China News Agency, Jilin, July 14th: Jilin Fried Noodles: Nostalgia at the Hutong Mouth
China News Agency reporter Shi Hongyu
In the "hometown memory" of Jilin people, there is always a bowl of fried noodles.
This snack from "Grassmang", the raw materials are almost at your fingertips: sweet potato starch is added with a little salt and alum, boiled with water, cooled and precipitated, condensed into a solid state, cut into pieces and placed in a frying pan.
Sesame sauce, garlic sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, seasoning sauce, chili oil, coriander... If you want to be salty and fragrant, or sweet and sour, the control of ingredients depends on the experience of the diners.
The picture shows a bowl of fried noodles just out of the pan in Jilin City, Jilin Province on July 13.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Cang Yan
At the end of Henan Street, a century-old commercial street in Jilin City, "Lao Zheng's Fried Noodles" is a kind of existence that is "hidden in the city".
Many Jilin people have "eaten" in this old shop with dozens of square meters since they were students and started a family.
The 58-year-old Gong Shuling and her mother-in-law "Mrs. Old Zheng" Zheng Guiqin have been managing the fried noodle stall since she was in her 20s. They have gone through tricycles, simple sheds, iron houses, and finally established a commercial street where every inch of land is expensive.
The picture shows a store making fried noodles in Jilin City, Jilin Province, on July 13.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Cang Yan
In the 1990s, due to the year-round bumper harvest of sweet potatoes and the easy availability of ingredients, fried noodles became the first choice of many businessmen.
"20 meters from the street, there are 8 fried noodles stalls." Gong Shuling said, but they have also accumulated repeat customers since then.
"It's been 40 years, no matter how the popular tastes outside have changed, it's still the old taste here." Many regular customers will never forget the steaming picture of standing in the snow and eating fried noodles.
The 74-year-old Li Guoan, a loyal "fan", "eats" from youth to old age. He said that the fried noodles are chewy at first, after swallowing, there is a slight cooling sensation on the tip of the tongue, and then the mouth is full of salty aftertaste-that is sauce, sesame sauce The special taste of juice and powder mixed together.
The picture shows a store making fried noodles in Jilin City, Jilin Province, on July 13.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Cang Yan
Gong Shuling said that the fried noodles can be bought in the market, but she and her mother-in-law insisted on making them themselves.
"In the past 40 years, the noodle recipe has never changed." The taste of the fried noodle nuggets in each store is different. She and her mother-in-law insisted on sufficient starch, less alum, and a fixed cooking time.
The material is only one of them, and cooking is the most test of craftsmanship.
The nuggets are pan fried until fully cooked.
The control of the heat is extremely important: the noodle should be coke on the outside and tender on the inside, crystal clear, and chewy in the mouth.
Gong Shuling is very familiar with many diners. Some of them came to the restaurant when they were in elementary school, and when they came back, they brought their lover and children.
The latest batch of customers are only a few years old.
The picture shows a bowl of fried noodles just out of the pan in Jilin City, Jilin Province on July 13.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Cang Yan
Regrettably, Zheng Guiqin passed away 5 years ago.
There are still pictures of old people and customers hanging on the walls of the restaurant.
Before Mrs. Zheng died, she handed over the shop to Gong Shuling's mother and son, and asked "the shop will continue to open."
During winter and summer vacations and holidays, this small old shop is often crowded by returning hometown travelers and reunited relatives and friends, and many people will wait outside for empty seats.
Wang Jiaqi, who lives in Shanghai, always visits the store every time she returns to her hometown to visit relatives.
"That's an important part of Jilin's taste." She said that no matter where she was on business trips, she would stroll around the streets and look for a bowl of fried noodles in her spare time, but she couldn't taste the taste of her hometown.
Some expats are more persistent.
At their strong request, the old pan-fry shop launched vacuum-packed products.
"My son and I both thought the packaged taste would not be better than dine-in." Gong Shuling said, "but they said it didn't matter, they just wanted to taste the taste of their hometown." (End)