Text/Pictures by Gong Jingran

I read Xu Xinyu’s "History of Travels to Shu" many years ago and found it very interesting. Xu Xinyu's father once served as the magistrate of Jiajiang County. The lobby of the Jiajiang County Office faced Mount Emei. Xu Xinyu was still young at that time. He often ran around in the lobby with a group of children. Occasionally, he would be stunned by the beautiful scenery in front of him: "See Mount Emei." The snow is deep, and the grand office is covered with snow, and the golden top of the mountain is like a blazing light shooting people. "Times have changed, and the original site of the Yamen has long been lined with tall buildings. It is not easy to see such a scene. However, my journey to Jiajiang’s food begins here. Maybe I can make up for my regrets and get a different experience.

Of course, we have to start with Mount Emei. Jiajiang County is located at the northeastern foothills of Mount Emei, which is the transition zone from the southwestern edge of the Sichuan Basin to Mount Emei. The entire county's landscape is composed of mountains and hills, plains and valleys, and the altitude difference is as large as a kilometer, forming within a radius of It has a unique regional ecological environment, and its diet is also affected by this, and naturally has some regional characteristics.

Xiema Roast Pork

Mountain delicacies: Xiema Roast Pork

Hong Chou, a man of the Ming Dynasty, once summed up Jiajiang: "Jiajiang is the best place in Sichuan. Also. Located in the upper reaches of Jiazhou, the people, mountains and rivers are very beautiful. "The unique geographical conditions give Jiajiang rich products, and this is also the material basis of the local food. Jiajiang has the advantage of being close to the mountains, so its food. Naturally, Shanjia Qinggong is indispensable.

Jiajiang is a bamboo-producing town. Yang Xiong once wrote in "Ode to the Capital of Shu": "Jiajiang is bordered by the mountains, and we are looking for soldiers to rise up. We will take root in talents and fill the fields to drive away the wilderness." It talks about the scene where bamboo forests grew densely on the mountains and slopes two thousand years ago. In the past, bitter bamboo shoots were mainly produced in the Emei and Jiajiang mountains. During April and May, when bitter bamboo shoots were in production, they could only be eaten in places like Jiajiang. In the 1980s, Lan Guangjian's apprentice Zhang Chunrong went to Jiajiang. The locals offered him bamboo shoots, but he was surprised that he didn't know about them.

Although bitter bamboo shoots are seasonal, the production cycle in Jiajiang is relatively long. The bitter bamboo shoots in Yingjiang Township have just been eaten, and the first batch of bitter bamboo shoots in Huatou Mountain have just been eaten. The time is above March, which is rare in other places. The preparation of Jiajiang Bitter Bamboo Shoots is relatively common. Roast Chicken with Bitter Bamboo Shoots, Roast Pork with Bitter Bamboo Shoots, and Bitter Bamboo Bamboo Shoots and Pickled Cabbage Ball Soup are the most common ones and are the most popular. The bitter taste of bitter bamboo shoots is unique, and this is best reflected in the cold bitter bamboo shoots. It is said to be cold, but it is actually cut into shreds, and only a little salt is added. The bitter taste is fully displayed, refreshing and refined.

Soaking bitter bamboo shoots

Jiajiang produces snow peas, especially those from Huatou Mountain, which are white in color, waxy in color, and rich in nutrients. Nowadays, old chefs in Jiajiang still talk about the snow pea stewed chicken and snow pea stewed pig's trotters before the 1990s. Snow peas are easy to stew and can be melted into thick soup. They have an excellent taste and are indeed a good nourishing food. However, the nature of snow peas is similar to that of oily meat. They grow in the deep mountains and have a graceful appearance. They are very different from bitter bamboo shoots.

The most characteristic of Jiajiang Mountain is "Xie Ma Roast Pork". Xiema is a place name in Jiajiang. It is located in the mountainous area on the edge of Jiajiang, bordering Mount Emei to the west. The name Xiema is related to the ancient road. Probably in the past, pedestrians would cross mountains and ridges to reach this point. It was the time when they reached the peak, and "horse-breaking roast pork" came into being. "Xie Ma Shao Pork" selects pork belly, scalds the skin in an oil pan, and cuts it into cubes. When cooking, add seasonal vegetables, such as green bamboo shoots, cabbage, etc., and cook until medium cooked. It is fat but not greasy, fragrant and delicious, it is a delicious dish. The very delicious dishes can remind us of the taste buds of the Yilu era.

Macun fish head being cooked in the pot

Freshness near the water: Macun fish head

Jiajiang is not only next to Mount Emei, but also in The Qingyi River is a famous water pier with streams crisscrossing the territory, and there is never a shortage of delicious river food. Qin Jiucheng, the chef of Jiajiang during the Republic of China, had two famous dishes: spicy mullet fillets and braised silver carp, which are both unique and related to the benefits of the river.

The secret to the spicy mullet fillet is that it is based on the fresh mullet fillet and added with Sichuan peppercorns and pepper. It is spicy but not spicy, and oily but not greasy. But now you can’t eat spicy mullet fillets in restaurants, but fresh mullet fillets are common and are a popular local delicacy. I ate this dish in a restaurant in Ganjiang Town that day. There are two flavors: red and white, but I think the white tastes better and looks better on the plate. It is embellished with onions, ginger, and garlic, and the meat is delicious. The white juice is bright and makes people salivate.

Today in Jiajiang, the most highly regarded river seafood is Macun fish head. Macun is a small town more than ten kilometers away from Jiajiang County. The fish heads come from the nearby Macun Reservoir, and a Macun River connects with the Qingyi River. I personally witnessed the whole process of cooking Macun fish head: Generally speaking, silver carp is used for Macun fish head. Wash the fish head and set aside. Pour an appropriate amount of water into the pot, pour the sauerkraut fried in the morning into the water and boil until Bring out the sour taste. It is said that stir-frying sauerkraut is crucial, but the ingredients and proportions are kept secret. Then cook the fish, add seasonings, and put a large amount of spring sprouts, patchouli and green onions on the noodles. Especially toon buds have a strange aroma, such as plant MSG. The toon buds of Macun Fish Head are used all year round, but the picking season for the toon buds is less than a month, so there are tips for storage. The unique and rich scent of chun bud can be eaten in all seasons, which is indeed a major feature of Macun Fish Head.

The Macun fish head soup is spicy and sour, and the fish is tender and delicious. Mr. Cai Chengjian, who is in his seventies, studied under Chengdu Rongleyuan in his early years and is a very famous chef in Jiajiang. He analyzed the three characteristics of Macun fish head for me: first, the fish comes from Macun Reservoir, the lake surface is wide and the water quality is good; The so-called "river fish boiled in river water" means that you eat it fresh; secondly, the sauerkraut is unique, it is homemade sauerkraut, and the preparation is quite ingenious; thirdly, the fish is cooked with pure lard instead of clear oil or blended oil, which has a better taste. However, it is indeed a strange thing for a small and remote village to have food lovers flock to it because of a fish.

Potted Macun fish heads

Pingba Tian mat: nine large bowls

Anyone who has been to Jiajiang will find that the entire county is actually in one On Pingba, if you stand on a high building and look out, the feeling will be more obvious. The Jiajiang River is bounded by the Qingyi River, with plains to the east and hills and mountains to the west. This geographical condition is very unique. Wang Yuyang, a great scholar in the early Qing Dynasty, once wrote in "The Journey to Shu Road": "Entering Jiajiang , that is, the ravines are scattered all over the place, the village is warm, and it is similar to the Wu style food."

"It is similar to the Wu style food." This Jiangnan temperament is also reflected in the catering. That day, I chatted with Mr. Zhao Xiaorong, vice president of the Jiajiang Catering Association, and talked about the dietary differences in the triangle of Emei, Jiajiang and Leshan. He concluded that Emei is on the sour side and likes to use vinegar; Jiajiang is on the sweet side and likes to add sugar; Leshan is neutral between the two. These three places are the core areas of Minjiang and Mount Emei, and are geographically similar. However, even within these hundreds of miles of mountains and rivers, there are considerable differences in language and food.

Bitter bamboo shoots, pickled cabbage and dumpling soup

The Chengdu-Kunming Line passes through, the Qingyi River passes through the city, and the prosperity of the traditional paper industry have brought prosperity to Jiajiang’s catering industry. During the Republic of China, Jiajiang had the Zhanwang Hui held every year in the eighth lunar month, which was a grand event for the local catering industry; and the Leizu Hui held in the third lunar month, where masters from Bai An gathered to show off their cooking skills. At that time, the most famous chefs in Jiajiang were Guan Jinshan, Qin Jiucheng, Guo Zhengqing, Jin Kaiming, etc. The most famous restaurant was "Xingshunju" in Yamenmen, which was an authentic Nantang restaurant with a booming business, and its location was exactly Next to the main hall, where you could see Mount Emei in the past, delicious food and beautiful scenery come together, making people wonder. Mr. Li Fangyuan, a famous chef in Leshan, said that Jiajiang's catering industry used to be the best in the entire Leshan area, and most of the top chefs came from Jiajiang. I think this is the foundation of Jiajiang catering.

Jiajiang cuisine is still mainly traditional Sichuan cuisine, and its characteristics are best reflected in the nine bowls. The nine bowls in Jiajiang are called field banquets, and field banquets are held for weddings, funerals, and weddings. This was a typical dining feature of Pingba in the past. But Jiajiang has its own characteristics, such as the cooking of crispy fish.

Jiajiang generally uses thin flowers instead of large flowers in knife skills; dry bean flour is used in wrapping materials instead of water bean flour; Jiajiang calls watercress watercress, and they all use bean paste brewed locally in Jiajiang, and pay attention to fine details. , fresh and fragrant. Another example is ginger elbow. Jiajiang uses cold ginger juice instead of hot ginger juice. The ginger is blanched in hot oil without thickening, and the local flavor is rich.

Jiajiang Cold Chicken

Jiajiang’s Cold Chicken is also very unique. It is a hard dish among the nine bowls. It uses boiled juice, which is made from chicken soup and various seasonings. It does not use MSG or chicken essence, and maintains the original flavor and fragrance. In other places, cold chicken is often mixed with sauce, such as Leshan Baizai Chicken. In fact, the reason why Jiajiang Cold Chicken is famous is also related to the ceramic industry that flourished in the 1980s and 1990s, and the population grew. At that time, the hawkers selling cold chicken used baskets to sell it along the street, and it gradually gained fame.

Flavor: Tumen Kimchi

I have long heard that Jiajiang’s fermented bean curd is famous and has a relationship with the Chinese time-honored brand Dechangyuan’s bean curd. Jiajiang fermented bean curd began in the Xianfeng period. The earliest master, Zou Sanhe, studied in Dechang Garden and opened a workshop in Jiajiang. Since then, the brand has gradually become famous and famous in Sichuan. Of course, Jiajiang fermented bean curd has its own characteristics. It not only has original flavor, five flavors, but also spicy flavor. It is eclectic and innovative in its inheritance. This also proves that Jiajiang has always been a gathering place for gourmet food. Zou Sanhe opened a new wharf. I guess he did not expect what would happen a hundred years later.

Ganjiang Tofu Nao

Jiajiang’s pickles are also very famous, especially “Tumen Pickles”. The first person to make it was Hu Zhiqiang, a native of Tumen Town. In the past, he opened a restaurant in the town and made some kimchi. The customers thought it was delicious and wanted to take it away after eating. This triggered his idea of ??specializing in producing kimchi. Nowadays, many kimchi processing methods are to put industrial salt and various seasonings into large pits, stir them with forklifts, and then use machines to crush and bag them. There is no need for a jar at all, which is very different from traditional kimchi. But real kimchi must be made using ancient methods. In Tumen Town, I saw the vegetables fermented in the earthen jar after being put in it. There was a sound of bubbling everywhere, just like the sound of frogs croaking in the countryside. Very poetic. Tumen kimchi enters its peak production season in May and June, when garlic, clams, etc. begin to enter the jar, followed by cowpeas, and then peppers. The best chili peppers are large wattle sticks and two wattle sticks, with thin skin and thick flesh. The pickled sea peppers in Tumen kimchi are moderately hot and sour, tender and crispy, which is really a must-have.

In addition to being eaten at home, fermented bean curd and kimchi are also seasonings for cooking dishes. They have the same effect as douban. It is precisely with such high-quality food "embryos" that the food of a place can be Become charming and enchanting.

Jiajiang Pickle Workshop

Various snacks: meat cakes

When inspecting a place’s delicacies, you can actually get an idea of ??it just by looking at its snacks. When you go to Jiajiang, you need to eat a bowl of tofu nao. After eating, go to the small town to walk around, which is a worthwhile trip. If it's morning, you should try Ye'er cake. The "Zeng Ye'er cake" on Yingchun Road is quite popular. It's steaming hot when cooked together in a steamer. The meat dumplings in this shop are very unique. When you tear open the rice dumpling leaves, they are as white as jade and have a slightly sweet taste. There is also a subtle aroma of fermented rice, which makes this morning fall into a momentary trance.

Go to the "Ye Baozi" in Fruit Street. The fresh meat buns in this shop are not to be ignored by Tianjin Goubuli. They have thin skin and thick fillings, and are rich in green onion flavor. The biggest feature of Ye Baozi is that it only uses chives instead of ginger and garlic, so once the buns are steamed, the whole street is fragrant. Sometimes you will find that this is the fireworks smell that a small town should have.

Jiajiang "Zeng Ye'er Cake"

Jiajiang has a lot of delicious food. It seems that you can find delicious food in any stall or shop. For example, when I was passing by Wuchang, I saw a small restaurant called "Wuchang Beef", which had everything including steaming, roasting, stewing, mixing, and stir-frying. But I only ordered one dish that I had never eaten before - crispy beef. It was spicy and the meat was crispy and tender. It was really delicious. At that time, I thought, if I don’t order three to five dishes and add two ounces of wine to my meal, I will not be able to show off the craftsmanship of others.

Jiajiang Qi Roast Duck is being marinated

Jiajiang Food gave me the impression that there are delicacies hidden in the alleys of Lu. Inadvertently, such as Jiajiang Roast Duck, Zhuo Jiajiang delicacies such as chicken, Lei BBQ, and Longjiang flavored noodles may come to you, making people have a gluttonous desire. Understanding a city often starts with its food. Walking on the streets of Jiajiang, I can experience a kind of tranquility, leisure and contentment. During the Tongzhi period, Chen Yuzan, the magistrate of Jiajiang County, sat in the lobby of the Jiajiang Office, facing Mount Emei. Perhaps what he hoped for was this kind of state: "I would rather the people are safe and have no urgent orders, and can recite the sentences leisurely on the way."

Extended reading

Archives around you｜Jiazhou Taste Notes②: Qiaotan is famous for its one-pot cooking.

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