China News Agency, Guangzhou, June 16th, title: Drinking tea in Guangfu: "one cup and two pieces" to taste Lingnan love
China News Agency reporter Cheng Jingwei
Food in Guangzhou, taste in Xiguan.
There are many time-honored Chinese restaurants in the Xiguan area of Guangzhou.
Strolling in the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street business district, many teahouses are still hanging high.
At 11:00 in the morning, at the entrance of the century-old Tao Tao Ju main store on Shifu Road, Shangxiajiu, there were already citizens queuing for a table.
In the lobby with Lingnan charm, Uncle Luo "Laoguang" (commonly known as Guangzhou people) picked up a pencil and selected dishes such as shrimp dumplings, chicken feet, boat porridge, red rice sausages and other dishes on the menu.
Uncle Luo has retired, and he and his relatives and friends come here to enjoy tea every once in a while.
There are not a few "old gluttons" like him.
The hot Cantonese dishes and Cantonese dishes, and diners chatting about the world, are a constant scene in Lingnan teahouses.
In the core business district of Guangzhou, it is often difficult to find a person in the teahouse.
However, Lingnan Tea House was not achieved overnight.
"From the tea house to the tea house, it is the symbol of the formation of the tea drinking culture of Guangzhou people." said Gong Bohong, a librarian of the Guangzhou Institute of Literature and History and the former deputy director of the Guangzhou Institute of Local History.
According to historical records, during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, Foshan, Guangzhou and other places began to have "li halls". Since the price of tea was only two cents, these shops were called "two cents".
Later, a more high-end tea house than the "Erli Pavilion" was born.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Guangzhou garden-style teahouses emerged, represented by Beiyuan Restaurant, Nanyuan Restaurant and Panxi Restaurant, which combined Lingnan food culture, architectural civilization and local characteristics.
Different from Chaozhou Gongfu Tea, which mainly focuses on tea tasting, Laoguang Drinking Tea is also called "Sighing Tea". Tea is often only a supporting role, and more importantly, snacks, dishes and porridge.
Old Guang people often say: "One cup and two pieces" is enough to sigh the world.
"One cup" refers to a pot of tea, and the more authentic ones include chrysanthemum tea, Pu'er tea, Tieguanyin, etc. "Two pieces" refers to two desserts, the most common ones include the "Four Heavenly Kings" - shrimp dumplings, dried Steamed siu mai, char siu buns and egg tarts.
Shrimp dumplings are crystal clear, smooth and delicious, just right for one bite; dry steamed siomai also has a unique soft, glutinous and sweet taste; the meat filling of barbecued pork buns is full of aroma and gravy; the traditional crispy egg tarts are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside , sweet and delicious, suitable for all ages...
The cooking process of Cantonese-style refreshments is often more elaborate.
Kang Yourong, a teacher of Guangzhou Tourism Business Vocational School and a Chinese cooking master, introduced that taking shrimp dumplings as an example, you should first mix the clear noodles, cornstarch, add salt and boiled water, and then cover and bake for 5 minutes to mature clear noodles. Add lard and knead to make a clear skin.
Roll the dough into long strips, cut into small pieces, about 15 grams each, flatten into a round shape, wrap in the shrimp dumpling stuffing, put it on the steamer, and steam for 6 minutes over high heat until cooked.
"The stuffing of shrimp dumplings should be refrigerated to make it coagulate and easy to operate. When filling, the dough should not be stained with the filling juice to prevent it from affecting the appearance. Steam it until cooked, and overheating will cause the finished product to crack." Kang Yourong said.
In the development history of more than 100 years, Cantonese refreshments have been constantly innovating.
"For Cantonese cuisine, whether 'authentic' cannot restrain the hands and feet of the masters, this is in line with the tolerance and openness of the Lingnan culture." Lin Weihui, a well-known food columnist in Guangzhou, told reporters that Huaiyang cuisine, which became famous earlier than Cantonese cuisine, is very important to Cantonese cuisine has a great influence.
Cantonese-style morning tea dim sum borrowed from Huaiyang cuisine dim sum and carried it forward, transforming from heavy carbohydrates to multi-protein, and it can still be seen that the two are very similar.
"Cantonese cuisine is not only good at learning from other Chinese cuisines, but also from Western food." Lin Weihui said that the various pastries, egg tarts, swan cakes, and durian cakes commonly found in Cantonese-style morning tea borrowed from Western-style butter shortening.
In recent years, the variety of Cantonese dim sum has been continuously enriched.
In the restaurant "Dian Du De" Guangzhou Beijing Road store, there are more than 100 kinds of refreshments to choose from, and diners have responded well to new products such as mandarin duck and scallop dumplings with radish, curry beef brisket, and thick-grain smooth chicken porridge.
"Have you drunk Zuocha yet?" Sighing that morning tea has become the daily life of many Lao Guang.
Nowadays, many teahouses in Guangzhou offer tea markets three times a day, so that diners can experience the Lingnan style in "one cup and two pieces" from morning, noon to evening, with endless aftertastes.
Recently, the custom of drinking tea in Cantonese was included in the eighth batch of representative projects of provincial intangible cultural heritage by the People's Government of Guangdong Province.
The Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism stated that it will strengthen the protection of intangible cultural heritage such as tea drinking customs in Guangfu through the introduction of policies and regulations, the construction of intangible cultural heritage blocks, intangible cultural heritage workstations, inheritance bases and other platforms, as well as financial support.
(Finish)