高湯

CHINESE BROTH

Text by Guo Dan Translation by Shi Yu Illustrations by Haolun Zhang

Broth is the basis of good fl avour, yet the ways of making broth are varied throughout the world. The French use beef bones, the Japanese use skipjack and kelp, whilst in China there are various kinds of broth due to its vast territory and abundant resources; for example, pork bone broth and chicken broth. In Rudong County, Natong, Jiangsu, a house wife who is good at cooking uses clams to prepare her broth.

Rudong is rich in the fi nest clams, plump, fresh and tender beyond compare. Rudong people use clams instead of gourmet powder when frying vegetables; the fl avour that clams give to the dish is far superior to the gourmet powder. Rudong people use special tools to open the clams and take the meat, collecting the juice which will be boiled, refrigerated and voila! This will make the best broth. In Rudong, “the City Built upon Clam Shells”, even common markets have set up an exclusive sector for clams, treated similarly to meats, seafood and vegetables. That is how important the clam is in Rudong.

Clam is pronounced “Wen Ge” in Chinese, but Rudong natives call it otherwise — “Che Bie”, an ancient name, ref l ecting the long history of Rudong people eating clams. Wang Anshi, a famous poet in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), wrote in one verse: “Che Bie is the best of all meat, boil, grill, no matter how you deal with it”.

How do I know all of this? When I was a child, the wife of my grandpa's brother used to make broth with clams, scallops and other shellf i sh, which gradually made me dislike chicken and pork broth just because they are too oily. Given this, it is truly fair to say "no other mountain seems charming after returning from Huangshan Mountain; no other clam tastes as good after returning from Rudong."

Kallen Guosenior filmmaker, socialite and bestselling author, authored Don't Fall in Love with Zurich, the winner of The Best Foreign Language Novel.郭丹資深影視人、名媛、暢銷書作家。代表作包括最佳外語小說獎獲得作品《別愛蘇黎世》等。

高湯是真味之源，各地人做高湯的方法卻不一：法國人用牛骨；日本人用鰹魚、昆布；而中國地大，高湯花樣也繁多，常見如筒骨高湯、雞高湯……而在江蘇南通的如東縣，善料理的主婦則用文蛤。

江蘇如東盛產文蛤，非但產量大，且質量尤佳，肥美鮮嫩為他處所不及。文蛤肉用來替代味精炒各式蔬菜，其鮮美非生硬的味精鮮味能及。文蛤用專門的工具剖開取肉，把過程中文蛤流出的汁水專門收集起來，煮沸后候涼冷凍便是烹飪用的絕佳高湯。在如東這個“建在文蛤殼堆上的城市”，就連菜市場都設有文蛤的獨立分區(qū)，能與“肉類區(qū)”“海鮮區(qū)”“蔬菜區(qū)”平級。足以見得文蛤在如東的重要地位。

地道的如東人不叫“文蛤”為“文蛤”，而是稱之為“車螯”——這個古詞也體現(xiàn)了如東人食文蛤的悠遠歷史。北宋王安石有詩：“車螯肉甚美，由美得烹燔”，即指此。

為什么我知道這些？我小時候東方嬸婆就愛用蛤蜊花甲貝殼青口做高湯——以至于我不喜歡雞湯和豬湯，覺得油。“黃山歸來不看岳，如東歸來不吃蛤”是不夸張的。