There were no peppers in Song Dynasty. Why are there fish and spicy soup in Water Margin?

It is clearly mentioned in the Water Margin that Song Jiang likes to eat fish, especially fish spicy soup. If he can drink a bowl, he will be satisfied. But there was no pepper in Song Dynasty, and pepper was introduced to China in Ming Dynasty. Then why was there a dish of fish spicy soup in Song Dynasty? In fact, there is a misunderstanding here. The "spicy" of fish spicy soup does not mean pepper, and it is not only pepper that has spicy taste. Before the appearance of pepper, people had another understanding of spicy taste. Let's talk about what the fish spicy soup in the water margin is made of.

Fish-flavored soup, one of Song Jiang's favorite drunk soups, is used to relieve hangover.

Most people just need a hot soup to relieve their hangover. Fresh fish is not that important, but Song Jiang is different, and the quality of life should be guaranteed. Therefore, the fish in the fish-flavored soup must be fresh fish.

How many readers are so picky about it? I'm afraid not much.

Fish and spicy soup, this is nothing too special, but a careful friend saw a little difference, thinking that we were cheated by Shi Naian for hundreds of years, because there were no peppers in the Song Dynasty.

Well, in that case, let's see what is going on.

1. When was pepper introduced to China?

The earliest record of pepper in China is Gao Lian's "Eight Notes on Respect for Life" in Ming Dynasty, which is an ancient book on health preservation and has a high status. It reads: "Pepper is covered with white flowers, the fruit looks like a bald head, and it tastes hot and red, which is impressive."

Before that, there was almost no record of pepper. Judging from this, pepper was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty.

It is an indisputable fact that it has been widely recognized this time. Before that, the ancients in China had hardly eaten Chili.

Without Chili, there is something wrong with fish-flavored soup.

Judging from the introduction time of pepper, this understanding is good, but if you go deeper, it will be wrong.

2. The active era of Shi Naian.

According to historical records, Shi Naian was born in the second year of Yuan Zhen in Yuan Chengzong in Yuan Dynasty (1296) and died in Hongwu in Ming Taizu in Ming Dynasty (1370).

Even if the historical records we see are wrong, it is impossible to reach the end of the Ming Dynasty.

It is ridiculous that Shi Naian, who was active in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties, was related to pepper introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty.

Shi Naian doesn't even know what pepper is, let alone that he lied to us.

If the statement of fish spicy soup can be denied, then the fact that "spicy" in it refers to pepper can not be denied.

3. The demand of Shandong people's diet for pepper.

Shandong cuisine, with a long history, originated from Qilu flavor in Boshan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province. It is the only self-styled cuisine among the four traditional cuisines in China, ranking first among the eight cuisines.

What are the characteristics of Shandong cuisine?

Fresh, crisp and tender, with outstanding original flavor and heavy salty taste, there is a demand for pepper, but it is not big.

If the transportation and internet are not developed now, Sichuan cuisine rarely appears on the dining table of Shandong people.

After drinking, few people in Shandong will drink fish soup made of Chili, which is also related to the weather. Shandong is the north and the weather is dry. Eating too much pepper is easy to get angry. This scholar is from Shandong and now lives in Wuhan. Once a friend from Wuhan went to Shandong to play for a while, but at first he was not used to it. He used to eat Chili sauce every day, but he got angry after eating it for a few days. Finally he solved it by taking medicine.

There is no objection to saying that Shandong natives eat salty food, but to say that Shandong natives like to eat Chili as people in Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing and other places will be slapped in the face at that moment.

Where is Song Jiang from?

People in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province.

Don't say there were no peppers in Song Dynasty. Even if there were peppers, he wouldn't drink fish soup made of peppers to sober up.

4. What is the meaning of "spicy" in fish-flavored soup?

What is the meaning of "spicy" in the fish-flavored soup that Song Jiang wants to drink?

Pungency caused by spicy things other than peppers such as ginger.

Stewed fish soup with shredded ginger has a good hangover relieving effect, and scholars used to drink a lot.

Of course, literati drink fish because they like it, not because of the high quality of life.

Modern medicine also has research. Chewing ginger slices after drinking can really sober up.

Ginger soup can reduce the content of acetaldehyde in the body, warm the stomach, avoid discomfort symptoms such as nausea in the stomach, and even activate liver function cells, thus strengthening the detoxification function of the liver, accelerating the decomposition of alcohol and acetaldehyde, and supplementing the water needed by the human body to prevent dehydration after drunkenness.

The spicy foods we often say are onion, garlic, leek, ginger, wine, pepper, pepper, cinnamon, star anise, fennel and so on.

Therefore, the fish-flavored soup mentioned by Song Jiang is a fresh fish soup stewed with shredded or sliced ginger and onion, pepper, pepper and garlic.

Sung River drinks with Dai Zhong and Li Kui jy, not to get drunk, but to enhance feelings with wine as a medium, so he can't get drunk quickly, so he drinks some fish and spicy soup, and then continues to drink after getting a little drunk, so that he has enough time to chat.

Ginger originated in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the history of eating ginger in China is quite long. There are relevant records in Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, saying: "Dried ginger tastes pungent and warm, and the main chest is full of cough against the upper qi, warming the middle to stop bleeding, sweating, expelling rheumatism and diarrhea, especially for the living. Take it for a long time, remove odor, reduce qi, and enlighten the spirit. Shenggu. "

In modern times, there are many varieties of ginger, which are cultivated all over the country. The main producing areas are Sichuan, Guangdong, Shandong, Shaanxi and other places.

Needless to say, onions, peppers, peppers, garlic, etc. It existed thousands of years ago, and all of them belonged to the Song Dynasty.

Conclusion:

It is right to study hard, but it is wrong to look for gimmicks seriously.

It's true that there is "spicy" in the fish-flavored soup, but it can't be said that it is Chili, let alone that Shi Naian wrote something he had never seen before to lie.