What's the difference between steamed bread and buns?

The mention of "steamed bread" has a long history and originated in China.

Steamed bread, also known as "steamed bread", "steamed stuffed bun" and "steamed bread", is one of the traditional pasta in China. Legend has it that it was invented by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu and Han Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, and it is a kind of food steamed with fermented flour. Steamed bread with wheat flour as the main raw material is one of the daily staple foods of China people.

There is a saying in The Origin of Things: During the Three Kingdoms period, Prime Minister Zhuge led his troops south, and when he saw the common custom of killing and sacrificing ethnic minorities along the way, he felt cruel and taught them to make heads out of bread and meat to replace the living and reduce the killing. Over time, it has evolved into the big steamed bread that we love to eat today. However, some scholars said that this statement belongs to the category of unofficial history, and its authenticity needs to be verified.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, a portrait of the Han Dynasty was unearthed in Jiayuguan, showing a beautiful woman kneading dough and serving steamed buns and steamed buns on a plate. As soon as this painting came out, we clearly knew that fermented cakes had already appeared in the Han Dynasty, and they were extremely common and could be tasted by ordinary people.

Later, Ying Ying of the Ming Dynasty said in the Seventh Revision that "steamed bread" is "steamed bread", which makes people feel very strange and a little confused, because the word "human" in "steamed bread" means stretching, which vividly expresses the state of flour fermentation and expansion. Moreover, steamed bread belongs to food, so it is added to the word "food" and becomes "steamed bread".

Before the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were fillings in steamed buns, which, to put it bluntly, are now steamed buns. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, steamed bread was called "cake". At that time, in the Central Plains, southerners loved rice and northerners loved pasta. On the basis of favoring pasta, add whole grains such as millet and beans. However, this does not mean that southerners do not eat or cook pasta.

It is understood that rice-wheat rotation prevailed in the south at that time, which gave birth to many exquisite pasta with sufficient raw materials. People's staple foods are also diversified. Cake is the favorite food, followed by rice, and then porridge. Cake is the least frequently served.

Later, because of everyone's fascination with cakes, chefs all over the world tried their best to develop steamed cakes, pancakes, soup cakes and other delicacies to satisfy the taste buds. The "steamed cake" mentioned here is the "steamed bread" that we often eat.

According to the Chronicles, "steamed bread" is also called "cage cake". In the Song Dynasty, Zhang said, "The Tang people called steamed bread" because it was made in a steamer. Steamed bread appeared on people's dining tables in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and was more sought after in the Tang Dynasty. Take to the streets and look around. Steaming steamed bread shops can be seen everywhere.

Zhang Kun also said in the report of the ruling and opposition parties: "There are often small vendors pushing carts to sell steamed buns." Ke Danqiu also said in "Chai Jing Ji Chun Guest": "Three words didn't win, and six steamed buns were swallowed." When Wu Zetian was in power, Zhang passed by the steamed bread shop and saw steaming steamed cakes, which made his appetite big. He couldn't wait to buy one and send it to his mouth. Therefore, he was advised to impeach.

Officials were impeached when they bought their favorite food by the roadside. It is not difficult to see that the supervision of court officials in the Tang Dynasty was extremely strict. In addition, there is an adult named Hou who likes cage cakes very much and often orders people to make them. He also asked the chef to put less onions and more meat. This is called "shrinking onions to serve the empire", which is really interesting.

In addition, it is understood that Jian Zhen brought a car full of dry steamed cakes when he traveled to Japan. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, people's minds were wide open, and all kinds of fillings were put in steamed bread, including vegetarian, sweet and sour, flying in the sky, walking on the ground, swimming in the water and growing in the soil.

Among all kinds of steamed bread, the most advanced one is the crab yellow steamed bread that Cai Jing used to entertain guests. At that time, steamed bread was not only rich in stuffing, but also novel and diverse in shape. In addition to the round shape we often see, there is also a unique cut flower steamed bread, also known as "fried flower steamed bread".

The specific method of this thing is: put salt sauce and stuffing into steamed bread, then cut out the pattern with scissors, and finally dye it with rouge flowers, lotus and sunflower patterns.

Moreover, in Yanbei area, when children are twelve years old, they will hold a grand banquet, and their flesh and blood relatives will make steamed bread into small animals or cut flowers and put them on their heads as rings and hats. At the same time, say blessings and pray for God to bless their healthy growth.

Steamed bread made mainly by fermentation must be guided by flour and fertilizer. Add clean water and knead repeatedly, let the flour stand for a period of time after molding, add alkaline water and flour after fermentation and knead again. The steamed bread made by this method is flawless, tough and chewy. Later, people in the Yuan Dynasty invented a method without fermentation.

First, mix flour with half-open hot water, then put the stuffing into the dough and steam it in a steamer. The steamed buns in the south evolved on this basis! Smart humans never stop exploring about eating. After the above two kinds of steamed bread, burnt steamed bread appeared again. As the name implies, it is to bake steamed buns until they become zoom and brittle.

In the Qing Dynasty, it was recorded in Ji Sheng, when Emperor Jing was thirty years old: At that time, Beijing would eat "pork buns" every New Year's Day. It can be seen that there was not much difference between steamed bread and steamed buns at that time. Moreover, the "Ding Steamed Bread" sold in Beijing market in Qing Dynasty is also recorded in Historical Records.

The appearance of steamed stuffed bun is very early, and there are a lot of records in the historical documents of Song Dynasty.

At that time, as long as food was stuffed in bread, it was called "steamed stuffed bun". There must be stuffing in the buns, which is the most basic practice. Without stuffing, you can't call it steamed stuffed bun. Otherwise, the difference between it and steamed bread is only whether there are wrinkles at the top, and there is no difference in other aspects.

From its appearance to the present, steamed bread has experienced more than two thousand years of wind and frost, and its practices are constantly enriched. As soon as solid steamed bread appeared, modern society had "steamed bread" and "steamed buns". Of course, it was only later that people wanted to separate the two species. In fact, in the eyes of the ancients, there is not much difference between steamed bread and steamed buns.

The record of steamed stuffed bun in the literature of Song Dynasty is as follows: As long as the stuffing is wrapped with dough, it is called "steamed stuffed bun". If the method is exactly the same as the steamed stuffed bun, it can only be distinguished by closing the top.

References:

The matter of the era, seven manuscripts, the story is in the ruling and opposition, and Ji Sheng is in Jingdi.