China News Agency, Wuhan, February 4th, title: Wuhan Wufangzhai Tangyuan: White as suet, sweet and fragrant
Author Wu Yili
The Chinese people's "New Year taste" is reflected in the lively and fragrant food customs.
After enjoying the "hard dishes" from all over the world, the glutinous rice balls began to board the "C position" on the dining table.
As the Lantern Festival approaches, at four or five o'clock in the morning every day, there is a long queue at the gate of Wuhan Wufangzhai, a "time-honored brand in China".
The diners are looking forward to it, waiting for the glutinous rice balls to come out of the pot.
Data map: "Stacked glutinous rice balls" are also called "rolling glutinous rice balls" Photo by Zhang Chang
In 1946, Ni Jincai, a native of Jiangsu who made a living by running boats, settled in Hankou and established Wuhan Wufangzhai, selling Tangyuan with Jiangsu and Zhejiang flavors.
Since its development, Wufangzhai has been well-known in three towns and far and near in Wuhan; Wuhan "Wufangzhai Tangyuan" has also been recognized as a famous Chinese snack and a famous Chinese snack.
Just as there is a "controversy between salty and sweet" tofu nao, there are also regional differences in how to eat glutinous rice balls.
"According to the name, it is called 'tangyuan' in the south, and 'Yuanxiao' in the north; according to the method, the dumplings are made in the south, and the yuanxiao is rolled in the north; according to the taste, there are sweet and salty." Wuhan Wufangzhai representative city-level inheritor of glutinous rice balls making skills Li Jie told a reporter from China News Agency.
There are four types of glutinous rice balls in Guangdong, chicken glutinous rice balls in Guizhou, and rice dumpling in Shanghai. Wufangzhai’s black sesame stuffed glutinous rice balls are the favorite of “Old Wuhan”.
Li Jie said that stacked glutinous rice balls are so popular because of two magic weapons: one is making stuffing, and the other is making noodles.
Take an appropriate amount of sesame seeds, a little lard suet, supplemented with sugar and orange peel, and knead it into a filling.
Pork suet comes from the Northeast. The local pork fat is thicker, the fat is better, and it can enhance the fragrance.
The dough is made of high-quality glutinous rice flour, and the water milling process makes the taste smoother.
Stacked glutinous rice balls, "stacking" is the highlight.
According to Li Jie, according to the traditional method, spread the fillings and glutinous rice flour on the dustpan, and hold the dustpan to "shake the ball", similar to sifting chaff in rural areas.
Then sprinkle cold water on the glutinous rice balls and continue to "shake the balls".
Repeat this many times, the glutinous rice balls will become bigger and bigger.
Nowadays, automated machines have replaced the manual "shake ball" - just pour the stuffing into a machine cauldron filled with glutinous rice flour and roll it, then dip it in water to moisten it, and stack it 16 times, each with a diameter of about 3 cm The stacked glutinous rice balls are out of the pan.
The Wufangzhai stacked glutinous rice balls made in this way are thin and smooth, white as suet, shiny and oily, and have the characteristics of fragrance, sweetness, freshness, smoothness and waxiness.
The cooked glutinous rice balls are about the size of a ping-pong ball, and when you bite open a small mouth, the hot sesame filling slowly flows out.
Take a look, you will be articulate; smell it, the aroma is tangy; taste it, the sesame is mellow, the glutinous rice is dense, the taste is porcelain, sweet and fragrant.
According to legend, glutinous rice balls originated in the Song Dynasty. The glutinous rice balls rolled in boiling water sink and float, just like the full moon in the sky. They have been endowed by the world with the good meaning of "family reunion" and have been passed down to this day.
Regarding the way of eating glutinous rice balls, ancient and modern "foodies" have their own tricks.
Yuan Mei, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, recorded two ways of "salt and sweet" in "Suiyuan Food List".
Salty radish glutinous rice balls: "Grate radish and boil it, remove the odor, dry it slightly, add green onion and sauce, mix it, and put it in the dough for filling." , with pine nuts, walnuts, lard, and sugar as fillings..." Nowadays, glutinous rice balls have developed new flavors such as durian filling and chocolate filling, as well as new eating methods such as deep-frying and shredded.
"Eat glutinous rice balls to reunite." A month ago, Wan Jingfang, a citizen of Wuhan, sent glutinous rice flour and glutinous rice ball fillings to her daughter in the United States early, hoping that this taste of hometown could convey thoughts and blessings to children far away.
The moon is full in the sky, glutinous rice balls in the bowl, and the world is reunited.
During the Lantern Festival, relatives and friends sit around, exchange cups, and end with a bowl of glutinous rice balls, looking forward to the warmth and sweetness of the new year.
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