In the hazy ancient town of Luzhi, Suzhou, there is a flavor that belongs exclusively to the spring breeze in the fields before and after the Qingming Festival. It is hidden in the stoves and steamers of ordinary people. It is unobtrusive but has a fragrance that lasts for thousands of years. It is malt pancake. If Qingtuan is the bright and bright color of spring in the south of the Yangtze River, malt pancake is the calmest and most simple background of spring in Luzhi Ancient Town, and is a Qingming treasure that has been tenderly treasured by time. It has no exquisite appearance, no complicated decorations, and is even dark and simple in appearance, with a bit of uncarved roughness. However, with the freshness of wild grass, the sweetness of malt, and the softness of rice flour, it outlines the most authentic spring taste of the Jiangnan water town. It carries the nostalgia of the people in the ancient town for the farming years, and also hides the nostalgia engraved in the bones and blood.
The origin of malt pancakes is closely related to the farming civilization in Jiangnan. It is the crystallization of the farmers’ wisdom in adapting to the seasons and using natural materials. In the old Luzhi Water Town, farming was the basis. Every Qingming Festival and the beginning of spring plowing, the sagebrush and Buddha's ear in the field edges grew wildly in response to the spring rain. They were fresh and tender, with a refreshing and elegant aroma of grass and trees. Industrious farm women carry bamboo baskets and walk in the fields, pinch off the tenderest grass tips, take them home, wash and chop them, then mix them with their own germinated malt, newly ground glutinous rice flour and japonica rice flour, knead them into a dough, shape them into cakes, steam or fry them, and a spring-flavored malt pancake emerges. It was born next to the stone mill and stove of the farmhouse. It does not have the careful carving of craftsmen or the deliberate packaging of shops. It is just a simple snack for farmers. However, under the infiltration of Jiangnan Youth League culture, it has been passed down silently for hundreds of years and has become a unique taste symbol of Luzhi.
There are no shortcuts in making an authentic piece of malt pancake. It all depends on handwork and care, which hides the gentleness of Jiangnan people who work slowly and carefully. Malt is the soul. It needs to use high-quality wheat, soak it in warm water and germinate in the dark. When the malt grows tender white tips, it is then dried and ground into powder to ferment to produce a unique sweet and mellow aroma. This is the key to the sweetness of the malt cake. Wild grasses are the essence of the style, and the sageweed and phlox grass must be the freshest ones picked before and after the Qingming Festival. They carry the fragrance of earth and the freshness of spring. They are chopped and kneaded into the dough, which injects a unique herbal fragrance into the cake, neutralizing the sweetness of the rice noodles and giving it a unique blue-black color. Flour is the foundation. Glutinous rice flour and japonica rice flour are mixed in proportion to ensure that the cake is soft and waxy but not sticky to the teeth, and the texture is not stiff. Knead malt powder, chopped wild grass and rice flour thoroughly. No need to add too much seasoning, just let the flavors of the ingredients blend together. Shape into a round cake, steam it slowly in a pan, or fry it slowly in a pan over low heat.
The steamed malt pancake has a soft, waxy and dense texture that will deform with a gentle pinch, but is not sticky. The fried pancake has a slightly burnt outer skin, but is still soft and waxy on the inside, with richer layers. At the moment of entry, there is no strong sweetness, only the faint fragrance of grass and wood spreads on the tip of the tongue, the sweetness of malt fermentation slowly returns, the soft glutinousness of rice noodles and the tenderness of grass tips are perfectly integrated, the taste is warm and mellow, and the aftertaste is long. At first taste, it may seem simple and unpretentious, but after careful tasting, you can taste the freshness of the fields, the gentleness of the spring breeze, and the mellowness and tranquility of the farm years. It is not as deliberately pleasing to the taste buds as the desserts on the market, but with the most authentic taste, it soothes people's hearts and becomes the most practical spring comfort for straight people during the Qingming Festival.
Nowadays, Luzhi Ancient Town is crowded with tourists and trendy pastries and desserts emerge in an endless stream. However, during the Qingming Festival, every household is still busy making malt pancakes. In the snack shops in the ancient town, malt pancakes are always the most popular signature. The old people stick to the traditional method and pass this craft from generation to generation; the young people taste the familiar taste and recall the time when they were children picking grass in the fields and waiting by the stove in the soft and sweet aroma; tourists from other places come here because of it, and after taking a bite of the malt pancake, they understand the warmth and tranquility of Luzhi Ancient Town. It has long surpassed the meaning of a piece of dim sum and has become an irreplaceable part of Luzhi’s food culture. It is the taste carrier of spring in the south of the Yangtze River, a vivid mark of the farming years, and the most simple nostalgia in the hearts of people in the ancient town.
A leaf of green dumpling has the old flavor, but half a piece of collapsed cake has the sorrow of spring. Malt pancake, with its simplest appearance, hides the deepest heritage of Jiangnan Water Town; with its warmest taste, it tells the longest story of Luzhi Ancient Town. It is the delicacy gifted by the spring breeze, the richness of slow brewing over time, the harmonious symbiosis of vegetation and rice noodles, and the most touching Jiangnan sentiment in the world of fireworks. After taking a bite of the malt pancake, feeling the spring breeze in your throat and nostalgia in your heart, you can truly appreciate the gentleness and tenderness of the Jiangnan ancient town, and feel the peace of the most precious years hidden in the ordinary fireworks.
