Shahu Bean Skin

Shahu Bean Skin

　　Shahu Bean Skin is a traditional food from Mianyang (now Xiantao), beloved by people just as much as Shahu Salted Egg. Resembling a square cloth wrapper, it is yellow on the outside and white on the inside, crispy outside yet soft inside, fragrant and delicious with an endless aftertaste. Speaking of the origins of Shahu Bean Skin, there’s quite an interesting story.

　　 Long ago, there lived an old man named Li on Shahu Street. He lost his wife early in life and raised his only son, Li Chunsheng, single-handedly, playing both the roles of mother and father to bring Chunsheng up. He even helped his son get married and start a family. Having worked hard all his life, the old man suffered from various ailments. Just past seventy, he finally fell seriously ill. His body was swollen, his limbs weak, and he could hardly eat. Bedridden, he simply waited for death to come.

　　 During his illness, his son Chunsheng happened to be away on a business trip, leaving only his daughter-in-law Qiao Yun to take care of him. Qiao Yun was kind, gentle, clever, and extremely filial to her father-in-law. She sought medical advice everywhere and prepared tasty meals to serve to the elderly man by his sickbed, but he couldn’t swallow a bite.

　　 This worried Qiao Yun greatly. She tried every possible way to whet her father-in-law’s appetite—sometimes making soups, sometimes stir-fries, sometimes steaming or boiling dishes... changing the menu daily—but the old man still wouldn’t eat.

　　 Seeing how hard his daughter-in-law was working and worrying herself sick, the old man felt deeply distressed. He was already in his seventies; if he were to die, it would just be the natural course of things. But now, instead of helping relieve her burdens, he had become a liability. He felt uneasy. He thought, rather than having her cook all kinds of dishes for him every day, why not set her a difficult challenge to see if she’d back off? With that in mind, the old man said to Qiao Yun, “My son has such filial piety, cooking and making soup for me every day. But these dishes only make me irritated—I have no appetite for them.” “Dad, just tell me what you’d like to eat. I’ll find a way to make it for you,” Qiao Yun urged. “What I want might be something you can’t get,” the old man replied. “If you can name it, I can make it,” she insisted.

　　 After thinking for a moment, the old man said, “Alright, listen carefully: ‘Yellow wrapper, white inside, with pearls wrapped within. Crispy vegetables and fragrant rolls hidden inside. Though fully cooked and tender, no steaming or boiling is used.’ Qiao Yun, can you make such a dish?” Without hesitation, Qiao Yun replied, “As long as it suits your taste, I’ll definitely make it for you.”

　　 Qiao Yun pondered her father-in-law’s riddle carefully. She thought and experimented—today baking cakes, tomorrow roasting soft pancakes, the day after… But whatever she made, the old man wouldn’t even glance at it, only shaking his head. Qiao Yun didn’t lose heart. She kept experimenting every day and continued bringing the food to his bedside, but nothing could tempt his appetite.

　　 Persistence paid off. A month later, Qiao Yun finally solved her father-in-law’s riddle. When she presented a plate of golden, fragrant, cloth-wrapper-shaped food to him, the old man was both shocked and delighted. He never expected that she would actually create what he had merely mentioned offhand.

　　 The old man quickly sat up in bed, picked up the plate, and began to eat with relish. Immediately, his mouth was filled with aroma, his appetite soared, and he couldn’t stop eating.

　　 Seeing how much her father-in-law enjoyed it, Qiao Yun made it for him every day. Unknowingly, another month passed, and the old man’s complexion turned rosy, his spirit lifted, and his illness completely vanished.

　　 The food that Qiao Yun created for her father-in-law was called Mung Bean Skin. Its main ingredients are mung beans, rice, eggs, and pickled mustard tuber, supplemented with lard, scallions, salt, and other seasonings. The method of making it is as follows:

　　Mix eight parts of rice with two parts of mung beans, soak them in water for two hours, then grind them into a paste for later use. Place an iron pan over high heat, brush a little oil-water mixture on the bottom, then pour four taels of the mung bean-rice paste into the pan using a small bowl, spreading it evenly into a thin layer. Beat one egg until frothy and spread it evenly over the surface of the skin. When the edges of the skin begin to curl up, use both hands to lift and flip it. Then, place one tael of cooked glutinous rice, half a tael of lard, eight fen of pickled mustard tuber, five fen of scallions, and four fen of cooked salt into the skin, fold it into a rectangular shape in the pan, and repeatedly flip it until the outer skin turns golden brown before removing from heat.

　　 Mung Bean Skin was first created by the people of Shahu, hence also called Shahu Bean Skin. Since it was made by a daughter-in-law to nourish her father-in-law, it is also known as “Filial Piety Bean Skin.”

　　 Mung Bean Skin is yellow on the outside, white on the inside, with glutinous rice hidden inside like pearls—delicious and visually appealing. In Mung Bean Skin, mung beans help clear heat, detoxify, reduce swelling, and relieve summer heat and thirst; rice is a staple food; eggs and glutinous rice are highly nutritious, helping to strengthen the body; pickled mustard tuber stimulates the appetite; and scallions help release the exterior, induce perspiration, dispel cold, and clear nasal passages. Mung Bean Skin not only fills the stomach but also treats illnesses, strengthens the body, and promotes health…

　　 Qiao Yun passed on the recipe for Mung Bean Skin to her neighbors without reservation. Soon, Mung Bean Skin became popular all over Shahu and even Mianyang, turning into a trendy food in both urban and rural areas. Families served it to guests, and restaurants offered it as a breakfast dish. People also dried it as a preserved food during the period between the Winter Solstice and the Beginning of Spring by rolling it (without additives) into tubes, slicing it into strips, and sun-drying it. Cooking it in a soup with cured meat makes it especially delicious and uniquely flavorful.

　　 Shahu Bean Skin is a traditional folk delicacy that also found its way into imperial cuisine. In the late Qing Dynasty, Li Fuzao, a native of Shahu who served as an official in the capital, brought the recipe for Shahu Bean Skin to the imperial court. He had the chefs prepare it and presented it to Empress Dowager Cixi. After tasting it, the Empress Dowager was overjoyed and sang its praises: “Shahu Salted Egg is adorned with pearls, Shahu Bean Skin wraps pearls, the water towns truly produce treasures!”

　　 Since then, Shahu Bean Skin has gained equal fame with Shahu Salted Egg, becoming celebrated throughout Huguang and renowned in the capital.