Chapter 29 Big talk hot pot

As the new wind rises and the new coolness begins, the first thing that comes to mind is hot pot. The food culture of the Han nationality is quite different.However, there is no distinction between north and south, east and west, and people regardless of gender, age or age, hot pot is a common hobby.Even for new and new human beings who are always unconventional, there are many "Haguo people". Hot pot originally did not belong to the Han nationality. It was introduced to the Central Plains when the Qing soldiers entered the customs.In the palace, Qianlong not only did not have hot pot, but also ordered local reception units to prepare hot pot along the way during his six southern tours.Another popular saying is that as early as AD 618 to 906, hot pot began to spread from north to south. Li Baizhi's "Orchid is as beautiful as a flower, laughing like a spring breeze in the stove" is about the scene of mutton .It is also believed by scholars that hot pot appeared in the Genghis Khan era, from Mongolia to the northeast.

In any case, this way of eating, which is called by the Cantonese as "side-burning stove", has changed from simple shabu-shabu to shabu-shabu.But the basic form of hot pot remains the same: a pot (pottery, tile, metal, glass), a fire underneath (charcoal fire, electric fire, wood fire, wax fire, alcohol, gas), and water in the pot (broth, spicy or medicinal soup) , as soon as the water boils, it boils, and everything changes. Cantonese people's love for "side-burning stove" often surprises outsiders.As a diet in a bitter cold area, it is really puzzling that it is so popular in Lingnan, where "accumulated by the yang and lived by the summer heat".

In fact, the winter in Lingnan is also cold. Although the temperature is around 10 degrees Celsius, there is another kind of ecstasy in the cold, that kind of damp and cold, which is difficult for those who have never spent winter in Guangdong to understand.While keeping out the cold, another motivation for Cantonese people to "make side stoves" is to covet the freshness and vigor of food.All fresh things, such as fat beef, fish and shrimp, lobster, geoduck, raw abalone, fish head, pig brain, dog meat, soft-shelled turtle, chicken, goose intestine, donkey meat, snake segments, meatballs and various vegetables, are almost inexhaustible. It is not used to "beat the pot".

If there is a killing, there is no letting go, and there is no discrimination, and it is easy to obliterate the personality.When it comes to individuality, I think Beijing-style "boiled mutton" and Sichuan-style "malatang" are far superior to "dabianlu". Compared with Cantonese-style side-burning stove and Sichuan-style Malatang, Beijing-style mutton boiled belongs to another school in the hot pot family. This kind of pie may be called "single variety pie", that is, it sells only one flavor and only boils mutton.At the same time, the soup base is much simpler, except for the lamb, the external seasoning is the key to success.

The mutton that is most suitable for shabu-shabu is taken from 14-month-old small-tailed black-headed sheep in Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia.In the past, to praise someone for their good boiled mutton was half to praise the master's knife skills.Don't guess, I'm talking about "Dong Lai Shun".Well now, the advancement of technology has broken the monopoly of handwork, and all of them have been replaced by machines. Every 500 grams can be cut into 100 pieces, which is thinner than manual cutting. To be honest, I don’t particularly like to eat these thin slices. When it comes to mutton, I only like large pieces.However, as long as it is winter, as long as I am in Beijing, I have to go to wash it a few times.The air is filled with the smell of boiled mutton and soot, that's Beijing.Once you can't smell it, you will lose your sense of security and be in a state of panic all day long.

That's why, I only have fun in the open air on the streets of Beijing, no matter how cold it is.Hundreds of years old shops and fashionable ones and other houses are crowded with people. The stoves are flying above the head, and the oily bottom is running down. I am afraid of death. Besides, the heating inside makes me suffocate.I like to find a small shop near where I live, and there are only two conditions: First, mutton is acceptable; second, it can be done outdoors. In addition, if you have another bottle of Red Star Erguotou, don't bother me. In terms of hot pot, there are not only mutton hot pot in Beijing, but tripe hot pot in Korean restaurants and Korean dog meat hot pot sold by Yanji Xian people are also delicious.In fact, the northern style hot pot, including mutton, has a characteristic, that is, the main ingredient is single, the soup base is not complicated, and it goes straight to the theme, forming a sharp contrast with Sichuan and Guangdong.Beef tripe hot pot, the main ingredients are tripe and noodles. As for dog meat hot pot, in addition to real dog meat, at most, add some dog intestines and dog liver. The soup is also dog meat soup, and then add tofu, vegetables, vermicelli, etc. Whether it is cool or not, half depends on the spicy and non-spicy "dog sauce".

Regardless of whether it is "ridden" from the northern nomads, hot pot is indeed a very Chinese way of eating, and it is very "Asian value". If drinking tea is the identity of Cantonese, then the identity of all Chinese is hot pot.There is rarely a race in the world that loves hot pot as much as the Chinese. Of course, the French occasionally come to a "burgundy pot". As for the cheese and chocolate fondue in Switzerland, it is actually more like a dessert. The average temperature is much lower than that of China. Under the superficial evidence of keeping out the cold and seeking freshness, the Chinese people's love for hot pot may have the following psychological reasons:

First, it is lively, very lively, very "unified"; the so-called "personal hot pot" introduced from Hong Kong a few years ago, although cheap, did not become popular in the end, and this is the reason. Second, not only the popularity and anger are prosperous, but also the time and happiness are long.Apart from the Man-Han Banquet, hot pot is undoubtedly the most time-killing way of eating in Chinese food, especially Sichuan Malatang. Out of belief in soup ingredients, the longer a pot of soup is boiled, the more people at the table will eat. It is the basic common sense of Sichuan cuisine.A while ago, it was reported that there was a swindler in Sichuan who tricked foreign tourists into buying hot pot as their host. Every time the cheated foreigners noticed and wanted to evacuate, the swindler would try to stop them by saying "the longer you eat the hot pot, the better it tastes".

Every time I spend more than three hours sitting around the stove in a hot pot restaurant, when the wine is hot, I will unexpectedly think that the "sauce jar" is probably an outdated thing, and now, anyway, it's the turn to "shabu".Every eye is "washed", and there is nothing that cannot be "washed". How lively, how endless, how nonsensical. The rule of the "sauce jar" has lasted for a long time, and the master said: "If you don't get the sauce, you don't eat it" ("The Analects of Confucius Xiangdang Chapter").However, there finally came a day when hot pot dispelled the "sauce vat". At the very least, the sauce only occupied a subordinate position in the hot pot banquet, and the noise inside and outside the pot was the postmodern character.

There are also some people who hate hot pot extremely, such as Yuan Mei, who is famous for his fine food. There is a section on "Quiet Hot Pot": "In winter banquets, I am used to using hot pot, and it is disgusting to make noise to the guests; and the taste of each dish has a certain degree of heat, suitable for Wen Yiwu, suitable for withdrawal and addition, and it is difficult to change in a moment. Today One example is to use fire to force it, but its taste can be questioned? People in recent times use shochu instead of charcoal, thinking that it is a good idea, but they don’t know that the taste will always change after being boiled for a long time. Or ask: What’s wrong with the dish when it’s cold? If you don't let the guests eat it all at once, but if you can keep it until it is cold, then you can know the bad taste."

As far as the basic principles of cooking and hospitality are concerned, Yuan Mei's words are in place and every sentence is to the point.From the standpoint of diners, when it comes to hot pot, I am happy for one and sad for the other. Both joy and sorrow are caused by the excitement. Lively or noisy scenes, not only hot pot.The problem is that no matter which way the hot pot is, it is always inseparable from the sauce. Soy sauce, shredded ginger, pepper, sand tea sauce and the like are just the most basic. up the dining table.There are at least two kinds of hand-held utensils for eating hot pot, and the range and frequency of movement are extremely large.Fishing in the bottomless old soup is no less difficult than searching for a missing Russian submarine in the Barents seabed.At the same time, the firepower had to be adjusted from time to time to control the heat, and the kitchen was moved to the dining table. The chaos was always on the verge of losing control. Hearing the drums, he thought of a good general.Whenever such moments of sorrow and joy are mixed, I long for a strong man to descend from the sky to turn the tide and firmly grasp the general direction of hot pot. On a snowy night in the winter of the previous year, a group of people and I drank until dark at the "Busy Bee" in Dongsi, and then we were coerced into Dongzhimen for "Ma La Tang".In a trance, I felt that a woman in the seat was in command, so that the table was in order from beginning to end.The mouth is numb, the voice is fading away, and there is only one thought in my heart: I will leave the rest of my life to you to arrange.