Glass Button

Glass Button

　　According to the Ping Le County Annals of Guilin, in 1921, Dr. Sun Yat-sen led his troops from Wuzhou to Guilin via waterway, a journey that took 21 days. To ensure Dr. Sun was well-fed, the boatmen’s cooks prepared many traditional boatman dishes for him. After a few days, the cooks noticed that Dr. Sun particularly enjoyed the “Golden Flower Pork.” (The method for making “Golden Flower Pork”: thinly sliced fatty pork is marinated thoroughly in white sugar until translucent, then coated in flour batter and deep-fried.). But, this dish is known to cause excessive internal heat, so the boatmen’s cook thought: what if I wrap the marinated fatty pork in cooling mung bean paste? Wouldn’t that prevent it from causing internal heat? So, he wrapped the pork in bean paste and shaped it into an egg-like form before deep-frying. Dr. Sun, after tasting it, gave repeated praise and asked, “What is this dish?” The cook thought that the main ingredient was the translucent thin slice of fatty pork, resembling transparent glass, and thus replied, “This dish is called Glass Button.” Since then, the Boatman’s Glass Button has been passed down to this day. The Glass Button served at Ping Le Fei Long Yu Restaurant (Fei Long Number) is personally overseen by Huang Liangping. After multiple refinements, it has become even more rich in local character and is highly praised and well-regarded by diners. This dish once won the “Outstanding Award” at the opening ceremony of the “Culinary Kingdom Tour of China” event held by Guilin City, and is one of the Guilin River boatman dishes.

　　When people from Ping Le visit others’ homes, they consider it a sign of a lavish banquet if “Glass Button” is served, and they also take pride in having eaten “Glass Button” as a guest, seeing it as a reflection of their esteemed status. Today, “Glass Button” is not only a highlight dish at banquets but has also become a treasured folk snack of Ping Le.

　　Ingredients

　　Mung beans, white sugar, fatty pork, eggs, flour, etc.

　　Method

　　1. First, prepare the bean paste. Place one jin (500g) of mung beans in a pot of cold water, ensuring the water covers the beans. Add an appropriate amount of sodium carbonate, then boil over high heat for 20 minutes. While hot, pour the beans and water into a bamboo colander to remove the skins. Return the beans to the pot and stir-fry until they form a paste-like consistency, then add an appropriate amount of white sugar. Be sure not to use any other type of sugar, as it may affect the crisp texture.

　　2. Mix the mung beans and white sugar into a bean paste, then shape it into cylinders about 3 cm in diameter (adjust size for easy eating) and set aside.

　　3. Next, prepare the fatty pork. Cut a block of fatty pork into slices about 4 cm long and wide. Make a lengthwise slit in the middle of each slice with a knife, place the slices in a bowl, and mix them with white sugar. Let them marinate for one to two hours. Unfold the slices and roll the mung bean paste sticks inside. This forms the initial shape.

　　4. In a large bowl or earthenware pot, place an appropriate amount of flour, crack one egg, add an appropriate amount of white sugar, and mix in some ice water. Stir the flour, egg, and sugar with chopsticks to form a batter of moderate softness and hardness.

　　5. Finally, take the rolled fatty pork and mung bean paste strips (the initial shape), coat them with a layer of egg-flour batter, and then deep-fry them in boiling oil until they turn golden brown. Remove them while still hot, place them on a plate, and serve them at the table. A fragrant aroma will waft through the dining area, making everyone’s mouth water. Upon tasting, you’ll find them sweet, fragrant, crispy, and uniquely delicious with an indescribable charm.