雨后春筍入饌鮮

周江鴻

昭蘇萬物春風(fēng)里，更有筍尖出土忙。

一場溟濛的春雨下過之后，山間竹林里“颯颯”冒出好多好多竹筍芽兒，嫩青如玉，秀削玲瓏。好竹連山覺筍香，春筍便成了百姓飯桌上一道美味佳肴。

以筍入饌 歷史悠久

竹筍，山珍中的翹楚。古代稱之為“苞”。以筍入饌，歷史悠久。早在夏商時期，華夏先民就開始食筍嘗鮮，且代代相傳，食筍已有三千年以上的歷史。周代，竹筍已和香蒲一起作為人們餐桌上的美味佳肴了。《詩經(jīng)》中有“加豆之實，筍菹魚醢”、“其蔬伊何，惟筍及蒲”的食筍記載。

筍，堪稱“素食第一”，是山珍美味佳肴，民間有“無筍不成席”之食俗。用筍烹制的各種菜肴，香氣清逸，滋味鮮美。周成王臨終前，召集滿朝的文武諸侯擁戴康王登基，設(shè)“敷重筍席”宴請款待諸侯文武大臣，可見筍宴在當(dāng)時之隆重規(guī)格。唐王李世民開創(chuàng)唐朝，建都長安，是一位頗喜食筍的皇帝。但長安少竹，鮮筍難得，故身價百倍。詩人李商隱就有“嫩籜香苞初出林，於陵論價重如金”的描述。

唐太宗在當(dāng)朝執(zhí)政期間，每逢春筍上市，總要召集文武百官吃筍，謂之“筍宴”，他愛用筍來象征國運(yùn)昌盛，天下人才輩出，猶如“雨后春筍，生機(jī)勃勃”。

傳說清康熙皇帝特別喜食江南春筍。《紅樓夢》作者曹雪芹的祖父曹寅與其妻兄李煦，曾用“筍宴”招待南巡的康熙皇帝，并獲得贊賞。后來，曹寅在江寧、蘇州織造和兩淮鹽政任內(nèi)，每年都向京城進(jìn)貢“燕來筍”(即燕子來時出土的鮮嫩春筍)。

竹筍的種類繁多，如春筍、夏筍、冬筍、毛筍、鞭筍、淡筍、石筍、野筍等等，或鮮或干，或腌或焙或泡，一年四季皆有上市。晉代戴凱寫有《竹譜》，其中記述了不同品種的竹筍，大致分為冬筍、春筍、鞭筍三類。清代戲劇家李笠翁把竹筍提到“蔬食第一品”的高度。在《閑情偶寄·飲饌部》說：“凡食中無論葷素，皆用竹調(diào)味，菜中之筍與藥中之甘草，同是必要之物，有此則諸味皆鮮。”他覺得肥羊乳豬也比不上它。

名人愛筍 書畫詩頌

竹筍脆嫩鮮美，清香可口，博得了不少文人雅士的厚愛和贊美，不足為奇。宋代大文豪、美食家蘇軾一生愛竹，自題“寧可食無肉，不可居無竹”之“竹銘”。后來傳誦的“無肉令人瘦，無竹令人俗，若要不瘦又不俗，除非餐餐筍燒肉”，更說明在他眼里，筍是每日不可少的食物。蘇東坡曾做過一首竹筍詩：“故人知我意，千里寄竹萌。駢頭玉嬰兒，一一脫錦

。庖人應(yīng)未識，旅人眼先明……”詩中他將潔白如玉的竹筍形容為剛脫襁褓的嬰兒，而北方大廚師還不識此為何物，羈旅他鄉(xiāng)的南方人，見了春筍后眼睛都發(fā)亮了。

唐代詩人杜甫對筍也有贊賞：“青青竹筍迎船出，白白江魚入饌來。”詩人把嫩筍和鮮魚搭配一起，可見其饌鮮美無比了。皮日休的“水花移得和魚子，山蕨收時帶竹胎”則稱竹筍為“竹胎”。

白居易對食筍也情有獨(dú)鐘，他在《食筍》一詩中寫道：“置之炊甑中，與飯同時熟。紫籜坼故錦，素肌掰新玉。每日遂加餐，經(jīng)時不思肉。久為京洛客，此味常不足。且食勿踟躇，南風(fēng)吹作竹。”他認(rèn)為食筍鮮美可促食欲，久之連肉也不想吃了。

宋代詩人陸游將竹筍視為“天廚仙供”，他在《食江西筍》中夸贊：“色如玉版貓頭筍，味抵駝峰牛尾貍。”

其他文人墨客贊賞竹筍的詩詞也比比皆是，如歐陽修的“殘雪壓枝猶有橘，凍雷驚筍欲抽芽”；黃庭堅的“竹筍才生黃犢角，蕨芽初長小兒拳”；范成大的“舍后菜畦猶綠秀，鄰家鞭筍過墻來”。

“揚(yáng)州八怪”之一的鄭板橋一生酷愛畫竹，對竹筍可謂迷戀之極，有詩曰：“筍菜沿江二月新，家家廚灶剝春筠。”“江南鮮筍趁鰣魚，爛煮春風(fēng)三月初。”每年陽春三月，他都要飽嘗“鮮筍庖鰣魚”幾回，以解口饞。西泠印社首任社長吳昌碩在其畫作《竹筍圖》上題詩：“客家雖有八珍嘗，哪及山家野筍香。”把竹筍的美味擺在八珍之上，可見其對竹筍的厚愛。

鮮美山珍 時令佳肴

俗話說“嘗鮮無不道春筍”，通常，清明節(jié)前后乃品嘗春筍的最佳時令，等筍芽破土之后，短短十幾日就長成了竹子，一旦錯過了這一節(jié)令，就只好等來年了。

春筍味道清淡鮮嫩，營養(yǎng)豐富，含有充足的水分、豐富的植物蛋白以及鈣、磷、鐵等人體必需的營養(yǎng)成分和微量元素，特別是纖維素含量很高，常食有幫助消化、防止便秘的功能。中醫(yī)認(rèn)為春筍有“利九竅、通血脈、化痰涎、消食脹”的功效，竹筍能吸附脂肪、促進(jìn)食物發(fā)酵、有助消化和新陳代謝，可幫助減肥。

春筍，有葷素百搭之妙用，炒、燒、煮、煨、燉等皆可。筍在菜肴中既可當(dāng)主料,也可作配料。以筍做饌的名菜花樣百出，如：糟筍、糖筍、酸筍、筍松、炒春筍、炒冬筍、燒三筍、火腿煨三筍、冬筍煨豆腐、拌燕筍等等。即使是作配料，也非常引人注目。比如揚(yáng)州的大煮干絲中配上些許筍絲，和干絲中的火腿絲紅白相映，爽口且又爽眼，就更加成了蔬菜中的時鮮珍品。

名菜“腌篤鮮”，用咸肉或咸蹄髈與新鮮排骨或新鮮蹄髈慢火燉熬，再加新鮮的筍。冬天用冬筍，春天用竹筍。篤乃方言，即小火慢燉，乍一瞧湯在鍋里“咕嘟嘟”地沸滾，似開非開。兩小時后，湯清如水，肉爛欲脫，咸肉香嫩，新筍鮮脆。聞之香氣四溢，色香味俱全，令食者傾心。而“扣三絲”為滬上傳統(tǒng)名菜。逢時過節(jié)，老百姓家餐桌上用此菜待客，其中冬筍絲是一道必不可少的重要食料。

春筍除了用肉燉、湯煮外，江浙人最拿手的便是油燜。竹筍焯水之后切滾刀塊，用蔥花爆鍋，下筍塊炒軟，調(diào)進(jìn)濃油赤醬紅糖等調(diào)料，加蓋燜三五分鐘，水干油亮，即可出鍋。筍是素中之葷，需油增脂香、酒去泥腥，以油燜烹飪之法，恰恰最符合筍的性格。

如今，在菜市場上大行其道的“手剝筍”其實只是鹽水煮筍的一種。而真正的鹽煮筍，食之鮮而脆，是下酒的好東西。還有一種腌筍扁尖，用來煮湯、炒肉等。浙江人愛吃腌、糟、霉諸重口味的食物，寧波一帶的羊尾筍清香咸爽,是佐餐的佳品。

上世紀(jì)五六十年代，生活在蘇州的文化人以“淘汰俗情，漸及清望，互相唱詠，以見性靈”為樂子，常常一道雅聚，品嘗美酒佳肴，或出于家庖，或出于主持中饋的婦人之手，周瘦鵑的夫人范鳳君就是烹飪的高手。周瘦鵑《紫蘭小筑九日記》云：午餐肴核絕美，悉出鳳君手，一為咸肉燉鮮肉，一為竹筍片炒雞蛋，一為肉餡鯽魚，一為筍丁炒蠶豆，一為醬麻油拌竹筍，蠶豆為張錦所種，竹筍則斷之竹圃中者，厥味鮮美，此行鳳君偕，則食事濟(jì)矣。

筍，竹之萌。其下有鞭，其上有竹，新芽名筍，筍殼名籜。美者曰篁，秀者曰筠。大者曰筼，小者曰箭。冬有冬筍，春有春筍。宋高僧贊寧編撰匯總歷代流傳的竹筍烹調(diào)之法為《筍譜》。

現(xiàn)在江南菜館酒家的餐桌上有一款手剝筍，很受食客歡迎，其菜名叫“傍林鮮”，其實早在宋代文人林洪的《山家清供》就有記載：夏初竹筍盛時，掃葉就竹邊煨熟，其味甚鮮，名“傍林鮮”。在山林野外燒烤，親自掃葉煨筍意趣盎然，將燒熟的竹筍剝?nèi)ぃ撼杉?xì)條小段，調(diào)個味汁澆于筍上一拌即可。如此煨法，保留筍味而除其澀，有火炙竹籜之香，調(diào)汁拌合時，諸味盡入而筍鮮盡顯。

清代著名文人、美食家袁枚點(diǎn)食成經(jīng)，在所著《隨園食單》中專門羅列記錄了筍類食品，其中就有：煨三筍、筍脯、人參筍、筍油等。

江南濕地德清下渚湖汀嶼渚墩數(shù)以百計，除了大片蘆葦?shù)兀€有一墩墩青翠搖曳的竹林。古代，二都一帶鄉(xiāng)村出產(chǎn)的春筍聲名顯赫，被列為朝廷貢品，其名稱頗古怪，叫“豬蹄紅”，可與豬蹄髈相媲美，被稱為筍中絕品。春末，浙北民間將筍加工成筍脯豆，消閑小吃，佐茶下酒皆宜。

作家林語堂曾說：“竹筍之所以深受人們青睞，是因為嫩竹能給我們牙齒以一種細(xì)嫩的抵抗。品鑒竹筍也許是辨別滋味的最好一例。它不油膩，有一種神出鬼沒般難以捉摸的品質(zhì)。”眼下正是食筍佳季，不妨體味一回文人筆下的竹筍滋味。□

Bamboo Shoots as Springtime Delicacy

By Zhou Jianghong

In Zhejiang, spring is a season for many things. For the dinner table, bamboo shoots are springtime delicacy after it drizzles for a few days.

The Chinese treated bamboo shoots as food as early as 3,000 years ago. The Book of Odes, Chinas first collection of songs and poems edited by Confucius more than 2,500 years ago, has a song that describes bamboo shoots as a delicious food. In an-cient China, the best foods were described as treasures of the mountains and the deli-cacies of the seas and this phrase, still in use today, bears witness to an era of hunting and fishing in very ancient times. The bam-boo shoot is a treasure of the mountains.

The Chinese history relates stories of bamboo shoot as a key delicacy. An emper-or of the Zhou Dynasty (1046-771BC) sum-moned all the ministers to his palace and regaled them with a feast of bamboo shoots. It was at this feast that the dying emperor announced his arrangements for his son to succeed the throne. Li Shimin, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-906), had a weakness for bamboo shoots. When the springtime came, he entertained his ministers and generals with a feast of bam-boo shoots. He described the national pros-perity and talents that served the dynasty as bamboo shoots in springtime, so many, and so robust.

It is said that Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) favored the springtime bamboo shoots in the south of the Yangtze River Delta.

Bamboo shoots are as many as bamboo species. As food, some shoots are fresh, some dehydrated, some pickled. Gourmets can easily name names of bamboo shoots and bamboo shoots dishes.

Due to a wide variety of species and vari-ous ways of cooking and preserving, bam-boo shoots as food can be consumed all the year round. However, the best time to eat fresh bamboo shoots is winter and spring.

In ancient China, bamboo shoots as a delicacy appeared in numerous poems and essays. Scholars would like to write poems and essays, relating how they appreci-ated the tasty dishes of bamboo shoots. Su Dongpo, arguably the greatest poet of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and a well-known gourmet, regarded bamboo as sym-bolizing the decency of life. For him, pork braised with bamboo shoots was the best dish which enriched his life spiritually and nutritiously.

In Zhejiang, bamboo shoots shoot up in about ten days around the Qingming Festi-val in early April. This is the best time for eating springtime bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots grow fast into bamboos during a short period. If you miss the ten-day season, you miss out on the best taste of the spring-time this year.

According to modern studies, springtime shoots offer abundant nutrients such as plant proteins, calcium, phosphor, iron. In addition, they have high contents of fiber, which helps the movements of bowels. Tra-ditional Chinese medicine considers bam-boo shoots as best medicine and theorizes that the springtime bamboo shoot promotes blood circulation, reduces phlegm, and re-moves indigestion.

Li Yu (1611-1680), a playwright and gourmet of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), commented on bamboo shoots as the best dainty, saying that it could be cooked with vegetables and meats in various ways. Chefs and gourmets of today find that springtime bamboo shoots go with all kinds of vegetables and meats and can be prepared in various ways. Springtime bamboo shoots can serve as a major ingredient or as a minor ingredient. A menu of bamboo shoot dishes can run long. Even as a minor ingredient, bamboo shoots are noteworthy and tasteful.

The dish of bacon, pork and bamboo shoot stewed for two hours enjoys great popularity in Zhejiang Province. The dish can be served in winter or spring. Spring bamboo shoot braised with soy sauce is an-other dish popular in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province. For those who love to have a drink, a dish of bamboo shoot tips with the shell still on is the best dish to go with wine. In areas around Ningbo, a port city in eastern Zhejiang, pickled bamboo shoots are a delight on dinner table. □