What are the special foods in Mayong?

Mayong belongs to Dongguan and is known as the most beautiful village in Dongguan. Therefore, there are many local special snacks and delicacies in Mayong. However, outsiders may not be particularly familiar with Mayong, so they naturally don’t know the local delicacies. If you are lucky enough to go to Mayong, you must try the local specialties. Here I will introduce some local delicacies and snacks in Mayong.

Mayong Special Food

1. Banana and seaweed syrup

Have you tried the 6 special snacks of Mayong in Dongguan? When talking about the special food of Mayong, banana and seaweed syrup cannot be missed. In fact, the method is very simple. Almost all the older generation of Mayong people don’t know how to make it. There are only four ingredients: raw bananas, seaweed, brown sugar and ginger slices. The seaweed must be soaked first, and the raw bananas must be peeled, sliced ​​and blanched. Because they are raw bananas, they have more gelatin, so the step of removing the gelatin is very important.

First, peel the raw banana and soak it in water. Cut it into slices and soak it. It is best to soak it for a while. Rub it with your hands until there is no banana gum. At this time, your hands will be covered with banana gum. After rubbing, rinse it with clean water several times, and then boil it in boiling water. The banana gum will float around the surface. Scoop it out with a spoon, and then wash it with cold water. After washing it a few more times, there will be no more gum. Boil the processed banana slices and ginger slices in water over low heat for half an hour. When the banana slices are a little soft, add the washed seaweed, boil for 10 minutes and then add brown sugar or rock sugar. Banana and seaweed syrup can prevent conjunctivitis, clear away heat and relieve summer heat, reduce internal heat and improve eyesight.

2. Mayong Traditional Taro Cake

Traditional taro cake is one of the folk specialty cakes of Mayong. It is made of glutinous rice flour, taro, dried shrimp, olives, bacon, etc. It tastes salty, sweet and fragrant, and is loved by men, women, young and old. The amount of ingredients is generally controlled to be one pound of flour, 6.5 bowls of water, 2.5 pieces of brown sugar, 1.5 pounds of taro and 3 teaspoons of salt, a little five-spice powder and oyster sauce. Specific method: First soak the glutinous wood powder in water for half an hour to make glutinous rice paste, then stir-fry taro, dried shrimp, olives, and bacon, and add liquor and ginger juice. Then add the fried ingredients into the glutinous rice paste while they are still hot and mix well. Finally, put it in a copper plate and cook it over high heat for 10 minutes, then simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle chopped green onions, coriander, and chopped peanuts on it after it comes out of the oven, and the taro cake is done.

3. Ducktail Fish Bun

Have you tried the six special snacks of Mayong in Dongguan? Fish buns are a must-have on the table of Mayong people when they have hotpot. Handmade fish buns are also sold in the Mayong market. The traditional way of making duck tail fish buns is to use the deep meat of the best local dace fish to make a crystal white thin skin. The fillings are made from fresh shrimp, fish, pork, mushrooms, fresh eggs, appropriate seasonings, and cured duck tail (duck stew). When making it, it is usually wrapped into a "goldfish shape" of uniform size. To eat Mayong ducktail fish dumplings, you can soak them in soup with an appropriate amount of tangta (a kind of vegetable, commonly written as "tanghao" locally), lettuce and other vegetables, or steam (cook) them and then dip them in sauce.

4. Fried rice cakes

Have you tried the six special snacks of Mayong, Dongguan? On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Mayong has a custom that daughters have to go back to their parents' home to "pay New Year's greetings". Nowadays, everyone is greedy for convenience and buys more ready-made egg rolls and biscuits to pay New Year's greetings. In fact, the older generation of Mayong people can make them, and it is not difficult at all. It's just that people's pace of life is fast now, and our customs are slowly disappearing.

The main ingredients of fried rice cakes are rice and sugar, and the ingredients vary according to local customs and habits. The rice is stir-fried until golden brown, then ground into rice flour, mixed with sugar glue and added with local special ingredients (sesame seeds, peanuts, eggs, crushed peanuts, coconut shreds, etc.), rolled and knocked out with a wooden rice cake mold, and baked in an oven. The rice cake is crispy, sweet and delicious.

5. Sugar ring

Have you tried the six special snacks in Mayong, Dongguan? They are in the shape of sugar rings, with a large ring inside a small ring, which are linked together, implying continuity and endlessness. The main ingredients are glutinous rice flour, sugar and cooking oil. First, mix sugar with water and cook until dissolved; take a good amount of glutinous rice flour and pour it on the table, add water and knead it into a dough, then put it into boiling water to cook it into a "flour pool"; then, pour the remaining glutinous rice flour on the table, put in the freshly cooked "flour pool" and thick syrup and knead them together until the dough is soft and can be used to make sugar rings.

The process from "powder" to "ring" can be divided into two production methods: "batch printing" and "hand twisting". Among them, the method of printing is to apply a little flour on the water mold for "baking", and then press the dough into the sugar ring mold. Use a thin knife in the right hand to gently cut off the excess dough on the surface of the sugar ring mold, pick up the wooden mold, and tap it gently on the corner of the table. The ring-shaped dough in the wooden mold will be demoulded and fall into the prepared dustpan; and the hand twisting can be summarized as "group it into bundles and twist it into a ring". Although it is a bit complicated, some people still like this traditional method and insist on not using the cake print. They manually rub the flour into long strips and then pinch it into a ring, because the flour will be tougher and crisper when eaten after stretching. It is worth mentioning that when frying the sugar rings, be sure to use chopsticks to turn the fried pieces so that each piece is evenly heated during frying. This will avoid burning the pieces. Finally, they can be served when they turn golden brown.

6. Fried Shrimp Pile

Have you tried the six special snacks of Mayong, Dongguan? In fact, it is not difficult to make shrimp dumplings. Put a certain amount of sticky rice flour into the heated shrimp dumpling spoon, add leek pieces, live shrimps and other fillings, and then add sticky rice flour to shape it. Fry it in boiling oil until golden brown, and then the tempting and crispy shrimp dumplings are "out of the oven". The most important thing when frying shrimp pile is to control the heat, and the selection and seasoning of glutinous rice flour are the most critical.