《隨園食單》里的寧波海鮮

周東旭

袁枚，有中國古代“食圣”之譽(yù)，祖籍浙江慈溪。林語堂先生曾用英文評(píng)介：“偉大的詩人和學(xué)者袁枚寫了厚厚的一本書來討論烹飪方法?！蹦敲丛谶@本厚厚的《隨園食單》中會(huì)記有哪幾樣家鄉(xiāng)菜呢？

從“治大國若烹小鮮”的老子，從“食不厭精，膾不厭細(xì)”的孔子，到“東坡肉”到“重八毛豆腐”到“宗堂雞”“潘魚”到“叫花雞”，“吃”總歸是胖胖的國王和瘦瘦的乞丐的共同愛好?！笆成?，性也”，堂而皇之地說。而且歷代文人雅士都有談吃的文章，李笠翁、倪云林、袁枚都有專著寫關(guān)于吃的;雅舍、知堂、汪曾祺、王世襄等名家亦有許多談吃文章傳世，讀來令人口皆生唾，大有望梅止渴之感。

袁枚著的《隨園食單》出版于乾隆五十七年（公元1792年），是清代一部系統(tǒng)地論述烹飪技術(shù)和南北菜點(diǎn)的重要著作，全書分為須知單、戒單、海鮮單、江鮮單、特牲單、雜牲單、羽族單、水族有鱗單、水族無鱗單、雜素單、小菜單、點(diǎn)心單、飯粥單和菜酒單十四個(gè)方面。其中記有四樣寧波菜，均是海鮮，三樣放在海鮮單里，一樣放在水族無鱗單里。

四樣海鮮在寧波的海鮮里簡直就是九牛一毛，但袁子才（袁枚字子才）特指出來是產(chǎn)于寧波，不妨談?wù)劇?/p>

海蝘

在海鮮單里首先提到了海蝘（音yǎn），“海蝘，寧波小魚也，味同蝦米，以之蒸蛋甚佳。作小菜亦可?！北閱柋娪?，不知海蝘為何物，查了字典，字典上說“蝘”古書上指蟬一類的昆蟲。但根據(jù)袁枚的描述，再根據(jù)“海蝘”的諧音，我想海蝘一定就是海蜒。

海蜒，也稱“海艷”“海咸”，是鳀魚一類的幼魚，產(chǎn)淺海中，身圓無鱗，兩眼點(diǎn)黑，體細(xì)色白，長半寸許，還有個(gè)雅名叫丁香魚，因?yàn)槁勂饋硭贫∠慊ㄎ?，體形似漁家女耳垂的金丁香，故名。

海蜒喜光怕驚，漁人候夜以燈光誘捕之。有詩這樣寫：“不用蝦撈不用鉤，生成半寸狎浮漚。燈光射處丁沽集，取盡魚兒萬萬頭”。說的就是漁人捕海蜒。

海蜒肉質(zhì)鮮美，營養(yǎng)豐富，佐餐時(shí)，用它泡湯、或拌涼菜、或炒蛋等均宜，香味撲鼻，生津開胃。據(jù)藥典記載：“海蜒，味咸性溫，有清熱、止瀉之功效?！泵耖g還用于治療慢性腸炎、肺結(jié)核等癥。捕海蜒歷史也較長了，像李鄴嗣、全祖望都有作品贊美，全翁詩云：“一瓶蟹甲純黃醬，千箸魚頭細(xì)海蜒?！焙Ｑ阎饕a(chǎn)于象山，并以漁山列島所產(chǎn)海蜒質(zhì)量最佳，故稱漁山海蜒，名氣很響。

江瑤柱

第二，提到了江瑤柱。江瑤柱，又稱瑤柱、干貝。

“江瑤柱出寧波，治法與蚶蟶同。其鮮脆在柱，故剖殼時(shí)多棄少取?！痹趯殤c《四明志》（南宋地方志）中，《敘產(chǎn)》章節(jié)就有關(guān)于江瑤柱的記載?！敖颍灾鶠檎?，東坡有《江珧傳》。一種小者曰沙珧。”

在古代，江瑤柱非常有名，蘇東坡、陸游均在詩文中對(duì)江瑤柱有過贊美，魯迅先生在《兩地書》中說，用火腿配江瑤柱煮了一鍋，說是“闊了一通”。

現(xiàn)在寧波人似乎并不怎么吃江瑤柱，那么在古代為什么有名？我想自然是因?yàn)楦韶惪梢灾逻h(yuǎn)。新鮮的魚類大都是近水樓臺(tái)，本地人優(yōu)先，在古代，沒有速凍，為了保存一般都采用腌制、曬干等方法，所以郎君鲞、明府鲞，對(duì)外地人來說是極有名的，江瑤柱也是如此。

蠣黃

第三，袁枚提到了蠣黃，“蠣黃生石子上。殼與石子膠粘不分。剝?nèi)庾鞲?，與蚶蛤相似，一名鬼眼。樂清、奉化兩縣土產(chǎn)，別地所無?！?/p>

袁枚說只有蠣黃是樂清、奉化兩縣土產(chǎn)，大概錯(cuò)了，因?yàn)槲依霞蚁笊骄陀?，而且小時(shí)候親眼看過母親撬蠣黃，冬天回家，想吃蠣黃，便讓母親去買一些回來。母親買回來的時(shí)候總說：“這么點(diǎn)蠣黃這么貴，我一天都能撬好幾斤?！倍旌ｏL(fēng)侵肌裂骨，而海邊的婦女包著頭，拿著一把鑿子，不多時(shí)就能一碗。所以蠣黃大概是我吃得最多的一樣海鮮。

通常的鮮蠣黃，醮一下醬油便“簌”地滑進(jìn)肚里了，有潤物細(xì)無聲之感。寶慶《四明志》上說，蠣黃房頭“道家以左顧者是雄，故名牡蠣。右顧則牝蠣……海人取之，皆鑿房，以烈火逼開，挑取肉食之，自然甘美，更益人美顏色、細(xì)肌膚，海族之最貴者也?！?/p>

蠣黃在歷代的本草藥典中也是常常被稱道的。宋人蘇頌《本草圖經(jīng)》中曾描述：“今海旁皆有之，而南海閩中及通泰間尤多?！跎＿叢湃缛?，四面見長有一二丈者，嶄（高出）巖如山，每一房內(nèi)有蠔肉一塊，肉之大小隨房所生，大房如馬蹄，小者如人指面，每潮來則諸房皆開，有小蟲入，則合之以充饑。海人取之，皆鑿房以烈火逼開之，挑取其肉”。鮮牡蠣肉青白色，質(zhì)地柔軟細(xì)嫩。歐洲人稱牡蠣是“海洋的瑪娜”（即上帝賜予的珍貴之物），“海洋的牛奶”;古羅馬人把它譽(yù)為“海上美味——圣魚”;日本人則稱其為“根之源”“海洋之超米”，它是惟一能夠生吃的貝類。

崔禹錫在《食經(jīng)》中說，“牡蠣肉治夜不眠，治意不定”，經(jīng)常食用可以減少陰虛陽亢所致的煩躁不安、心悸失眠、頭暈?zāi)垦＜岸Q等癥狀。牡蠣中所含的多種維生素與礦物質(zhì)，特別是硒，可以調(diào)節(jié)神經(jīng)、穩(wěn)定情緒。李時(shí)珍在《本草綱目》中也說，牡蠣“肉治虛損，解酒后煩熱，……滑皮膚，牡蠣殼化痰軟堅(jiān)，清熱除濕，止心脾氣痛，痢下赤白濁，消疝積塊。”它性微寒，同時(shí)兼具制酸作用，所以對(duì)胃酸過多、或患有胃潰瘍的人更有益處?！渡褶r(nóng)本草經(jīng)》中記載“（牡蠣）久服，強(qiáng)骨節(jié)，殺邪氣，延年”。牡蠣中鈣含量接近牛奶，鐵含量也很高，食后有助于骨骼、牙齒生長等。吃蠣黃的好處有這么多，大概蠣黃就該遭殃了，現(xiàn)在一般都靠養(yǎng)，澆好的水泥柱放入海中，過上一年，水泥柱上就有蠣黃生著了。

蚶

第四，袁枚在水族無鱗單上還提及一樣就是蚶（音hān），“蚶有三吃法：用熱水噴之半熟，去蓋，加酒、秋油醉之;或用雞湯滾熟，去蓋入湯;或全去其蓋作羹亦可，但宜速起，起則肉枯。蚶出奉化縣，品在蛼螯、蛤蜊之上?！?/p>

蚶子，《爾雅》謂之魁陸，有瓦壟蚶、毛蚶、芽蚶?！锻廖镏尽吩唬河袀?cè)徑四尺，皆似瓦壟，有文。郭璞《江賦》曰：“洪蚶專車””（寶慶《四明志》）奉蚶的鮮美是極有名的，寧波人食蚶的歷史非常悠久，前幾年在古墓里就出土過一罐蚶。蚶的做法并不復(fù)雜，洗凈，用開水燙一下就可以，只不過對(duì)燙的要求極高，大概要非常有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的老司務(wù)才可以，水若太燙，則會(huì)燙熟，則索然無味了。如果水溫不夠，則蚶挖不開，吃個(gè)蚶，要拿個(gè)刀來挖，實(shí)在太麻煩。有時(shí)候，外地人不喜歡吃海鮮，不是因?yàn)槲兜?，而是因?yàn)樘闊?。吃個(gè)海鮮，有時(shí)候會(huì)為自己的滑稽吃相而發(fā)噱，夸張類似表演。不過袁子才的三種吃法，均比較復(fù)雜，寧波人大概就是燙開，醮點(diǎn)醬油就好。

吃海鮮，我還是主張?jiān)兜某?。新鮮的魚，一般鮑腌，或是倒些醬油清蒸一下即可;至于蝦、蝦蛄之類，清水里一煮，放點(diǎn)鹽即可，這才叫清水出芙蓉，天然去雕飾。

（由視覺中國供圖）

Seafood Dishes of Ningbo Cuisine in Suiyuan Recipes

By Zhou Dongxu

Yuan Mei （1716-1797）， a well-known poet， scholar， artist and gastronome of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）， published? （） in 1792. It is widely recognized as a gastronomic manual and cookbook， introducing Yuans recipes and culinary philosophy on cooking and eating. The book is a systematic record of recipes in 14 categories. And four seafood dishes from Ningbo Cuisine are mentioned. The four seafood delicacies are anchovy， scallop， oyster， and clam.

Anchovy

The anchovy mentioned in the book should be the baby fish only about half an inch long. The fish， if dehydrated， can be stored for a long time and it is an ingredient appropriate for soups， scrambled eggs， and cold dishes in Ningbo cuisine. A brief look into some poem collections can easily provide some information on the fish. One poem describes how fishermen catch the anchovy at night with some lanterns because the fish prefer lights and live in fear of sudden movement and sound. Another poem praises how tiny anchovy helps make a dinner delightful and enjoyable. Yushan Islands of Xiangshan， a coastal county in Ningbo， are where fishermen catch best-quality anchovy. The fame of anchovy from Yushan Islands spreads far and wide.

Scallop

Dried scallop is mentioned in the cookbook. Mr. Yuan says in the book that it is from Ningbo. The scallop meat was widely mentioned in essays and poems by celebrities such as Su Dongpo and Lu You， both poets of the Song Dynasty （960-1279）. Lu Xun， one of the greatest writers of 20th-century China， mentioned in a letter says that he cooked ham with dried scallop and felt as if he had been a rich man. Nowadays， scallop in Ningbo isnt as popular as it was in ancient times. One explanation about the ancient popularity of the scallop is that the dried scallop could easily be stored and shipped. In ancient times， people in coastal areas preferred fresh seafood. In ancient times， there was no good way to keep perishable seafood fresh for a long time. So fishes and shellfishes were dried and kept. Dried salted fish from Ningbo were famous to outsiders and so was scallop from Ningbo.

Oyster

The oyster is mentioned in the cookbook. The prominent scholar and poet named Yueqing and Fenghua in the province as the two counties where the oyster was available， though many people in Zhejiang know for sure the oyster also grows in some other coastal counties in the province. The edible part is taken of the shell and dried and can be a key ingredient for thick soup. Oyster is mentioned in various ancient books on traditional medications. There are in-depth descriptions in these books about the benefits eating oyster can bring to people. As oyster is rich in calcium， it is thought of as good food for children who need calcium to grow tall.

Clam

Yuan Mei says in the cookbook that there are three ways to enjoy clam and mentions clams are from Fenghua. Clam eating has a long history in Ningbo. A few years ago some archaeologists reported that they unearthed a jar of clams from an ancient tomb in Ningbo. For many people in Ningbo， clam cooking isnt that complicated as mentioned by Yuan Mei. Clams are cleaned and then boiled in water for a short while. Then dip the clam meat into soy sauce. Only experienced gourmets know exactly how brief or how long clams stay in the hot water before they should be scooped out fast. Too long in hot water means oyster turns tasteless. Too short in hot water means one needs a knife to cut a clam open. Some people from outside Ningbo dislike seafood not because seafood isnt a delicacy but because one takes so much trouble in order to have a bite.