Shandong, one of the world's three major vegetable gardens, is the birthplace of traditional Chinese cuisine Lu cuisine, because Shandong is located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River with a mild climate and thus created a rich and diverse landform, so it also laid a foundation for the rich and uniform selection of Lu cuisine ingredients, as early as the Spring and Autumn Warring States period Lu cuisine has begun to emerge, affected by the times At that time, the ingredients at that time were more cattle and sheep as the main dish, according to the literary and historical records of the time, it can be known that because the development of Lu cuisine once promoted the development of the catering industry.
The eating style of Lu cuisine was first influenced by the Confucian school of 'food is not tired of fine, not tired of fine', and later it was because Guan Zhong advocated 'eaters also, extravagant people also, and the people's wishes also." Enough to want, to support their wishes, you can use the ear' and form le lu cuisine yangyang grand view, open and fit the food selection style, compared to the fine Cantonese cuisine hot Sichuan cuisine, Lu cuisine although not internationally renowned, but because of the steady development has also had a certain basic impact on other cuisines.
As the oldest cuisine in China, Lu cuisine has also had many interesting stories from ancient times to the present and many literati and princes of Moke, and the lotus leaf wrapped meat today also has an interesting story.
It is said that in the past, lotus leaf wrapped meat was often mixed with another Beijing-style lotus leaf meat, but it should be known that the difference between the two is still very large, after all, one is a meat dish, the other is a genuine vegetarian dish, but because of the cooking skills and has the meat flavor and the name of the meat dish, the difference between lotus leaf meat and lotus leaf wrapped meat is thousands of miles.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there is such a poem describing the delicacy of lotus leaf wrapped meat, 'Pond ten miles to the lotus pond, sisters come to pick busy, do not pick lotus flowers to pick lotus leaves, rice wrapped lotus leaves than flowers', although as early as the Song Dynasty period there were already lotus leaf wrapped food made of dishes, but the real development is in the Qing Dynasty period, lotus leaf wrapped meat is the best seasonal cuisine in midsummer, so it is always in short supply, and the real appearance of lotus leaf wrapped meat is in the early Qing Dynasty.
A girl named Xia He has a lotus pond in the back of her hometown, in the middle of summer, the family returned to their hometown to escape the summer, Xia He avoided the family's subordinates and elders secretly ran to the back mountain to play, a person supported the boat swaying on the lake, after a while Xia He felt sleepy, as soon as she closed her eyes, there was a distant flute sound, Xia He opened her eyes to look for it, but did not see anything.
Xia He had the courage to close his eyes and go to the source of the sound of the flute, but found a small stone platform surrounded by dense lotus leaves, cracks had appeared on the historic stone platform, and the lotus leaves in the lotus pond had emerged from the gaps, Xia He felt that the lotus leaves on this stone platform were different from other lotus leaves, so he was curious to pick them back.
After going back, Xia He casually handed over the lotus leaf to the next person, but the next person thought that the lotus seeds in the lotus leaf were to be eaten by his own lady, so he sent it to the kitchen, the kitchen got fresh lotus leaves and thought of making a lotus leaf rice, adding some other materials in the middle, when it was served on the table, the fragrance was amazing, so the lotus leaf wrapped meat was famous, some people said that the lotus leaves on the stone platform were given to Miss Xia's family by the gods, and some people said that these were the stories that the Xia family had rumored for their own business. However, the good and evil of the past are still uncontested, but the summer fragrance carried by the lotus leaf wrapped meat will not be faked.
Although lotus leaf meat is called lotus leaf meat, but the process of making it does not add the slightest meat food, is the authentic style of Beijing food, because of the similar name to lotus leaf bun meat, so the two are often recognized as the same dish and caused controversy.
Lotus leaf wrapped meat as a seasonal delicacy, is wrapped in lotus leaves to ease the oil and dry heat of the ingredients themselves with the fragrance of lotus leaves, especially the lotus leaf flavor is light, can achieve lips and teeth to leave a long-standing characteristic flavor, as for lotus leaf meat is only because the production process is similar to lotus leaf wrapped meat;
Through cooking skills to achieve is not meat dishes but has the effect of meat taste, thus getting the name of lotus leaf meat, lotus leaf meat compared to the process of making lotus leaf meat is more simple, to know that the process of lotus leaf meat in order to process pork takes half an hour, and a little experience of the old diners from the production of pork can know the master's process, after all, pork processing is simple and simple, but to achieve the degree of lotus leaf meat needs, but need to go through the process of carbon roasting and high temperature boiling, Therefore, the pork selected for the lotus leaf wrapped meat is more pork belly, and the fat and lean parts are rich in the taste of the province's less seasoning, so the fragrance of the lotus leaf penetrates into the ingredients through the grease, and the color and flavor are strong.
Many first-time eaters of lotus leaf wrapped meat think that the outer layer of lotus leaves wrapped in ingredients can not be eaten, but in fact, lotus leaves are medicinal and food dual-purpose ingredients, while the lotus fragrance penetrates into the ingredients, the aroma of meat and rice is also integrated into the lotus leaves, a bite to eat can taste the richest taste in the skin, but also can feel the fragrance emitted by different ingredients layer by layer.
Lotus leaf is a more famous medicinal and food dual-use ingredients in Chinese medicine, although the lotus leaf is like a foil green leaf compared to the lotus that can be eaten and the lotus flower that can be seen, but the lotus leaf itself is rich in flavonoids that can increase coronary flow, and has a natural antagonistic effect on myocardial infarction, Chinese medicine is formed by Chinese people for more than 5,000 years of experience in fighting diseases, there are many scientific unexplained contents in Chinese medicine but it is a habitual phenomenon, according to the current development of Western medical science, It is believed that the flavonoid components contained in lotus leaves have high research value, but there is no substantial development at present.
The other two ingredients in the lotus leaf wrapped meat in addition to the lotus leaf are also common foods after all, which can supplement most of the energy needed in the human body, but the fat calories contained in both rice and pork are very high, so for the girls in health maintenance and weight loss, the lotus leaf wrapped meat is not welcome, but the middle-aged and elderly people have a higher degree of acceptance of it.
Chinese cuisine is an important part of China's traditional culture, each dish is the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people, is the essence of the times precipitated, the development of Chinese cuisine has been exported to overseas, even foreigners are amazed by the food Why are our people not valued? Are we, who are accustomed to looking to the future, forget the past one day in the future?
bibliography:
Lu Wenfu "Foodie"
Tang Lusun's "Chinese Eating"