Jiangnan beginning of winter custom made crab club

"When the autumn wind starts, the crab's feet itch." In late autumn, crabs are full of fat and butter, and the peak season for eating crabs in China begins. Since then, they have always been a common seasonal food on people's tables, which lasted until the early winter. In the south of China, people used to hold "crab-eating parties" in late autumn and early winter every year. Everyone ate a lot, leaving their lips and teeth fragrant, which was very pleasant. Let Lao Huangli introduce you to the beginning of winter custom in the south of the Yangtze River: eating crabs.

Cai Yun, a tribute student in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty, left a Wu Ge and sang: "Winter is famous, and October is white. Please look at the firewood broom hanging on the eaves. For a while, I used wine to talk about flavor, and I didn't like navel but pointed. " The first sentence mentioned that "October White" is the most famous wine-making in winter, and the last sentence turned to hairy crabs, saying, "I don't like navel, but only sharp". It turns out that the shape of navel is the simplest way to distinguish male and female hairy crabs, in which the female crab is a ball navel and the male crab is a pointed navel.

Generally speaking, female crabs have crab roe, which is more respected. Then why does Suzhou Caiyun like to eat male crabs? The reason is the word "October". In October of the lunar calendar, the crab roe of the mother crab grows stronger and is not as juicy as in September. At this time, the male crab paste is rich and fleshy, and the crystal white crab paste can stick to the teeth with endless aftertaste.

Jia Qinglu recorded the popular species of hairy crabs at that time: "There are several kinds of crabs. Those who leave Taihu Lake are big, yellow and soft, and they are called' lake crab'. The fat winter moon is called' October Bear'. Xie Shen's poem:' fat into the south of the Yangtze River in October.' What comes out of Hufen Lake in Wujiang is called "Purple Tiger Crab". Mo Dan's "Suzhou Fu" notes:' extremely fat, as heavy as a catty. Lu Fangweng's poem: "Wujiang crab with upright navel." "

"Those who leave Weizhou Village in Kunshan are called VIOS Crab. Qintang crab from Changshu is called Qintang crab. The shell is soft and the claws are tight, and the common name is' Golden Claw Crab'. Lijiang crab and yellow crab are all under the product. " It can be seen that Suzhou Taihu Crab, Wujiang Fen lake crab Crab, Kunshan Weichi Crab and Changshu Tantang Crab are the most famous in Jiangnan in Qing Dynasty. Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, which are now well-known at home and abroad, had not found a bosom friend at that time.

Sun Jinhao, a native of Kunshan, was also a glutton at that time. He wrote a seven-character poem "Eat Crabs", saying: "It is always a waste of fish, but the sharp and gregarious hobby is extremely sour and salty. Eating a lot of green pots and stoves will make a greedy person very greedy. ..... Nine females and ten males can be heard, and they are happy to win the cup. Arrogance has not diminished, who is in charge of Jiuquan County? "

This poem means: "I always only want to eat fish and meat, but I don't know that this hairy crab with a pointed navel and a round navel is the best in the world. Besides being sour and salty, it also makes people eat delicious." As soon as the hairy crabs were put into the pot, my mouth watered. According to the trick of eating female crabs in September and male crabs in 10, I am happy to raise my glass and drink. "

In the last two sentences of this poem, "Bilib" mentioned by Sun Jinhao was the first person who loved crabs in Chinese history. According to Shi Shuo Xin Yu and Jin Shu, Bi Zhuo was a native of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and once worked as an official. During his tenure, he was drunk and neglected his duty, so he was demoted.

However, this gentleman not only did not change his old habits, but also proudly said: "There are hundreds of welcoming boats, full of wine, and the seasons are sweet." Holding a glass in your right hand and a crab claw in your left hand, you can spend your life on a floating wine boat! "Meaning, as long as you can steer a boat with a leaf, put food and wine in it, and let him hold a crab in one hand and a glass in the other, life will be complete.

In fact, Bi Zhuo, who came from an official family, has already seen the ugliness of officialdom. Dissatisfied with the dark politics at that time, he lost confidence and had to escape from politics with this madness. He and Ruan Ji, who are good at blue eyes, and Hans Zhang, who misses Bass and Water Shield, are actually a kind of characters.

Bi Zhuo's story is regarded by later generations as a model far from politics. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the imperial court's ambition was hard to pay. Frustrated Xin Qiji used water to supplement the topic, saying, "Break my life, hold the crab on the left and the cup on the right." Buy a mountain and plant a cloud tree, under the mountain? It's smoking "The helplessness of imperial policy is beyond words.

Since the Ming Dynasty, people like to hold parties to eat crabs from the court to the people. Poets in the Qin Dynasty wrote in "The Apocalypse Palace Ci": "Begonia flowers are quiet and bitter, and purple crabs are fat before the banquet tonight. Jade bamboo shoot soup is lightly washed, and laughing butterflies fly all over the plate. " Xu Angfa also wrote a poem "Gong Ci" about eating crabs: "French wine is divided into autumn fragrance, and crab claws are white at the beginning." Made into a silver bowl of butterflies, Su Ye also poured a hand washing soup. "

As can be seen from the two poems, when eating crabs, not only the cups and cups overlap, but also the crab shells are put together into a butterfly shape after eating. For example, today, it will be much more powerful just to beat the crab shell back to its original shape and show it off.

In the thirty-eighth chapter of A Dream of Red Mansions, it was written that Xue Baochai invited Jia Mu, Feng Jie and others to Lianxiang Garden for drinking and watching fish and crabs. After the crab feast, poems were also put forward. Baoyu wrote: "Clawing is more like the shadow of osmanthus, and vinegar is crazy. The prince's grandson wants to have wine, and the mad son has no intestines. "

Compared with "gluttonous prince and grandson", it is "adding vinegar on ginger", which is really carried away to the degree of "forgetting me". It's just that crabs are delicious, but eating too much will accumulate cold. Enough is enough, leaving some thoughts, which is in line with the wisdom of people's daily life.