China News Agency, Xi'an, September 29th, title: Qishan Saozi Noodles: A bowl of "food from the gods" tastes the sour and spicy charm of the millennium
Author Yang Yingqi Zhang Yichen
There is a line in the Qinling Mountains, eating rice in the south and noodles in the north.
Oil-splashed noodles, dipped noodles, salty soup noodles, Huxian soft noodles, northern Shaanxi mutton noodles... Faced with a dazzling array of pasta choices, "Lao Shan" fell into "happy troubles".
Qishan Mountain in Shaanxi Province is located in the western part of Guanzhong and is the birthplace of Zhou culture.
Time has passed thousands of years, and the cultural customs and etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty are still condensed in a bowl of saozi noodles of Qishan people, which has been passed down to this day.
The meat sauce used for sacrifice is added to the soup cake, which is said to be the prototype of the eating method of sangzi noodles.
For a long time, people in Qishan have followed the ancient food customs and treated the guests with sangzi noodles as the highest etiquette. The first bowl of soup is poured, and the rest are eaten in order.
Today, due to food safety considerations, the etiquette system has long been undemanding, but its hospitality still exists.
"Thin gluten is light, fried and watery, sour and spicy." Jing Ningbo, the vice president of Qishan Saozi Noodles Industry Association, told reporters that these nine words describe Qishan Saozi noodles most accurately.
"The noodles should be rolled thin and bright, with a glutinous texture, which also symbolizes the transparent and flexible character of our Qishan people." Jing Ningbo introduced that the soup is made of five-color vegetables such as carrots, tofu, day lily, fungus, and garlic sprouts.
Clean vegetables and diced, "add oil and vinegar" to stir fry, add water and other seasonings to make soup.
"The soup must be thin and oily and ruddy to ensure the taste and temperature of this bowl of noodles."
"'Tasting the sour and spicy fragrance'. If the soup is the soul of Qishan saozi noodles, then vinegar is the finishing touch." Tuo Hongwu, who is engaged in the Qishan vinegar industry, said that Qishan vinegar fermented with pure grains is rich in esters and can be heated by heat. The aroma of the oil makes the sangzi noodles delicious.
"Saozi noodles, you can't have saozi meat, and the key to making it is this spoonful of vinegar." Tuo Hongwu mentioned that the traditional saozi meat is mainly fat, and the sour aroma of vinegar can help it relieve greasy.
Nowadays, with the change of people's taste, the fat and thin ratio of saozi meat changes, but Qishan vinegar is still an indispensable one.
As the highest standard for entertaining guests in Qishan since ancient times, saozi noodles are also called "the food of the gods" by the locals.
"But what we have to do is to bring it to the 'altar' and send it to the dining table of millions of people." Jing Ningbo said that Qishan saozi noodles are "easy to adjust", and the five-color dishes can be replaced according to preferences, oil and salt, etc. Seasoning can be increased or decreased at will without changing the flavor... With flexible production techniques, "country flavor" is no longer confined to the countryside.
"Thin as paper, as thin as thread, go down into the pot and turn the lotus flower, get a nest of silk into the bowl, and put it in your mouth without swallowing." Shaanxi people love noodles, and they are even better at making noodles.
In Shaanxi, a bowl of noodles is not only food for the stomach, but also represents traditional customs and sophistication.
In Qishan, Saozi Mian accompanies the birth, examination, promotion, and marriage of the local people, and records every important node in their life.
After three generations, Yu Hong took over this shaozi noodle restaurant from the Qing Dynasty from her elders.
With the original intention of "keeping upright", she began to try the standardized processing of saozi noodles, and mass-produce saozi meat, seasoning packets and other gourmet "accessories".
In the past 30 years, Yuhong's three-storey old store has grown to more than a dozen directly-operated stores, and even has a special processing factory.
She sent the "country flavor" to all corners of the world, and also made this bowl of noodles "go" longer and farther.
"Traditional food must retain its original flavor. We insist on using local food, vinegar and chili peppers to keep the 'old taste' of this bowl of noodles." In Yu Hong's view, the charm of traditional food lies in its profound cultural accumulation , to spread the "old taste", but also to spread the unique cultural customs of the hometown.
Today, the fragrance of Qishan saozi noodles is "floating" overseas. Yu Hong has contacted international merchants such as Singapore, the United States, and Japan. The "bags of Qishan noodles" produced by her have made the "hometown taste" go abroad.
"Although the road to promoting traditional food is long, the prospects will only get better and better." Yu Hong is full of confidence.
In recent years, with Qishan County's efforts to develop the "one-bowl noodle" economy, the Qishan saozi noodle industry has become an important support for the county's economic development.
Build a raw material supply base and develop instant noodles products... In 2021, the total economic output value of the local "one bowl of noodles" will reach 14.3 billion yuan, with 93,000 employees.
"A bowl of noodles with five colors is pure and fresh, five flavors are complete, the five internal organs can be preserved, and the five rituals can be displayed." Whether it is Yu Hong, who has been passed down for three generations, Tuo Hongwu, who has returned to his hometown to start his own business, or Jingning Ningbo, who has devoted himself to studying saozi noodles for many years, in every In the hearts of Qishan people, shaozi noodles are not only "hometown flavor", but also a distant blessing from their ancestors.
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