Fan Xiaoqing
Suzhou is a city of food.
Suzhou people pay attention to eating, which is beyond doubt.
Even if you cook your own food and eat it yourself, it is sloppy. Braised, must be thick oil red sauce; raw stir-fried, to be turquoise and green; steamed, to use a low flame; an ordinary salty rice, must also be boiled with bone broth, to add fresh shrimp, fresh scallops, salted meat, green vegetables, and finally add a little pepper, but also eat hot.
If you want to go to a restaurant, it is not casual, and the place you don't like will never go there.
In order to eat a bowl of delicious noodles, Suzhou people can not waste time and gasoline, far away to drive to eat bowl noodles are also a lot of people, where Suzhou to make noodles a little famous restaurant, Zhu Hongxing, Tong Dexing, Lu Changxing, Lu Zhenxing, Lu Yang, Xucheng Building, Suzhou people are like a number of family treasures.
Red noodle soup in Suzhou
Red soup noodles, white soup noodles, lasagna, thin noodles, hard noodles, rotten noodles, summer noodles, winter lamb soup noodles, many old Suzhou, a bowl of noodles in the morning, much tighter than the morning laziness.
As for going to Mudu Shijia Restaurant for dinner, to the library to drink sheep soup, to Kunshan to eat boiled stove noodles, for others, it is too much trouble, for Suzhou people, it is a common thing, running a little road is what it is, eating satisfactorily is the most important.
Nowadays, people pay attention to health, self-preservation, and rarely eat lard, but there are many people in Suzhou who still love lard, in their words, fragrant, really fragrant, salivating.
Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer dishes to make dishes with lard, and merchants have abstained from lard like them in order to please customers. So the lard flatbread that remains the most impressive thing in our memory is almost extinct and cannot be found.
But Suzhou people, who really pay attention to eating, still have the ability to find lard cakes with historical flavor in the corners of Suzhou's alleys, and then, every morning, on the way to work, they are close and far, and when the traffic is rushing, they take a detour to that place. It is said that there is a double pagoda near Dinghui Temple Lane, and there is a suyuan street area, I have not been, but I have heard many Suzhou people say many times, in those alleys, you can see, ordinary people, white-collar workers of the company, leaders of the organs, they are all together, queuing, buying lard flatbread.
In Suzhou, and follow the foodies, it is certainly worth the trip.
Mudu Shijia Hotel
It is said that the old Shijia Hotel on the old street of Mudu Old Town is the favorite of Suzhou people. There are often groups of Suzhou people, not far away, driving together to the Mudu Shijia Hotel.
As soon as you enter Mudu Ancient Town, you will be greeted by an old street, and it is a kind of familiar atmosphere that has been missing for a long time, and it is a familiar atmosphere that seems to be familiar. In fact, this kind of charm has been pervading and gathering in our hearts for many years, and finally, today, I stand here, in close contact with it, and integrate with it in all directions. The feeling of the villagers we carried finally relaxed, and we walked along the street.
Mudu Ancient Town
The old street is ancient, and the exquisite tiles on the eaves and the quiet stones under the feet are all in line with our intentions. With the extension of the old street, we can continue to go forward, we can linger here, but now, we have stopped, we have not forgotten our original intention, we are here to eat.
The Shijia Hotel has appeared in front of our eyes, in the middle of the old street, it is both low-key and warm, where it greets us.
The old Shijia Hotel on the old street of Mudu Old Town still maintains a rustic and true local atmosphere, which immediately drunk us.
Entering the hall on the first floor, it is like the large canteen we used to be familiar with, the old-fashioned square tables and ordinary stools are not sparse and just right. Some ordinaryly dressed guests were eating, some ordinary waiters were at work, mostly middle-aged women, who looked calm and did not rush between tables, giving guests a plate of very ordinary-looking home cooking.
Going up to the second floor, I always thought that there would be some packaging and changes here, but when I went upstairs, I found that the second floor was also a large canteen-style hall, which was not related to the palatial, and the tall was not bounded, and there was even no new feeling, still some ordinary guests were eating, and some ordinary waiters were working.
We sat down to order and then started tasting. There is no doubt that in the ordinary shop, together with ordinary guests, ordinary waiters served ordinary-looking dishes, the taste is selling, but it is not ordinary at all.
We all know that it is not easy to make sea cucumber shark fin delicious, and it is not easy to make green vegetables and tofu commendable. The master chef of the Shijia Hotel, serving his Shijia sauce recipe, will make many people unforgettable for a lifetime. I remember that day, we went to the Shijia Restaurant to eat a few people, some people usually do not eat fat meat, some people have cholecystitis or bad stomach, but they can not resist the temptation of the sauce, eat a mouth full of oil, satisfied.
There are also delicious and not greasy dishes, refreshing and refreshing, three shrimp tofu, with shrimp meat shrimp brain that has just been peeled out of the shell by hand, and tofu is burned together, this tofu is not ordinary tofu, it is specially made by the monks of Lingyan Mountain, extra white and tender.
Quickly scoop a spoonful, be careful to burn the mouth, but it is hot or not, it is not hot, it can't be taken care of, it is really a mouthful.
It seems that in that season, the spotted fish has not yet grown up, and if you come in autumn, you can still taste the world-famous catfish lung soup.
Catfish Lung Soup Image from "Harbin University Apricot Grove Apricot Tan Blog"
Yu Youren inscribed: "Guizhou Mu Du Yu Kan, thank you Shi Jia Cat Lung Soup." "It turned out that in the old days, during the Republic of China, many celebrities came here to eat, and even earlier, it is said that even the Qianlong Emperor came. However, no matter who comes, Shijia Hotel will always be so simple, always so exquisite quality, this brand, belongs to everyone.
Therefore, Suzhou people specially ran out of Suzhou City and ran to restaurants in the suburbs to eat, is it worth it?
value.
In the early years, Shijia Hotel has opened a large and new store in Mudu Town, and in recent years, it has opened a chain of stores in Suzhou City, and the most foreign and modern Jinji Lake LigongDi also has a Shijia Hotel. However, no matter where the Shijia Restaurant is opened, the Suzhou taste of Shijia cuisine will not change.
Hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake
In the spring, a few friends from the north came, sitting in the tea house in Suzhou to drink tea, talking about Suzhou, talking about the hairy crabs of Yangcheng Lake, causing everyone to start secretly swallowing spit. They often go south and north, Suzhou has come more than once or twice, as long as they come in the autumn, they can eat Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, and have eaten more than once or twice, but one of them has a little doubt that has always been in his mind, because everyone says that Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are good, but he does not dare to say it, why does he not feel good?
Until last autumn, he came again, this time not to eat hairy crabs in hotels and restaurants, he was led to Lotus Island in Yangcheng Lake and ate hairy crabs. So he said, I know what a hairy crab in Yangcheng Lake is. It turned out that none of the hairy crabs I had eaten before were Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.
As a Suzhou native, I certainly know About Yangcheng Lake, I have been in close contact, I have been close, I have taken a speedboat to circle the lake, and the water splashes on my face. As for the Lotus Island in Yangcheng Lake, it is also quite famous, a place that I have longed for for a long time but have not been able to go. Once, I was already walking on the way to Lotus Island, halfway to the end, I almost heard the sound of the lake, but suddenly because of something else, I returned halfway; another time, I had already made an appointment with my friend to go to Lotus Island to eat crabs, but my friend put the meal in the restaurant in the city. Rubbing shoulders with Lotus Island again and again, so that Lotus Island is more and more mysterious in my heart, the temptation is getting bigger and bigger, I can't help but ask a friend who has been to Lotus Island about Lotus Island, he said, Lotus Island, in addition to the lake light and water shadow you can imagine, farm scenery, fresh fish and vegetables, there is a scenery that is spectacular, there are speedboats, the river surface is like a street, speedboats come and go, just like boats driving on the street, on both sides of the fence of crabs, like high-rise buildings in the city. This strange landscape has touched my yearning more and more, and I think that by the fall of this year, my wish should come true. Imagine that the day when the autumn breeze gradually rises and the sky is refreshing, calling friends to go to the lotus island on Yangcheng Lake to taste the hairy crabs of Yangcheng Lake.
Hairy crabs
This day finally came, although there was some rain, but everyone was in a high mood, and they didn't care to see how the lotus island was covered with greenery, nor did they have time to feel the charm and breath of this paradise, and even didn't think of seeing what the fishermen who raised crabs were doing, so we rushed straight to the subject.
And look at the crabs brought to the table, only the body is large and fat, red shell white belly, golden claws and yellow hair, ten limbs are healthy, such as fake replacement.
Can't be polite, can't wait any longer, wait for the saliva to fall down, hurry up and eat.
That is called a fat and tender and delicious, that is called a creamy yellow incense, has always been a group of literati who can speak the Tao, where a mouth is unwilling to stop, and like to describe, and used to exaggerate, but in front of the hairy crab, the mouth is not enough, the words are not enough, it is really wonderful, speechless condensation.
In the past, everyone decided that as long as they had eaten crabs, other good dishes would be tasteless, which was really not false, it was really worthy of the name.
My mouth seemed to be even more sturdy, because from then on, I rarely ate any other crab. After enjoying the authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crab on Lotus Island, it is really difficult to empathize with other crabs, and this kind of lifelong feeling for the authentic Yangcheng Lake crab is a lifelong feeling, although it is a little paranoid and more narrow, but it is the unchangeable insistence of a Suzhou foodie.
Library of lamb
Autumn is almost over, winter is coming, and farmers from the book village on the outskirts of Suzhou have come to Suzhou to open a mutton shop. They rented an old house in the streets and alleys of Suzhou, the façade was along the street, the shop hall put a few old square tables and some long benches, and there was also a table by the door, and there was a cupboard on the table, which was cooked lamb, haggis, braised, white-boiled, and such things as lamb loins. Frozen lamb is more expensive, when the weather is not too cold, it can also be frozen, frozen into a square piece, the knife cut down, but also square neat. There was also a cutting board on the table, which was used to cut lamb, the cutting board was very thick, there was a layer of grease on it, and scraping with a knife could scrape off a lot, but they generally did not scrape it. A large wooden barrel sits on the stove, always steaming, some people buy a lamb or haggis, to add soup twice, and some people have to add soup three times, so the lamb soup will be guaranteed to be good. There is a bowl of turquoise garlic in the bowl next to it, chopped, people who eat sheep soup can catch garlic by themselves, and some people do not eat garlic, but some people who eat garlic always say, drink sheep soup without enlarging garlic How to eat? There were peppers and salt on every square table, and they were also put by the people who ate the mutton soup themselves. In the cold weather, people walk outside, frozen and trembling, walk into the lamb shop, drink a bowl of mutton soup, it will be warm, the mood will be better, the spirit is also refreshed, when you go out, it is like changing a person.
Sheep are kept in sheep pens in the countryside, and when the time comes, they are pulled out and killed. The family put the freshly killed sheep in snakeskin bags, took a minibus, brought the sheep up, and in the stove house behind the shop, they cooked the lamb and sold it. Lamb is fresh, not frozen meat, and people who often eat lamb and drink mutton soup can eat it as soon as they eat it, so in the autumn, the mutton shop opens out, and the business is very good. Li Shizhen said in the "Compendium of Materia Medica": Mutton, sweet, bitter, hot, non-toxic, can cure many diseases. In the past, in Traditional Chinese medicine, there were many prescriptions for using mutton as the main ingredient.
Such a business can last for several months, wait for the cold winter to pass, spring, and before the spring blooms, they will close their doors and go home. This house was taken back by the owner and rented to other people to open other shops, and the average family could only open until October, when the lamb shop was coming again.
Every year at that time, a farmer would rent a house on the street, and he would become a temporary boss from a farmer, and the fragrant smell of mutton wafted into the street, and many Suzhou people would come in and shout: sheep soup, mutton, haggis. Business is good, the colder the day, the better the business.
If the temporary boss is young, then it is conceivable that his father and grandfather have long been doing the mutton business in Suzhou, perhaps this store has been rented by his father or grandfather, but this possibility is not very likely, because the urban construction of Suzhou has changed a lot, and the lamb shop in winter must have been relocated with the relocation. It's just that no matter where it moves, someone always comes in to eat lamb and drink mutton soup.
The storefront of the lamb shop is not a new rent, but it is not a permanent rent, it is seasonal. Now Suzhou mutton shop has been opened to other places, Shanghai has, Nanjing also has, but in other places to eat Suzhou mutton, can not eat the taste of Suzhou, this can not be regarded as a strange thing, after all, the water is not the same, the fire is not the same, the environment is not the same, the people who eat it are not the same.
Mutton shops generally do better business at night than during the day, and Suzhou people like to come out at night or even in the middle of the night to eat mutton soup. They walk the streets at night and see the lamb shop and will feel like home, it's cozy. They would stop, or get off their bikes, or get out of a car and walk into the store, a very cheap bowl of hot and fresh eyebrows but not at all greasy lamb soup under the belly, really racing through the fairy days.
This issue is edited by Peng Weixuan