Chenghai District is one of Shantou, there are as many as 25 tourist attractions open to the outside world, such as Lianhua Rural Tourism Area, Laiwu Tourist Resort, Tashan Tourist Scenic Area, Chen Cihong Former Residence Tourist Area, Cologne Thousand Tree Garden, Zheng Huang's Hometown Scenic Area, Shenshan Scenic Area, Chengyanggang Ancient Village Scenic Area, Zhanglin Ancient Port Ruins, etc., which have attracted many Chinese and foreign tourists throughout the ages.

In this small town famous for its toy making, there is one ingredient that is even more talked about: thin-shelled rice.

Located in the coast of the South China Sea, Chenghai salt stove lotus on Yongxin, since ancient times production and processing of a kind of Chaoshan unique seafood - thin-shell rice, and thin-shell rice production methods have two, there are old-fashioned and new-style beating, respectively, manual and machine production, the particles are bright red, the meat is fatty and tender, the color and fragrance are attractive, the taste is delicious, and the nutrition is rich. Foodies at home and abroad who have feasted on thin-shelled rice in salt stoves are full of praise.

This ingredient of the scientific name Xun's muscle clam, called thin shell because of the thin shell, is a shellfish seafood, grows and reproduces in the tidal flats of shallow bays, there are wild and artificially stocked, often glued together in pieces, and adhered to the sediment and gravel with foot filament. After fishing, fishermen process and husk and cook it to extract its fat and tender meat pieces, which are commonly known as thin-shelled rice. Because the salt stove people have been rich in production for generations, it is well-known far and near, so it has the reputation of "salt stove thin shell rice", and it is also a unique seafood delicacy on the southern seaside. It is especially loved by the world.

The Yanzao people have a long history of wild fishing, artificial breeding, harvesting, processing and cooking and shelling of thin shells, and have accumulated and reformed skilled diving and fishing technology and processing technology operation methods. The processing of thin-shell rice generally needs to go through several processes such as "de-scapulation", "soaking and bleaching", "boiling", "scooping rice", "basketing", etc., to make a fatty and delicious seafood delicacy - thin-shell rice. Then it is packed into a basket and a basket is a finished product and shipped to all parts of southern Guangdong for sale, enriching the "vegetable basket" of thousands of households.

Because the production of thin-shelled rice requires a large amount of thin-shell rice as a raw material, and the process is numerous and time-consuming, it is still sold in the market until November, although the price will be higher, but it does not dampen the enthusiasm of others.

In the hot summer, the shelf life of the thin shells is also very short, and if the thin shells picked every day are not sold out on the same day, they can only be made into other products, such as pickled salty thin shells and thin shell meat. I remember when I was a kid. Mom will also buy thin shells to come back to make salty thin shells. Choose a thin, hypertrophied, reddish shell that doesn't open the shell. Wash the whole bunch and mix it with coarse sea salt, put it in a ceramic vessel, and finally sprinkle a thick layer of salt and seal it tightly. Keep in a cool, dry place. In winter, you can take it out and eat it when you miss the thin shell. Salty thin crust and hot white porridge. In winter, you can also taste the taste of the summer sea. There is also a short-term pickling method. After marinating in the same way for a few days, it is taken out and washed with salt and used with fish sauce. Gold does not change, red pepper, minced garlic, soak until the next day when breakfast is salty.

The production of thin-shell rice is an ancient technology, and there was already a production method of thin-shell rice in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The thin shell is small, and if you want to process a large amount of meat, it is unrealistic to manually remove it. The processing of thin-shelled rice has to go through several processes: first, "thinning the shell", putting a string of thin-shell into a bucket filled with clean water, and using a bamboo curved ruler-shaped tool - "thin-shell twisting", constantly stirring around the circle in the bucket, so that the thin-shell will fall off one by one, saving the strength and time of manually picking the thin-shell; the second is dipping and bleaching, pouring the thin shell of the removed "pealine" into the ashtray to soak away impurities; The third is to put on the pot, boil the water and pour the thin shell into the pot, stir with a special large bamboo whisk, and press the stove fire on one side at the same time, let the fire be strong while the weak fire, and pour the piece of meat floating on the weak fire side into the big bamboo fence on the stove with a fence, add salt and brine to remove water impurities, called "over the fence". Put it in a basket and it's a finished product. Now the most famous workshop for thin-shell rice should be in Chenghai Salt Stove, this technology is said to have been passed down from my hometown of Huanzhou Town.

There were a few knocks on the door, and the sky was still fully lit. Sikong Yao and the others were forced to get up early, and they were a little sleepy.

Yifan muttered, "Shui Ying...... Why do you wake up so early? ”

Shui Ying explained: "Go over there earlier, otherwise the good thin-shell rice will be picked by others." Large, fat, thin-shelled rice is prioritized for canned food, and once soaked in salted oil, it is difficult to make delicious dishes from processed thin-shell rice. ”

Yifan rubbed his sleepy eyes, obviously still reluctant to give up on the bed.

After Sikong Yao finished washing, she also ran to Shui Ying's room and asked, "Congshuang, didn't you say that your friend is doing this?" Just let him keep some for you, ...... so early"

Sikong Yao looked at the clock on the wall and said in surprise: "It's only five o'clock......

Shui Ying shrugged her shoulders and said with a smile: "Haha, don't you care, from here to Chenghai, how to say it will be an hour away, to Congshuang her friend, it will be eight or nine o'clock, early soon, early early." ”

Sikong Yao glanced at Shui Ying, and yawned helplessly, she was really sleepy.

Bai Xia sighed and said, "That's it, since you get up, don't rely on it, let's go and have some breakfast after washing." ”

Chaoshan people's breakfast is generally white porridge, but a simple bowl of white porridge, its side dishes, but more than you imagine. pickles, pickles, dried radish, small fish, pickled cucumber seedlings, pickled shrimp, olives, salted eggs, olives, salted peanuts, salted peanuts, fried peanuts...... There are many salty and sweet flavors, so many that I don't remember much. With side dishes and white porridge, this is the breakfast of Chaoshan people.

Because the Chaoshan people were very poor in the past, they would seek change while being able to satisfy their hunger. As a result, Chaoshan people can't do without porridge for three meals a day, they call white porridge "millet", but in Guangzhou it is called "three rolling porridge". This kind of Teochew white porridge is to put the rice in the pot and boil it in the water, which is separated from the water and rice, a bit like rice with water, not thick or dry. When eating, sour pickles are absolutely indispensable.

The Chaoshan people, who take porridge as their staple food, have a deep affection for it, and on top of this, there is another food that can also be called the pride of the Chaoshan people, that is, pho.

The food that outsiders call pho is actually kway teow transplanted from outside Chaoshan. Processed foods such as rice flour, flour, and potato flour are all called "kueh". Therefore, the so-called kueh in Chaoshan dialect is actually what is called cake elsewhere, but the scope of inclusion is not simply "cake". The one that is steamed into thin slices and cut into strips with rice flour is called "kuay teow", and it is also called "kueh teow" or "kueh tsai tiao" in Taiwan. Nowadays, kway teow can be seen in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and other places, and even become a local snack, which is due to the large number of Chaoshan immigrants who brought kuay teow out at that time.

A bowl of light lean pork kway teow soup, or noodles, served with two slices of pork liver and a little lettuce, has always been the best choice for Chaoshan's breakfast.

And when it comes to flour food, I have to talk about Chaoshan rice noodles. Cheong Fun originated from the Han specialty snacks in Guangdong, and as early as the end of the Qing Dynasty, the sound of selling Cheong Fun was heard on the streets of Guangzhou. At that time, there were two kinds of cheong rolls, salty and sweet, the salty cheong rolls were mainly filled with pork, beef, shrimp, pork liver, etc., while the sweet cheong rolls were mainly filled with sugar-soaked vegetables and fruits, and then mixed with stir-fried sesame seeds. Rice noodles, also known as bula steamed rice noodles, are a kind of rice products, also known as pulled noodles, roll noodles, and bula steamed rice noodles.

There are definitely a lot of roadside stalls that cook raw rice noodles in the morning, but no matter how many they open, they are definitely like customers. Because of the large sales in the morning market, most stores are in short supply, and people often wait in line to eat, so it is also nicknamed "grabbing powder". In Guangdong, cheong fun is a very common neighborhood delicacy, it is inexpensive, delicious, and suitable for all ages, women and children. From humble eateries and tea markets to five-star high-end hotels, they are almost all available.

The Chaoshan rice noodles are different from the traditional Cantonese sausages, which have more fillings and ingredients, and the traditional Cantonese sausages often only have one or two fillings and are only dipped in soy sauce to eat, and the taste is clearer and pureer. When it was produced, it was known for being "white as snow, thin as paper, shiny and shiny, smooth and delicious".

The production of rice roll is very simple, spread a white cloth on the large mesh sieve, pour the ground rice milk on the white cloth, a piece of rice milk skin is steamed and matured into a flour skin through water, beat an egg, and then put the filling on the powder skin, add pork or minced beef, a few fresh shrimp, bean sprouts, diced mushrooms, and then pour a layer of secret braised soup on top, put it on the plate, pour cooked peanut oil, light soy sauce, and spicy sauce to become, and finally sprinkle a spoonful of Chaoshan preserved vegetables, fragrant but not greasy, the taste is really nostalgic.

The dough that can be broken by blowing is gently poked open, and the steaming filling inside suddenly comes out, and the fragrant boiled eggs have a unique flavor, soft taste, mixed with minced meat, and the layers are extremely rich.

Cheong Fun itself is light and tasteless, and the essence lies in the sauce that is poured at the end, which brings out the deliciousness of Cheong Fun itself. The general cheong noodle sauce is the secret weapon of various cheong noodle brands, and it is not passed on, and the cheong noodle shop with a history of more than 100 years can be popular to this day, relying on the ancestral secret cheong noodle sauce.

MSG 3 money, chicken powder 5 money, soy sauce 1 tael, coriander water boiled with coriander, dried shrimp, star anise, carrots, peppercorns, bay leaves, ginger, and shallots 1.7 catties.

Boil the rock sugar in water and set aside; Chop the green onion and garlic into chopped green onions and garlic granules, then stir-fry the chopped chives and minced garlic in a wok, then add soy sauce and fish sauce, boil in water, then add a small amount of chicken essence and monosodium glutamate, and simmer for an hour.

Depending on the recipe, fish sauce and soybean oil are also added. Soy sauce is the most important, it is divided into light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce has a strong flavor and light color, and the flavor is the main one. Dark soy sauce, the sauce is thick and the taste is relatively light, and the color is mainly used when used. When you add the rock syrup you have made before, you can add dark soy sauce when the color becomes lighter, so that the color is more appetizing. (To be continued......)