I wonder if children today can still see the content of "A Bowl of Yangchun Noodles" in textbooks. When I was a child, I was teaching. As soon as I learned the text about eating, my saliva flowed. I wanted to get into the water and taste the special delicacies described in the book, such as Gaoyou salted duck eggs and Uncle Yule's oysters. I was so greedy.
Red noodle soup is actually soba noodles with clear soup in the text, but our Chinese red noodle soup is worth mentioning. When I first watched "Soul Ferry", I also saw a line like "a handful of thin noodles, a small bowl of bone soup, a cup of water, 5 cents of vegetable oil, a spoonful of light soy sauce, and then two crispy cabbages." Just finished a bowl of Yangchun noodles.
When you first hear the words "red soup noodles", you will think that this is a bowl of spring noodles, elegant and beautiful. But Noodles originally didn’t have such a nice name. It was called White Soup Bright Noodles, or simply called Bright Noodles. There was no red soup noodles. In the old days, it was made by hard labor and eaten by people with no money. A bowl of vegetables sold for ten cents.
The reason why the name is often changed is because noodles have gradually become a popular food, and some businessmen and intellectuals have begun to eat noodles. They feel that the words "white soup noodles" do not sound very auspicious, so they changed such an elegant name. Subsequently, it evolved to this day, and red soup noodles have become a major delicacy and snack in the Jiangnan region, which sounds very high-end.
For the outsiders, red noodle soup is just a bowl of "noodles boiled in soy sauce soup". It can't be helped, because the noodle soup is actually seasoned with light soy sauce. It looks like noodles in clear soup. There is no red noodle soup. Scallions are dotted on the dark brown soup noodles, making the whole bowl of noodles look less bland.
For people who grew up in the Jiangnan area, red noodle soup is the taste of their childhood. From special snacks to adults, they are still in their dreams. No matter where they are, they will recall it after they get used to eating chicken, duck and fish. That bowl of fresh and elegant red noodle soup has a fragrant aroma and a mild taste. It doesn't seem irritating when you eat it.
The key to delicious red noodle soup lies in animal fat. Animal oil must be used to stimulate the aroma of this bowl of noodles, which is the essence of red soup noodles. The old shop in Jiangnan pays more attention to the fact that the vegetable oil is boiled with local green onions. The vegetable oil becomes crispy and fragrant, and melts into the soup noodles, making a bowl of soy sauce soup amazing.
The next thing is light soy sauce. It cannot be the light soy sauce we usually cook with. It cannot be cheap. You should choose soy sauce. The light soy sauce color and seasoning make a bowl of Yangchun noodles delicious. The key to retaining customers the first time. Therefore, light soy sauce must be brewed from selected raw materials.
The end is noodles. If you don’t have red soup noodles, it’s important to eat noodles. Therefore, the noodles must be thin and strong, not rotten as soon as they are cooked, and not tasteless. Soaking it in the soup base can absorb the fresh and tender juice. Put it on the surface, and you can taste it with just one sip.
Although now it seems that red soup noodles are ordinary among many Chinese noodles, in the Qing Dynasty, red soup noodles were the most popular noodles in China and were loved by Emperor Qianlong. There is a saying that the title "Red Soup Noodles" itself was given by Qianlong, and it is plated with a lot of gold.
It is said that that year, Qianlong went down to Huai'an from the south of the Yangtze River. It happened to be the third month of Luoding, and the scenery was just right. Qianlong bypassed the courtiers and wandered around the city. When I was hungry, I found a noodle stall. The noodles served by the vendor were clean and tidy, the soup was clear and translucent, and it was very filling to eat.
Qianlong asked what the noodle was called, and the vendor clearly told him that it was just ordinary noodles and had not yet given a name. Qianlong felt regretful and said that the endless fresh noodles were similar to the resurgence of all things in spring and the vitality. This was Luoding, so if it couldn't compare, it would be called red noodles!
It is difficult to know whether this bowl of noodles became red soup noodles because of the name given by Qianlong, or because the intellectuals at that time despised bright noodles and changed their name. It is understandable that red soup noodles have become the representative noodles of the Jiangnan region, not just a bowl of noodles boiled in soy sauce soup.