Chapter 14 Dongyang Chicken

Sometimes I think that where there are cultural people, it must be famous for its food, or many famous foods are related to cultural people, such as the elbow that Beijingers like to eat, the name of the dish is Dongpo elbow.As far as I know, there is another kind of fried food named Dongpo cake in Chibi, Huangzhou, where Mr. Dongpo wrote "The great river goes east, and the waves wash away". As for these foods, Mr. Dongpo liked to eat them back then As it is, it cannot be verified.The rice wine brewed by the people in Fangxian County, Hubei Province is also very interesting. It is actually called Huangjiu.When I first went there, I always thought they were talking about rice wine, because rice wine can be regarded as a general name for rice wine. People in Jiangsu and Zhejiang all drink rice wine.When I found out that they called their wine imperial wine, I was very surprised: imperial wine can be eaten at will

Did you just call it?After inquiring clearly, I realized that the name of the imperial wine was not groundless. It turned out that this wine was not brewed by the common people, but was brought from the palace by Wu Zetian's son-in-law King Li Ling when he was dispatched to Fang County. There was also a set of red tape wine regulations. There are three hundred and sixty articles. Dongyang is of course a literati since ancient times. Historically, there have been prime ministers in Tang and Song dynasties, such as Zhu Xi and Lu You, who have traveled and stayed in Dongyang. The contemporary university scholar Yan Jici is from Dongyang. There are more than a thousand literati and scholars at the top level. It can be said that it is a hometown of literati. If Dongyang is famous for its food, it is of course not surprising.Dongyang's famous food, I thought Dongyang chicken was the most popular. Before the National Day in 1995, I went to Hangzhou, and it happened that Mr. Li Tusheng, a Dongyang native Yi scholar, kindly invited me to visit his hometown Dongyang, and I went there with pleasure.

Mr. Li Tusheng has been studying "Book of Changes" for more than 20 years, and he has achieved positive results. He asked him for advice along the way, and jokingly asked him to test the hexagrams, but he was a little bit accurate. I said it would be better if I went to stock market. Come to help me predict, Mr. Li said seriously: No, this is absolutely impossible.In fact, this is also a joke. How can I stop writing and speculate in stocks?Talking and laughing all the way, I arrived in Dongyang. Mr. Li’s home is in Xianshan Village, Shanglu Town, Dongyang. It is about an hour’s drive from Dongyang City. The car gallops along the beautiful Dongyang River. , above the green water and white fields, there are new-style villages, and the relatively novel scenery of the south of the Yangtze River, I just feel that I can't see it.Soon, they arrived at the home of Mr. Li Tusheng.The name of the village of Xianshan is well-deserved. Behind the village, there is Longtou Mountain on the left and Hutou Mountain on the right. From the perspective of Fengshui, it is the one with the green dragon on the left and the white tiger on the right. I live in Mr. Li Tusheng's house.It was dusk by then, and I was quite tired all the way. I ate a bowl of "dried rice noodles" under shredded pork, which is also a local specialty. After washing, I fell asleep and didn't get up until nine o'clock the next morning.When I came down from the upstairs, I saw Mr. Li Tusheng, his respected mother, instructing everyone to move water tanks and make briquette stoves.I don't think I have some doubts. It's not because of me to mobilize so many teachers, right?I immediately asked Mr. Li Tusheng: Teacher Li, please don’t worry about me, I’m so sorry.Mr. Li Tusheng smiled and said: It is not possible to do otherwise.I said: why not?Mr. Li Tusheng said: Don't worry, wait for us to come back for dinner.I was still puzzled, and asked again: Isn't your home already burning liquefied petroleum gas, why do you need a raw coal stove?Mr. Li Tusheng said: This is very particular, if you are interested, just watch and do it.

I just watched, they made a kind of chicken, Dongyang chicken, I asked, this method was originally called Baibuxiang, I think it is not as good as Dongyang chicken, they have Dezhou grilled chicken, Daokou roast chicken, which are famous real estate Woolen cloth.Making Dongyang chicken is quite cumbersome: a Dongyang native chicken weighing about two catties, equal pork belly, cut into pieces and put them in a casserole, put about half a catty of ginger, garlic, soybean soy sauce, and homemade Mix rice wine in a sunken vat, and add fresh water from the well.I thought this could be simmered on a coal stove?no.First, sit a large iron pot on the stove, place four red bricks on the pot, put a small water tank on the bricks, put another red brick in the water tank, and then put the chicken and pork casserole Put it into the water tank, and then put a water tank upside down on the water tank, and the whole process is declared complete.

Mr. Li Tusheng told me: Don't even think about eating at noon, you have to wait until evening, at least eight hours. My God, this chicken is not boiled, steamed, or dry-roasted. It is baked by the temperature in the water tank, and even the water tank does not directly contact the heat source. This is the real slow fire. I have eaten all over the north and south, and this is the first time I have encountered it. Even the beggar chicken in Suzhou is wrapped in mud and burned on the fire. This is a very creative idea. Mr. Li Tusheng and I went to the mountain for a walk. It was foggy all day long on the top of the mountain. There was a reservoir in the middle of the mountain. On the side of the mountain was a piece of stone that was said to be a fairy stone. Judging from my shallow geological knowledge, this piece of rock structure was similar to the rock structure on the mountain. A completely different lone rock, most likely a meteorite that fell from the sky.According to Mr. Li Tusheng, it has been passed down from generation to generation by the elders that a fairy accidentally dropped a piece of stone when passing by here from the sky, and it has taken root on this mountain since then. Doesn’t this legend also mean that it is a meteorite?

The banquet at night is very rich, but Dongyang chicken is the main topic. This dish is cooked with fire without seeing the fire. It lasted eight hours. This taste is really rare. I quickly put out the smoke, He took out his own washing utensils, went outside the door to rinse his mouth, washed away the smell of smoking and drinking tea, and then sat down on the table properly. It really tastes extraordinary. Dongyang chicken is not tender, not old, and has an excellent taste. The taste is light at first, and gradually becomes stronger. The soup is also mellow.However, Mr. Li Tusheng told me: the real chicken flavor is in the pork.So, I picked up a piece of pork belly and ate it. The pork was soft and smooth, not greasy, and it was full of the fragrance of chicken.That's it, drinking the sinking rice wine brewed by Mr. Li Tusheng's respected mother, tasting Dongyang chicken, and talking about Dongyang's folk customs, until the moon reached the middle of the sky. It's not on the head, and I feel a little fluttering after drinking too much.

Come to think of it, Dongyang's famous food is wheat dumplings.Mr. Li Tusheng and I went to Shanglu Town to eat wheat dumplings.Shanglu Town is an ancient town. There is a river running through the town. White geese and croaking ducks float on the water. As usual, there are women squatting by the water to wash clothes.There are various businesses in the town, mostly selling local products, some selling incense candles and straw paper, some selling small persimmons and wild ducks, some selling lotus seeds, water chestnut, chicken head, rice and water chestnuts, and some wearing old neat Chinese tunic suits with two bags in the pockets. An old-fashioned scholar who used a brush to hang books and write couplets... In short, the town was bustling with people, and the town was very lively.We came to a stall selling wheat dumplings. There were also women in side skirts and pointed hats, as well as very modern young girls. We sat among them and ate wheat dumplings.Wheat dumplings are fried in a flat-bottomed pan, with a flat shovel, mixed with eggs and flour, wrapped with diced lotus root, dried fragrant, green beans, diced meat, vermicelli, red pepper skin, etc., folded into triangles, and fried on the pan until it turns yellow. It is similar to the bean curd in Wuhan, except that the bean curd is mainly made of glutinous rice, while the wheat dumplings are not.The Mai Dumplings are delicious, and I even think I prefer the fast-food style Mai Dumplings to the Xiaolong Baozi in Hangzhou.

I went to Dongyang to eat Dongyang chicken, wheat dumplings and other Dongyang specialties. I think Dongyang’s food culture is very developed. I’m even sure that the method of making this Dongyang chicken must have been invented by literati. Think about other people in the industry. Or ordinary people, how can it take such a cumbersome process and such a long time to make a dish?