Chapter 10 How many Chinese New Year dishes to eat dumplings in Peking

People in Peiping usually live their lives, no matter if they are from rich families or ordinary people, they are very hardworking and frugal. Even if they are from middle-class families, the dining table is rarely full of big fish and meat all day long.But when it comes to Chinese New Year, everyone has to cook a few delicious dishes to reward themselves. It is a custom in Beiping that there are no children during the five days from the first day to the fifth day of the first lunar month (except for steamed rice and dumplings). Nine out of ten families eat dumplings, so there is no need to be busy cooking. It is enough to eat cold dishes that can be served with wine.

A must-have vegetable dish that is suitable for both wine and rice is called "fried salty dish", also known as "ten coriander".Since it is called Shixiang, of course there are ten kinds of fresh and dry vegetables.In fact, some people fry ten coriander, and there are more than ten kinds!First shred the carrots and stir-fry separately, then stir-fry the soybean sprouts, then shred the dried tofu, thousands of sheets, golden needles, black fungus, winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, ginger in sauce, pickled mustard greens, remove the leaves and leave the stems, all shredded and stir-fry until cooked. Shredded carrots, soybean sprouts, soy sauce, salt, sugar and other seasonings are fried together in a pan.There are also mustard and celery in the southern frying method, so there are twelve kinds.The trick to stir-fry ten coriander is that all kinds of dried and fresh vegetables should be shredded thinly, and the length should be consistent. The soy sauce should be light-colored. Add the soaked mushroom soup as appropriate, it can be soft and fresh.

"Crispy fish" is a dish that is suitable for both drinking and eating dumplings.The live crucian carp should not be too big, and it can be weighed as four or five per catty. If the fish bones are too big, it will not be easy to rot.After the crucian carp is disembowelled, removed and cleaned, put it in a bowl with wine (preferably rice wine), soy sauce, rice vinegar (do not use chemical white vinegar), and sugar, mix and soak for 40 minutes.The seasoning should cover the fish body, so as not to turn it up and down frequently, which will damage the fish body and damage the appearance.When the oil boils, put the fish down and fry it thoroughly, take the fish out of the pan, and spread it in another pan, with a layer of scallions, a layer of crucian carp, and more onions. Add shredded ginger to each layer to remove the fishy smell, and then mix the soaked fish Pour all the seasonings into the crucian carp pot, so as to cover all the fish.Cover the pot, put it on a slow fire and simmer for an hour and a half, pour the sesame oil over the pot and serve it on the table. At this time, the scallions melt into the rotten fish bones and crispy, so feel free to chew without worrying about the fish bones getting stuck in your throat.It is better to eat the fish cold, and keep it in the refrigerator for hospitality, which can save the housewives some troubles of impromptu cooking.

"Roasted vegetarian chicken" is also a refreshing and delicious dish after eating big fish and meat all day long.The main ingredients are vegetarian chicken and yuba made of tofu skin, and the ingredients are supplemented by mushrooms, bamboo shoots and ginkgo.Because of the Chinese New Year, add a little hair vegetables and a few red dates, and cook together with seasonings.Every Spring Festival in Shejian, once the fifth day is over, the roasted vegetarian chicken must be replenished and cooked again! Although "shrimp paste" is a very common dish, how it tastes depends on the craftsmanship of the master chef.Some people like to make "tiger skin jelly" during the Chinese New Year. Boil the pork skin and cut into cubes, add seasoning with diced carrots, edamame or peas, thicken the jelly and cut into cubes to serve with wine.High-tech, although it is crystal clear and jade-like, clear and pleasant, but the hair must be tweezed clean, and the taste should not be too salty, so it is better to change it to fried shrimp paste.Dried shrimp fried with shrimp paste must be yellowed but not red, and the dried shrimp skin has faded clean.Dice dried shrimp, lean meat, and winter bamboo shoots. Saute the diced lean meat with ginger and shallots until fragrant, and then stir-fry with premium yellow sauce.Do not use dried tofu or peanuts in this dish. It is best not to use sweet noodle sauce. If you add chili, it will be similar to the Shanghainese eight-treasure chili sauce, not the so-called shrimp sauce.

There is a place called Babaoshan in the western suburbs of Beiping, which is the distribution center for pheasants and bamboo chickens after winter.There is a kind of wild vine on the mountain. The local people of Tengshi call it Caoguo, which is a warm winter gift for pheasants and bamboo chickens.Those who like to eat some game in winter, take a shotgun to Babaoshan, and they will return with a full reward.Taking two pheasants as presents for relatives and friends, on the one hand, it is a rarity that cannot be bought with money, on the other hand, it also shows that one's marksmanship is accurate.Therefore, at the end of the new year, old residents of Peiping also have relatives and friends who will send you some game to add to your New Year's dishes.The pheasant is plucked, cleaned, shredded, soaked with seasoning ginger, wine, salt and green onion, then shredded with pickled melon and stir-fried, or stir-fried with potherb mustard. It's not bad for a change of taste.During the Yihequan Rebellion, the two palaces were covered in dust, and Luan drove to the west. The two palaces ate at Tongguan. Cen Chunxuan presented pheasant fried with pickled melon shreds. It's worth a hundred times.

Old Beiping, before the eighth day of the first lunar month, if you have a light meal with relatives and friends at home, most of them will cook dumplings to entertain guests. Change the original food, for example, do not prepare soup separately.