It's time to eat rice dumplings again
Guangdong's rice dumplings are not only diverse, but also very rich in shape and taste.
Cantonese rice dumplings can be roughly divided into two flavors: salty rice dumplings and sweet rice dumplings.
Among them, the salty dumplings are divided into two kinds of salted meat dumplings and steamed dumplings, mostly filled with rich materials such as ham, fat pork, salted egg yolk, roast chicken, char siu, roast duck, chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, shrimp and so on;
The sweet dumplings are divided into two kinds: bean paste dumplings and water dumplings, mainly filled with lotus paste, mung bean paste, red bean paste, chestnut paste, date paste, walnuts and so on.
The flavors of different regions are different, creating a unique flavor of Guangdong zongzi.
The Way is:
"Brown" is hometown feeling, and love is hometown thick.
All kinds of rice dumplings of various flavors,
I also packed in the customs and customs of various places.
Big "dumpling" lover
When it comes to Guangdong's rice dumplings, there are several that are particularly famous: not only in Guangdong, but even in the entire southern region. These big "brown" lovers, I believe you have heard a lot, but you may not fully understand their true origins.
To say that Guangdong's most famous rice dumplings, it is estimated that everyone has no objections, that is, Zhaoqing wrapped steaming.
However, it is interesting to note that the inheritance and production of Zhaoqing steaming is many different from zongzi in the traditional sense. Therefore, when Zhaoqing applied for the intangible cultural heritage of "wrapped steaming culture", local experts put forward the view that "wrapping steaming is not a rice dumpling". Obviously, it looks like a rice dumpling, but in essence it is not a rice dumpling.
One of the characteristics of Zhaoqing wrapping steaming that is obviously different from other places is that it is wrapped with local "winter leaves". "Winter leaves" is a unique plant in Zhaoqing, growing in the old houses and country lanes of the broken wall ruins of the Xijiang River flowing into the Zhaoqing section, as large as banana leaves, 20 or 30 cm wide, 40 or 50 cm long, its thick leaves contain rich leaf liquid, the appearance of turquoise and shiny, with color green, leaf fragrance, antiseptic, containing natural preservation chlorophyll and other characteristics, the "light green" in the steaming is caused by "winter leaves".
Winter leaves for steaming
Therefore, the real steaming is actually not the food of the "Dragon Boat Festival", but the winter or Spring Festival.
The finished steaming is shaped like a pyramid, each weighs about 1 pound, and the thick amount is also very satisfying. Its filling is mainly based on glutinous rice, stripped mung beans, fat pork, etc., and it is boiled with a special large vat with firewood for 7-8 hours, and the fragrance is fragrant when hot food, and the entrance is loose and smooth and sweet.
The shape of the steaming bun is like the iron fist of Bao Gong
It has always been said that Zhaoqing's steamed dumplings look more like Bao Gong's iron fist, but in fact, there are allusions in it. It is said that Bao Zheng was transferred to the capital because of his outstanding political achievements in Guduan Prefecture (present-day Zhaoqing), and when he went to office, the people of Duanzhou used glutinous rice, mung beans, and pork from their homes to make a food shaped like an iron fist for Bao Zheng to eat on the road. Therefore, Zhaoqing wrapped steamed dumplings is known as the iron fist of Bao Gong.
Nowadays, in many places in Guangdong, you can often see "Taishan dumplings" and "Enping dumplings" and other rice dumplings, many people feel that the taste is very good after eating, but always think that it is the same kind of rice dumplings. In fact, there are several types of rice dumplings in the "Jiangmen system", can you really distinguish them?
Taishan dumplings, also known as twisted angle dumplings
First of all, the first kind to say is "Taishan dumplings". Taishan dumplings belong to a kind of "Guangfu white dumplings", there is a rich filling, and the rice dumpling leaves are wrapped tightly and firmly, so tight that even the corners of the rice dumplings are twisted, and the flat quadrangle of cantonese rice dumplings and the bulging pointed pentagons of Zhaoqing wrapped and steamed are very different, so it is also called twisted corner dumplings, which is known for how thick the material is.
Taishan rice dumpling filling is very rich (Image source: SOHO Guangzhou)
Taishan rice dumpling filling is mostly glutinous rice, peanuts, eyebrow beans, dried shrimp, pork belly, salted egg yolk, etc., similar to the cantonese rice dumpling material, but the most important thing is that there is more of an herb in the filling: in general, the authentic Taishan rice dumpling, the filling will definitely put a kind of salted red olive herb Chinese herbal medicine - red silk thread (also known as "red olive leaf"), which has the effect of clearing the lungs and relieving cough, scattering and stopping bleeding, mixing various fillings with red silk thread, steaming the center of the rice dumplings will become red, very beautiful, and has a special fragrance. It can eliminate the greasy feeling of meat and glutinous rice. This is also one of the symbols of the authentic "Taishan Brown", which is known to be used by people in the whole of Guangdong around Naijiangmen.
Enping zong looks like a bamboo basket
The second thing to say is "Enping Dumplings". Enping people follow the principle of "slow work out of fine work", they make rice dumplings, generally more meticulous, the most representative feature of which is that the rice dumplings are used to wrap rice dumplings is a plant leaf called "Lotus". This "amaranth" generally grows deep in the mountains, and its leaves are very large and prickly. After picking it, the locals first remove the thorns, then tear them into thin strips (usually 1.3 cm wide) according to the fibers, and then soak them in boiling hot water and wash them for a few days.
Enping dumplings of the Four Dragon Horns
Wrapping rice dumplings with ancient strips requires special craftsmanship, non-local people do not understand, and the rice dumplings wrapped with it have a unique fragrance, and are preserved for several days without changing the taste, the shape is small and exquisite, the styles are diverse, and the common ones are "four-corner dumplings", "double dragon horns" and "single dragon horns". "Four-horned dumplings" are mainly used for consumption, while "single dragon horns" and "double dragon horns" are for children to play with. However, it is worth mentioning that the plant "蓢薣" is mostly produced in the Taishan area, so there are also Taishan rice dumplings that are bandaged with "蓢薣". It is also because of the similarities in the humanities and cultures of the two places that "Taishan Dumplings" and "Enping Dumplings" are now almost inseparable.
Then there is a kind of Jiangmen zongzi - Kaiping zongzi. Kaiping rice dumplings are very similar to the two kinds of rice dumplings mentioned above, and they have the same place in terms of shape and filling, and even wrapped with "蓢薣" strips. However, when it comes to its biggest feature, it is its filling processing. The filling processing of Kaiping rice dumplings is more exquisite, such as pork belly to be marinated with five-spice powder, and mung beans, shiitake mushrooms, sausages, shrimp, etc. should be fried until they change color, and then sweet soy sauce and other seasonings are added. Finally, after the filling is fully flavored and cooled, you can start wrapping the rice dumplings. In addition to the selection of high-quality ingredients, the requirements for heat are also very high, generally steamed for four to five hours. After cooking, the rice dumplings are fished up, dried, and after the surface moisture is removed, the rice dumplings that peel off the rice dumpling leaves will not stick to the hands.
Zhongshan ludou dumplings, and ordinary zongzi three-pointed octagonal difference, ludou dumplings are "stick-shaped", and the size is different, small like a banana, the large can be like a large bottle of soda. It is said that its size is according to the "human head" as a portion, one person is smaller (1 salted egg yolk), three people are larger (3 salted egg yolks), and many people are made larger. Anyway, its purpose is: a rice dumpling you can eat enough.
The reason why the shape of the rice dumpling can be arbitrary is mainly because the rice dumpling leaf "ludou" that wraps it is more common in Zhongshan, especially in the Shaxi area. Some people think that "Reed" and "Amaranth" are the same kind of plant, and according to research, the two are indeed similar. However, the zhongshan people's way of dealing with "Lu Du" is not the same as the way the Taishan people and the Enping people deal with "Lu Du".
Reed leaf
First of all, after the "reed pocket" is harvested, it is necessary to first use a hard bamboo sieve to stab, which is called "batch of sticks", and then the "batch" good "lu du" will be boiled with boiling water to blanch the leaves with a bamboo pole to flatten, and then dried for two or three days, and then tied into a roll to dry the water for backup, so as to retain the aroma of the "lu hood". When it comes to wrapping the dumplings, the sun-dried "reed pockets" are soaked with water, and a 1.5 to 2 meter long "reed pockets" can be wrapped in different quantities and sizes of rice dumplings, and sometimes weigh up to 1 kg.
When wrapping reed dumplings, the "reeds" are generally rolled into a cylinder first (Image source: ZSVBAO)
When wrapping reed dumplings, the "reeds" are generally rolled into a cylinder, and then filled with raw red beans and raw glutinous rice that have been stirred evenly, pork belly and salted egg yolks that have been mixed evenly, and then tied tightly with salted water grass after sealing. Skilled locals can wrap more than 100 rice dumplings a day.
There are more ingredients for reed dumplings, and they are fatter to eat, but they are rich in taste, and the taste is harder and the rice grains are clear, which is a strange rice dumpling that can be gradually disassembled according to the amount and eaten slowly with a spoon (can be rolled up and sealed to preserve).
Chaoshan Zongzi has a unique character, one of which is called "double cooking" or "double flavor", which is a well-known traditional snack in Chaoshan area. The main feature of double-cooked rice dumplings is in the filling, a rice dumpling filling, two-thirds is salty and one-third is sweet. One bite down, that is, sweet and fragrant, is deeply loved by Shantou people and overseas hipsters.
Chaoshan Zongzi perfectly solves the dispute between the north and south of salty and sweet Zongzi
According to the local owner of the double cooking rice dumplings, the good taste of Chaoshan double cooking rice dumplings is mainly in the stuffing, the salty filling is mainly salted egg kernels, dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, sausages, wings, lotus seeds, chestnuts and southern suckling pork; the sweet filling is mainly crystal filling, wudousha filling or red bean paste filling and sweet glutinous rice. A rice dumpling to show both salty and sweet taste, it is necessary to combine the salty and sweet two fillings together, but do not mix well, generally 1/3 of the sweet filling and 2/3 of the salty filling wrapped in a rice dumpling, so it is also called "eight treasure rice dumplings". However, it is not easy to eat this rice dumpling outside the Chaoshan region, and usually you can only taste it locally.
The small "dumplings" are charming
Having said that those famous Guangdong Zongzi, then the "Xiao Zongzi" who began to discuss the atmosphere of the small hometown began. Many people say that almost every place in Guangdong has its own hometown name of the characteristic rice dumplings, I don't know if it has mentioned your family?
In Qingyuan and Lianzhou, Guangdong, there is a kind of hometown characteristics of zongzi, its shape is famous in the province: because it is wrapped into two flat ends, the back of the middle of the shape, resembling a hunchback doll, so there is a "humpback dumpling" name.
Although the shape of humpback dumplings is different from other rice dumplings, the production process is much the same. Before wrapping humpback rice dumplings, it is necessary to wash the glutinous rice and soak it for about 3 hours, and then blanch the rice dumpling leaves with hot water and wash and dry, which is usually a large bamboo leaf.
As for the filling, it is necessary to marinate it first, so that it can taste. In the process of wrapping, the two leaves of rice dumplings are folded into a funnel shape, scooped in an appropriate amount of soaked glutinous rice, then put on the filling, and then scooped in an appropriate amount of glutinous rice, wrapped and tied with rice dumpling rope, usually using saltwater grass to bind.
In the area of Heyuan and Lianping, gray water dumplings are the standard of Dragon Boat Dumplings. As a Hakka feature, grey water dumplings are more common in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, and are the favorite of hakka people, and the annual Dragon Boat Festival is extremely popular. Gray water dumplings, it should sound like black and not slippery autumn, but in fact, it is very stunning, crystal clear, golden color, very suitable for cold eating. Grey water dumplings should be regarded as the most basic local rice dumplings, dipped in honey or brown sugar, it is a sweet rice dumpling. At present, gray water dumplings have also evolved into salty rice dumplings, filled with sesame seeds, peanuts, pork and so on.
The so-called gray water, that is, the water of grass and wood ash, is the ash after the burning of plants, the water is dissolved and filtered with water, the main component is potassium carbonate, which belongs to natural alkali. Therefore, gray water dumplings are also called alkali water dumplings. According to reports, the production of gray water grass and wood ash is the key to the whole zongzi, not just burning a pile of grass. The commonly preferred grass is soybean shell, early rice straw, wormwood, mosquito grass, banana leaves are also commonly used, in addition to duck foot wood, sesame stems, tea seed shells, neem leaves, and even broom branches and other strange grasses can be used, but to "adjust" a good effect, you need to dry and mix several different grasses, put into a large iron pot to burn, burn the ashes after burning, and count the real grass and wood ash.
Hakka grey water dumplings generally wrap two layers of rice dumpling leaves, the outermost layer is dried bamboo leaves or reed leaves, and the inside is the fresh leaves of wild marcuss on the mountain.
Dongguan Daojiao steaming is generally made of fine pork belly, salted egg yolk, mung bean glutinous rice, Xianglian, plus garlic, sand ginger, five-spice powder and other condiments, and then wrapped with soaked soft washed fine green bamboo dumpling leaves, tied with Dongguan salty grass, soaked in boiling water, boiled for several hours.
When it comes to characteristics, Leizhou's duck mother dumpling can be said to be the most "creative" in appearance.
The leaves are selected from the local bitter thorns, peeled off the thorns on the leaves, washed, woven into the shape of a "duck mother", and cooked before eating. The cooked bitter thorns have a strong flavor and the filling is filled with leaves from a locally endemic plant, making it delicious and delicious.
It is not difficult to find authentic Leizhou duck mother dumplings, which can be seen in the streets and alleys of Leizhou City.
When it comes to Fengkai, many people think that it belongs to the Zhaoqing area, so the local rice dumplings and Zhaoqing wrapped steaming should be the same. But in fact, the rice dumplings here still have their own unique features.
According to a local friend, some places in Fengkai are not popular to eat steaming, but prefer a local unique zongzi, but this zongzi does not have a special name. The filling of this kind of rice dumpling is not much different from that of ordinary rice dumplings, but it will generally put some chicken meat and even mountain goods into it.
What is more peculiar is that the rice dumplings here are not wrapped in ordinary leaves, but with "diamond horn leaves". It is said that this kind of rice dumplings can only be eaten locally, and it is difficult to see them again when you leave the city.
END
Graphic | Feng Ruijun
Some of the image sources are | Integrated network
Edit | Peng Rouqi