Every time when Taizhou food is mentioned, foreign friends always look confused and ask what is there to eat in Taizhou. However, if you ask a Taizhou person, he can tell you on his fingers that the appearance will not be repeated for a long time. This city, nestled between mountains and the sea, hides many haunting ancient flavors. From street stalls to ordinary family dining tables, every bite is a reflection of the homesickness that the locals remember most deeply.
A piece of pie crust rolls up mountains and seas
Wheat fried tube is the name of the pancake tube in Jiaojiang, Taizhou, wheat oil is the name of Linhai people for pancake tube, dumpling pancake tube is the name of Tiantai people's customary name for pancake tube, and Maijiao is the name of Sanmen people for pancake tube. During the Chinese New Year, every household will prepare a table of dishes, spread out early and have a skin as thin as a cicada's wings. The family sits together and rolls whatever they want into the pancake tube. What is rolled into a pancake tube is not only a variety of dishes, but also the reunion of the family and the ups and downs of the year. The flavors collide on the tip of the tongue and the emotions blend in the heart.
Wheat shrimp is not a shrimp
When they first hear the name wheat shrimp, most people will think that it must be a seafood food. In fact, in Linhai, wheat shrimp is a very representative pasta snack. The so-called shrimp refers to its shape, while wheat reflects the texture. For a bowl of high-quality wheat shrimp, its shape should be well-proportioned and beautiful, the soup should be rich and fragrant, the ingredients should be rich and nutritious, and the taste should be chewy and smooth. However, the most important thing is the dedication of the person who made the wheat shrimp. Seeing the long vermicelli falling into the boiling water the moment it was cut off, a warm feeling surged in my heart.
Ai Qingxiang during Qingming Festival
Every one or two weeks before the Qingming Festival in Taizhou, every household starts busy purchasing Ai Qing. When fresh, the young shoots must be picked on the same day, and the old stems must be removed. The selected moxa greens must be washed and dried. In front of grandma's earthen stove, a drawer full of green dumplings was piled up layer by layer, and the steam was rising. When the family calls of "The green dumplings are out of the cage" come over, the fragrance of mugwort mixed with the sweetness of glutinous rice is the most down-to-earth taste of spring.
Reward the cattle with black rice and mochi
On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, there is an old rule in the Taizhou area that all cattle have to rest for a day, and every household needs to make black rice and mochi to reward them. This is a way for people to show respect to their loyal partners. The soft and glutinous mochi is dyed with the natural color of black rice leaves, and tastes like a unique herbal fragrance. It is sweet but not overly sweet, and glutinous but not sticky.
The stubbornness of ginger juice and eggs
If you haven’t tasted bean juice, you haven’t been to Beijing, and if you haven’t tasted ginger juice, you haven’t arrived in Taizhou. Taizhou people's love for ginger juice persists all year round, even in the scorching hot days of June 6 and March. All they have to do is say "a bowl of ginger juice, with walnuts and meat" to the store owner, sit down for about ten minutes, and a bowl of hot red ginger juice-tempered eggs in an enamel bowl will be placed on the table. The spicy flavor mixed with the aroma of egg makes your whole body warm after eating it.
Egg White Lamb Tail from Ziyang Street
On Ziyang Ancient Street in Linhai City, there is an old man who sells egg-white sheep tails. Many Taizhou people start eating them when they are young and continue to eat them until they grow up. With his grooved hands, he personally beat the egg whites into a creamy consistency, embedded them with enough red bean paste, rolled them in the pot, took them out, and then covered them with an appropriate amount of icing sugar. The golden-colored and round egg-white lamb tail, when you take a bite, the soft and waxy skin wrapped in bean paste explodes in your mouth. Well, it is indeed the warm taste of the old street.
The New Year flavor of pickled shrimp and fried rice candy
The happiest thing in childhood was following adults to buy pickled shrimps, tasting them while watching performances, and playing paper bombs with friends. As the New Year approaches, a sweet aroma fills the streets and alleys. If you follow this aroma, you will definitely find the fried rice candy stalls crowded with adults and children. The action of roasting seeds, rolling them flat, and operating the knife, with the crisp clicking sound, the smell of the Chinese New Year permeates the air.
These are not the only ancient flavors that Taizhou has. There are also rounded balls that look like they are wrapped in brown sugar, flat food that looks like gold ingots, bad soup that tastes like mother's, seaweed cakes that stand out on their own, bean noodles that heal people's hearts on winter nights, plum blossom cakes that have a sweet taste on the street corner, stone lotus paste that is an ancient local drink, and fourteen days that can amaze outsiders. Any single taste belongs to the memory that remains on the tongues of Taizhou people, and every time you take a bite, it will remind people of the appearance of their hometown.
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