Xu Xiake, a ming dynasty travel master, once visited Qingyan along this ancient road and recorded the "Qingya Bridge" in his travel notes "Xu Xiake's Travels". At that time, Qingyan called it Qingya, and as the name suggests, Qingya Bridge is today's Qingyan Bridge.
There is a stream coming out of the northwest gorge, and then turning east, and the stone beams cross it, which is the Qingya Bridge. The water reaches the East Boundary Mountain from the east under the bridge, and the southeast is injected into the valley... To the south of the bridge, half a mile, into the north gate of Qingya City. Its city is newly built, the old is east, and now it is folded in the east corner and the west is on the peak, and there are quite tile buildings in the city.
- "Xu Xia's Travels"
For a foodie, there is only one criterion for judging whether a place is worth a visit – is there a place worth lingering on or must-eat?
Whether it is in Qingyan Ancient Town or in Downtown Guiyang, if you see a vessel like a teapot, steaming hot, there is a wooden zhen in the lid of the pot, and the steam bubbles out through the white cake, which is the place where the cake porridge is sold.
Today in Guiyang to eat cake porridge, it is highly recommended to taste in Qingyan Ancient Town, where the traditional practice of cake porridge is completely preserved. It is one of the few sweets in Qingyan and a delicacy that has been passed down for hundreds of years.
I have been to Qingyan Ancient Town countless times, but I have not felt tired, after a month or two I want to go to eat a circle, to Qingyan, my purpose is only one, that is, to "eat" qingyan, indeed Qingyan's brine pig's feet, rose sugar, chicken spicy horn, cake porridge, dried tofu has made many people who have been to Qingyan linger, go and want to go.
In the streets and alleys of Qingyan Ancient Town, there are many families that make cakes and porridges, I only recognize "Xie Family Centennial Cake Dumplings", to Qingyan I must eat, the taste also has a sense of fragrance and texture that other homes do not have. This famous Xie family bainish is diagonally opposite the ticket office of Qingyan Ancient Town Scenic Area (West Gate), a small old mansion façade, the signboard is not very conspicuous, and the store is a little dim, very unremarkable. If you are not careful, it is easy to miss, I have made this kind of mistake, and it is not the kind of old-fashioned shop I imagined.
Xie Laobo, the inheritor of the 100-year cake dumpling, is a very solid person, the store is clean, and he is not very deliberate to run the brand. The shop uses porcelain bowls to serve cakes for customers to eat, which alone is much more "tall" than using plastic bowls. When I went, I happened to meet someone in the store who wanted to pack it up and bring it to the elderly at home to eat, and after being directly rejected by Xie Laobo, he said: "Bring it back so far, one is that the taste is not good, and the other is that the hot weather is realized that it is not good for the old man's stomach."
Regarding the Xie family's centennial cake, according to Xie Laobo, in 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, fled from the court to Qingyan, to make porridge for a living, originally in the north is called porridge, but after 1900 with the evolution of the times in Guizhou Qingyan is called cake porridge, and this bowl of cake porridge has been 299 years.
After the couple came to Qingyan, they passed on their livelihood skills to Grandpa Xie Yonggang. Xie's maternal grandfather surname Che, is a famous Che Mo Gong in the neighborhood of Qingyan, the Che surname comes from the Manchu, belongs to the cultural Sinicization of the surname to the clan, Che's Mandarin pronunciation is chē. Che Mogong passed on the craft to his eldest daughter, Xie Yonggang's mother, known as Lao Zu, who in turn passed on the craft to his younger son, Xie Yonggang. Passed down from generation to generation, there is today's "centennial cake dumplings". Nowadays, Xie Laobo uses the ancestral secret recipe plus a pair of skillful hands to concoct a bowl of fragrant Guizhou famous snacks, which has become one of Guiyang's gourmet business cards.
There are other historical records of "Xie Family Centennial Cake" on the Internet, and I have repeatedly consulted Lao Bo Xie, and the old man himself told me that those are not reliable. As for whether it is true or not, I can't verify it, at least I personally think that the history of this cake is true and passed down to the generation of Xie Laobo.
A square table, several plates of ingredients, a piece of cake, a few spoonfuls of lotus flour, in the hands of Xie Laobo, in less than two minutes, will become a bowl of sweet and delicious cake porridge. Don't just look at this small bowl, in fact, there is a lot of exquisiteness. Xie Laobo also told me that there are dozens of ways to make cake dumplings, because of his age, he is currently passing them on to his daughter, because the production process involves a lot of operation techniques and experience, his daughter has mastered more than a dozen methods, and often complains to him why the daily practice is different, as for the specific reasons, there will be some simple introductions below.
Xie Laobo picked up a blue and white porcelain bowl, scooped a few spoonfuls of glutinous rice syrup, and then put some broken raw materials into the bowl, burning a pot of boiling water on the side of the stove fire, the spout was steaming, a delicate small wooden Zhen was placed in the position of the kettle lid, the wood Zhen had an egg-sized round hole inside, and a small round piece of rice cake-like stuff was filled into the small wooden zhen, through the hot steam in the kettle. This is done in the heated cake for easy stirring. Then he quickly poured out almost half a bowl of boiling water, the bowl gently shook in his hand a few times, and then put the hot cake into the bowl, and then added rose sauce, peanuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped winter melon strips, and other condiments, a bowl of cake porridge was made.
Xie Laobo also told us that when pouring hot water from the cake pot, the water of the spout should go half a circle at the bottom of the bowl, otherwise the lotus powder will be half raw. In addition, the cake porridge is ready, a bowl of cake porridge is carried in the hand, and it is too late to be hot, so you have to quickly dissolve the cake, and then turn the filling to the sky, so that the cake porridge that is adjusted out is even and smooth to eat. The thickness of the lotus flour, with the refreshing sweetness of the cake, the taste is delicate and fluffy, with a faint sweetness of lotus powder and cake, and a faint rose aroma, it is very delicious.
In fact, a palm-sized bowl of cake porridge, the current cake a total of 14 kinds of ingredients, of which in addition to mung beans, soybeans, bowl beans, lotus flour, etc., seemingly simple, in fact, the method is very complicated, to go through dozens of processes to complete. Xie Laobo also said that this ancestral secret recipe, the original cake ingredients are hundreds of kinds, there are party ginseng, tianma, eucommia and other high-grade ingredients, the production is very cumbersome, labor-consuming, cost is also very high, and now the 14 kinds of ingredients of the cake is only the current simplified version, the purpose is to let more diners can enjoy this bowl of cake at a low price.
In the past few decades of research, Xie Laobo has summed up a set of his own know-how: "In the combination of the number of ingredients and moisture, the amount is determined according to different temperatures and humidity, and different seasons have different preparation methods." "But most of these tricks are measured by feelings, and there is no absolute standard."
Mung beans are only used in spring and summer, summer mung beans, soybeans, peas, corn flour less; autumn season do not use mung beans, soybeans, peas, corn flour to more; hit glutinous rice and sticky rice pulp water, sunny days, glutinous rice less sticky rice more; cloudy days, glutinous rice more, sticky rice less; summer, to 7 kg of sticky rice, 3 kg of glutinous rice; winter to 8 kg of sticky rice, 2 kg of glutinous rice.
In addition, there are two tools for cake porridge, a cake porridge tin pot, Xie Laobo said that this tin pot has been used since the end of the Qing Dynasty, but due to historical reasons, it was buried deep in the ground in 1957, and was only dug up and used until the end of the Cultural Revolution, until 1997 when it was gloriously "retired", but it is still retained by him today. The other is a bronze pot with rose juice and a top for taking cakes, but both of these things were smashed during the Cultural Revolution, and it is a pity that they cannot be copied.
As the inheritor of the centennial cake porridge, Xie Laobo began to learn to make cake porridge from the age of 14, this tune is decades, this bowl of cake porridge Xie family has insisted on 119 years, creating a cake porridge to become a must of Qingyan cuisine, the taste naturally does not need me to say more, especially admire Xie Laobo, in today's market economy, to insist on not opening branches and not to join, insist on keeping their own small shops. He also said that he will retire in 2020 and leave it to his descendants to run.
Finally, I need to prompt a few points:
You can't smoke in the store, if you smoke friends pay attention
First, the building of the centennial cake shop belongs to the wooden structure, if the cigarette butts are littered, it is particularly easy to cause fires.
Second, because the store is very narrow, it is also relatively crowded, if someone smokes, plus the ventilation in the store is not very good, it is easy to force people who do not smoke to smoke second-hand smoke.
Some people think that the owner of this shop, Mr. Xie, is a bit of a trick, but I really think it's a selective principle, and I like this old man who is a bit grumpy.
After eating, do not sit and chat for a long time
Xie family centennial cake shop only a few tables in total, encounter holidays also need to queue, coupled with the narrow shop, in and out of the very inconvenient, plus the store also belongs to the small business, it is recommended to withdraw after eating. If you want to rest, there are cafes in the alleys not far away.
If you can't eat too sweet, you can tell the store that adding less sugar is enough.
Can not take pig's feet into the store, as I said above, the narrow space in the store is small, one is the taste is large, affecting others. Second, if you spit on the ground, the store is more troublesome to clean.
Centennial Cake Dumplings: Only this one, no branches
Address: Qingyan Ancient Town West Ming and Qing Street No. 41