What is a "side furnace"? Wanli's "Shunde County Records" explains: "Eating around the tripod is called a side furnace." In the Qing Dynasty, the saying in Guangdong Tongzhi was more popular: "Eating around the stove from winter to day is called cooking the stove." -it makes sense to read the text, that is, a group of people sit around and "cook".
From this point of view, the side stove seems to be no different from Sichuan-Chongqing hot pot. Cai Lan, a gourmet who thinks that "hot pot has no culture", once commented: "(Side-cooking stove) can't climb the cooking skill, but only changes the food from raw to cooked."
Whether Mr. Cai's remarks are convincing will not be discussed for the time being, but Cantonese people have a soft spot for playing games.
Unlike Sichuan-Chongqing hot pot, which is spicy with heavy oil, Cantonese people who are addicted to soup mostly use old fire soup as the bottom of the side stove at home. Winter melon, coix seed, poria cocos and yam ... clearing heat and promoting diuresis in summer, nourishing and expelling cold in autumn and winter. In drinking, eating and drinking, Cantonese people have passed down thousands of years of health wisdom and condensed it into the connotation and essence of a pot of soup.
Cantonese people are addicted to "fresh", and even if they start a sideline, they can't do without the word "fresh". Chaoshan beef balls, Zhongshan crispy meat, Anhui, Qingyuan take the chicken ... Whether it's seafood or ordinary meat dishes, they are chopped immediately, with blood in them. People who can't accept it can cover their food with soy sauce; Pursue the original flavor and simply cook it in the broth.
And the higher the realm, even the soup can be avoided. Just make fun of it. In the light, you can feel the world in food. There is no extra fragrance and spicy taste, fish tastes like fish, and chicken tastes like chicken. Everything is simple and returns to the essence. "There is no secret to winning."
More devout "fundamentalists" must use charcoal stoves and casseroles, which is authentic. A mild and lasting charcoal stove, a well-insulated casserole, is simply born for the side stove. Besides, "a little red in a quiet stove" is more romantic and poetic than modern appliances.
Charcoal edge furnace
Simmer slowly, and keep the side furnace slightly boiling to avoid boiling water. The meat and soup stewed by charcoal fire are extremely mellow and smooth. Chicken pot, snake pot, mutton pot, goose pot ... In addition to the traditional "big stew", these charcoal stoves and casseroles have also spawned many "explosive" side-binding stoves.
After eating charcoal fire and spitting meat, you can also cook thick soup and throw a piece of bread into the pot. After absorbing the essence of the soup, you can take a few bites, and then the cheap instant noodles will have another unique taste.
Meat, soup, teeth and cheeks are fragrant. ...
Tell your son: "Eat color, have sex."
No matter how restrained you are, you may not be able to resist the inner desire in the face of the misty temptation of the side furnace.
Pot gas and popularity
As a Cantonese dish, the side stove is very particular about ingredients. However, as a kind of food culture of "chin beauty", there is also another side of "eclecticism".
In film and television or literary works, there are many sideline furnaces. In addition to Infernal Affairs, Wang Anyi's 1996 novel Song of Eternal Sorrow, and Mr. Miley and his friends' "After drinking half a glass of wine, their hearts were hot and their eyes were hot, and they unconsciously shed a string of tears" are also classic descriptions with great picture sense and emotional concentration.
It's getting colder and colder. It's said that the side stove can keep people warm. This warmth comes not only from the burning of the fire, but also from the "rolling friends" who support their feet. From this perspective, the most important thing is to have "pot spirit" and "popularity".
Tracing back to the source, the charm of sideline furnace lies in simplicity and complexity, relaxation and tension, and intimacy between people.