Why does China's most festive fruit unify the winters of the north and south?

Every winter, if there is no hawthorn, it seems incomplete - it is so lovely and affordable. As long as there is hawthorn, people can easily get a full sense of happiness.

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When the weather is cold and the ground is white, the round, red fruits with festive golden stars on them light up the snowy branches like little lanterns. If you go out in the slanting wind, hear the snow creaking under your feet, and see a pile of bright and flaming candied haws standing next to a vendor, you will be instantly filled with a sense of happiness, and every cell in your body seems to awaken and shout out in joy - "It's Chinese New Year!"

China is so vast that there are thousands of ways to express the "flavor of the New Year", but only the sweet and sour candied haws can be loved by people all over the country. Hawthorn is not limited to this. It plans to conquer you in all aspects: hawthorn slices, fruit leather, sugar snowballs, canned hawthorn , and various cakes and soups. Its presence may seem low, but it can dye every corner of your life red, giving you a sweet and sour winter that cannot be refused.

Sugar snowball. Copyright image from the gallery. Reproduction may lead to copyright disputes.

The "Chinese flavor" of hawthorn is too strong. It is a genuine Chinese native fruit. It was mentioned in the ancient book "Er Ya" 2,500 years ago. Although it has been with us for thousands of years, few people eat hawthorn fresh because of its sour taste, and few people know its true appearance. In fact, if you pay a little attention, you will find that -

The world of hawthorn is more dazzling than you think.

There are really many kinds of hawthorn in China!

North of the Yangtze River, how many colors are there in the sweet and sour universe?

Many people think that hawthorn is a very "northern" fruit. Indeed, a careful examination of historical materials shows that the earliest records of hawthorn appeared in North China and the Central Plains. During the Jin Dynasty, people in Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei and other places had already begun to cultivate hawthorn trees, and over time they cultivated " large-fruit hawthorn " - most of the hawthorns eaten by northerners today belong to this variety.

Over the past thousands of years, large-fruited hawthorns have blossomed all over the north, creating an exceptionally colorful and splendid flavor landscape.

1

Shandong: The highest respect for hawthorn is to eat it directly!

Have you ever eaten fresh hawthorn?

If your answer is “I dare not eat it, it’s too sour”, then you definitely have never eaten “Tianhongzi”.

Sweet red hawthorn is very cute, small and round. If there were no tiny golden dots on the skin, it would look just like a cherry. When you cut it open, you can see the flesh is also covered with cherry powder. If you sniff it, you will first smell a sweet fruity aroma that is almost like apple, which is very different from the hawthorns you usually eat. If you taste it, you will find a strong hawthorn aroma in the sweetness, and the sourness is only faintly visible , which completely subverts your perception of this fruit.

This hawthorn comes from Pingyi County in Linyi City, and now it has spread all over the mountainous areas in the south and central Shandong. Speaking of Pingyi County , it is indeed a treasure land for growing hawthorn. Tianbao Mountain in its territory has been particularly rich in high-quality hawthorn since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Today, there are still several century-old hawthorn trees on Luoquan Cliff of Tianbao Mountain.

"Wai Ba Hong" is a particularly outstanding type of Tianbao Mountain hawthorn - it is one of the hawthorns recognized on the market as the most suitable for making candied haws . It is very sour, but not astringent, with a strong fruity aroma. The flesh is very fine and "soft". After being coated with sugar, it is crispy on the outside and glutinous on the inside, and melts in a sip. "Big Golden Star" is also not bad, it is big and round, with a striking golden star. It not only tastes good, but also looks particularly festive. It can be called the face of hawthorn.

There is another type of hawthorn that is suitable for fresh eating, called "big five-angle" , which is large and a bit angular in shape. Compared with sweet red seeds, it is more sour, but it can be stored for a long time, the longer it is stored, the sweeter it becomes, and it is very addictive to eat. "Big cotton ball" is also a large and sweet competitor with very soft flesh. However, these two types of hawthorn are not often available in the market because they are too suitable for making hawthorn slices, fruit leather, and canned hawthorns, and they are often sent to factories as soon as they are off the branches.

The real star among Shandong hawthorns is the "open-mouthed hawthorn" from Qingzhou . In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Xiangjin wrote " Collection of Flowers ", praising " the best hawthorns from Chuzhou and Qingzhou". The hawthorns from Qingzhou should be the open-mouthed hawthorns with large and deep calyx tubes and an "opening" on the fruit. Its flesh is firm but not dry and astringent, and the taste is moderately sweet and sour. It can be eaten fresh and is the best raw material for hawthorn snacks.

Qingzhou people know how to grow hawthorns and are particularly good at processing them, with factories of all sizes everywhere. Today, Qingzhou can produce 150,000 tons of various hawthorn products every year. Together with other "hawthorn towns" such as Pingyi in the central and southern regions of Shandong, it accounts for 70% of the hawthorn food production on the market.

When hawthorns are dried, the banks of the Mi River look like a red carpet.

Hawthorn Hawthorn grows in the mountains. Central and southern Shandong is the core production area of ​​Shandong hawthorn, but the love of Jiaodong people for hawthorn is equally ardent. Qingdao Haiyun Temple holds a grand temple fair every year. It is a stage for various snacks and acrobatic performances, but because the "sugar balls" (tanghulu) at the temple fair are so popular, the Qingdao people have turned it into a " sugar ball party ". The "sugar ball party" not only has sugar balls of various flavors and combinations (not only yam beans, oranges, strawberries, grapes, but even durian and foie gras!), but also a "sugar ball modeling competition", allowing you to truly appreciate the grand occasion of "three feet shaking in the wind, a string of gourds dipped in rock sugar".

2

The top-selling candied haws in Yanshan

Yanshan Mountain forms the northern contour of the North China Plain, blocking the cold wind in the north and welcoming the rain in the south, and enclosing the Feng Shui treasure land at the foot of the mountain that is good for storing wind and gathering energy. In "Strategies of the Warring States", Su Qin commented that " although the people in Yan area do not work in the fields, the fruits of jujube and chestnut are enough for the people ", which shows that various fruits were produced here thousands of years ago. Today, at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, which stretches for more than 600 miles, excellent peaches, pears, walnuts, chestnuts, and hawthorns are still produced.

Among the hawthorn producing areas in Yanshan, the hawthorns in Chengde , Hebei are particularly famous. Xinglong County in Chengde is rich in "Wulinghong" , which has a deep orange-red peel and is heavy and plump. It actually tastes a bit sour, but because the sugar content is high enough, it won't make anyone's teeth sour, but people will think from the bottom of their hearts that "this is the taste of hawthorn" ! There is also a kind of "Wuling purple meat", which is also very delicious, but because the peel and flesh are a rich and juicy purple-red, it is often used as a "red pigment" in other hawthorn or candy products.

There are so many good hawthorns in the mountainous areas of northern Hebei. Almost every county and town has one or two excellent varieties. The more famous ones are "Yan Rang Hong", "Mian Haw", "Luan Hong", etc. In the mountains of Huairou and Fangshan in Beijing, there are also several good varieties that are sweet and can be eaten fresh, such as "Guajiayu No. 1" and "Niejiayu No. 2". The southeastern part of Yanshan is also rich in a kind of " Yan Rang Qing " commonly known as "Iron Hawthorn". It is sour and astringent when eaten raw, but the pulp yield is particularly high and the fruit aroma is rich. It is really great to make it into juice. Now "Yan Rang Qing" is the designated raw material for a national hawthorn beverage. In order to avoid the suspicion of advertising, I will not mention the brand. Anyway, if you have tasted it, you will definitely be impressed.

From this perspective, Beijing is surrounded by a sea of ​​hawthorns, and hawthorns are naturally very important in the diet. For example, the popular candied haws has the words "Old Beijing" in front of its name.

Beijing's candied haws are indeed good. First, hawthorns are good, and they must be pitted . Second, they must be dipped in melted rock sugar - white sugar is almost the same, the difference between the two types of sugar is only the purity of the sucrose. But using maltose is too messy, and the dipped haws are neither white nor yellow, sticky and laughable. The weather in Yan is cold, and the thin sugar condenses into a crystal shell as soon as it leaves the copper pot. With the white sesame seeds sprinkled on it, it tastes fine and sweet. The best thing is that the side of the candied haws that is next to the oil paper is naturally condensed with a thick layer of sugar. When you chew it hard, it is so thick and sweet that it can stick to your teeth.

The dignity of Beijing cuisine all depends on the candied haws! Photo by Zhang Xuhong

Delicious hawthorn snacks are not limited to candied haws. " Stir-fried red fruit " is also a dessert loved by people in northern Hebei and Beijing-Tianjin. Although it is called stir-fry, no oil is used. Instead, sugar and water are boiled into a paste, and hawthorns are added. It is simmered over low heat until it is translucent, and the sour and sweet taste is appetizing. Many people also like to make some soft hawthorn sauce at home, which is very warm in winter.

Fried red fruit. Copyright image. Reproduction may cause copyright disputes.

Mr. Wang Zengqi once made a sharp comment: "Beijingers only know how to eat cabbage!" This is really because it was cold in the north in the old days and it was difficult to buy vegetables. However, Beijingers can mix the tender and sweet cabbage heart with golden cake (hawthorn cake) shreds to make a sweet and sour cold dish, which can be regarded as a joy in hardship. This dish can also be upgraded by cutting the best snow pears produced in the Huairou Mountains into shreds to make golden cake pear shreds and cabbage heart . The refreshing taste will definitely make people refreshed.

3

In Northeast China, this is called the real "Ice-Tanghulu"!

If the correct pronunciation of Bingtanghulu is "bingtang~hulu" , then in Northeast China, the accent must become "bing~tanghulu". The name here no longer serves to introduce the raw materials, but to describe the taste of the ice shasha that is frozen at minus 20 degrees.

This is the real ice-tanghulu! Photography/Lu Wen

Because of the cold weather, the common characteristics of Northeastern hawthorns are firm flesh and strong cold resistance . However, the Northeast is very large and has a wide latitude span, so the styles of hawthorns are also very varied.

Liaoning has a similar temperature to northern Hebei. It has been a dominant production area for hawthorn since ancient times. Many high-quality hawthorns from Hebei and Shandong can be found in Liaoning. Moreover, Liaoning's climate can select fruits that are more cold-resistant and disease-resistant , and the quality of hawthorns can be improved. Today, Fangshan in Beijing is rich in " grinding plate hawthorns ", which are round and flat in shape, very much like grinding plates, and taste sour but particularly fragrant. They can withstand storage for about half a year, and become sweeter as they are stored. This type of hawthorn is actually selected from Fushun, Liaoning.

In Jilin and even Heilongjiang, many large-fruited hawthorns with gentle and sweet tastes are difficult to adapt to the extremely cold temperature. Here, the most common ones are small, wild, and thorny hawthorns . Don't think that these hawthorns will not be delicious if they look tough. The "Da Wang" commonly seen in cold areas is a sweet and sour little cutie with soft flesh. Most of the candied haws you eat in "Erbin" are thanks to it. There is also a "soft seed hawthorn" that was originally bred in Liaoyang and is now planted in many places in Jilin. It is also small, but surprisingly sweet, and the seeds are soft, so you can chew them and swallow them, completely eliminating the trouble of "spitting out the hawthorn pits when eating hawthorns."

The hawthorns in the south are more colorful than those in the north!

There is a saying that hawthorn is divided into relatively large and sweet "northern hawthorn" and slightly sour "southern hawthorn". In fact, the confusion of the kinship of the hawthorn family is far from being roughly summarized as "north and south" - if all plants of the genus Hawthorn can be called "hawthorn", then there are 18 species in China that belong to hawthorn . People's impression of "northern hawthorn" roughly belongs to the "large-fruited hawthorn" mentioned above, which is a variant of the feather-cleft hawthorn. In the south, there is no "large-fruited hawthorn" dominating the market, and the varieties of hawthorn are richer, and there are more ways to play.

Sichuan ice jelly with hawthorn and lychee is even more tempting! Photo by Pink Old Man

The best hawthorns in the south should go to Suqian . This small city in Jiangsu is located north of the Yangtze River and can still be classified as a northern hawthorn producing area. It shares the same aesthetic preference with Shandong in hawthorns, both preferring "large fruit". The history of hawthorn cultivation here is more than 400 years. In the old days, the banks of the Yellow River were covered with hawthorn forests, which turned red every autumn.

The hardness of Suqian hawthorn can be seen from its name - " Suqian Iron Hawthorn" , which is called " Iron Ball " by locals. It is really fierce. However, the taste of this "Iron Ball" is still quite gentle, sour and sweet, with a tough bite. It is precisely because of the high pectin content of "Suqian Iron Hawthorn" that the famous snack " Crystal Hawthorn Cake " in Suqian was created. It is bright red, icy and appetizing. Even northern Hebei, which is rich in hawthorn, has to bow to this southern flavor.

Li Shizhen, a famous doctor in the Ming Dynasty, once said, " When cooking old chicken or hard meat, add a few hawthorns and it will become tender ," which proves the appetizing and digestive effect of hawthorn. Hawthorn has a high content of fruit acid, which can indeed decompose and soften muscle fibers. However, for us food lovers in the secular world, stewing meat with hawthorn is mainly for the sake of deliciousness ! Jiangnan is rich in sugar and vinegar flavors, and it is close to the hawthorn production area in northern Jiangsu. Therefore, many places in Yangzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, and even Shanghai and Zhejiang have dishes that combine sweet and sour with hawthorn. Whether it is hawthorn ribs with rich juice or round and tender hawthorn meatballs , they can add a unique and naughty fruit fragrance to the table when the cold wind blows.

The hawthorns grown in Hubei and Hunan are commonly known as "monkey hawthorns". In fact, their scientific name is "Hubei hawthorns". They are two parallel species with "feather-cracked hawthorns". However, from appearance to taste, they do not exceed the category of hawthorns that ordinary people know. Only the fragrant fruity flavor can slightly taste the unique characteristics of Hunan and Chu. Hunanese people who love spicy food are not bound by the concept of "dessert" when eating hawthorns. Instead, they chop the hawthorns, mix them with perilla, and then add chili powder to make a sour, sweet, spicy and hot "hawthorn baba", which is full of Hunan flavor and much more tempting than spicy strips.

Further south, the world of " Yunnan Hawthorn " is here. This is another species besides the feather-cleft hawthorn. Compared with the common hawthorn, the fruit is large, orange-yellow, and has a refreshing sour taste, which is particularly suitable for making hawthorn slices and soaking in water. Guangxi people also like to use this hawthorn to make sugar water. For example, in autumn and winter, hawthorn and loquat are stewed with sugar. The yellow and soft hawthorn slices gently float in the translucent, slightly gelatinous soup, which makes you feel very moisturized at a glance. In summer, tea made from hawthorn leaves is also commonly seen in food stalls. It is refreshing and can be called a "meat-eating magic weapon."

People in Guangdong and Guangxi may have the impression of a kind of " yellow-skinned hawthorn ", which looks like a small apple. It tastes sour at first, but becomes sweeter the more you chew it. Many locals mistakenly think that this is the "hawthorn" that northerners often talk about, and wonder how this thing can be made into candied haws. In fact, the scientific name of this "hawthorn" is "Taiwan apple", which is a plant of the genus Malus. The correct way to open this "yellow-skinned hawthorn" is to pickle it to make sour food, and dip it in chili powder to show its sweetness. Xinyi, Guangdong is rich in this kind of hawthorn, and the locals also like to pickle it in candy , which can be eaten directly or soaked in water. The "honey hawthorn essence" produced here is exported overseas, soothing the homesickness of many Chinese.

The yellow-skinned "hawthorn" is not a real hawthorn plant. Photo by a small tomato

Hawthorns are always there for people, moistening things silently. For thousands of years, no matter south or north of the Yangtze River, no matter high mountains or plains, no matter whether fertile or barren, hawthorn trees can take root everywhere. It does not need careful care, but just holds out bright red fruits year after year. It is the end of the year again, and the hawthorn fragrance wafts through the streets again. Eat a string of candied haws quickly. The moment you bite through the candy shell and the tip of your tongue touches the sour taste, it is the New Year.

Planning and production

Source: Authentic Scenery (ID: didaofengwu)

Author: Cat Knight

Editor: Yang Yaping