A century-old flavor at the Bashu wedding banquet: tracing the origins of landmark food at a traditional wedding banquet
In eastern Sichuan, an authentic Chinese wedding banquet often starts with a bowl of braised pork. This not only awakens the taste buds, but also allows the continuation of ancient traditional customs. The five-striped three-layered parts of local grain pigs are selected and simmered over slow fire for more than two hours in a wood-burning stove. The finished product is red and shiny in color, fat but not greasy, and it seems to melt in the mouth. This rich color of "Sichuan East Red" means that the days to come will be full of prosperity. It is an absolutely indispensable dish for local wedding banquets and is regarded as a "high-status, important and delicious dish". With the "sweet roasted white" (i.e. longan meat) that is served immediately after it is served, it has become another representative signature item at wedding banquets in the Sichuan Basin. Put the glutinous rice and the fragrant fried bean paste into the thinly sliced pork belly slices, and steam them until they are soft and glutinous with a sweet aroma. Let the oil soak in the rice fragrance, which means that the couple's future life will be sweet and prosperous.
The sight moves eastward to the water towns of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the exquisiteness of the wedding banquet is hidden in the combination of water immortals and lake fresh food. In traditional wedding banquets in Suzhou and Wuxi, there will definitely be a dish that uses whole Taihu white fish as an ingredient, or alternatively, mandarin fish. What kind of dish was made? It was the extremely famous "Squirrel Mandarin Fish", or another dish called "Sweet and Sour Water". After cutting the body of the fish, it is then deep-fried in oil. After frying, the fish appears with its head raised and its tail raised. Then it is poured with very hot and boiling marinade. At this time, there is a sound like "squeaking". This sound seems to be an auspicious omen, similar to the auspicious and beautiful omen of "carp leaping over the dragon's gate". The color of this dish is a very bright and shiny orange-red color. The taste is a perfect match of sour and sweet, making it very palatable. It is crispy on the outside and fresh and tender on the inside. It not only relies on the auspicious words of "more than enough every year" and a flattering expression, but also relies on the image created by a complete fish, which corresponds to people's expectations for a "complete" marriage. It is often paired with a dish called stir-fried shrimp produced in the Taihu area. In the Wu dialect, the pronunciation word corresponding to shrimp and the word "welcome" which means happy welcome and sending are completely consistent and very similar. It contains a kind of meaning of hoping that the guests will come to the host's place, and in the end both the guest and the host can have a very happy and joyful experience.
In the hinterland of Lingnan, the traditional wedding banquet held in Guangdong, also known as "showing wine", is a perfect combination of the original taste of the ingredients and the auspicious meaning. As for the lobster cooked in stock and baked "full of deep friendship and sweetness", you must choose fresh live lobsters produced in the waters of the South China Sea. The meat is firm, tight and elastic. The carapace is "red like when ripe citrus" and the vermicelli made of minced garlic as white as snow together form an infectious visual enjoyment, conveying the meaning of wealth, nobility and long-lasting emotions. Among the wedding banquets held in Shunde, special attention is paid to a dish called "Snow Clam Stewed Shark's Fin". Nowadays, most of them are substituted with plain fins and fish maw. It is made by simmering the stock made from old chicken and ham, and makes it have a golden and clear color. The soup is very concentrated and rich in ingredients, which is very eye-catching. This very well reflects or expresses the Cantonese people's desire to "expand their ambitions". The unpretentious expression of sincerity without any fancy, the sincere and sincere yearning is the kind of meaning that is truly displayed.
Wedding banquets in the north bring the simplicity and enthusiasm of the Loess Plateau and North China Plain. In the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi, there must be a bowl of "biangbiang noodles" with oily and spicy seeds in the banquet, or else it is "Qishan Saozi Noodles". The noodles are the kind that are generous, and they contain the meaning of deep and long-lasting friendship. In the black land of Northeast China, the climax of a wedding banquet is often triggered by a dish called "Four-Xi Meatballs". This dish uses meat from the front part of the pig, which is chopped into a filling by hand. After it is beaten to produce enough strength, it is formed into fist-sized balls. It is first fried and then steamed. The final color is brownish red. The meat is very soft. When you take a bite, juice will overflow. This dish corresponds to the four happy events of "luck, wealth, longevity, and happiness". Not only that, it also relies on the characteristics of being very generous, generous, and heavy with a sense of weight, highlighting the inherent regional characteristics of the Northeastern people that are hospitable, down-to-earth, and kind-hearted.
Regardless of north or south, the last dessert of a wedding banquet is almost a customary blessing.
In the wedding banquet held for the Hakka people, the soup obtained by stewing the "red dates, peanuts, longan, and lotus seeds" that represent the allegorical meaning of the food is called "Early Born Takako Soup". It is the last important step that always exists in the entire wedding banquet process. The finale selection has an irreplaceable top priority.
The soup is ruddy and sweet, with the aroma of dates and longan intertwined with each other. It is not only a perfect ending for the taste buds, but also carries the clan's deepest expectations for new members to spread their branches, continue the family, and extend the bloodline.
For example, the roasted pork from Bashu, the suckling pig from Lingnan, the mandarin fish from Jiangnan, and even the steamed noodles from Guanzhong, every dish served at a wedding banquet is a condensation of local products, history and humanistic spirit in taste. Together they explain the true meaning of food culture such as "eat in China, taste everywhere".
Comments NOTHING