Why do people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang call steamed buns "steamed buns"?

There is no Hainan chicken rice in Hainan, Chongqing chicken pot in Chongqing, Lanzhou Lamian Noodles in Lanzhou and Hangzhou steamed buns in Hangzhou. The above four are the most famous map stalks in the food circle. But is there really no steamed buns in Hangzhou? Hangzhou people's answer is: no, we love to eat.

0 1 My name is steamed bread/Not steamed bread/

Xiao Long, as its name implies, refers to cakes steamed in a small steamer. Generally speaking, the weight of a "guest" cage should be controlled within the single person's appetite to meet the standard. For example, one cage for Yangzhou soup, four cages for Wuxi, eight cages for Shanghai Nanxiang and ten cages for Shaoxing Shengzhou are all "small cages" in a broad sense, although they are different in size.

This is a small cage | stock.tuchong

This is also a small cage | stock.tuchong

On the contrary, no matter how small the steamed buns are, they can't be called "steamed buns". In Hangzhou, this kind of big cage and small bag also has a name called "throat steamed bread"-meaning to swallow it at once. Most importantly, the suffix of "Xiaolong" must be steamed bread, not "Xiaolongbao". In the Taihu Plain with Su Xichang, Hangjiahu and Shanghai Beach as the core, there is no word "steamed stuffed bun" in Wu dialect spoken by local people. Both the stuffed and the unfilled have become steamed bread. Meat steamed bread, vegetable steamed bread, fried steamed bread, steamed steamed steamed bread ... In fact, wonton and steamed bread are all ancient words in China. Wonton comes from Chaos, which describes that there are no seven tricks to cook stuffed pasta. Steamed bread comes from "Tibetan head", which describes making pasta in the shape of an adult's head and avoiding the gods when offering sacrifices. After Mongolia entered the Central Plains, it collided with Chinese. Wonton and steamed bread, which have profound Chinese meanings, cannot be translated into Mongolian, but the folk abbreviations "jiaozi" and "steamed bread" circulating on the street can be accurately translated into Mongolian "bansh" and "buuz". This is the language basis for the large-scale popularity of jiaozi and steamed buns in northern China, and also the cultural origin of Jiangnan, the hometown of the Southern Song Dynasty, which still insists on using wonton and steamed buns. Therefore, authentic indigenous people in the Yangtze River Delta will never associate the word "steamed buns". The proper reading method should be "steamed bread". In this sense, the "Hangzhou steamed buns" that can be seen everywhere in northern cities are undoubtedly knockoffs. Common Steamed Bun Shop in North Hangzhou | flickr suuuki mo

Wupai Cage VS Yuepai Cage/Selection Based on Regional Differences/

On the other hand, the popularity of "Hangzhou steamed buns" in the north, rather than Wuxi, Suzhou, Shanghai and Shaoxing steamed buns, also has unique cultural opportunities. The word "wuyue" often appears as a whole in the Yangtze River Delta, but there are great differences between Wu culture and Yue culture. ■ The northern part of Wu Pai Xiaolong is a fertile Wudi plain with Qiantang River as the general dividing line and Suzhou as the core. Here, elegant and exquisite gentry culture is advocated. Pingtan and Kunqu are both soft words of Wu Nong, gentle enough to pinch water. Diet also advocates a light and sweet style. Steamed fish, fried sweet beans and salted shrimp are the dishes with high ordering rate in Suzhou restaurant. As for Xiaolong, Suzhou, Wuxi and Shanghai in the Wu culture area mostly use unfermented dead noodles as skins. This is to roll the dough thin and make the filling appear translucent; Moreover, the dead dough can pinch out more wrinkles, which reflects the meticulous eating attitude. Most of the fillings of Wu brand steamed buns strictly follow the principle of "three fat and seven thin", chopped with pure pork and seasoned with different degrees of sugar and light soy sauce. For example, Wuxi steamed buns are often so sweet that foreigners doubt their lives because of their high sugar content. In addition, the old shop will also add a "water play" to stir the broth into the meat stuffing. The small cage made in this way is filled with soup. However, the "water fight" is laborious, which increases the difficulty of wrapping the small cage and shortens the shelf life of the meat stuffing. Therefore, shops are often lazy now, and mixing frozen skin with meat stuffing can make the gravy overflow 78%. Today, Ding Taifeng is the most influential small cage brand in the world, although its founder Yang is from Shaanxi. But after he arrived in Taiwan Province Province, he has been working in the Shanghai boss's industry. When I started to operate Ding Taifeng, I was also instructed by my friends in Shanghai. Therefore, today, Ding Taifeng pursues the attitude of 18 discount or more, which is the tradition of small cages in Wu Pai. In order to mass-produce Dante Taifeng's small cage according to industry standards, he abandoned the method of playing with water and standardized and digitized the proportion of frozen skin and minced meat in the stuffing, so he was criticized by many Jiangsu and Zhejiang gourmets as "losing childlike interest". ■ To the south of Qiantang River, Cantonese dragons are rolling hills in the south of the Yangtze River. The geographical pattern has been broken and the commercial forms are diversified. Here, market culture has an overwhelming advantage over literati culture. The popular Yue Opera and Lotus Falls here are all artistic forms full of fireworks. In terms of diet, most of them are dried plums, fermented bean curd, southern bacon and sauced duck. The small cages here also inherited this market atmosphere, mostly with fermented hair as the skin, not paying attention to wrinkles and not pursuing translucent visual effects. Although it is small, it is full. After steaming, it is best to have meat oil overflow from the dough mouth, which is oily and mouth-watering. Although many high-end restaurants now use dead dough for good visual effects, most roadside shops still use hairy dough. The selection of fillings in Xiao Long with Cantonese style also has diversified characteristics. In addition to pork, mushrooms, diced bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, dried shrimps and vegetables will be selected frugally, and the fillings will be seasoned with a variety of ingredients, which will never have a sweet and greasy taste. But in fact, Vietnam's economy has lagged behind Emperor Wu for a long time, and its wealth is far from the same. Especially in the mountainous area represented by Shaoxing Shengzhou, it was too poor to eat meat before, so a kind of tofu cage was derived: cheap tofu mixed with minced meat as the stuffing in the cage. Using the smell-absorbing characteristics of tofu, you can make more small cages with only a little pork. At that time, people did not expect that the bean curd residue inadvertently inserted under the embarrassment of life could actually become a major category of small cages today.

Hangzhou Xiaolong/Existence of Compatibility/

Hangzhou, a "backward element" sandwiched between two cultures in wuyue, is a very unique existence. The dining table of Hangzhou people is always divided. Half of a table is Wu cuisine advertised as light and far-reaching, and the other half is inseparable from colorful Yue cuisine. Light fish-head bean curd soup and rich steamed and smelly Qi Fei are commonplace in Hangzhou. West Lake vinegar fish, West Lake water shield soup and West Lake beef soup are all tourist dishes that Hangzhou people don't eat themselves. Trying to make some cultural self-confidence different from other places, but unable to escape the influence of foreign culture, is a typical "nouveau riche" mentality with weak historical foundation, and it is also the fundamental reason why Hangzhou is regarded as a "gourmet desert" by many foreigners. But when it comes to local cuisine like Xiao Long, Hangzhou can show great tolerance. Whether it is a well-made small cage of Wu brand or a small cage of Guangdong brand with fireworks on the street, you can find a place here. At the same time, Hangzhou itself has the attributes of an online celebrity and is a new immigrant city. Here, the "Xiaolongbao" in the south of the Yangtze River is called "Xiaolongbao" by students in the north, and it will get the greatest respect and understanding. The "Hangzhou Xiaolongbao" spread all over the country seems to be the invention of the snack bar owner, but it embodies the Xiaolongbao lovers from all over the country and is the greatest affirmation of Hangzhou.