Angding can also be written as "Anji", which sounds like "Anji", and in the Hubei and Anqing dialect areas, it is called "Andinglao" or "Andingbeard". Onding has a bright yellow color and is somewhat similar to a catfish, but much smaller than a catfish, with four tendrils on both sides of the upper and lower lips.

Ondin has the same spines as catfish, but catfish only has two inconspicuous spines on both sides of its pectoral fins, but Ondin has three large spines, especially the spines on the back are very large and sharp, jagged, poisonous, if you accidentally prick your hands, it hurts and swells, so that you hold your hands and gasp.

However, this Ondin is also funny, when you pinch the backspur mischievously to lift it up, it doesn't writhe and struggle much, but it makes a "buzzing" sound of urns. Because our countrymen call our grandfather "Ga (family) father", we often see Ang Ding being held in his hands, chasing an unlucky guy in laughter and forcing him to call Ga Gong.

Perhaps it was the three large thorns that stood in the way, and Angding was clumsy and staggered, and at the same time, it was also the most famous honest head in the water. Anyone who has ever fished knows that the best fish to catch is Ondin. Angding didn't have a heart at all, and after biting the bait, he dragged a tendon to the bottom of the water, and rarely got off the hook.

In the early years, the peasants had to collect the pond mud to accumulate fertilizer in the spring of February and March, and the dull-headed Angding would often be caught in the dark pond mud and caught by the dustpan-shaped tongs. Every spring and summer evening, you have to take a handful of tense fishing to the pond mouth and insert it. Once, I forgot three pieces of fishing in a pond bay, and when I remembered to look for them three days later, I actually pulled up a big Andin on each of them, about three or four taels.

Anding forages for live food, and like catfish, its flesh is like a garlic clove without thorns, which is especially suitable for feeding young children. Whether in an upscale hotel or a roadside restaurant, Ondin is a popular dish. In addition to braised and roasted sauerkraut, there is also a soup, which is extremely white, and the meat is delicate and tender.

Wuhu people love "Anji Du (stewed) tofu", especially in winter, a few friends called a bubbling hot "Anji pot", and then with red pepper, green garlic and green coriander, plus three or two plates of stir-fried vegetables, take off the coat, drink slowly, shh......h The thickness of the taste is so integrated into the appreciation of human warmth.

Yangzhou people love to braise Angding with stinky tofu, the method is to fry Angding in a pot thoroughly, burn until it tastes, and then pour it into a casserole covered with soybean sprout base, add soy sauce, and simmer over low heat until the stinky tofu bubbles and becomes porous.

After serving, the lid of the casserole was lifted, and it was still trembling and boiling. At this time, sprinkle some chopped green onions and coriander, red and green, and the chopsticks will be sprayed with incense and the smell of crooked smell into the nostrils together. The fish and stinky tofu are extremely tender, fragrant, sweet, and smelly, and the flavors are mixed, just like a five-color life.

Marinate the ingredients first, then fry them in boiling oil, then pour them into a casserole and simmer them in a simmer with heavy ginger soup until the soup is thick and white like milk, and sprinkle pepper and chopped green onions when serving. Whether it's eating meat or drinking soup, it's really unforgettable, and its taste is so delicious that I can't help but move my index finger when I think of it at this time.

The way to write the scientific name of Onding is Yupanjiayang, and Yubiangas, according to the rules of recognizing half of the side, it can be pronounced as "Yangsi". However, these two words are not included in the Xinhua Dictionary. In Wang Zengqi's article, he writes about Ang Sneer, probably because of Ang Ding's rather funny voice.

I remember that Wang Lao also said in an article that the most delicious thing in the world is two small grains of live meat as big as soybean paste on the cheeks under the slanted eye sockets of Ang Ding, which I will never forget. Since then, whenever I have the opportunity, I always take my chopsticks straight to the target, but I have never tasted anything special, just as a little love for this interesting old man in my heart.

In the mid-to-late eighties, I read a novella called "Mrs. Huang Feng", which had a strange layout and strong penmanship, which left a deep impression, but unfortunately I didn't remember the author's name.

The reason why it is called Andin, I think, "ang" or "an" are the homonym of its call, "ding" is the trident thorn branch of the ridge, "guy" personification, which shows the fun of this fish.

The fat of the anchovy, half of which is under the scales, so the local custom is that the anchovy is not scaled after being washed, and after cooking, the scales are semi-dissolved, and the oil penetrates into the meat, which is extremely beautiful. Anchovy grows in the sea, swims back to the Yangtze River to spawn at the turn of spring and summer every year, like migratory birds, so it is also called "time fish". The anchovy swimming into the river is in a hurry, not caring about foraging, all by consuming the fat accumulated in the body, and traveling to the river surface of Zhenjiang, Nanjing, and Wuhu, which is the most fresh fat, and if it goes up, due to excessive consumption, the taste is much worse. The arrival time of anchovies in various places along the river is different, and the fish flood is sooner or later, Jiangyin "Gu Yu sees anchovies", and this side of Wuhu is "Qingming morning, mango planting late, Xiaoman, Lixia is just in time".

Since Mei Yaochen wrote the poem "Time Fish", Jiangnan literati have all taken eating anchovies as a fashion. Just like the people of Shanghai who eat crabs now want to go to Yangcheng Lake to eat, in the Ming and Qing dynasties and even the Republic of China, elegant scholars with status want to go boating on the river to taste the "boat anchovy". When the season is before and after the Qingming Festival, catch and eat by the riverside, after eating, face the breeze and the moon on the river and the shadow of the sheng flute sideburns, taste the tea and watch the waves, and make a lot of poetry.

"Jiangnan fresh bamboo shoots take advantage of the anchovies, rotten boiled in the spring breeze in early March; At first glance, you can see that this is Zheng Banqiao's chanting style. There is this banner hanging in my living room, which is a "book gift" from a famous calligrapher in Huangshan City who specializes in Banqiao style. The new bamboo shoots in spring are full of fresh energy, and the fresh fat of the anchovy is mutually supportive, which is a great beauty and taste.

The great poet is also a great gourmand Su Dongpo's anchovy, and it is a moving scene: "The sprout ginger purple vinegar burns the whitebait, and the snow bowl is more than two feet; there is still peach blossom spring, and the flavor is better than the sea bass." "It seems that the predecessors are much more blessed than us, especially the exquisite life scene, which is even more fascinating.

Shen Hongfei, a literati and gourmet, said: "The freshness of anchovy is not only in the scales, but also fresh to the bones, that is to say, every thorn of anchovy is worth sucking into." To be precise, it is not the bones of the anchovy that are "worth sucking into", but the cheekbones of the anchovy. The cheekbones of anchovy, fishermen call it "fragrant bones", the more you chew, the more fragrant it is, the more you chew it, the more flavorful it is, so there is a saying that a fragrant bone is four taels of wine.

In the past, the female dependents of large families along the river had the skills of cooking anchovy. When the girl goes out of the pavilion to her in-law's house, she mostly has to be examined for cooking anchovies. It is said that the only daughter of Gu Xi, a famous silk merchant here, married Zhenjiang. The ancestors of the mother-in-law used to make the table, and they paid a lot of attention to it.

The next day, Grandma asked someone to bring an anchovy to try the bride's handiwork. But there were no knives in the kitchen, and no ingredients could be found. But the princess did not panic, plucked the silver hairpin on her head, cut open the belly of the fish and cleaned it up, and found a box in the dowry, poured out the specially prepared ingredients, and even got a fish out without being unpretentious. When it was served on the table, the mother-in-law and sister-in-law and the others who wanted to see the joke caught the omission: it turned out that the fish scales were not scraped!

Unexpectedly, the bride smiled, and each handed a small silver spoon to please taste the soup first. Sure enough, the pure white soup immediately made everyone feel angry, and this unshaved fish soup was too delicious! Since then, the people of Zhenjiang have eaten anchovies without shaving their scales just like the people of Wuhu. However, some people string the scraped scales with thread, put them in the pot and stew them together, and pick up the thread when eating, and the scales are removed from the flavor.

The world's top delicacies and the world's stunning daughters, must be given priority to the emperor to enjoy, anchovy, this stunner, since the Ming Dynasty has been listed as a "royal meal" tribute. Mingren He Dafu has a poem: "In May, the anchovy has arrived in Yan, and the lychee and reed orange have not been first." Give fresh all over the middle official brothers, and recommend who is familiar with the temple feast. The wind and dust gallop on the road during the day, and the ice and snow river guard ship on the hot day. The silver scales and fine bones are pitiful, and the jade and gold plates dare to be passed on. ”

The degree of mobilization of the teachers and the technical content of keeping the freshness in the interior are really more than "a ride on the red dust and the concubine laughs, and no one knows that it is a lychee." After entering the Qing Dynasty, the "tribute anchovy" was implemented in a more meticulous manner, and a special ice cellar was set up in Nanjing, with a station standing every 30 miles, hanging flags during the day and lights at night, and stagecoaches galloping. Wu Jiaji, a poet in the early Qing Dynasty, described this very vividly and concretely: "Catch anchovies for the upper use; the bow of the ship has not yet been opened, and the officials have prepared horses to send them." Cherries taste good when they enter the market, and the anchovy is not early today.

The spectators are suddenly happy, the jade scales jump out of the river, the sky is late to raise the dagger for a long time, and the ice is cold and the hoop protects the flying horse. You don't see the three thousand iron urns of Jintai, and you want to limit the time to 22...... "You see that the fishing nets here have not yet entered the water, and the local administrative leaders have ordered people to prepare the fast horses, and as soon as the silver scales come out of the water, they will immediately apply ice cubes and then wrap them in incense leaves, and the horses will be whipped quickly, and they will be teleported into Beijing repeatedly." In the poem, "Jintai" is the capital, and the "iron urn" is now Zhenjiang, which is the straightest distance from Beijing, and the shad production area is the straightest distance from Beijing, and the time limit is 22 hours, that is, it will be delivered within 44 hours.

Now in May, the shadow of the anchovy has been extinct, the silver scales and fine bones are like clouds of smoke, the curve is high and low, and the elegance is withering, and the anchovy has not been seen for many years.