When it comes to stewed hangings, gourd heads, and chaotian pots, it is estimated that many people will be confused and do not know its taste. But for senior gourmets, these are not strange at all, they are all "second brother eight precepts bath"- pigs into the water, contributing to the ultimate delicacy. Don't look at the road from the bottom, but tracing back to the source, these three delicacies are all tied out of the "famous door".
Stew hangings
There are not many cities in the country that love to eat and can eat "pigs into the water", and Beijing is one. Stewed hangings, a very famous snack in old Beijing, nowadays, when you walk into a restaurant that flaunts the flavor of old Beijing, the "stewed hangings" on the menu must be indispensable.
Why is it called "stew hanging"? Some people have complained that there is always the association of "stewed hanging wire". However, it did once call it a "hanging silk exclusive dish" – because pig sewage was a good source of protein, and in the old days it was an alternative to meat for people who were not so well off economically. Later, people innovated a variety of eating methods, and pigs gradually became popular in the halls and became a delicious "identity". In fact, the explanation for the dip with the "stewed hanging" is that because the pots and cans used for boiling in ancient times were generally called "hangings", the stewed pigs were simply and rudely became "stewed hangings".
As for the origin of "stew hanging", it is said that in the old days, old Beijing had a kind of "Su-made meat" from Suzhou, which was deeply loved by Qianlong and introduced to the folk, which was stewed with long fatty meat supplemented by various sauces to the extremely rotten, the taste was extremely thick and greasy, and when eating, the meat was mostly embedded in the fire and eaten. Later, Su Zao Meat had two "children", one called brine boiling fire, and the other called stew hanging. Boiling is a large pot of boiling, the fire and stewed pig intestines and pig lungs together to cook; stewed hanging, then mainly pig intestines, add pig heart, pork belly, pig lungs, etc., but do not add pork liver, simmer in a small casserole pot slow simmering. The two taste similar, both are all kinds of flavor, all kinds of relief, but also a delicious dish in autumn and winter. However, at present, the simmering of small pots of slow simmers seems to be slightly more expensive than the brine cooked in large pots.
Gourd head
Hulutou is a traditional snack in Xi'an, Shaanxi, and in the recent CCTV hit Shaanxi style drama "Loading Stage", the protagonist Shunzi starring Zhang Jiayi mentioned that he wanted to eat gourd head every three forks and five minutes. The history of gourd head is even older. Legend has it that in the Tang Dynasty, the capital city of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an City) had a snack made of pork intestines called "fried white intestines", but the taste was thick and not many people ate it. One day, Sun Simiao, a famous doctor and medicine king of the Tang Dynasty, accidentally ate "fried white intestines" in a small shop specializing in pork offal, picked up the bowl and just ate a few bites, the smell of the riot was rushing to the nose, the taste was greasy, and it was difficult to swallow. Sun Simiao said to the shopkeeper: "The intestines are gold, and the gold is water, so it has the function of lowering fire and quenching thirst." The belly belongs to the soil, centered, for the tonic and nourishing the body. Although the object is good, but the improper modulation is also in vain. Therefore, he took out from the medicinal gourd he carried with him, such aromatic and stomach-strengthening spices as Xi Daxiang, Shangyuan Gui, and Hanyin pepper, and gave them to the shopkeeper along with the medicinal gourd. The shopkeeper put these spices into the pot and sure enough, the aroma was overflowing. Since then, this small shop has been prosperous and well-located. The shopkeeper did not forget the grace of the doctor's guidance, hung the medicine gourd on the door head, and renamed the "fried white intestine" sold as "gourd head". There is also a simpler way to say that because the pig's large intestine is thicker and shaped like a gourd, it is called "gourd head".
The basic raw materials of gourd head are pig intestine and pork belly. By the 1930s, gourd heads had developed from meat to many varieties including seafood, and pork gourd heads had undergone some changes in ingredients, such as adding bones and chicken to soups to make the soup more mellow. The diner first breaks the steamed bun into pieces, and the chef arranges the cut pork intestines and chicken, sea cucumbers, squid, etc. on the crushed buns, soaks them three or four times with boiling bone broth, and then adds cooked lard and green vegetables. When eaten, it is accompanied by sugar garlic, hot sauce, etc., which is fresh and tender, fat but not greasy.
ChaoTian pot
Chaotian pot is a special snack in Weifang, Shandong. The name is very atmospheric, and it is said that it is related to Zheng Banqiao. Zheng Banqiao was an official for 12 years in his lifetime, and 7 years were in Wei county (now Weifang) when he left his post and returned to his hometown of Yangzhou, the city of Weixian was empty of thousands of people, "the people cried bitterly and stayed, and the family portraits were worshipped." Zheng Banqiao, who returned to Yangzhou to live, also wrote a poem "Huaiwei City": "Lovesickness is endless and lovesickness, and the spring light of Weishui is late everywhere." Thirty miles away from the peach blossoms, the Mandarin Duck Temple meets the Liu Lang Ancestral Hall. "After 7 years of life in Weixian County, Zheng Banqiao has formed a deep relationship with the people of Weixian County, and has also left a lot of anecdotes. Among them, there is an allusion to the "chaotian pot". At that time, when Zheng Banqiao was governing Weixian County, he was very concerned about the suffering of the people. In a certain year, he paid a private visit to understand the people's feelings, and when he saw that the peasants who rushed to the market in Weixian County at that time could not eat hot rice, he ordered people to set up a large iron pot in the market and cook hot rice for passers-by. The pot is mainly boiled pork water, supplemented by meatballs, dried tofu, etc., the soup is boiling and rotten, and the aroma is strong. Everyone sat around the pot, and the master of the pot scooped hot soup, added some coriander and sauce, etc., accompanied by thin dough cakes, knotty pickles, green onions, delicious, fat but not greasy, rich in nutrition. Because the pot has no lid, people call it "chaotian pot".
Today, in Weifang, chaotian pot has developed into a "chaotian feast": diners sit around a special table with a diameter of 50 cm and a depth of 65 cm in the center of the table, the mouth of the pot is flush with the tabletop, and there is special fuel at the bottom of the pot. In the pot, chicken and donkey meat are simmered in soup, stewed pork head, liver, lungs, heart, belly, intestines, and then accompanied by sweet noodle sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, knotty pickle strips, pepper, green onion, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, salt, coriander, sesame oil, green radish strips and other more than a dozen spices and cold dishes. The round table has a notch, and the waiter is at the notch, scooping out and cutting the meat in the pot according to the diner's request, and eating it with pancakes.
Pig sewage is originally a greasy and pickled thing, but the cooking dishes of stewed hangings, gourd heads, and chaotian pots have made it an irreplaceable classic delicacy, and in autumn and winter, the hot aroma is overflowing, accompanied by small wine, especially the hearts of the old and young masters.
Of course, the food should not only be satisfied with the taste, but also from the perspective of health. Fortunately, in addition to being irreplaceable and delicious, pig sewage is also very nutritious, containing protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C and niacin. Moreover, pig lungs have the effect of replenishing deficiency and cough; pig belly can make up for weakness, strengthen the spleen and stomach, suitable for people with weak qi and blood, and eat; pig large intestine has the effect of moisturizing, replenishing deficiency, quenching thirst, and stopping bleeding; pig heart has the effect of strengthening myocardial nutrition and enhancing myocardial contractility, and at the same time can calm the nerves and calm the nerves, nourish the heart and replenish the blood. However, because the general cholesterol and purine content of animal internal organs are relatively high, people with risks such as high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and gout should not be greedy, and eat as little or not as much as possible according to their physical condition.
Edit: Yan Mingming