The Old and Plain Friends of Yellow Rice Wine

The Old and Plain Friends of Yellow Rice Wine

Even when there are no fancy delicacies, the people of Shaoxing are capable of cooking a tableful of side-dishes to go with drinking using the most basic of ingredients.

Text by Wang Yuanchang Photos by Wang Yuanchang & Chen Yanfei Translation by Sonia

黃酒素友

就算沒有山珍海味，紹興人也能用最普通的食材張羅一桌絕妙的下酒菜。

Aniseed-flavored Beans

Broad beans are the most commonly seen among Shaoxing drinking side-dishes. Among the many different recipes, aniseed-flavored beans are a favourite of the locals. Lu Xun, writer and philosopher, described in the tale Kong Yi Ji that Kong ate aniseed-flavored beans when drinking because it was the only thing he could afford. At that time aniseed-flavored beans were very cheap– two cents for a plateful... So cheap that Kong Yi Ji was able to spare some of his beans for the on looking children. Making aniseed-flavored beans is not hard to do. First you must soak the beans in salt water and then drain them. After repeating the process a few times, cook the beans in a pot. The sophisticated version involves adding cinnamon, aniseed, Shaoxing rice wine, minced ham, sugar, and Shaoxing specialty soy sauce to the pot and cooking on a slow flre for a long time. The simple version only takes some seasoning with aniseed, soy sauce, and salt.

It will take you some time to chew a broad bean, and the longer you chew the more flavors you taste. One thing about drinking old Shaoxing rice wine is taking it slowly by sipping. Broad beans work perfectly with Shaoxing rice wine and is the most economic drinking side-dish.

Drunk Vinasse Chicken

Vinasse dishes all use Shaoxing rice wine as their base ingredient. In the old days, Shaoxing people mostly made their own wine. Vinasse of yellow rice wine is different from that of standard liquor because it has a higher alcohol percentage. Shaoxing people put salt in the yellow rice wine vinasse and leave it in a jar for a year before making vinasse flsh, chicken, and goose with it. Shaoxing people's favorite remains “drunk vinasse chicken”.

The moment drunk vinasse chicken is placed on a banquet table, the appetizing aroma of vinasse fllls the room. The flavor is taken to another level when some pan-fried peppercorn or red hot pepper is added in the vinasse cuision. One thing worth mentioning: the fatter the chicken is, the better the vinasse chicken will taste. Chicken processed with vinasse does not taste greasy at all – with adequate oiliness, it is refreshing, chewy and tasty.

茴香豆

紹興人最常用的下酒菜就是羅漢豆，即人們所說的蠶豆。在眾多不同的制作方法中，茴香豆最受當地人歡迎。魯迅在《孔乙己》中提到，孔乙己因為沒錢，用茴香豆下酒。當時茴香豆很便宜，一二文錢可以買一碟，孔乙己還可分一些給圍觀的小孩吃。茴香豆的制作并不難，先將豆用鹽水浸泡再陰干，這樣反復幾次，再放入鍋里煮。制作講究的，加些桂皮、茴香、紹興酒、火腿肉末、糖、母子醬油等，長時間文火煮。隨便點的，加點茴香和醬油、鹽之類的佐料即可。

放一顆羅漢豆在口里，可以嚼上好一會兒，而且越嚼越香，越嚼越有滋味。吃紹興老酒的一個特點就是慢，要“咪”酒，羅漢豆正可以配合這種特點，也是最節省的下酒菜。

醉糟雞

糟菜其實是借紹興酒而得名的。以前，紹興鄉人多自己釀酒。制過黃酒的酒糟與燒制白酒的酒糟不同，里面還有許多酒的成分。紹興人便將黃酒糟加上鹽，放在酒罐或壇里悶上一年，用來制作糟魚、糟雞、糟鵝等。紹興人最喜歡的還是醉糟雞。

醉糟雞一放上餐桌酒席，就糟香四溢，令人垂涎。假若在酒糟上再加入一些經過炒制的花椒或小紅辣椒等佐料，則風味更佳了。值得一提的是，凡用于糟制的雞，肥者為佳。因為經過糟制的肉類食品肥而不膩、油潤有度、入口爽滑、嚼之有味。

Stinky Tofu

Shaoxing stinky tofu is one of the four famous stinky tofus in China. It is old and traditional – “stinky by smell, delicious by taste” as the saying goes. Once you take a bite, you will flnd yourself going back for more.

Here is a daily routine at the food stalls of Shaoxing. Imagine the set up: deep-fry wok on a stove on one side, wood plate on the other; seasoning jars and bamboo sticks placed on the wooded plate. The stinky tofu is turning gold and brown with sizzling sound. A combination of stinky-delicious smell fllls the air. Watching the fried stinky tofu dripping oil one-by-one on the iron sieve, the customers all buy with happy faces.

Savory Preserved Food

The preserved food in Shaoxing is considered the best in China because of its thousand-year history, unique spices, and the seasoning and coloring from the yellow rice wine. Among the diverse preserved food from all over the country, such as sausages, pork, flsh, chicken, ducks, and ham, one can easily distinguish Shaoxing from the others at flrst bite.

Many villages make preserved food in the Shaoxing region. Anchang village is the most authentic and ancient. In the twelfth month of a lunar year, every family in Anchang hangs up their preserved food everywhere in the house and the whole neighborhood is fllled with the delicious smell. The sausage looks reddish brown under the sun, beaming as if it is oiled; it looks blackish brown in dim light and appears solid – it is actually soft by touch and the meat looks as if it is bursting the casing. Chew slowly and you will taste through the texture of meat the unique aroma of yellow rice wine, lingering in the mouth for quite a while

臭豆腐

紹興臭豆腐，是中國四大臭豆腐之一。它古老而傳統，“聞著臭，吃著香”，一經品味，常令人欲罷不能。

在紹興的小吃攤，每天都在上演著這樣的場景，一旁小灶油鍋，另一旁是木格案板，油鍋小沸，案板上調料瓶、竹簽。隨著 “吱、吱”聲響，臭豆腐漸漸被炸成金黃色，亦臭亦香的氣息彌漫開來。看著炸好的臭豆腐一塊塊放在鐵絲篦上滴著油，食客們臉上堆滿了幸福。

醇香臘味

因經千年工藝錘煉、配料獨特，又因都由黃酒調味上色，紹興臘制品形成了獨有的風味，堪稱中國“臘中一絕”。在各地花樣眾多的臘制品中，如臘腸、臘肉、臘魚、臘雞、臘鴨、臘火腿等，唯獨紹興的，第一口就能吃出專屬的味道來。

紹興很多鄉村做臘制品，其中以安昌古鎮最地道、歷史最久。臘月里的安昌，家家戶戶臺門前、臺門里都掛滿了臘制品，滿街飄香。強光下的臘腸呈紅褐色，晶亮似涂抹了油脂，暗光下呈黑褐色，看似堅硬如石，像要撐爆了皮，摸上去還蠻有彈性。慢慢咀嚼，柔軟的肉質中透出黃酒獨特的香氣，久久存留在唇齒之間。