Decryption: Why did Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, prefer Sichuan ginger?

From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Shu sauce topped the list with its excellent quality, and became a delicious food for historical celebrities such as Cao Cao and Sun Quan. Sichuanese, very spicy, love spicy ginger more. Su Dongpo made Dongpo fish, Dongpo meat and mustard soup with ginger. Ginger is widely used in Sichuan cuisine, forming the classic flavor of ginger juice.

Cao Cao said: I hate Shu without ginger. This is a magical dinner. Cao Cao smiled and said to Zuo Ci and all the guests, "Today's high meeting is very rare. One of the few, Wu Songjiang bass is a cockroach. " Zuo Ci immediately showed that he had a way to get bass. So Zuo Ci poured clear water into a copper plate on the spot, made a fishing rod out of bamboo, hung the bait on the hook and put it on the copper plate. Then I fished out a three-foot bass from the copper plate, fresh and lovely. Cao Cao and all the guests were dumbfounded. Legend has it that Zuo Ci had magical powers since he was a child, so Cao Cao asked Zuo Ci to catch another bass of the same size. Cao Cao sliced the perch himself and gave it to all the guests. At this time, Cao Cao said regretfully, "I have perch now, but I wish I could be without ginger in Shu."

When the ancients ate fish, they liked to make preserved fish, that is, cut the fish into thin slices and eat it directly with spices such as ginger and onion. The famous "goldfish" in history refers to shredded ginger or Jiang Mo. At that time, in order not to disappoint Cao Cao, Zuo Ci left at once and bought Shu Jiang from Chengdu market in a blink of an eye for Cao Cao. The story comes from Gan Bao's quest for God. There are similar records in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty written by Ye Fan in the Southern Dynasties. Obviously, the story is fictional, and it is impossible for Zuo Ci to travel between Xuchang and Chengdu in a blink of an eye. The two places are thousands of miles apart. But Cao Cao's special liking for Shu generals is not necessarily fictitious. Probably Cao Cao loves Sichuan ginger, so people made up such a magical story. In fact, not only Cao Cao, who occupies the Central Plains, likes to eat Sichuan ginger, but also Sun Quan, who is based in the south of the Yangtze River. The Biography of Immortals, compiled by Ge Hong, records that Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, got mullet and planned to make a fish. At this time, Sun Quan said to the Taoist priest, "It's good to get Shu as an embarrassment, but it's not the case if you hate me." Xiang Jie said he could get Shu Jiang. So Xiang Jie used magic to let a soldier with his eyes closed ride on a bamboo pole and fly directly to Chengdu. After buying Shu Jiang in the market, he returned to Jianye (Nanjing) with a bamboo stick. The chef cooked mullet for Sun Quan with Shu Jiang.

Confucius said: ginger food is not removed. Confucius said: if you don't eat right, don't eat; Don't eat undercooked food when cooking; Illegally cutting meat and not eating it; More importantly, don't eat ginger. In other words, ginger cannot be lacking in condiments. This proposition of Confucius promoted the position of ginger in China's food culture. Although it cannot be concluded that Cao Cao and Sun Quan like to eat ginger because of the influence of Confucius, what is certain is that Xuchang in Cao Wei and Jianye in Sun Wu both have ginger. Strangely, why do Cao Cao and Sun Quan have a soft spot for Shu generals?

Jia Sixie's Book of Qi Yao Min in the Northern Wei Dynasty said: "China is not suitable for planting ginger, but can only survive. Breeders, talk about medicine small ears. " It means that the soil in the Central Plains is not suitable for planting ginger, and it can only survive and cannot grow in large quantities. For medicinal purposes, I planted a little. Jia Sixie's words show that before the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the quality of ginger in the Central Plains (including Jiangnan) was very poor. This is the direct reason why both Cao Cao and Sun Quan like Shu Jiang.

In the pre-Qin period, Shu will be famous all over the world. Lu Chunqiu, edited by the editor, records: "The beauty of harmony (harmonizing five flavors) is Yang Pu's ginger." Gao in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Yangpu, a place name, is in Shu County." Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica also said: "Yang (Yang) Park, the place name, is in Xishu." Sima Qian's Historical Records said: "Bashu is also fat, and the land is rich in ginger." Jin's "Shu Du Fu" also said: "Its nursery has ... sugarcane and ginger." Tao Hongjing's Records of Famous Doctors in the Southern Dynasties also said: "Ginger and dried ginger are rivers and valleys." There is a record of producing high-quality ginger in Guanghan, western Sichuan in Su Song's Materia Medica. During the Qin and Han dynasties, high-quality Shu ginger was sold to the Central Plains and Jiangnan. Cui Shi's "Qi Yi" in the Han Dynasty said: "The carp in Dongting (crucian carp), the carp in irrigation, the ginger in Yangpu, and the carp (the general name for vegetables) are longevity flowers." "Historical Records" also said: If there are "thousands of beds of ginger and leeks, this person is equal to ten thousand households." It can be seen that as early as the Western Han Dynasty, people became rich by planting ginger, and their worth was comparable to that of officials enjoying great wealth. Ginger juice, the classic flavor of Sichuan cuisine.

Cao Cao and Sun Quan, the two overlords of the Three Kingdoms, like Shu generals, but what about Liu Bei, the master of Shu who lives in Chengdu? It is easy to get the moon first, and Liu Bei is no exception. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, many dishes in Sichuan cuisine are inseparable from ginger, or ginger, dried ginger, or soaked ginger, ginger juice, or ginger oil. Sichuan ginger can be eaten with salt, fried, fried, roasted, boiled, steamed, stewed and mixed, and can also be used as seasoning. The Tang Dynasty's Medical Mind Mirror recorded the pickling method of Chengdu crucian carp: take "a crucian carp weighing half a catty, chop it (slice or shred it), throw it into the boiled lobster sauce (after the lobster sauce is boiled, pour it on the sashimi), and add powder such as pepper, radish, dried ginger and dried tangerine peel." Not only delicious, but also can cure five dysentery. Jiang Ye is an indispensable ingredient of Dongpo fish, a famous historical dish in Sichuan. Su Dongpo said his practice: "Treat the disease with fresh crucian carp or carp, add salt in cold water, add D (stir) in the center of shepherd's purse, and still add mud onions for several stems without stirring." Medium-cooked, add a little ginger, radish juice and wine, and mix well. When cooked, eat it when you enter the orange peel line. " Su Dongpo also cooked shepherd's purse soup with ginger: "Take one or two liters of shepherd's purse, wash it, wash it, and add three liters of cold water. Ginger, without peeling, is patted with two fingers, put into the kettle, and pour a shell of raw oil. When touching soup, raw oil is inedible, and salt and vinegar are not allowed. " Su Dongpo's "Xiu Yuan Cuisine" is also a famous "Dongpo Meat" with "black beans with salt and orange D with ginger and onion".

Ginger is widely used in Sichuan cuisine, forming a classic special flavor: ginger juice flavor. Its traditional dishes include hoofed flowers with ginger sauce, meat with ginger sauce, and hot ginger chicken ...... countless.