Chapter 9 Jiangnan delicacies Suzhou Wuxi boat dishes

In the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the Republic of China, I lived in Hugeng and ate Wuxi cuisine once in Shanjingyuan.My friend at the same seat also praised Wuxi's carved cockles and clams, which are extremely delicious, so I decided to visit Yuantouzhu and try the delicious Jiangnan boat dishes.When it comes to eating boat dishes, the managers of Shanghai Taiping Bank, Wan Maozhi and Zhou Diyin, are two cousins ​​who know the way and have a very good threshold.A group of six of us took the Shanghai-Nanjing Express to Wuxi and stayed at the Mantingfang Hotel. We were going to visit Taihu Lake the next day and eat boat dishes.

Back then, Xianci went to Qizi Mountain Lingyan in Suzhou to offer incense and worship Buddha. It was a large boat with three cabins and two canopies, bamboo curtains and brocade tents. When the sun sets on the western mountain, if it is not for the pilgrims who eat the long meal, they will start to have a banquet. It is clear and purple, with strange flavors and mixed flavors, all of which are exquisite.There is a name for this table of dishes called "Iftar". Not only do they have different tastes, but they also have a variety of colors. They don't put chopsticks and stop drinking until they disembark.Of course, the cost of this day is more expensive than the most expensive banquet in Suzhou.But it's still worth it to sip a hundred products and feast on the sun.

I thought Wuxi boat dishes were similar to Suzhou boat dishes, but they were quite different.The boat dishes in Wuxi are gathered in the northwest corner of the city. Outside the north gate to the west, there is a wide gravel road. There is a row of river houses in the north of the road.Except for a few well-known restaurants, the rest are "Changsantangzi" with unadorned corridors and light curtains, which is what Taiwan calls green lights.These houses have wind lattice water sill halls in the second half, extending to the river.There are even some prostitutes who prepare their own painted buildings and vermilion curtains, tin chairs and snail couches, and extremely elegant painting boats.These painting boats are not only spacious in the atrium, but also a table of banquets can be placed, and a card table can also be placed, so that everyone can walk in and out without hindrance.In the past, the gentry in Wuxi usually hosted bamboo battles, a cappella, and a river cruise on the painted boats before drinking and eating. This kind of entertainment was called "sitting on a light boat", and it was the most luxurious and advanced enjoyment in the early years.Although this river course is illegal, it can lead directly to the canal, go northward along the current, and sail directly to Pingjin.However, since the opening of the Beijing-Puzhou Railway, everyone has switched to trains to save time and money.

During our trip, we listened to Wanmao’s advice, hired a motorboat, and dragged the boat to play in Yuantouzhu and Taihu Lake near Wuxi for a long time. Along the way, the pools are clear and mysterious, and the empty water is clear and fresh. This is the unique atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River, Zisai desert It's unimaginable for many people, Mao Zhikunji is an expert in eating vegetables and taking boats, they say that it is best not to eat banquets when taking a light boat, and whichever girls are called today, order their dishes.Although I have a reputation for being gluttonous, which girl knows what special dishes, I am from Shandong and eat Ophiopogon japonicus—if I don’t understand it, I have to ask Maozhi and Diyin Kunji to order.

The best way to eat Wuxi boat dishes is to let the girls make one or two special dishes of their own. Even if Yanhong cooks bad chicken, and colorful cooks are also bad chicken, but if you eat it, you may eat it. The method is different, the flavor is very different.Zhou Diyin said: "A few years ago, the nearly ten courtiers trained by 'A Ting Niang' were all masters of cooking. The four pieces of jade under the hands of "Sister Su" are Yulinglong, Yuwanxiang, Yucaixia, and Yulingzhi. Although we don't need the whole table today, all of them are good dishes prepared by jade hands. Wuxi cuisine has always been famous for its sweetness, I'm afraid Everyone is not used to eating too sweet dishes, so take care of them and try to put as little sugar as possible.”

Yu Linglong's family is a fisherman on the edge of Taihu Lake, so she is very good at picking shrimp, pumping intestines, and cutting beards.Wuxi Jufengyuan is famous for its live shrimps, but Yulinglong's snowy crystal shrimp can overwhelm Jufengyuan.Because the boat dishes use less ingredients, the selection of shrimp is particularly fine.She cut off all the tails and tails of the crystal shrimp, removed the sausage, soaked the shrimp with sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper, and minced green onion, buckled it with a bowl, and then mixed it with high-quality soft white sugar when it was opened , so it is called snowy crystal shrimp, which is much more delicious than the way of eating live shrimp with the lid off the bowl and the live shrimp bouncing all over the table.

Yu Wanxiang's specialty dish is fish lip with crabmeat.There is a kind of crab in Liangxi, Wuxi, which is fat and firm, with white claws. The locals call it jade claw crab. The crab meat is picked out and boiled with fish lips. It is plump and delicious, and it is more mellow than shark's fin. Crispy eels and meat bones are Wuxi dishes that are well-known throughout the country. Yu Caixia is very good at these two small dishes. Yu Caixia said: "Wuxi pays attention to thick eels and thin eels. The bigger the eel, the more tender the meat. You should choose the thickness of your fingers. Yes, the fish meat has a sweet and smooth taste. The eel should be boiled in water first, and then fished out to remove the iliac bone, so that the cooked eel will not lose the fish blood, which is the most nourishing for anemic people. Cut the eel into sections, simmer with old wine, soy sauce, and rock sugar for more than ten minutes. Deep-fry in an oil pan over high heat until crispy shreds of eel are served with wine." The delicacies of southern delicacies are a must.

If you take the Shanghai-Nanjing Express or the Beijing-Pull Railway, when you stop in Wuxi, there are hawkers on the platform selling meat and bones. Every time you take some home with you, the taste is not bad.The meat and bones made by Yu Caixia are not only better than those sold by hawkers, but also have a different taste.She said that tender ribs should be selected and cut into large bone pieces to make meaty bones. Generally, those who sell meaty bones are reddish and beautiful. At the same time, they can be kept for two days if they are not sold out. Most of them are marinated with nitrate for half a day. She makes only Soak a seasoning with soy sauce, wine, rock sugar powder, and star anise, then put it in the old stew, cover the pot tightly, first use high heat, and then simmer slowly.Because the meat and bones on the boat dishes are all freshly prepared and eaten, they must be rotten and tasty to be smooth and delicious, so there is no need to add nitrate.

Jade Ganoderma lucidum is the real Wu Wa in Dangkou, Suzhou, who was originally a Vegetarian Vegetarian expert of Suzhou Chuanniang.We, Li Junsun, Liusun, and Zhusun, were all vegetarians since childhood. Wan Maozhi specially asked her to cook some vegetarian dishes for the Li brothers to try.She made four dishes and one soup by herself.I only tasted the vegetarian goose and stinky dry seeds among the four dishes.Vegetarian goose is wrapped in wet bean curd skin with parsley, carrots, shredded bamboo shoots, mushrooms, fungus, fried and then smoked, the color is golden, and it is unique in the mouth.This dish is more popular than meat dishes, and it is recognized that real goose meat is never so clear and sweet.The other is stinky dry son.Wuhu stinky cadavers are already well-known in the north and south, but the stinky scorpion made by Li Xiangfu in Hefei is very famous. If they are given stinky dry seeds to their Li family, isn’t it Confucius who sells the Three Character Classic in front of his door?Unexpectedly, the stinky dry seeds of jade ganoderma lucidum have a soft fragrance, which is not inferior to that produced by the Li Mansion in Hefei.The old brine for making stinky dried seeds is made of amaranth root and bamboo shoot slices.Cut amaranth stalks into three-inch lengths, soak them in warm water for more than ten days, and the fragrance will become more natural, then soak the dried white beans, put mushrooms and mustard greens on the pot and steam them.The wicked cover their noses with dishes, and the addicts think that the top food is delicious. That is a matter of opinion, and each person's tastes are different.

I have heard for a long time that Wuxi boat dishes are too sweet. The few dishes we ate were never too sweet.A few days ago, people from Hong Kong said that Wan, Zhou and Mrs. Li had returned to Daoshan, looking at Renqin like a dream.