Longyou steamed cake making technique
It is said that Longyou Fagao originated in the Tang Dynasty. It is a kind of festival food unique to Longyou. It has a unique production process and exquisite ingredients. The finished product is as white as jade, with fine holes like needles. It smells fresh and fragrant. It is sweet but not greasy, and sticky but not sticky. Because "Fagao" is the homonym of "Fugao", it implies the auspicious meaning of "prosperity every year and step by step". It is not only a must-have snack for festivals, but also a good gift for relatives and friends. Longyou Fagao has unique production skills, and pays great attention to the proportion of materials, soaking time, and heat. It is purely handmade. Therefore, the production skills of Fagao are only spread in various parts of Longyou County and some villages at the junction of Qujiang District and Longyou. The intangible cultural heritage Longyou Fagao has various colors and varieties. According to the taste, there are white sugar cakes, brown sugar cakes, osmanthus cakes, walnut cakes, red dates cakes, chestnut cakes, etc.; according to the main raw materials, it can be divided into pure glutinous rice cakes and mixed rice cakes. Longyou steamed cakes are made of white glutinous rice and japonica rice. After soaking for dozens of days, they are rinsed with water, ground into fine powder, and then lard, sugar, and fermented wine are added in proportion. After fermentation, they are steamed (and flavorings such as osmanthus and dates are added as needed). In order to show the festive atmosphere of the festival, people also use six-cornered anise to dip in red edible pigments to print patterns on the steamed steamed cakes. In the process of hundreds of years of development, Longyou steamed cakes have formed unique production techniques and customs. They are a must-have food for Longyou people during festivals, weddings and funerals, the first snack for any folk banquet, and the main offering for sacrifices. Generally, before the Spring Festival, rituals such as worshiping heaven and earth, worshiping the rice god, and worshiping the kitchen god are held when cooking steamed cakes. With the development of commercialization, the production of large-scale steamed cakes and steamed cakes made by machines have occupied an increasingly large market share, while steamed cakes made according to folk crafts are becoming less and less, especially the stone mills used for grinding flour are disappearing quickly. With the death of a group of elderly people, fewer and fewer young people have mastered folk production techniques. (No pictures available, please provide them.) (No pictures available, please provide them.)