There is a Chaoshan ballad that goes like this: "Chaoshan people, eat cakes together, oil cakes sweet cakes pomegranate cakes, noodle cakes fermented cakes fried cakes , horseshoe cakes soft cakes beef cakes, round turnips and peach cakes .”
What exactly is “粿”? The streets are full of all kinds of food related to "kueh", but I am full of curiosity about it. There is a Chaoshan ballad that goes like this: "Chaoshan people eat cakes with each other, sweet cakes with oil cakes and pomegranate cakes, fried cakes with fermented flour cakes, beef cakes with soft cakes, and peach cakes with round turnip heads."
"Kui" is not Dessert is not a staple food but it is also a staple food. When you first see it, the color is like a macaron; when you put it in your hand, you can't see it but you can feel the complicated process; when it comes out of the pan, it is so golden.
All this stems from the fact that the ancestors of Chaoshan moved from the Central Plains area to the Chaoshan area in the early days. Because they needed to use pasta to make fruits to worship their ancestors, but wheat did not grow in the south, so they used rice to make fruits. This is how "Cui" came into being. .
Housewives from thousands of households in Chaoshan can make Kueh. Every process of making it is delicate and detailed. Even the wood carving molds are carved so finely. Common sayings such as "You have no work to make young rice cakes" and "You have crooked temples to make elegant rice cakes" all express the exquisiteness of "kueh". The editor has sorted out these representative rice cakes.
01
Red Peach Cake
Red Peach Cake is the most representative among the cakes, "Red Peach Cake" is also called "Rice Cake". Most of them are filled with mushrooms, dried shrimps and peanuts, which are salty or sweet. They have special shaped molds and can be steamed. , or steamed and then fried. Because during the festival, tribute needs to be paid, red is auspicious, and white rice cakes are only used for eating.
02
Rat rice dumpling
Rat rice dumpling is made from natural rat grass, boiled into soup, mixed with lard and glutinous rice flour to make rice dumpling skin, wrapped with bean paste or fillings made of glutinous rice, peanuts, shrimps, and pork. , salty or sweet as you like, then stamp it into shape with a round or peach-shaped stamp, place it on fresh bamboo leaves or banana tree leaves, and then steam it in a pot.
03
Salt water cake
In some areas, it is also called pig cake. It is made of rice milk into the shape of a small bowl and is sold at a snack stall. The stall owner first steams the skin of the cake for later use, and cuts the dried vegetables into cubes and adds garlic. Rong, warm it slightly in a small stove and sell it now.
04
Riceless Cake
At first glance, I thought it was Leek Cake, but the skin of "Riceless Cake" is made of sweet potato flour, and the filling is mostly made of vegetables and grains, including cabbage filling, potato filling, and leek filling. Some are salty and some are sweet. Judging from the appearance of rice-free cakes, if the top of the bun is pointed, it means the filling is salty, and if the top of the bun is round, it means the filling is sweet. Most are fried.
05
Cabbage cake
Cabbage cake is radish cake. In the Chaoshan area, radish is called cabbage. The radish is shredded and steamed with rice noodles. It can be fried and eaten with chili sauce, garlic vinegar or mature vinegar.
06
Cai Bao Kueh
Grind the rice into powder and cook it in water. Rub it into a thin layer of skin with your hands. Then add the chopped pork, dried shrimps, bean sprouts, peanuts, celery, dried radish and other skins. When wrapped, it looks like a small fruit, so it is called Cai Bao Kueh. Just dip it in some sauce and eat it. The rice skin is chewy and the dried radish is fresh.
07
天粿
Other cakes are basically indica rice flour, but sweet cake is made from glutinous rice flour. You can cut it into strips with a thread and eat it (cannot cut it with a knife, it is too sticky), or cut it into strips and wrap them Then fry the egg liquid and eat it. Sweet, soft and waxy, tough and chewy. In the old days, when the ancestors of Chaoshan went to Nanyang, they would pound sweet cakes to make dry food to satisfy their hunger on the way.
08
Gardenia
As the name suggests, it is steamed with gardenia and glutinous rice flour. For Chaoshan people, gardenia during Qingming Festival is much more important than rice dumplings.It's a bit like sweet cakes. It's too sticky and can't be cut with a knife. The yarn is broken into pieces and dipped in sugar. It tastes great.
09
Cao Kueh
There used to be such a scene: queuing up to buy it, buying it at the intersection and eating it. You can suck it directly into your mouth without a spoon. It tastes of slightly bitter Cao Kueh and fine sugar~ It’s not the so-called turtle jelly or fairy grass honey. The people of Chaoshan are not willing to say that.
10
Pu Zai Kueh
"Pu Zai Kueh" is mostly produced during the Qingming Festival and is a seasonal food. Made with the juice squeezed from the leaves of Pu Zi, they are actually steamed buns made from Pu Zi, but they have a plant aroma.
11
Chive rice cake
Chive rice cake, of course, leek is the main ingredient. There are two types of leather: one is snow-white Kueh leather; the other is crystal clear Kueh leather. The crystal clear one is called a crystal ball.
12
Ping Pong Kueh
"Ping Pong Kueh" was originally called "Bing Pong Kueh". Due to the similar pronunciation in Chaoshan dialect, it was misunderstood, but it is easy to remember, so it became "Ping Pong Kueh". It is generally oblate and has a soft skin. Has consistency. The ping pong cake filling contains black sesame seeds, powdered sugar, and crushed peanuts, and has a very good taste.
13
Bamboo shoots kueh
Dice the bamboo shoots and add dried shrimps and mushrooms. The fragrance is fragrant and makes your mouth water. The wrapped bamboo shoots cakes are placed in a steamer and steamed before eating. The steamed bamboo shoots cakes can also be put into a pan, fried in lard until golden brown on both sides, and eaten with vinegar. It is also quite appetizing.
14
Fermented Rice Cake
Also known as Fat Cake, it is a fermented rice Cake product. A must-have during the New Year and festivals, it has auspicious and festive meanings.
15
Kueh juice
This thing is too easy for outsiders to mistake Kueh juice for juice. Who knows that what comes out is a bowl of steaming soup with white noodles floating on it. Picking up a pair of chopsticks, the taste is between rice noodles and noodles. There is not much seasoning, leaving a mouthful of rice flavor. However, the most unforgettable thing is the marinade and braised flavor on the kuey chee, which makes me rave about it.
16
Horseshoe Cake (Hou) Cake
Because the Cake is mixed with Horseshoe Cake juice, it is called "Hau Cake". Before eating, it is peach-shaped and looks very charming. You can clearly see that there are shrimps and quail eggs inside. To be honest, the portion of this bowl is quite large. If I hadn’t been on an empty stomach, I wouldn’t have been able to finish the entire bowl.
17
Fried Cake Cake
Cake Cake Cake is steamed with rice milk and evenly cut into small pieces, fried in a pan and then added with shrimp, lean pork, eggs, mustard (actually gai) green vegetables, etc., dipped in sugar and eaten.
18
Stir-fried white rice cake with seafood
Chaoshan women have the temperament to go through fire and water when it comes to cooking. The skin of the rice cake is still quite hot when it comes out of the pot, so women can rub it with their hands continuously, because it will not stick together when it cools. Knead the kueh skin until it is pliable and then wrap the filling in it.
19
Beef ballsKway teow soup
How can Chaoshan people live without beef balls? Put the cooked rice noodles and beef balls into a bowl, pour the thick soup on it, put a few lettuce leaves, sprinkle with cabbage seeds, and serve.
20
Beef Fried Kuey Teow
Beef has endless emotions for Chaoshan people. Beef Fried Kuey Teow can also be divided into wet stir-fried and dry stir-fried. The main difference is in the gordon sauce, and the taste is also different.
The complexity of Kueh comes from its rich content. Whether it is the preparation of the outer skin or the selection of the inner filling, the final taste will be unique. The adventurous spirit of Chaoshan people is world-famous. Years of traveling across the ocean have created the food culture of "kueh", which is easy to carry and can accompany people through life.At the same time, people who beg for food in the wind and waves are superstitious. When worshiping heaven and ancestors, bright rice cakes are absolutely indispensable.
Source: Chaozhou Today
