Xiaochi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The craft of making Xiaoyao hulatang (peppery soup) originated in Xiaoyao Town, Xihua County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province. It is a soup-making craft handed down through the generations by the local Hui and Han peoples since the Song Dynasty. The craft of making Xiaoyao hulatang can be traced back to the 'hangover-dispelling soup' and 'digestive tea' of the late Song Dynasty. According to the county gazetteer, during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty there was an imperial chef named Zhao Qi who was skilled at making life-prolonging tonic soups. Having fled through Xiaoyao to escape trouble, he lived there in seclusion; in his later years, having no children, he passed his secret formula on to his neighbours of the Gao and Wang families, and so it has been handed down to the present day.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xihua County, to which Xiaoyao Town belongs, lies in the east-central part of Henan Province. It has a warm-temperate, semi-humid monsoon climate with four distinct seasons, abundant sunshine, fertile soil and rich produce; the high-quality Huai goats, beef, wheat, day lilies and bean-starch noodles produced there are renowned throughout the country. Xihua County has a dense network of waterways and damp, cold winters, and people are accustomed to eating peppery food to guard against and keep out the cold. The craft of making Xiaoyao hulatang thus came into being and has been continuously improved over the course of history. Xiaoyao hulatang is exacting in its ingredients: the gluten, bean-starch noodles, day lilies, cooked beef and mutton and sesame oil are all high-quality local specialities, while the seasonings are selected from a range of fine Chinese medicinal materials. The combination is scientifically balanced and upholds the principle that medicine and food share a common origin, ensuring both a delicious soup and the dietary-therapy effects of the Chinese herbs. Xiaoyao hulatang takes as its base a stock simmered from beef bone, mutton and crucian carp, to which more than 20 spices are added, supplemented with beef and mutton, gluten, bean-starch noodles, day lilies and other ingredients. In preparation the various materials are added to the pot in set proportions and in a fixed sequence, then simmered over a gentle fire and slowly stirred with a wooden ladle, producing a Xiaoyao hulatang characterised by being 'long kept without going off, cooked without turning mushy, sweet without being harsh, light without being thin, and rich without being greasy'. Xiaoyao hulatang has a rich mouthfeel: a mellow pepper heat on first taste, tender meat, smooth gluten and a savoury broth. It is eaten with stone-ground sesame oil and aged vinegar, accompanied by pan-fried buns, fried dough cakes and other wheaten foods; it is nutritious and strengthens the stomach and refreshes the spleen. With its distinctive flavour, Xiaoyao hulatang has become a representative symbol of Henan's food culture. According to statistics, nearly 100,000 people in Xihua County work in making hulatang. The craft has played a positive role in boosting employment and incomes and in advancing sustainable economic and social development.
The stock of bone, mutton and crucian carp
The stock is made from beef bone for body, mutton for aroma and crucian carp for freshness; it is brought to the boil, then held at a simmer with the scum skimmed until the liquid clears.
Blending more than twenty aromatics
More than twenty medicinal aromatics are added to the stock, compounded on the principle that food and medicine share a source, so the soup stays savoury and keeps its therapeutic value.
Slow simmering with a wooden ladle
Ingredients go into the pot in proportion and in order over a gentle heat while a wooden ladle stirs slowly to keep them from settling; the result keeps for a long time without spoiling, tender without falling apart.
Ground sesame oil and vinegar at the table
Ground sesame oil and aged vinegar are added at the table, the oil for body and the vinegar for brightness, accompanied by griddled buns; in the cold damp winters of the region such peppery food was eaten to keep warm.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The two schools differ to some extent in their ingredients and techniques, and each has its own flavour characteristics.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xiaochi Making Craftsmanship · Xiaochi Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present the project is centred on Xihua County and is found throughout the cities, counties and townships of Henan Province. Family transmission and master-apprentice transmission are important means of passing on the craft of making Xiaoyao hulatang; to date the craft has reached the fourteenth generation in both the Gao and Wang families. In recent years inheritors have regularly held training classes, teaching by word of mouth and by personal demonstration, and have trained more than ten thousand trainees from all parts of the country. The protection and transmission of the craft has enriched the substance of Chinese culinary culture, strengthened the sense of identity of the local people, and provides important material for the study of local food culture.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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