What are the famous specialties in Shaoxing?

Of course, the most famous specialty of Shaoxing is yellow wine, but what I want to talk about here is stinky tofu, dried vegetables and fennel beans.

It's strange that someone would like to eat something so smelly. In Shaoxing, you can see stalls selling this stinky tofu on any street. A tricycle, a small coal stove, a frying pan, several plates filled with stinky tofu, and a small pile of bottles and jars of spices. Cut the stinky tofu into small squares of appropriate size and put them neatly. If necessary, stir-fry a few pieces and throw them into the oil pan, fry until golden brown, then pick them up with an oil fence and string them with bamboo sticks. One or two dollars can buy a bunch, ranging from three to five dollars. Buy now, fry now and eat now. It's delicious. According to people who love to eat, this stinky tofu smells bad, but it tastes delicious. People who taste it for the first time don't like it at first, but they often like it at first taste.

I love durian, which has a strange smell. People who don't eat durian say it stinks, while people who love it say it smells good, which is similar to stinky tofu. According to common sense, I should love stinky tofu, but I can't. There is a small market not far from my home. From morning till night, there are several vendors frying stinky tofu for sale. Maybe their methods are not authentic or smelly. An unpleasant smell is mixed with a thick pungent smell of oil smoke. If you smell it, cover your nose every time you pass by. There are stalls selling stinky tofu everywhere in Shaoxing. Fortunately, there is no such unpleasant smell (smelly, but not smelly) and pungent smell of oil smoke, which is not too annoying. I've seen a lot, and I know Shaoxing's stinky tofu is very famous, but I haven't eaten it myself. I really don't know what it smells like. It seems a little unreasonable not to taste it in Shaoxing. I gritted my teeth and bought a bunch to try. Pig Bajie is a heartthrob, but he doesn't know its taste, because he is so greedy that I can't remember what this stinky tofu tastes like. It seems a little fragrant. After all, it is fried. Later, I learned that the stinky tofu in the street is not authentic. Authentic delicious tofu is three flavors or infinite stinky tofu, and a few stinky tofu costs ten dollars. If I have the chance to go to Shaoxing again, I want to try it again and try the authentic Shaoxing stinky tofu. Maybe I will really like it.

I thought it was called dried plums, but I didn't know it was called dry mold until I saw the words. Stinky tofu is fermented. Is this dried vegetable moldy? Shaoxing people are really ambiguous (moldy)! In fact, looking forward to life is a shame. This kind of dried vegetable is only preserved and won't go moldy. It may be black and shiny, and it looks moldy and black. Dried vegetables, also called dried vegetables, are really worthy of the name and will not be misunderstood. Don't look at this dark and inconspicuous dry dish. Shaoxing is famous since ancient times, and it is called the "Three Five" culture. Three Wu are: dried vegetables, black felt hats, and awning boats. You see, food, clothing, housing and transportation are all covered. What's more, these three evils are not uncommon. They are very common. It is good that every family can have it, whether it is a rich family or a small family. Water town, bridge town, orchid town, calligraphy town, celebrity town, plus the "Three Five" culture of food, clothing, housing and transportation, Shaoxing is really a desirable utopia.

I heard that "braised pork with mushrooms" is a special dish in Shaoxing, and it is a must, so I found a distinctive small restaurant and asked for a plate. When the dish comes up, smell it first, and then look at the collocation of black food and white meat. It is not only beautiful in color, but also delicious and mouth-watering. It's even more amazing to have a taste. Pork is fat but not greasy, sweet and delicious. The magic thing is that the pickled dried vegetables are not salty or sweet, but absorb the taste of pork, which is sweet and sweet, sweet and fresh, and delicious. There are pickles in our hometown, either pickles or sauerkraut, which is not as sweet as dried vegetables. I don't know whether sweetness is the true color of dried vegetables or the delicacy cooked by the chef. Either way, this "braised pork with mushrooms" is really extraordinary. The next day, I was impressed by the sweetness of dried black vegetables. The hotel includes breakfast, a bowl of porridge, an egg, two steamed buns and a plate of pickles. Pickled vegetables are black and shiny, as long as tea leaves. They taste sweet and refreshing. It is really memorable to send porridge with this. I suspect this is dried black cabbage. No wonder Shaoxing people will say: dried vegetables and white rice, the gods will also come to earth when they see it.

You don't have to be from Shaoxing to know fennel. The Kong Yi created by Mr. Lu Xun is really wonderful, reminiscent of Kong Yi wearing a gown and standing in a salty hotel drinking yellow wine, with a mouthful of "how much is it?" Not much! "I am also proud of the pedantic writing of fennel. I also remember the fennel beans I drank. Since then, this humble bean has been known by people because of Mr. Lu Xun's novels. Fennel beans are made from arhat beans (also called broad beans) with spices, cooked and dried. Blue-yellow, wrinkled skin, hard meat, delicious and chewy, most suitable for drinking.

When I stepped out of Lu Xun's former residence that day and saw a small shop opposite, I went in and asked for a bowl of rice wine and a plate of fennel beans. I chose a window seat, took a sip of wine and ate a few fennel beans, and my mind was full of hazy figures. The wine is good, but beans don't like it. It's hard, and it always seems impossible to chew. If I can't chew a few, it will make my teeth soft (my teeth are not good); I can't eat any beans, only a little fennel. The more you eat, the more annoying you get. Early know "difficult" to eat, it is better to cook peanuts with salt. There is stinky tofu in the shop, but I don't want to eat it. Later, I thought, fennel beans are too hard, but they are really delicious. A small butterfly can tease me all afternoon. The taste is quite sweet, not greasy, and fragrant. It's really good. But I want to try some fresh Podocarpus. In the novel "Social Play", "I" and my friends go to the fields to pick and cook the arhat beans on the way back from the theater at night, which is so attractive that the taste of the beans must be extremely fresh and unforgettable. Unfortunately, fresh green broad beans are not delicious, so we can only savor the delicacy of fresh arhat beans in fennel beans.

In addition to serving wine, fennel beans have a custom in Shaoxing that outsiders generally don't know. Anyone who has white food at home will entertain guests with fennel beans. If the dead people live a long life, everyone will scramble to eat them, and treat them as "longevity beans", which can also prolong life. Therefore, after the death of a long-lived old man, the family always sends fennel beans to relatives and neighbors, and also brings some back to the unit to share with colleagues. I don't know when this custom was formed, but I like this warm custom.