越地滋味醉魚香

陳榮力

（一）

越地盛產(chǎn)黃酒，聞名遐邇，其實白酒（燒酒）也堪稱翹楚，只不過在黃酒的盛名之下，白酒難免有燈下黑的尷尬。就像水袖翩翻、嗲糯纏綿的越劇聲名遐邇，高亢熾烈、激昂奔放的紹劇少有人識一樣。

越地白酒的原料主要有兩種：一是做黃酒的副產(chǎn)品酒糟;一是種植的高粱（粟）。無論是酒糟的糟燒，還是高粱的粟燒，兩者皆具香醇、濃烈、熱辣的品性。

與黃酒相比，糟燒和粟燒還有一個重要的特點——不易變質(zhì)。也緣了上述品性，在越地，糟燒和粟燒除了飲用以外，也是制作醉族菜品的主要輔料。如果說糟燒、粟燒是越地醉族菜品得以笑傲一方江湖的點鐵成金之指，那么后者亦似打坐的蒲團，讓糟燒和粟燒靜修百煉鋼化為繞指柔的造化。而兩者因果機緣的融合，我以為最具代表性的當數(shù)醉魚干。

越地本是水鄉(xiāng)澤國，又毗鄰杭州灣，水產(chǎn)、海鮮眾多，醉族菜品的譜系遠比霉族、臭族菜品來得豐富。在醉族菜品中，醉蝦、醉蟹、醉泥螺為活醉生吃，需以吃慣了的“肚貨”為前提，否則上吐下瀉是分分鐘的事。而醉雞、醉鴨、醉豬肚等是燒熟了的熟醉，安全是安全了，但與活醉相比，鮮度卻打了折扣。惟有醉魚干，既是剖了就醉的活醉，又是蒸了才吃的熟吃，鮮活和安全兩全其美，且醉魚干的保存期又長。所以在越地的醉族菜品中，醉魚干恰似一艘未曾停歇的夜航船，在越地乃至江南更多地域的餐桌和食客的舌尖，活絡絡地往來著。

（二）

1928年1月，32歲的胡愈之因在前一年上海“四·一二”政變中與鄭振鐸、馮次行、章錫琛、周予同、吳覺農(nóng)等人寫了義正辭嚴的“抗議信”，遭到國民黨當局的迫害，被迫流亡法國。臨去國前，胡愈之回到故鄉(xiāng)——越地的紹興上虞。得知胡愈之將赴法，開明書店的一幫老友夏丏尊、章錫琛、葉圣陶、周予同、章克標等人，便聚在上虞春暉中學白馬湖畔夏丏尊的平屋里為胡愈之餞行。那場餞行是凝重的，夏師母怕也端出了鄉(xiāng)間最好的菜，而此中最讓入座者一飽口福、津津樂道的，是夏師母自己做的醉魚干——這是早些年我寫《大道之行——胡愈之傳》時，從圣陶老的公子葉至善先生的回憶文章中扒來的橋段。

其實即便不是為胡愈之餞行這樣凝重的場合，醉魚干也時常是當年平屋里的佳肴。那時，朱自清、豐子愷、朱光潛、楊賢江等人在春暉中學教書時都不帶家眷，唯一帶家眷的只有夏丏尊。夏師母好客又要面子，于是當朱自清等一撥時不時來平屋蹭酒蹭飯時，總要想方設法為大家端上一盤既能佐酒又可下飯的醉魚干。

（三）

我不知道當年夏師母做的醉魚干用的是什么魚，應該會是青魚吧。青魚是做醉魚干最好的原料，白馬湖又盛產(chǎn)青魚。

與其他的醉族菜品相比，做醉魚干最要緊的便是原料的選擇。圓滾滾、實墩墩的青魚，之所以是做醉魚干最好的原料，在于青魚品性彪悍、勁大力足，為水中一霸，又以螺螄和小魚小蝦等活物為生。彪悍和勁霸，讓青魚的纖維特別結實細膩;而以活物為食，則使其肉質(zhì)肥嫩和油潤。

往往一盤青魚做的醉魚干甫一上桌，但見玉白的瓷盤中，一爿手掌大小的暗紅閃著金黃的油澤，那暗紅勝琥珀如紅檀，在油澤的裏挾中若一團盤踞的炭火，映得那裊裊彌漫的甜馨和魚香，似乎也有了顏色。

甜馨和魚香愈來愈濃，兩頰生津和垂涎盈舌是早已抑制不住的事。迫不及待地搛一筷醉魚干放入口中，先是甘洌的魚香帶著酒味的芳醇，接著是油潤的甜糯滲著細微的咸鮮。魚香、芳醇、甜糯和咸鮮并不就此蟄伏、打住，相反隨著齒舌的吮嚼、味蕾的攪和，魚香散了又攏，芳醇若有若無，甜糯方占C位，咸鮮又喧賓奪主。

在如此糅合交融、滋合重生的浸淫、誘激里，食道舒了，筋脈張了，腸胃通了，丹田暢了，甚至血液和細胞里都印染了醉魚干的馨香，揮之不去。“寧可拋棄三分田，不可錯過醉魚干。”老話對醉魚干美味的形容，當不是誆語。

（四）

越諺對看似簡單實則不易的事，有一句形象的描述，叫“看看蠻靈清，做做累煞人”，這句話用在醉魚干的制作上也頗貼切。

醉魚干的制作方法并不復雜，通常是將魚剖鱗刮了，洗干凈后拿一個放得下魚身的容器，擼一遍粗鹽，倒上糟燒或粟燒，再放點桂皮、生姜、茴香腌醉上幾天。爾后挑一個晴朗的天氣，將魚曬或晾干了即成。這看似簡單的制作中，有一個關節(jié)幾乎決定著成敗，那就是時間的把控，尤其是對天氣的選擇。

一般來說，做醉魚干只能是在冬季。春季魚還是苗;夏秋兩季多雨潮濕，魚干易發(fā)霉生蛆;而只有冬季，塘干魚肥了，呼呼的西北風又帶來冷冽干燥天氣的時候，醉魚干才有了粉墨登場的條件和舞臺。

然而同樣是在冬季，陰晴雨雪的日子并不固定，因此什么時候腌醉、哪個辰光曬晾，腌醉、曬晾多久，這些都得對天氣有個基本的預測，并根據(jù)預測有個倒置的安排。甚至太陽下曬幾天，串風處怎么晾，是晾在上風口還是下風口，皆須根據(jù)魚的大小和天氣隨機應變。往往太陽下曬得多了或串風處晾得久了，醉魚干便發(fā)硬發(fā)韌，讓人嚼得皺眉頭，反之則起膩發(fā)黏極易變質(zhì)。

當然上述做法雖規(guī)范嚴謹，卻也并非是制作醉魚干的金科玉律。也有隨意的，如扛了一頂小扳罾（zng）往門口的河道里一放，半天下來，兩三寸長的小鯽魚、小白條、柳刀魚等裝了半筘籀（ku zhu）。吃不完怎么辦，草草地掐了肚也不去鱗，抓一把粗鹽倒半碗粟燒隨便腌了，爾后趁一個猛太陽，暴曬一兩天，那蒸出來的小魚干肉雖不多，但咸鮮、香醇、耐嚼，同樣別具一番風味。

（五）

一方水土孕育一方風物，無論是名流大伽沽酒論詩的盤中佳肴，還是百姓草根填肚下飯的碗里之愛，大凡有特色的菜品，既是智慧、經(jīng)驗的結晶，一定程度上也是天人合一的產(chǎn)物。而這樣的天人合一，除了制作的機緣與造化，自然也包括情感的追念和契合。

多年前的一個年末，我赴滬拜訪女作家程乃珊。乃珊老師乃海上名媛，又是大孝之女，當時她年已九十、長于上虞小越的老母尚在世。出于禮節(jié)，我?guī)Я水a(chǎn)于上虞白馬湖的醉魚干。從滬上返還的第二天，乃珊老師即發(fā)來一個電子郵件：昨天老母嘗了白馬湖醉魚干，高興了一夜。她說離開家鄉(xiāng)七十多年，又吃到了家鄉(xiāng)的醉魚干，就像又回到了童年一樣，真的太好了。乃珊老師往生已愈六年，先她而走的老母在離去之前尚能一慰鄉(xiāng)愁，這無疑是醉魚干的功勞。

記憶里總有這樣的畫面歷久彌新：一個越地的小鎮(zhèn)，長巷短弄，烏瓦粉墻，一座古樸的臺門臨河而棲。臺門的西廂房里，一張暗紅的四方桌靠窗擱著，窗外是楊柳倒垂、石橋玲瓏、流水清澈的河道。黃昏降了下來，小方桌上隨意放了花生、螺螄和幾碟小炒，一大盆暗紅油澤的醉魚干置于中間。黃酒溫了上來，四方桌前的一老一少端起酒杯淺淺對酌，一筷醉魚干入口，前朝往事、鄉(xiāng)俚舊聞隨著醉魚干的馨香悠悠蕩漾。此時窗外有返歸的農(nóng)船“伊呀”的櫓聲，屋內(nèi)有暖黃的夕陽透過窗欞慢慢淡去，醉魚干的馨香一直沉浮著，似乎愈發(fā)地濃了……

民以食為天，在越地、在江南，那堪稱醉族旗幡一樣的醉魚干，或許能讓你深諳“食為天”的真味。

Eastern Zhejiang is famed for yellow wine， but in my opinion the spirits produced in this part of the province are equally good. Unfortunately， the spirits are overshadowed in reputation by the yellow wine. The major ingredients for the strong distilled alcoholic drinks in the province are distillers grains left over from making yellow wince and sorghum. The spirits of eastern Zhejiang are hard yet mellow， hot and strong. Something they have in common is that they dont go bad easily. Thats why they are often used to marinate food.

In eastern Zhejiang， shrimps， crabs and mud snails are often steeped alive in spirit for varying periods before they are served as a delicacy. Chickens， ducks and pork tripe are cooked before they are marinated with wine and served.

In my opinion， the best of all the food processed with a strong alcohol in various ways is fish steeped in spirit first and then dried for storage and future consumption. Other alcoholically processed foods are usually consumed immediately or good for short-time storage. The fish steeped in spirit and then dried is meant for long storage period. The reputation of the dried marinated fish goes back to a long time ago.

There is an anecdote about the dried and marinated fish as a delicacy. In January 1928， Hu Yuzhi， then 32， was to go into exile due to political persecution by the authorities. Before he left for France， he came back to visit his relatives in Shangyu， then a rural county of Shaoxing in eastern Zhejiang. Hu visited a group of friends who were teachers at Chunhui Middle School on White Horse Lake in Shangyu. A farewell dinner was given in honor of Hu Yuzhi. The best dish at the dinner was a plate of marinated and dried fish. Ye Zhishan， the son of Ye Shengtao who was present at the farewell dinner， mentioned the fish in his memory of his father. Apparently， Ye Shengtao had reminisced about the dinner and the fish privately to his son a long time ago.

The black carp is best for making the dried marinated fish. It is a voracious creature feeding on snails and mussels. The dried marinated black carp looks fine and tastes fine. A gourmet can spend a long time explaining how to appreciate such a delicacy and discussing every detail of the delicacy.

It is not complicated to make a dried marinated fish. Remove all the scales and gut and clean the fish before the fish is placed into a vessel large enough to contain it. Apply and rub crude salt evenly to the fish and pour spirit onto the fish and add spices such as Chinese cinnamon bark， ginger， and aniseed. The fish stay submerged in the spirit for a few days. Then pick a fine day and dry the fish. Winter is the best time to process the black fish.

But the black fish is not the only species that can be marinated in spirit and then dried. Small fish can also be processed in the same way and then dried for a day or two before it is steamed and served.

Years ago， I went to Shanghai and visit Cheng Naishan， a woman writer of national renown. Back then， her mother， over 90 years old， was still alive. Her mother was from Shangyu. I brought some dried marinated fish as gift to Cheng. One day after I returned home， I received an email from Chen Naishan. Cheng said her mother enjoyed the fish very much and was so happy that she couldnt sleep for a night. The 90-year-old said she had been away from home for more than 70 years and after eating the dried marinated fish， she felt as if she had been home again. She said she was really happy. I was happy after learning about this.