Xiaochi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
According to the Bamin Tongzhi (Comprehensive Gazetteer of Fujian), Shaxian snacks arose in the Tang and Song dynasties, flourished in the Ming and Qing, and have been further developed in the present day. Since the 1990s, with the support of the local government, the Shaxian Snacks Trade Association has promoted Shaxian snacks throughout the country.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Shaxian snack-making craft is a snack-making technique combining the characteristics of both northern and southern food cultures, formed by ancient peoples of the Central Plains in the course of migrating to the Baiyue region in response to local seasonal nodes and folk festival activities. It is mainly distributed in Shaxian District, Yong'an County, Mingxi County, Qingliu County and Ninghua County in Sanming City, Fujian Province, and is most concentrated in Shaxian. Shaxian is located in central Fujian and was historically an important passage for exchange between north and south and between east and west; both the southward migration of ancient Central Plains peoples and the passenger and freight traffic between the southeastern coast and the interior passed through here. For the convenience of merchants and travellers, there took shape Shaxian snacks, whose basic characteristics are economy and value for money, a great variety of kinds, and convenience and speed. Shaxian has a suitable climate and fertile soil and abounds in rice, vegetables, livestock and all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and wild game, providing abundant raw materials for snack making. Most of the ingredients of Shaxian snacks come from local sources, chiefly plant materials such as bamboo fungus, taro and tea-tree mushrooms, supplemented by animal materials such as chicken, duck, beef and mutton. The main condiments include Shaxian pure chilli sauce, fermented black-bean oil, Maoxi winter wine and peanut butter. It combines craft processes such as you (working the mixture in water), pao (soaking), chui (pounding), mo (grinding), xue (whirling), rou (kneading), shai (sun-drying), bao (wrapping) and niang (stuffing) with cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, roasting, pan-frying, griddle-baking and stewing, and uses tools including wooden mallets, wooden blocks, wooden tubs, bamboo mats, pounding mortars, pounding pestles, rice steamers, strainers, roasting ovens, bamboo steamers, soup pots, stoves and griddle pans to make more than 110 varieties of snacks, including Shaxian bianrou (wonton-like dumplings), stuffed tofu balls, Shaxian festive rice cakes, rice-jelly noodles and pressed salted duck. In style, the Shaxian snack-making craft both inherits the traditional production techniques of Central Plains foodways and blends in local characteristics; because its customers have mostly been merchants and travellers, it also has the character of fast-food culture. Its ingredients are rich and its preparation convenient: fast foods that can be prepared in advance or made ready within a few minutes account for more than 90 per cent of all Shaxian snacks. In recent years Shaxian snacks have begun to expand into overseas markets and are widely praised for features such as their distinctive craft, seasonal ingredients, emphasis on health and efforts to restore original flavours.
Washing, soaking, beating, grinding and rolling
Rice is soaked, pounded and ground, the slurry pressed through cloth, and the dough beaten with a wooden mallet on a block until even, so the skin neither tears nor leaks; the weight of the blow is a matter of wrist control.
Wrapping and fermenting
Wrapping encloses filling in skin with quick, accurate hands, even pleating giving even cooking; fermenting wraps filling in rice slurry or bean skin for steaming, leaving a translucent, melt-in-the-mouth skin.
Steaming, boiling, baking, frying, griddling and simmering
The same base is finished in different ways — steamed for rice cakes and wontons, boiled for rice skin, baked for salted duck, griddled for taro dumplings, simmered for jars of duck — each technique matched to its utensil and heat.
Mallet, block, mortar and pestle
Each tool has its own job — mortar and pestle for filling, mallet and block for the skin, rice steamer for cakes, skimmer for lifting, griddle for frying — so a complete kitchen is light enough to carry, which is how the shops travel.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The transmission and development of this craft has both enriched the catering markets of places across the country and promoted local economic development, contributing to rural revitalization, the growth of related industries, and cultural exchange between China and other countries.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiaochi Making Craftsmanship · Xiaochi Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Shaxian snack-making craft has continued to the present through transmission by kinship and by trade association, and has produced a number of famous restaurants and famous cooks. At present there are more than 60,000 people working in the Shaxian snack business, and 88,000 Shaxian snack shops in total. The Shaxian snack-making craft is a product of the blending of diverse cultures and is of great value for studying regional history, folk customs and the development and blending of food cultures.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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