Why is it difficult for northerners to accept meat dumplings?

I can't remember when the sweet and salty party began to fight against differences. Anyway, the dispute over the sweetness and saltiness of soybean milk, tofu, glutinous rice balls and zongzi has been a controversial topic on the Internet in recent years.

From the taste, as a Beijinger, I definitely want to vote for sweet zongzi, and it must be as thin as jujube zongzi. (Red adzuki beans all feel a level lower than golden jujube ~)

In fact, in the face of the debate between the sweet and salty school, what I want to find out most is not "why do southerners like to eat meat dumplings", but "Is it really so difficult to try glutinous rice balls in the north ..." But this curiosity has never been answered because I am surrounded by northern basin friends.

Why not? From my personal point of view, why do most northerners find it so difficult to accept meat dumplings?

First of all, we should start with the function of zongzi in life. As we all know, rice is the staple food in the south and noodles are the staple food in the north. If we look at the eating habits of these two staple foods after the exchange, we will find a very interesting thing.

The staple food has become a snack.

Pasta is the staple food in the north, such as steamed buns in Nan 'an, Xinjiang, while in the south, food made of flour turns into thin sesame cakes. I once ate sesame seed cake in the south, and I was surprised that it can also be made into different flavors such as white sugar, fresh meat and prunes. Even if you eat 10, it looks like a snack

Pan Gao always thinks that glutinous rice is a perfect match with jujube if it is made into dessert.

Snacks made of rice are not common in the north (all kinds of pasta patterns are too rich), and glutinous rice has become the best substitute. Tangyuan, fermented glutinous rice, eight-treasure rice, sesame cakes and even cut cakes are all ways to take sweets and snacks.

Rather than saying that northerners like to eat sweet zongzi, it is better to say that as long as it is made of glutinous rice, the north is mostly sweet. Snacks, as a kind of adjustment and supplement, are very different from staple food.

By the way, although the sweetness and saltiness of zongzi has always been controversial, back in history, sweet zongzi appeared much earlier than salty zongzi. (key! "Local Customs" describes in detail the tradition of making zongzi in Jin Dynasty: millet wrapped in millet and red dates wrapped in red dates. "Xiaomi" is yellow rice, and I guess it is similar to the yellow rice dumplings in Shandong now.

Dahuangmi zongzi, I haven't eaten it yet, I'm a little greedy ~

Probably in the Song Dynasty, sweet zongzi occupied an absolute dominant position. Xi 'an has a kind of honey-cooled zongzi, which appeared in the recipes written in the Tang Dynasty. At the "Roast Tail Banquet" to celebrate the promotion of officials, zongzi with honey and cold sauce was one of the 58 official dishes, which appeared at the end as a dessert.

Before eating honey jiaozi, cut pieces with silk thread or bamboo knife and pour honey or osmanthus sauce.

Salty zongzi was thousands of years later than sweet zongzi, and it didn't appear until the middle of Ming Dynasty. There are records of pork zongzi in Zhuyushan House in Ming Dynasty, but it is only one of many kinds. In addition, there are fillings such as red bean paste, dates, sugar and walnuts, and sweet zongzi is still the mainstream.

Until today, when we talk about "eating salty zongzi in the south", we are a little partial. In fact, there are sweet and salty zongzi in many places. I have eaten semi-sweet and semi-salty zongzi in Chaoshan.

Chaoshan zongzi should be fresh in salty zongzi, but I still prefer the side of bean paste.

In southern Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, meat dumplings are indeed dominant, and their status is much higher than that in the north, so they can appear as dinner. For example, the pillow dumplings that Huzhou people are proud of have always been used as breakfast or lunch in the local area, so it is reasonable to put soy sauce and meat.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine has always been exquisite, but the size of Huzhou Zongzi is definitely a fighter in Zongzi. Even I, a northern woman, feel a little small with a pillow and zongzi ... after all, it's a family dinner, not a casual snack.

Huzhou zhentouzong

Speaking of which, I remembered the sweet dumplings that Shanghai people like by the way. Not bad, but such a big lump of glutinous rice was swallowed early in the morning, which is really too much for a northern stomach. I have always suspected that the northern stomach is soaked in pasta for a long time, and its digestive ability is weaker than that of the southern stomach. For the food made of glutinous rice, it has always been a point.

Jiaozi, braised pork in southern Fujian, dipped in peanut butter, is the favorite of pot friends in jiaozi ... The mixture of lard and peanut butter really almost killed me. ...

In short, Zongzi appears as a staple food in the south (in some areas), but it is only a sweet snack in the north, which is why northerners can't accept bacon Zongzi. Imagine what it feels like to pour a spoonful of lard and a spoonful of soy sauce into the sweet wine dumplings that Jiangsu and Zhejiang people like. Peanut soup can be made up in the south of Fujian.

However, a few days ago, I saw Uncle Hei write an article about Zongzi. Finally, when it comes to glutinous rice chicken with lotus leaves, I suddenly realized that this product is simply a Zongzi with a lotus leaf vest. Looking back on the first time I ate glutinous rice chicken with lotus leaves, I didn't seem to feel anything wrong.

Lotus leaf glutinous rice chicken is simply a vest zongzi. Source Douguo Gourmet ScarlettChu

I am thinking that the fantasy of Zongzi has actually lost to people. Give the meat dumplings a new name and tell you that this dish is called "steamed pork glutinous rice with reed leaves". Maybe you will be happy to eat it. ...

Emmmmm, I haven't given up the hope of falling in love with jiaozi with minced meat!