Shunde Delicious Tour ①: "Porridge" Tour in Shunde

At midnight, I was lying on the hotel bed. Half asleep and half awake, I suddenly felt something was wrong. I sat up and suddenly realized: This is Shunde, and it should be midnight snack time!

In Shunde, I live near Lun District, which is famous for its white sugar cakes. When we first arrived, the taxi driver said that a certain market was not far away. “That area is where locals go for late-night snacks,” he told me. I tried hard to remember that the name it mentioned was Yongfeng Market. After searching on the map, it was only 3 kilometers away from me. Suddenly I lost all sleep, and felt vaguely hungry, so I got dressed and went downstairs to call a taxi. Ten minutes later, I arrived in front of Yongfeng Market.

Boiling "Wumi Porridge" late at night

Yongfeng Market is actually a large farmers' market.

Looking in through the locked iron gate, the stalls lined up divide the rectangular space into columns. There was no one in the market at this time, but it was very lively outside. When night falls, the empty parking lot transforms into a food stall plaza. On several ovens about 1.5 meters long, various foods are being roasted to a sizzling sound, and smoke is thick and rising in the windless night sky. Unlike the main types of meat in the north, most of the food grilled here is seafood. Most of them are still jumping around in the containers next to the stove, and the place of origin and name are written on the sign: Zhanjiang oysters, Zhongshan ghost claw snails, Jiangmen shrimps...

Grilled oysters

I ordered half a dozen huge oysters and a plate of roasted peppers with dark brown skin and tiger skin stripes. I sat on a seat facing the street and watched the cityscape in front of me through the smoke. The roasted juice is mixed with the fried garlic, soaking the plump oyster meat itself with more flavor. When you pick up the oyster shell and suck it into your mouth, the oyster meat slides directly into your throat. Under the beguiling coating of the sweet and soft texture of the pepper and the rich sauce, there is a spicy aftertaste that will make your whole body burn.

In the food stalls that disappear during the day, seafood is grilled, but in the restaurants across the street with brighter lights, seafood is rinsed.

Shun He, Zhen Kee, Fengcheng Wei, Xing Tan Fair and Liangzheng... these famous names specializing in raw porridge and hot pot, stand next to each other on Xinshi Liang Road opposite Yongfeng Market. At this time, every restaurant is full, and this place must represent the highest level of porridge in Shunde.

I waited for a seat at "Xingtan Fair and Liangzheng", although I didn't know how to pronounce the name of the restaurant.

If you want to enjoy the most authentic and delicious raw porridge hot pot, you need to follow the standard process figured out by the inquisitive Shunde people: first rinse the freshest shellfish, then add the grass carp fillets, and then It is meat and pork offal. As the taste of the ingredients increases from light to heavy, the layers of the porridge gradually become richer. Finally, shredded green vegetables capture all the essence in the pot.

A person's appetite is limited so late at night and he cannot eat all that much, so he can only unfortunately intercept the above clip. I followed the boss's suggestion and ordered the most popular hand-cut beef. At this time, it was being served to every table, and it was probably running out soon. The big piece of whole meat was hurriedly pulled into the back kitchen on a cart by the waiter...

A small piece of bright red beef A dish of tender shredded ginger and a pot were placed on the mottled alcohol stove, and the porridge base quickly appeared on the table. Also coming up at the same time was a brown egg. "Crack the eggs onto the beef and mix well." The waiter pointed out that in addition to making the beef tenderer, eggs can also add color to the porridge.

Follow the instructions and stir the pot twice with a spoon. You can clearly feel that the bottom of the porridge pot is different from the viscosity of soup, but you can hardly see a grain of rice. This is probably Shunde. Rice porridge is the highest state of "there is rice but no rice".

Beef, egg and rice porridge

I picked up a piece of beef that had been fully mixed with the egg liquid and put it into the pot. I watched them tumbling in the porridge. As the color became darker, I Calculate the time carefully and strive to get it out of the pot at the most suitable time. Because cooking it earlier or later will affect the taste of the meat. Observe the beef that has just been picked up: it is wrapped in layers, first with the solidified egg liquid, and then with a layer of crystal porridge on the outside. Quickly roll it in the dipping sauce, and it is the third layer. Put it in your mouth. This taste is really unprecedented, I even felt a crispy texture similar to fungus. The "three flowers" with a perfect ratio of meat, tendons and fat, the entrapment of egg liquid, the tissue penetration of boiling rice milk... a series of links can affect the taste of meat. It's so delicious that you can't stop eating it, and before you know it, the plate has reached the bottom. With the continuous rolling, the porridge base becomes thicker and thicker, and the bowl of nest egg beef porridge with traces of egg blossoms has gradually become better.

Raw porridge and morning wine

The Daliang River meanders through downtown Shunde. Walking along the river early in the morning is the best way to understand local life. The summer sun drives people to shady places very early.

It is always the most popular place under the continuous trees, and dynamic or quiet activities are carried out here: Tai Chi, Cantonese opera, or the inextricable chess match that always has many spectators...

Along the I followed the path up the mountain and stopped at a high place. I turned around and looked in the other direction. What I saw in front of me was a scenery different from that of high-rise buildings. Gray earth walls and sloping roofs covered with brown-red tiles were framed among them. There are also traditional watchtowers with more flavor. Although they occupy a very limited area, it is rare to see such ancient scenes in the city center.

Layers of roof tiles

The breakfast in Shunde is equally exciting. You can feel the color and smell from the shop fronts and signboards on the streets passing by the river: Lunjiao cake, Steamed rice rolls, baked egg tarts, Chencun rice noodles... Many small stores specialize in a certain item, with few seats or only one window for takeout. Despite this, long queues will form in stores with good business. Occasionally, I pass by a tea house, and it must be crowded with people. Dim sum carts shuttle back and forth, and diners calmly take their favorite "one cup or two" from it...

As I walked along, I was actually hungry for a long time. But because it looked so delicious, I had difficulty choosing. It wasn’t until I saw the sign of the porridge shop again that I made up my mind. It seemed that I still had more to say than the night before, and I was attracted to porridge again.

"The porridge shop only does business in the morning, and it will be gone after 9 o'clock. There are very few shops that are open all day like ours." When I walked into Xuanji Porridge Shop, the owner told me this. At this time, the hands of the clock on the wall are about to point to 9 o'clock.

Raw porridge

Raw porridge actually does not originate from Shunde, but from the Chaoshan area. However, in recent years, as it has become more and more popular in Shunde, there are more and more shops selling raw porridge.

Since it is served as breakfast, the food is naturally known for its speed and convenience. Although it is simplified and not as complex as hot pot, the variety is rich and delicious. Looking at the wooden menu on the wall, I ordered what I wanted to eat. In front of the window, three large aluminum pots were rolling continuously, and the inner walls of the pots were getting thicker and thicker. The owner increases or decreases the heat, adds different ingredients, stirs, and takes it out of the pot in one go. A large bowl of pork offal porridge is brought to the front along with onion and ginger seasoning. Compared with the watery porridge at the bottom of the pot last night, the porridge in this bowl has more obvious ingredients. With each spoonful in your mouth, you can feel the satiety brought by the carbohydrates. The pork offal has no fishy taste at all, only the softness of the lungs, the crispiness of the small intestine and the denseness of the liver.

When I came in, I found three trolley cases at the door of the store. It turned out that a family of three were waiting in front of the door for the ride-hailing master after eating and went straight to the airport. However, the little-known facade is full of people coming and going, not just foreigners like me who are hurrying to check in, but also leisurely locals, such as Mr. Huang sitting in the corner. He ate his porridge with sashimi, often taking a sip of wine from his glass. Yes, Shunde has the habit of "drinking morning wine". Not only is it suitable for teahouses with a rich variety of food, but also raw porridge and morning wine are a perfect match for local gourmets. On the shelf behind him, there is a row of opened bottles of stored wine with the customer's name written on them: Shiwan Yubingshao, Hongli Brand Red Rice Wine, Jiujiang Double Steaming. They are all locally produced rice wines, and most of them are red rice wines with cute red bottle caps and trademarks.

"It's like coffee for young people. Drinking a cup of "morning wine" will make you energetic throughout the day." Mr. Huang saw me paying attention to his wine, chatted with me across the table, and showed me his Liquor, the bottle has an alcohol content of 30%. But he said that this kind of "low-alcohol wine" is suitable for drinking in the morning...

In order not to have a red face for the rest of the day, I declined Mr. Huang's offer to buy me a drink. I suddenly remembered a certain Japanese drama, in which the protagonist skipped work during the day to drink and seemed to enjoy it extremely. In Japan, where drinking before sunset is considered a sin, the protagonist conveys a taboo-violating satisfaction to the audience. In this way, what if you drink alcohol in the morning? Isn't it a heinous crime? I silently finished the pig offal porridge in the bowl. As I walked, I thought, would the raw porridge be really more delicious if paired with a glass of morning wine?

Milk sublimates white porridge

"What's the difference between cow's milk and cow's milk?" In Jinbang Huanji Milk, a customer at the table next to me asked the shopkeeper.

"'Milk' means fresh buffalo milk, and 'cow's milk' means Shunde cheese." Sister Huan, the boss, answered in simple words. In order to be more intuitive, she grabbed a sample, a bottle of fresh milk and a piece of thin and translucent milk.

Sitting next to me, I was waiting for the signature double skin milk to be served. I just happened to order a bottle of milk. Because of the heat and its sweet taste, I drank it all in two gulps, and the bottle was still on the table. I have just seen milk in the Shunde Food Museum, but I have never tasted it and don’t know what it tastes like.

The relationship between Jinbang Street where I am and milk can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, this was still Jinbang Village. Because there was water and fields, the villagers raised buffaloes to make a living. Today, hundreds of years later, this place has become part of the city. There are still people raising buffaloes, but they have long been driven into the mountains, which are too far away to be seen.

However, due to the report of "Xunwei Shunde" a few years ago, the milk of the Golden List became popular again. People like Huanji who have been engaged in their old business have become Internet celebrity shops. More neighbors also seized the opportunity and returned to their ancestors' trade.

Milk Stalls

Surrounding the popular Yuxu Palace, there are conservatively estimated to be no fewer than twenty dairy shops nearby, each of which starts with "Golden List". Most of them only sell three things: bottled fresh milk, double-skinned milk, and milk that can be used as a representative of Shunde souvenirs, that is, Shunde buffalo milk with a fat content of more than 8%. Its taste and ease of coagulation are much higher than ordinary milk. Ideal material for making desserts such as double-skinned milk and cheese.

"Milk Milk" signs are all over this alley that is too narrow for cars to drive in. Although there are spider web-like wires overhead and messy protruding balconies, the walls on both sides have been painted Bright and clean white, the residents sit under the hanging bougainvillea to enjoy the coolness. Motorcycles occasionally come in and out. The scene is a bit like a small village in Europe.

Speaking of which, this place did have an intersection with Europe a few centuries ago. The Italian missionaries who passed by at that time felt sorry to see the summer milk being thrown away due to lack of preservation methods, so they used local materials and traditional Italian techniques to make mozzarella, a world-famous buffalo cheese. The missionaries taught the villagers the craftsmanship, left the recipe and left, but the people of Shunde did not buy it. They may not like the taste of Italy, or more likely they may be dissatisfied with the short shelf life of the mozzarella. With slight improvements on the missionaries' recipe, Shunde milk, known as "Oriental cheese" by later generations, was born.

After eating Double Skin Milk at Huanji Street in Jinbang Street, I walked to the Nomination Alley where there were fewer people. Generations of local students come here earlier than tourists looking for delicious food. They always come to these two streets to seek luck before exams.

In the Niugujinbang buffalo milk shop, the owner Ms. Chen is making milk. Scoop out the milk heated on a low heat on the stove, put it into another container with vinegar, stir and shake, and the solidified milk is quickly taken out and attached to a round wooden mold with a handle. As she kept repeating the above steps, more and more thinned white discs were placed in the salt water basin next to them, like a pool of petals falling in the wind.

This scene reminds me of the cheese workshop I visited in Naples. The process is almost the same, but it is far less delicate and romantic than the scene in front of me: bald uncles fishing out buckets of horse milk in huge stainless steel tanks. Surila, squeeze into 100g balls and soak in ice water. At this moment, each piece of cheese in Ms. Chen's hands was less than 4 grams, thin and translucent, with the same pattern and the brand of "Jin Bang Milk". Compared with mozzarella, which can be stored in the refrigerator for 10 days, Shunde milk soaked in salt water bottles can be stored at room temperature for half a year.

Simple milk has an extraordinary taste

I was still comparing thousands of miles in my mind. At the same time, I couldn’t wait to buy a box and opened it, wanting to quickly compare the taste.

"You can't eat this directly!" Perhaps she thought I was overdoing it, so Ms. Chen started speaking Cantonese. She told me that because of its high salt content, milk cannot be eaten directly. The best way to eat it is to soak it in porridge. Coincidentally, a pot of porridge had just been cooked on the stove. She turned around and served me a bowl. This time it was ordinary white porridge with rice grains visible. I followed her instructions and put the milk in my hand. The latter curled, became smaller, and completely melted in the hot porridge. Stir it twice, scoop up a spoonful, and you will feel a refreshing sweetness in your mouth, mixed with salty, sweet aroma, and the increasing creaminess of the aftertaste. It slowly unfolds in a bowl of white porridge.

On a summer afternoon, a bowl of ordinary white porridge transforms into a wonderful and unforgettable taste because of a piece of Shunde milk.