It is a must-have food for major festivals in Chaoshan, however, in the past, Chaoshan people were forced to eat it!

Hello everyone, I'm Lao Wu, an authentic Chaoshan people.

New Year's Eve, many places have the tradition of eating rice cakes, in the past, see other places of the rice cakes I always thought it was sweet, because it is made of glutinous rice, only to realize that the rice cakes are not sweet, and even a lot of places will be made into a spicy, and the reason why I would think that the rice cakes are sweet, is because we are in the Chaoshan side of the New Year there is a snack with the same as its very similar, is also made of glutinous rice, and it is what we are very familiar with the Chaoshan people, "the" Chaoshan people. It is the "sweet kuey teow" which is very familiar to the Chaoshan people.

Sweet kuey teow in Chaoshan can be said to be the simplest snack in Chaoshan, which requires only two ingredients: glutinous rice flour and brown sugar, and nothing else. But don't look at the simple ingredients, but in our Chaoshan area, it is usually only made during Chinese New Year or major festivals, and the biggest reason for this is the process of making it. In the past, without the help of machines, the glutinous rice flour could only be pounded with a stone mortar, and as the glutinous rice flour needed to make "sweet kuey teow" is as fine as possible, it needs to be pounded for a long time, but nowadays, there are machines to grind ready-made glutinous rice flour, and the step of pounding the flour is just a memory; the pounded glutinous rice flour is added with brown sugar and water according to a certain proportion, and stirred well until it becomes a paste; the steamer basket is used to make the paste, and then it is steamed. The steamed rice flour is then mixed with brown sugar and water in a certain proportion until it becomes a paste; the steamer cage is padded with a special "kuey teow pa", and the prepared glutinous rice paste is poured into it, and then it is ready to be steamed on the pot, and the steaming time varies according to different specifications, and it usually takes about 10 hours to steam it, and if it is a major festival that requires a larger specification, then steaming it for a whole day is possible. According to our current conditions, we do not mention the time of this glutinous rice pounded into powder, alone this time of steaming, more than ten hours, who usually have nothing to do will do to eat?

In the past, in addition to the major festivals will do "sweet kuey teow", in the Chaoshan ordinary families, there is another day will do, that is, someone in the family to go to the "overpan". "During the Qing Dynasty, due to natural disasters and other factors, coupled with the fact that the Chaoshan area was so crowded and the land was so scarce, many Chaoshan ancestors had to cross the ocean to make a living in the South China Sea. A few pieces of old clothes, a little bit of fresh water (or winter melon) and a few pieces of "sweet kuey teow" were all the equipment of the Chaoshan ancestors who traveled to the South Seas, also known as the "three treasures". With these "three treasures", the ancestors of Chaoshan embarked on the "red-headed boat" at the ancient port of Zhanglin (later the port of Shantou), and started their wandering journey. Generally, it took at least one month to reach the destination, plus the weather at sea was cloudy and uncertain, after embarking on the "red-top boat", life was left to God's arrangement, so they brought along the "sweet kuey teow" with a longer shelf life, in case of accidents, at least they could have some food. So the "sweet kuey teow" is a must for the Chaoshan ancestors to cross the sea.

And the above also said, "sweet kuey teow" although the material is simple, but the amount needed is very large, usually steam a cage at least need to use up more than a dozen pounds of glutinous rice as well as a lot of brown sugar, and time-consuming and laborious, which for some of the poorer families, it is a very big burden, so not to mention the usual, even if it is a holiday, not like the New Year's Day such a big festival, it is not a big burden, so it is not the usual, even if it is a holiday, not like the New Year's Day. So even on festivals, not big ones like New Year's Day, they don't steam for the festival. But it is precisely because of poverty that one needs to risk one's life to cross the ocean to make a living. So, when a family is forced by life to seek a way of life across the sea, the family will do everything possible to steam a cage of "sweet kuey teow" for the men to take with them, this cage of "sweet kuey teow" is not only food for hunger, but also the hope of the whole family! It is also the hope of the whole family! It is for this reason that the folk will have "nothing to do cooking sweet kuey teow" this proverb, yes, if it is not nothing to do, who will usually steam "sweet kuey teow" ah!

"Sweet kuey teow" is a major festival will do kuey teow, in the Chaoshan people's "eight festivals", the Spring Festival is the most important, in addition, the rural areas there is a comparable to the Spring Festival festival, that is, the township! In addition, there is another big festival comparable to the Spring Festival in rural areas, which is the village "Laohai", and yes, it is also done on the occasion of family celebrations, especially on the day of "Laohai", and "sweet kuey teow" is a must-have. Chinese people pay attention to reunion in Chinese New Year, "sweet kuey teow" is round and sweet, which means reunion and sweetness in the coming year, "sweet kuey teow" is used for ancestor worship in Chinese New Year, and it is usually not steamed very large, and nowadays, Chinese New Year is often eaten more than can be eaten, so many people do not eat it. In addition, nowadays the Chinese New Year stuff is often eaten all the time, so many people will not steam "sweet kuey teow" in the Chinese New Year.

And on the day of the village "labor heat", "sweet kuey teow" has other uses. Generally countryside "labor heat", people will be "sweet kuey teow" steamed larger, out of the pot after the top of the middle covered with a red seal, especially good-looking, early in the morning, the housewife will pull the family to carry sweet kuey teow, brine geese and other offerings to the "The housewives would bring their family members to the "God's front" to worship, and then return home to cut the "sweet kuey teow" and break the goose, and then serve the sweet kuey teow according to a corner of the sweet kuey teow plus a leg of the sweet kuey teow (1/4 of a leg). The goose is then divided according to a dime of "sweet kuey teow" plus "a leg" (1/4 of the amount), and finally sent to relatives or close friends in the next village, inviting them to come over to "eat laogai", which is not done by many families nowadays because of the advanced communication, and they usually notify their friends and relatives to come over on the phone, and then let them take it back home when they are done eating it. For those who can't make it, they will be sent home personally. How hospitable the Chaoshan people are can be seen in this.

Sweet kuey teow is not unique to Chaoshan, but is also found in southern Fujian, which has deep roots in the Chaoshan region, only that the Chaoshan side is more unique and the practice is relatively simple, but more time-consuming. In the past, when "sweet kuey teow" was used as a dry food on the road, the glutinous rice paste would be thickened, so that the steamed product would be harder, not only to satisfy the hunger, but also more resistant to preservation, even if it is kept for a month or two, it will not go bad. And now will not do so hard, too hard relatively speaking is not delicious, the glutinous rice paste will be thinner, but not too thin, otherwise it can not be molded, after steaming out of the finished product wax yellow wax yellow, with a little translucent, especially good-looking. As for the eating method, if it is eaten cold, because it is very soft and sticky, so to use a clean line to cut, with a knife instead of a bad cut, cut a slice, put it in the mouth, soft and sweet; and Chaoshan people prefer to fry to eat, the same is to use the line to cut into a slice, wrapped in a layer of egg liquid pan frying incense, the taste, it really is a different flavor, but eat more easy to eat greasy.

Nowadays, life is better, people are not so keen on this kind of sweet food, so "sweet kuey teow" is not as popular as it used to be, but major festivals, "cooking sweet kuey teow" this practice is still retained, and home However, the practice of "cooking sweet kuey teow" on major festivals is still retained, and those who still have stoves in their homes still insist on doing it themselves, because "sweet kuey teow" is not only a traditional "offering", but also a witness to the old generation of Chaoshan people who were forced to leave their homes to earn a living, which is a kind of sentiment that the Chaoshan people can't let go of!

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