdoms and Lin'an of the Southern Song Dynasty established their capitals here, which not only built a large number of cultural landscapes by the West Lake, but also laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of the city's economy and cultural development.Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, things have increased in succession. Although it has suffered damage from man-made disasters and military fires, the scenery remains the same after restoration.I have been to Hangzhou three times. Whether it is the drizzle in the late spring or the rustling golden wind in the late autumn, the beauty of the West Lake has always left me with infinite love.

With the prosperity of the city's economy, the development of drinking and writing culture will also flourish. From the "Three Chronicles of Lin'an" compiled by the government (namely "Gandao Lin'an Zhi", "Chunyou Lin'an Zhi" and "Xianchun Lin'an Zhi") and Wu Zimu's "Dream "Liang Lu", Zhou Mi's "Old Stories of Wulin", Naideweng's "Capital Ji Sheng", the anonymous "West Lake Old Man Fan Sheng Lu" and other Song notes, as well as later "West Lake Travel Records" and other books, there are many about The narration of Hangzhou's food and drink shows the historical origin of Hangzhou's food and drink culture.

The raw materials of Hangzhou cuisine are also unmatched by many cities, such as various fish, shrimps and lotus roots in the West Lake, fresh seafood from the sea at the estuary of the Qiantang River, Sanqiu osmanthus by the lakeside of Tangdi Lake, young bamboo shoots in Tianmu Mountain, and Dongyang ham from nearby Jinhua. , Shaoxing's old flower carvings, Liuqiao's fresh water shield, and Longjing's fresh greens are all delicious.There are many famous dishes in Hangzhou, which can form a series of their own, but there is no Hangzhou cuisine in the four major cuisines, and it is not listed in the eight major cuisines. I think there are two main reasons: one is Su, Song, Hang, Jia, and Hu. The eating habits in the area are relatively similar, and the products are also similar. Su cuisine combines the characteristics of Huaiyang cuisine and the tastes of Shanghai and Hangzhou. The dish was covered by it and lost its own brilliance.The second is that Hangzhou cuisine mostly uses seasonal fresh ingredients, and the fresh ingredients are biased towards one corner. For example, the fresh bamboo shoots and tender lotus roots used in Hangzhou cuisine are best cooked on the spot. The bamboo shoots I ate in a famous Hangzhou restaurant in Beijing actually used Canned bamboo shoots are used instead, and there is a smell of preservatives, which completely loses the charm of Hangzhou cuisine.Another example is the West Lake water shield, which must be picked between May and September every year, and it is also picked and cooked in order to keep its fragrance and smoothness.The water shield in the glass bottle is grayish-yellow and dark in color, and the degree of fragrance can be imagined.Even the pickled vegetables used in the most popular "Pianerchuan" are local as well.Hangzhou cuisine is rooted in the beautiful capital of Chonghu, and it is difficult to leave its homeland. Its spread and imitation are bound to be limited, and its influence is not great.

People often use "water shield soup with sea bass" to summarize Hangzhou cuisine.The so-called water shield soup is West Lake water shield soup.Water shield, also known as water sunflower and dew sunflower, belongs to the water lily family.The leaves are oval, dark green, and float on the surface of the water by relying on the slender leaf stems, and there is a gelatinous transparent substance on the back of the leaves.According to the "West Lake Tour Records" of the Ming Dynasty, water shield was planted in the Sudi area in the Ming Dynasty.Water shield soup has a long history in Hangzhou cuisine, and it can be called together with Songjiang perch. There is already a record of water shield soup in "Book of Jin".From late spring to mid-autumn, you can eat fresh water shield in Hangzhou, served with bright red shreds of Jinhua ham, which is the famous ham and water shield soup.Li Liufang, a litterateur and painter in the Ming Dynasty, wrote "Song of Cooking Watercress": "Once I could make a thousand miles of water shield and make my apprentice shake his index finger. The glass bowl is filled with jasper light, and the five flavors are mixed to produce fragrance. The four seats on the plate are already amazed, and I dare not lift the chopsticks. Trying to be the first to taste..." vividly describes the situation of eating water shield.Li Ciming, a modern scholar, was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. He liked Hangzhou water shield the most, and he called himself water shield guest.I have eaten water shield soup in Hangzhou Louwailou, Zhiweiguan and Jiangnan Village in Xinzhang in recent years, and the taste is very delicious.In fact, water shield itself has no taste, and it depends entirely on cooking with good soup, but good soup can't overwhelm the guests, and it is not easy to keep the light fragrance of water shield.Water shield can be roasted with sea bass, which is called sea bass soup with water shield, but I have never eaten water shield with this method.The taste of water shield is excellent, smooth and crisp, but it is not easy to eat with chopsticks or spoons.I remember the first time I was at Zhiwei Guanshi West Lake Brasenia Soup. The soup was served to me by someone else. I wanted to pick it up with chopsticks, but it was too greasy. I used a spoon again, but it was still difficult to scoop up a spoonful. It caused everyone to laugh. made a fool of myself.For those who have never eaten water shield, it is difficult to imagine what water shield looks like.I have read many poems about water shield, and I think the most vivid ones are the two lines in "Poems of Water Shield" written by Yang Pan of the Song Dynasty, namely: "The crane grows tender with new purple on its top, and the dragon removes its fragrant beard with old saliva. Lu Ji saw a section of Wang Wuzi. Wang Wuzi pointed to the sheep cheese and asked Lu Ji if there was anything good in Jiangdong that could compare with sheep cheese.In ancient times, cheese generally refers to animal milk, and sheep cheese refers to goat milk or mutton soup, which is unknown.And the soup made with vegetables is a soup.Comparing goat milk and water shield soup is neither fish nor fowl, but just the regional pride of southerners and northerners.

It is said that when Zuo Zongtang was in Zhejiang, he was most fond of water shield soup. Later Zuo Zongtang was transferred to Xinjiang. Hu Xueyan was grateful for Zuo Zongtang's kindness and once gave him water shield.There were no cans at that time, and there were no preservatives in glass bottles.The distance between Hangzhou and Xinjiang is thousands of miles, and it is not easy to pass it on.So Hu Xueyan came up with a way to wrap the water shield with silk, covered it with tissue paper, and delivered it to Xinjiang in an expedited manner. It is said that West Lake Vinegar Fish originated from Mrs. Song’s fish soup. Whether this statement is correct remains to be tested.Because fish soup is soup, and West Lake vinegar fish is a whole fish in vinegar sauce.The form is different.The cooking method of Sister-in-law's Fish Soup has been lost for a long time, and the "Sister-in-law's Fish Soup" in many Hangzhou restaurants is not the so-called Song's Fish Soup in Song Dynasty, and it is a different dish from West Lake Vinegar Fish. "Meng Liang Lu" and "Old Stories of Wulin" both mentioned Mrs. Song, so it can be seen that there is a real person.Sister-in-law Song, also called Fifth Sister-in-law Song, was born in Tokyo, and later traveled south with Emperor Gaozong and settled in Lin'an.During the Qiandao and Chunxi years, Gaozong abdicated and became the Supreme Emperor. He often visited the West Lake by boat.One day when we parked near the Su Causeway, we heard that the owner of the restaurant spoke with a Tokyo accent. When we called to see him, someone recognized Song Wusao, who was good at making fish soup in Bianjing.Song Wusao made fish soup and asked the Supreme Emperor to taste it. As expected, she lived up to her reputation and ordered to give Qian Baiwen.Later, Song Wusao also became famous in Lin'an, and her business expanded.Someone wrote a poem: "How much is a bowl of fish soup worth? The relics of the old Beijing made the sky beautiful, and people at that time doubled the price to compete for the market, half buying the king's favor and half buying fresh."

The practice of West Lake Vinegar Fish is not complicated. After the live fish is cooked, just cover it with the prepared vinegar sauce.This is just the opposite of water shield soup. Water shield has no special taste, it all depends on good soup, while the seasoning of vinegar fish is mediocre, it all depends on the umami taste of the fish itself.When Hangzhou cuisine does these two things, it should not use MSG to enhance the taste at all, but should be fresh in its original color. In Hangzhou cuisine, Beggar's chicken, fried eel slices, Longjing shrimp, lotus leaf steamed meat, stewed whip bamboo shoots, shrimp roe winter bamboo shoots, fire-grilled shark's fin, fish head tofu, etc. are all famous.Among the pasta, the pine needle soup buns, shrimp fried eel noodles, Pianerchuan, osmanthus and chestnut soup, fermented glutinous rice dumplings and even pure West Lake lotus root noodles are also very distinctive.Many of these dishes were transplanted from Jiangsu cuisine and local Shanghai cuisine, which can be described as "blossom inside the wall and fragrance outside the wall". It is a pity that Hangzhou cuisine itself has fallen silent.

My nephew is from Hangzhou. Besides studying the history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, he is also good at cooking, and he is very good at making some Hangzhou dishes.Whenever there is a banquet at home, there are a few dishes that can be obtained. One is dry fried bell.Oil skin is used as the main raw material. Oil skin is the first layer of pulp skin from making soy milk. It is taken out and dried to become oil skin. Stores also sell ready-made oil skin. Apply warm water to soften it before use.There are two kinds of bells and vegetables. For meat, minced meat and boiled pork liver are used as fillings. For vegetarians, minced spinach and dried shiitake mushrooms are mixed well and fried. , deep-fry until golden brown and serve.The oil skin shrinks after entering the oil, so it will never loosen and fall off, and the pan is very neat and beautiful.Crispy and delicious, this dish is very popular with guests.

The second is braised bamboo shoots in oil.Use good fresh spring bamboo shoots, cut them into small pieces after peeling, stir-fry with vegetable oil, add soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and a little sugar, and simmer until cooked, tender and tasty. The third is raw fried eel slices.Take eel slices of moderate size, discard the head and tail, open and remove the bones, cut into eel slices, add a little magnolia slices, and stir-fry over high heat.The condiments used, such as soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate, should be mixed and added at one time, so as not to delay the frying of the eel slices, so the condiments can be added after a short break.

The fourth is the eight-treasure duck.Open the duck and wash it, mix glutinous rice, diced ham (golden leg), diced bamboo shoots, kaiyang, diced mushrooms, Gorgon fruit, ginkgo, and peas to fill the duck belly, sew the duck skin with thread, and put it in a casserole. Stir in Jiashao wine and a little soy sauce until overcooked.This dish takes a lot of effort to make, and it is mostly served during the Lunar New Year. All of the above products are considered authentic Hangzhou cuisine. The noodles in Hangzhou are also very good. Kuiyuan Restaurant can be called together with "Zhu Hongxing" in Suzhou and "Canglang Pavilion" in Shanghai.The noodles in Kuiyuan Restaurant are made of fried eels with shrimps. They are peeled with fresh river shrimps and shredded with live eels. The noodles are only half a bowl and accompanied by good soup. Finally, they are topped with fried shrimps and eels. Appetite.

No matter whether it is water shield soup with sea bass or delicious dishes, compared with other cuisines, Hangzhou cuisine is still relatively quiet in the whole country. Without the beautiful lakes and mountains in Qing Dynasty, Hangzhou cuisine cannot be called Hangzhou cuisine. up.Therefore, only by walking on the fragrant grass of Sudi, stepping on the residual snow of the broken bridge, facing the morning light of Yuquan, and enjoying the sunset of Leifeng, can you taste the taste of Hangzhou cuisine.