舌尖上的“保定驴火”

每次出差回来，如果没有吃饭，或者没有食欲的时候，总是先想到驴肉火烧；有时候即使半路上饿了，也要忍一忍，坚持回保定吃驴肉火烧。

驴肉火烧不是什么名贵食物，也算不得山珍海味，甚至登不了大雅之堂，但每每出差回来或招待外地的朋友，第一个想到的总是它。

驴肉火烧首先要肉好。肉有多种，瘦的、肥的、肥瘦的，肉类不一，价格也有很大差别。我最喜欢的还是肥瘦的，即肉里以瘦肉为主，略带点儿肥肉。这样的驴肉，不干不硬，入口绵软，放进嘴里，等不到咀嚼，香气已经溢满口腔，油汁儿流到嘴角，让人忍不住狼吞虎咽。

当然，火烧也非常重要。最重要的是要外焦里嫩，但这种外焦里嫩不是油炸出来的那种，也不是面包烤制的那种，而是用一种特制的炉子烤出来的。火烧刚出炉，白胖胖热腾腾的，即使不夹肉也让人垂涎欲滴。

夹到火烧里的肉要适量，多了油腻，少了不够香。有经验的厨师从来不用秤，而是将刚出炉的火烧用刀拉开一个口子，然后看似漫不经心地将一把驴肉塞到里面，这样肉贴着皮儿，皮儿夹裹着肉，圆滚滚胖乎乎的驴肉火烧就制作成了。

驴肉火烧配咸菜。

享用驴肉火烧的时候不需要斯文。无论是贩夫走卒、高官显贵，还是小家碧玉、大家闺秀，都需用手拿着火烧，大口地咬，快速地嚼。吃的似乎不是食物，而是一种热爱或兴致。那热乎、那香气、那咬劲儿，就像时而高亢悠扬，时而百转千回的保定老调梆子，让人陶醉其中。

吃驴肉火烧的时候，不可缺少的是一碟特意腌制的小咸菜或小辣椒，它们是驴肉火烧的最佳拍档。就着火烧吃上一点儿，就像吃大餐的时候喝一口小酒，那感觉就别提多惬意了。

驴肉火烧和其他一些快餐不同，最好不要在孤独或伤心的时候吃，那样不但食之无味，还会加剧痛苦。你可以叫上家人，或邀上朋友，还可以和伴侣一起享用。因为驴肉火烧的意义不仅仅在于果腹，它夹裹着的是浓浓的亲情、友情和爱情。

虽然现在好多地方都可以吃到驴肉火烧，而且样式也是五花八门，但我是不想吃外地的驴肉火烧的，准确地说是不屑于吃。

这不仅仅是出于本地人的自尊和自豪，更重要的是保定的驴肉火烧自身就带有保定人的一种憨厚、直白和倔劲儿，吃的就是一个老保定味儿。

保定的驴肉火烧，有驴一样的憨厚和倔强，也有火一样的温暖和热情。

我爱你，“保定驴火”！

延伸阅读：“保定驴火”的历史

尽管驴肉并不是常见的肉食，但中国人吃驴肉的年头并不算短，唐、宋、元、明、清各代都有关于吃驴肉的记载。明代宫廷还有一个特殊的习俗，在农历大年初一吃驴肉，并称之为“嚼鬼”。

根据《徐水县志》记载，徐水驴肉在清雍正年间（1723—1735）即闻名于世。漕河驴肉火烧的发祥地为保定徐水漕河镇。相传，宋代时漕河码头有漕帮和盐帮两个帮会，漕帮以运粮为业，盐帮以运盐为业。双方为称霸码头，时常大动干戈，最终以漕帮大胜收局。漕帮俘获盐帮驮货的毛驴无法处理，便宰杀炖煮，设庆功宴；或将肉夹在当地人打制的火烧内吃，更有滋味儿。自此，漕河驴肉兴起。

2010年，驴肉火烧作为“中国第九大菜系”——冀菜的代表，走进了上海世博会，与北京烤鸭、天津“狗不理”包子等一起，招待各方游客。（张如意、王栋）

“Baoding Donkey Burger” on the Tip of the Tongue

Zhang Ruyi   Wang Dong

Every time I returned from a business trip, if I had no meal or had no appetite, I always think of the donkey burger first; sometimes even if I was hungry on the way back, I would wait until returning to Baoding to eat donkey burger.

The donkey burger is not expensive, rare or even presentable at feasts, but it would always first come to my mind every time I returned from a business trip or treated out-of-town friends.

Good meat is a prerequisite for donkey burgers. There are different kinds of meat, lean, fat and a mixture, which vary a lot in prices. My favorite is a mixture, that is, lean with a little fat. Such donkey meat is not dry or hard, but soft in mouth. Before chewing, you will find delicious smell fill your mouth and juices flow to the corner of your mouth, so cannot help gobbling it. 

Of course, cakes are also very important. Most importantly, they should be baked with a specially made oven to create a crispy crust tender inside, which is different from that of fried cakes or baked bread. Cakes just taken out of an oven are plump and steaming, looking appetizing even without meat stuffing.

A donkey burger should be properly stuffed, for it will be greasy with too much meat but not tasty enough without enough meat. An experienced cook will never use scales, but cut an opening in a just baked cake with a knife and then stuff a handful of donkey meat seemingly carelessly. In this way, with meat and the cake in close contact, a round plump donkey burger is made up. 

Donkey burgers are food for common people to enjoy without considering manners. People at all social status all need to hold them in hands, biting off a large chunk and chewing it quickly. It seems that they are no longer food but an interest or a hobby. Their steam, smell and chewy taste are just like old Baoding opera, which sometimes sounds sonorous and melodious, while sometimes twists and turns, making you deeply immersed. 

When having donkey burgers, you cannot miss a small dish of specially pickled vegetables or chilies, for they are the best partners of donkey burgers. Having some of them together with burgers seems like a sip of wine at a rich feast, which is so enjoyable.

Donkey burgers are different from other fast food. You’d better not have them when feeling lonely or sad, because you may find them tasteless and yourself more upset. You are recommended to enjoy them with your family, friends and loved one. It is because donkey burgers not only mean a kind of food but also contain deep kinship, friendship and love. 

Although there are many places where I can eat donkey burger now, and the styles are various, I don’t feel like eating it in other places. To be exact, I disdain to eat it. This is not only due to the self-esteem and pride of a Baoding native, more importantly, Baoding’s donkey burger has a kind of honest, straightforward and stubborn spirit of Baoding people, and what they eat is an old Baoding flavor.

Baoding’s donkey burger is as honest and stubborn as a donkey, and as warm and enthusiastic as fire.

I love you, “Baoding donkey burger”! 

Extended reading: The History of “Baoding Donkey Burger”

Although donkey meat is not a common food, it has been a long time since Chinese began to eat donkey meat. There are records about eating donkey meat in Tang, song, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, a special custom was to have donkey meat on the first day of the lunar year, which was called “Chew Demons”. 

As recorded in the Annals of Xushui County, Xushui Donkey Meat became famous as early as the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of Qing Dynasty (1723-1735). Caohe Donkey Burger started in Caohe Town, Xushui County, Baoding City. It is said that there were two gangs at the Caohe Wharf in the Song Dynasty, namely the Cao Gang and the Salt Gang. The Cao Gang was devoted to grain transport, while the Salt Gang was mainly engaged in salt transport. There was a constant battle between the two sides for dominance of the wharf. Ultimately, the competition ended with Cao Gang’s victory, who celebrated its victory by butchering and boiling the donkeys that had been captured from the Salt Gang. Others served donkey meat in locally made burgers to add flavor. Caohe Donkey Meat has hence been known.

In 2010, as the representative of “China’s ninth largest cuisine” —Hebei cuisine, donkey burger entered the Shanghai World Expo, together with Beijing roast duck and Tianjin “Goubuli” steamed stuffed buns, to entertain tourists from all walks of life.（摘自《保定文化密码：讲述历史文化故事》）

责任编辑：韩琳