The puffer fish is the "king of fish", which is the first delicious food in nature, but it is also poisonous and hides invisible risks. This is a pair of contradictions and a dilemma. The key is the cooking technology of puffer fish. For a long time, people have made many active explorations in the cooking technology of puffer fish. It should be said that this exploration is successful, and a more scientific cooking technology has been explored. Today, we can safely eat puffer fish, which is the first delicious food in the world.
China has always had the habit of cooking puffer fish. In ancient times, many people dared to eat poisonous puffer fish, but I am afraid that only the Jiangnan area is rich in products and forms regional characteristics. From Wuchang to the east of the Yangtze River, the easterly wind grows stronger. The custom of eating puffer fish in Jiangnan began in the Song Dynasty. "Chi Cheng Zhi" volume? Six said this fish: the moon in winter is the best taste. There is a fat belly, as white as crisp, which is called Xi Shi milk. "Tired Miscellaneous Notes" records: "Every late spring, willow flowers fall, and this fish is fat. Jianghuai people think it is precious, and they even give it away (Wei). Its cooking method is: "Take its meat (1uan) and mix it with chrysanthemum buds to make soup." "If you don't understand it, it will also harm people. When you get old, you will die of poisoning. "This shows that the puffer fish burning method at that time was still immature and still in the exploration stage. Therefore, Su Dongpo has the saying of "eating puffer fish desperately".
During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, puffer fish was regarded as the supreme food in the south of the Yangtze River. Volume 9 of Rebuilding Qin Chuanzhi records: "The puffer fish came out of the Yangtze River, ... came out first, competed for the market at a high price, and was fed back to the neighbors to kiss the old." Cooking puffer fish has become a famous court dish in Ming Dynasty. According to the "Song Health Department", it is recorded that "the puffer fish should be exposed to the sun (Pu), and the sauce should be cooked and clear. Use carp. Boil puffer fish, cut it with puffer fish in February, and remove eyes, seeds, tail, blood, etc. , and cut into porch (large). Put less water first, and put the fish in and overcook it. Secondly, sugarcane and reed roots are used to make poison. Litchi shell softens its thorns. Add water and overcook it. Pepper, Sichuan pepper, onion, sauce and vinegar are mixed. " In order to prevent puffer fish poisoning, the method of "drinking cabbage soup to relieve summer heat" was invented at that time. Xu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said in the poem "Puffer": "Everything is based on quality, and everything is balanced. However, it should be western milk, and there is no salt in the courtiers. " With everyone's support, the reputation of puffer fish in Jiangnan has soared, which has greatly refreshed the aquarium.
By the Qing Dynasty, the atmosphere of eating puffer fish in Jiangnan was even higher. Li Yu said in "Casual Drinking Department": "The puffer fish is the most important in the south of the Yangtze River, and its food is sweet." In the Qing Dynasty, "Three Winds and Ten Colourful Stories" recorded the whole cooking process of puffer fish: "Take several buckets of soybeans every other year, and those with pure black sauce, ... are all cooked, and they are made yellow with Huai wheat flour. In mid-June, white salt is added, and the sauce is scarce and covered in the hot sun. The sauce is cooked in the urn and covered in the urn basin. , sealed with ash, the famous dolphin sauce. ..... It is also the first time that it has arrived in Chengjiang for the treatment of puffer fish. There are several cans of river water on board, and all the water used for rinsing and juicing is river water. ..... Cut off your eyes, identify your stomach, spit out spinal blood and wash it. Carefully remove the bloodshot from the fat with a silver hairpin, and seal the meat and take the skin. Boil the soup, take it out, put it on the board, and clamp its thorns with tweezers, leaving nothing behind. Then cut the skin into cubes, stir-fry it with meat, fat, bones and lard, and cook it with last year's sauce. The wok is boiling, so be sure to cover it with a lid to cover the smoke. Dip the diced paper in the juice and burn it, or it will be cooked. Every time you cook it again, every kind of food will be used up and it will be harmless. " It can be seen that most of the ancient Jiangnan residents ate puffer fish without poisoning. The key lies in scientific and appropriate cooking methods.