Changzhi pie

"Pie" is also called "dish-combined" and "small cake", and it is called "Li Gezhua" by Gaoping and Lingchuan folks. It is a good product for people in urban and rural areas in southeastern Shanxi to entertain guests at festivals, and it is also a beautiful treat for families to improve their lives. When and when did the pie settle in Changzhi? According to folklore, after the Mongols invaded the Central Plains, the Mongolian soldiers who stayed in Luzhou often ate the pie made of buckwheat flour as the skin, beef and mutton as the stuffing, dry-baked and fried in water. Later, they found that the scallion pancakes made of white flour in Luzhou were crispy and delicious, so they switched to the pie made of white flour as the skin and fried with soybean oil, which was soft, tender and delicious. Judging from the time, the pie has been settled in Changzhi for more than 700 years. Over the past 700 years, the "pie" has been transformed into a small gong in Changzhi area, with golden yellow on both sides, transparent stuffing, thin skin like paper, meat like diced pearls, bright green vegetables, garlic juice when eating, oily and delicious, never boring after eating, and unforgettable after eating. Legend has it that Yulan (Cixi), the daughter of Hui Zheng, the magistrate of Lu 'an Prefecture, also likes to eat "pies" made by street vendors in Lu 'an Prefecture when she lives in the mansion. Later, when she entered the palace, she became an empress. Although she could not eat all kinds of delicacies, in her later years, she asked the imperial kitchen to list "Lu 'an Pie" as her must-eat. It can be seen that pie is not only a delicious food for ordinary people, but also a delicacy in the court. Pie is made of a kind of pig iron. Interestingly, this kind of small pot has three legs supporting the pot tray, and the top of the pot tray is convex with a circumferential channel, with a cover and a handle, which is convenient to operate. If placed on a one-eyed high fire, the fire is about 8 cm high from the convex part of the pot and less than 5 cm from the pot. The baked pie is thin in the middle, thick in the periphery, crisp in the middle, with few fillings, and soft in the periphery, and the pot does not paste the cake surface. Therefore, the baked pie is golden on both sides and shaped like a small gong. After the founding of New China, there were dozens of pies sold in markets and stalls, but the ones favored by people were the delicious dishes made by two brothers, Yang Laoliu and Yang Jiuming, Hero Street in Changzhi City. After the reform and opening up, Ms. Wang Laixiang of East China Community, under the instruction of her parents, combined with historical practices, improved the ingredients. High-quality noodles, four-season water and boiled vermicelli should be chopped, with meat on the buttocks and leeks, sprinkled with spices and mixed with flavor. The skin is thin, the stuffing is fat, the color is yellow, soft and crisp, and ordinary diners call it "the king of pies". Yan Jianguo's baked "vegetarian pie" in Beiguan, Huguan County is also well received by the masses. Their pies were all rated as "Shangdang Famous Food" by Changzhi Famous Food Research Association. Wang Laixiang's pie also won the gold medal in China Taiyuan International Pasta Festival.
Reprinted with attribution： https://cnlocality.com/(Chinese Specialty Products)