According to Fenghua County Annals, taro head had been planted in the Song Dynasty for more than 700 years.During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the area around Qiange in Xiaowang Temple was widely planted, and later expanded to Paiting, Luocun, Tongshan'ao, Shiqiao and other villages along the bank of the Yanjiang River.In 1996, Xiaowangmiao was jointly named the "Hometown of Taro's Head in China" by the Research and Development Center of the State Council, the Chinese Agricultural Association and the China Specialty News.
Fenghua taro head is Fenghua and Ningbo's traditional famous, special and pollution-free agricultural product. It is shaped like a ball, brown in appearance, pink at the top, and weighs more than 1 kg each. Its large skin is thin, and its meat flour is glutenless, glutinous and delicious. It is both a vegetable and a grain. "It can be baked, baked, fried, sliced white, made into paste, broiled soup, boiled and frozen. If it is baked, it will smell delicious;If you boil soup and stew, it will be as smooth as tremella, and as sticky as dumplings. "It is not only delicious, but also a nutritious health food.[2]
On September 14, 2004, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) approved the implementation of the protection of "Fenghua taro head" as a product of original origin.[3]
Fenghua taro is big, thin, powdery, and delicious. It is famous for its delicious taste and rich nutrition, so there is the saying "Go through the three passes and six wharves, and eat Fenghua taro's head".[1]
Fenghua taro is divided into water and drought.Water taro is planted in paddy field, and the varieties can be divided into green base and red base;Dry taro is planted in dry land, including red taro, black foot pan, yellow flour pan, fragrant japonica taro, etc. The mother taro and seed taro can be eaten, and the small seed taro is commonly known as taro in Ningbo.The most famous variety of Fenghua taro is "Fenghua Red Taro". This kind of taro's staple food is the mother taro, especially the Xiaowangmiaoqian Ge taro. The mother taro is generally oval or nearly spherical, brown in appearance, pink at the top, and weighs 1 to 1.5 kg each, and the larger one can weigh more than 2.5 kg. The weight of the mother taro generally accounts for 60 to 65% of the taro's output, and the child taro accounts for more than one-third.It is characterized by a large and thin skin, among which the meat flour is glutenless, waxy, smooth and delicious, which are the main characteristics different from other taro varieties.[4]
Fenghua taro head has a variety of eating methods, and each has its own flavor. It can be steamed, baked, fried, sliced, and poured with soup.If it is baked and steamed, its fragrance is pungent, and its powder is like kui millet;If you boil soup and pour soup, it is as slippery as tremella and as glutinous as tangyuan.According to the collection of intentional people, there are 88 kinds of processing methods for taro heads, and duck taro, crab lake taro, chicken juice taro, chicken juice taro dumplings, gourd taro, yellow croaker sandwich taro and other famous taro.[1]
Fenghua taro head
nutritive value
Fenghua red taro has delicate meat, no obvious red tendons, high amylose content, and tastes waxy and slippery. It has unique flavor, rich nutrition, and contains fifteen essential amino acids.According to the determination of the central laboratory of Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the main components of Fenghua taro's head (mother taro) are: total sugar 65.8%, starch 46.04%, of which amylose is 8.64%, crude protein 14.1%, and total amino acid 11.2%. The contents of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, arginine, valine, and lysine are all above 0.7%, and threonine, serine, glycine, alanine, leucineThe content of tyrosine and phenylalanine is more than 0.5%, and other components include amino acids such as methionine, isoleucine, histidine, etc.[1]
Production environment
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Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, lies between 29 ° 24'32 "- 29 ° 47'25" north latitude and 121 ° 04'05 "- 121 ° 46'42" east longitude. It is located in the low mountains and hills of eastern Zhejiang Province and belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate zone.[1]
The taro likes to grow in places with water. Fenghua is rich in water resources, and the unique sandy soil is very suitable for the growth of taro.
Siming Mountain is the birthplace of Yanxi. It was called Yanjiang River from the river to Xiaowangmiao Town. It is the birthplace of taro heads and the main production area of Fenghua taro heads.The sediment from the river of Siming Mountain forms alluvial soil on both banks of the Shanjiang River in Xiaowang Temple. This soil will rapidly penetrate in rainy days, and the surface soil will not accumulate water. When it is sunny, taro can easily absorb groundwater because the groundwater level is very moderate.Therefore, the river alluvial soil here meets the growing characteristics of Fenghua taro, which is "afraid of both water and drought". In the autumn when taro grows vigorously, the climate there is warm and humid, and the temperature difference between day and night is large, which can promote the expansion of the mother taro and the accumulation of nutrients.Therefore, the first Fenghua taro has a large thin skin, which is waxy, smooth and delicious. It can be steamed, baked raw, fried, sliced white, made into paste, and cooked in soup.[4-5]
Fenghua Geography
historical origin
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Fenghua taro head is a perennial herbaceous bulb crop belonging to Araceae taro. It is a traditional famous agricultural product in Fenghua City, with a long history of cultivation and high popularity and development value.Taro was first introduced into the southeast coastal areas of China from Japan, and Fenghua became one of the first regions to cultivate taro.
According to Fenghua County Annals, as early as the Song Dynasty, Fenghua planted taro, which was also called "Minzi" at that time, with a history of more than 700 years.Chen Zhu (Fenghua Sanshi Ren), a supervisor of the imperial envoy of the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote in his poem "Harvesting Taro Occasionally" that "a few kinds of minzi can break the poverty, and cherish them as old food. Grain rice is like a fist to spare the soil, and grits soup is good at being romantic." Taro, also known as minzi, means that taro is very good, and it is a delicacy respected for elders.In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Kui taro was introduced from southern Zhejiang. It is also called "Fenghua taro head" because it mainly eats mother taro.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Fenghua farmers who were diligent in farming and good at planting gradually formed the unique famous variety of Fenghua taro after continuous improvement.
In the era of food shortage, Fenghua taro head can also be used as food for famine.In The Taste of the Tongue - 500 Poems for Eating in Ningbo, which Gong Lie compiled and annotated, many ancient people wrote poems for Taro's head. In the poem Taro Area, Jing Yun, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, wrote: "Ask the crouching owl to be good, and plant one area in case of hunger." The "crouching owl" in the poem refers to the taro.Xie Chaofu, a poet of Ningbo in the Qing Dynasty, also wrote in his poem "Taro": "The garden and millet are collected together, and the nickname is" crouching owl ". After ten years of receiving a good prime minister, the incense will rise from the ashes of the stove."
In the late Qing Dynasty, Fenghua taro has been planted in large areas.In this way, the emergence of "Fenghua taro head" has a history of at least 500 years.[4]
For a long time, Fenghua taro has enjoyed a high reputation in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Hong Kong and Macao.In 1991, when inspecting Tengtou Village, Fenghua, General Secretary Jiang Zemin ate a full meal of Fenghua taro's head, discussed the recipe of Fenghua taro's head with the chef, and repeatedly praised the "delicious" of Fenghua taro's head.In 1996, Jiang Chunyun, who was then the Vice Premier of the State Council, also praised that "the taro in Lipu is good, and the taro in Fenghua is better."[1]
Fenghua Taro Field
Production
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In 2004, Fenghua City planted 5000 mu taros, mainly distributed in Xikou Town 1000 mu, Xiaowangmiao Town 2500 mu, Shangtian 750 mu and Jiangkou Town 750 mu.[1]
Product honor
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In 1996, Fenghua City was named "the hometown of taro heads in China" by the Rural Development Research Center of the State Council.[5]
On September 14, 2004, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) approved the implementation of the protection of "Fenghua taro head" as a product of original origin.[3]
Fenghua taro head
geographical indication
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Scope of geographical protection
Fenghua taro head originated in Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.[1]
Quality and technical requirements
1. Shape: nearly spherical, conical at the top and base.
Braised Chicken with Taro
2. Color:
(1) Taro skin color: water red at the top, brown yellow at the top, light brown at the bottom;
(2) Taro color: pink white.
3. Taro meat: when it is just peeled, the meat is pure and delicate without red tendons. When it is cooked, it tastes powdery and glutinous, fresh and refreshing, with a specific flavor, no hard and sexy, no peculiar smell.
4. Grading of mother taro:
(1) Special grade: single weight ≥ 1.0kg;
(2) Level I: single weight is greater than or equal to 0.75 kg;
(3) Class II: single weight is greater than or equal to 0.5 kg.
5. Dry starch content: ≥ 42%, and the ratio of amylopectin to amylopectin is ≥ 4.0.
6. Crude protein content on dry basis: 10% or more, and 12% or more for super grade products.
7. Crude fiber content on dry basis: less than or equal to 4.0%.[1]
Historical culture
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Dietetic culture
Fenghua taro heads usually weigh about 2 jin each, and the large ones can weigh as much as 3 or 4 jin. They can be stored properly after harvest in winter, and can be stored for 5 to 6 months.Taro's head is rich in starch, fragrant, glutinous and delicious. It can be used as a staple food and snack.
Taro's head can be cooked in a variety of ways, such as steaming, baking, hot frying, white cutting, making paste, and cooking soup. All kinds of eating methods are not good. "Spare ribs and taro's pot" has become a famous dish in Ningbo, and tastes unique.Around December every year, Fenghua villagers like to make a "wax paste". They dice the head of Fenghua taro, burn it with dried bamboo shoots, diced radishes, diced parsley, diced pork, chicken feet, black wolf dried scallops, etc., add bean paste, soy sauce and a little sugar, stir fry it, add water and simmer slowly on the fire, and then a delicious and glutinous grass root food will be cooked.
Some diners commented on taro's head in this way. They ate it with open fire, and ate it with wood and charcoal fire. The more delicious it is, the more fragrant it will be;When you cook soup and eat it, it will be smooth like tremella and glutinous like tangyuan, delicate and refreshing;Cut it into slices and steam it, then dip it with crab sauce. It is original, fragrant and powdery.
Ningbo Cuisine and Ningbo Seafood introduces many classic Ningbo dishes made by taro, including taro seafood soup, taro pickled rice, taro stewed chicken wings, taro's first three dishes, taro grouper, pepper and salt taro strips, fried taro balls, etc.[4]
Why was taro's head also called crouching owl in ancient times?
Owl, a large and vicious bird, is called because it is like a crouching owl.
The origin of this statement can be traced back to《Redords of the Grand History of China》In Volume 129 of Records of the Historian, there is an allusion that Zhuo's ancestors in Shu were Zhao people, who became rich by smelting iron.When the State of Qin defeated the State of Zhao, the Zhuo family migrated. The Zhuo family was captured. Only their husband and wife pushed the cart to the place of migration.Other people who were moved at the same time, if they had a little extra money, scrambled to give it to the officials in charge and begged them to move closer to Jiameng County.Only Zhuo said, "Jiameng is a small place with poor land. I heard that there are fertile fields below Wenshan Mountain. There are large taros in the fields, shaped like crouching owls, and people will not starve even when they die. The people there are good at trading and easy to do business."
So he asked to move to a far place, but was moved to Linqiong. He was very happy. He melted iron and cast weapons in the mountain with iron ore, planned and calculated carefully, and the wealth overwhelmed the residents in Yunnan and Sichuan, so as to become rich. There were as many as 1000 slaves.He enjoys shooting and playing in the pastoral pool, which is comparable to the king.[4]
Folklore
Fenghua is a small town in the south of the Yangtze River with many mountains and waters. Most of the mountains come from the southwest and most of the water flows from the northeast.Originated from“Ji Gong”The Tiantai Mountain in my hometown and Siming Mountain with magical four windows connecting the sun and the moon came here for a lovers' hug after a long journey, and then went to the East China Sea hand in hand to turn into islands dotted on the East China Sea.Therefore, Fenghua is destined to be an extraordinary place. It has been inhabited by human beings since ancient times, and is the center of Ningbo's "ancient kingdom of violets".Reading the history of Fenghua County is like reading an ancient book, full of antiquity.Even reading local folk stories can also read the ancient flavor, such as the story of the origin of taro's head.
It is said that in ancient times there lived a poor mother and daughter on the Yueling Mountain in Fenghua.Life is barely maintained by farming and growing vegetables.One spring, a young Japanese monk named Yu Nai suddenly came to his home.His face was sallow and thin.His mother had a hard time communicating with him before she learned that the Japanese monk had been ill for many days, and she was really unable to go to his place again.So the girl took the responsibility of taking care of the Japanese monk.One day, a grateful man took out a bag from the package, poured out a pile of round, dusty, hard things on the table, and said to the girl, "This is the Tongtianzi. It can be used as food or vegetable. I brought it from Tokyo and wanted to take it to the Buddha in the West. Now I'd like to give it to you."
The girl planted "Tongtianzi" in the field in front of the nunnery according to the Japanese monk's method.After half a month, large lotus like leaves began to come out of the field. The girl often watered and pulled grass, and the leaves grew quickly. By summer, they had become one piece and swayed the field.
Monk Yu Nai recovered from his illness at this time, but he only carried water and overturned the ground with the girl Huiying every day, without any sign of leaving.On the night of the Double Seventh Festival, my mother came to Yu Nai's hut by moonlight and wanted to talk with him in detail, but Yu Nai's hut was empty.The mother was so busy that she came to her daughter's house, and it was really empty.She hurriedly ran out of the house and shouted to the mountain, "Huiying! Yu Nai!"
The girl and the little monk were sitting under the "Tongtianzi" leaf and talking about love.Their mother's cry made them panic, and they quickly hid in the depths of the leaves hand in hand and refused to come out again.After searching for Huiying and Yu Nai for a long time, her mother finally decided that they had turned into "Tongtianzi" roots together.So she called the round thing "Yu Naitou".Because the origin of taro's head is related to love, there is such an interesting custom spread in Fenghua, where taro's head is produced: every Tanabata night, local young men and women love to go to taro's fields to talk about love, which is said to increase love and live together.[6]
