《随园食单》里的宁波海鲜

周东旭

袁枚，有中国古代“食圣”之誉，祖籍浙江慈溪。林语堂先生曾用英文评介：“伟大的诗人和学者袁枚写了厚厚的一本书来讨论烹饪方法。”那么在这本厚厚的《随园食单》中会记有哪几样家乡菜呢？

从“治大国若烹小鲜”的老子，从“食不厌精，脍不厌细”的孔子，到“东坡肉”到“重八毛豆腐”到“宗堂鸡”“潘鱼”到“叫花鸡”，“吃”总归是胖胖的国王和瘦瘦的乞丐的共同爱好。“食色，性也”，堂而皇之地说。而且历代文人雅士都有谈吃的文章，李笠翁、倪云林、袁枚都有专著写关于吃的;雅舍、知堂、汪曾祺、王世襄等名家亦有许多谈吃文章传世，读来令人口皆生唾，大有望梅止渴之感。

袁枚著的《随园食单》出版于乾隆五十七年（公元1792年），是清代一部系统地论述烹饪技术和南北菜点的重要著作，全书分为须知单、戒单、海鲜单、江鲜单、特牲单、杂牲单、羽族单、水族有鳞单、水族无鳞单、杂素单、小菜单、点心单、饭粥单和菜酒单十四个方面。其中记有四样宁波菜，均是海鲜，三样放在海鲜单里，一样放在水族无鳞单里。

四样海鲜在宁波的海鲜里简直就是九牛一毛，但袁子才（袁枚字子才）特指出来是产于宁波，不妨谈谈。

海蝘

在海鲜单里首先提到了海蝘（音yǎn），“海蝘，宁波小鱼也，味同虾米，以之蒸蛋甚佳。作小菜亦可。”遍问众友，不知海蝘为何物，查了字典，字典上说“蝘”古书上指蝉一类的昆虫。但根据袁枚的描述，再根据“海蝘”的谐音，我想海蝘一定就是海蜒。

海蜒，也称“海艳”“海咸”，是鳀鱼一类的幼鱼，产浅海中，身圆无鳞，两眼点黑，体细色白，长半寸许，还有个雅名叫丁香鱼，因为闻起来似丁香花味，体形似渔家女耳垂的金丁香，故名。

海蜒喜光怕惊，渔人候夜以灯光诱捕之。有诗这样写：“不用虾捞不用钩，生成半寸狎浮沤。灯光射处丁沽集，取尽鱼儿万万头”。说的就是渔人捕海蜒。

海蜒肉质鲜美，营养丰富，佐餐时，用它泡汤、或拌凉菜、或炒蛋等均宜，香味扑鼻，生津开胃。据药典记载：“海蜒，味咸性温，有清热、止泻之功效。”民间还用于治疗慢性肠炎、肺结核等症。捕海蜒历史也较长了，像李邺嗣、全祖望都有作品赞美，全翁诗云：“一瓶蟹甲纯黄酱，千箸鱼头细海蜒。”海蜒主要产于象山，并以渔山列岛所产海蜒质量最佳，故称渔山海蜒，名气很响。

江瑶柱

第二，提到了江瑶柱。江瑶柱，又称瑶柱、干贝。

“江瑶柱出宁波，治法与蚶蛏同。其鲜脆在柱，故剖壳时多弃少取。”在宝庆《四明志》（南宋地方志）中，《叙产》章节就有关于江瑶柱的记载。“江珧，以柱为珍，东坡有《江珧传》。一种小者曰沙珧。”

在古代，江瑶柱非常有名，苏东坡、陆游均在诗文中对江瑶柱有过赞美，鲁迅先生在《两地书》中说，用火腿配江瑶柱煮了一锅，说是“阔了一通”。

现在宁波人似乎并不怎么吃江瑶柱，那么在古代为什么有名？我想自然是因为干贝可以致远。新鲜的鱼类大都是近水楼台，本地人优先，在古代，没有速冻，为了保存一般都采用腌制、晒干等方法，所以郎君鲞、明府鲞，对外地人来说是极有名的，江瑶柱也是如此。

蛎黄

第三，袁枚提到了蛎黄，“蛎黄生石子上。壳与石子胶粘不分。剥肉作羹，与蚶蛤相似，一名鬼眼。乐清、奉化两县土产，别地所无。”

袁枚说只有蛎黄是乐清、奉化两县土产，大概错了，因为我老家象山就有，而且小时候亲眼看过母亲撬蛎黄，冬天回家，想吃蛎黄，便让母亲去买一些回来。母亲买回来的时候总说：“这么点蛎黄这么贵，我一天都能撬好几斤。”冬天海风侵肌裂骨，而海边的妇女包着头，拿着一把凿子，不多时就能一碗。所以蛎黄大概是我吃得最多的一样海鲜。

通常的鲜蛎黄，醮一下酱油便“簌”地滑进肚里了，有润物细无声之感。宝庆《四明志》上说，蛎黄房头“道家以左顾者是雄，故名牡蛎。右顾则牝蛎……海人取之，皆凿房，以烈火逼开，挑取肉食之，自然甘美，更益人美颜色、细肌肤，海族之最贵者也。”

蛎黄在历代的本草药典中也是常常被称道的。宋人苏颂《本草图经》中曾描述：“今海旁皆有之，而南海闽中及通泰间尤多。……初生海边才如拳石，四面见长有一二丈者，崭（高出）岩如山，每一房内有蚝肉一块，肉之大小随房所生，大房如马蹄，小者如人指面，每潮来则诸房皆开，有小虫入，则合之以充饥。海人取之，皆凿房以烈火逼开之，挑取其肉”。鲜牡蛎肉青白色，质地柔软细嫩。欧洲人称牡蛎是“海洋的玛娜”（即上帝赐予的珍贵之物），“海洋的牛奶”;古罗马人把它誉为“海上美味——圣鱼”;日本人则称其为“根之源”“海洋之超米”，它是惟一能够生吃的贝类。

崔禹锡在《食经》中说，“牡蛎肉治夜不眠，治意不定”，经常食用可以减少阴虚阳亢所致的烦躁不安、心悸失眠、头晕目眩及耳鸣等症状。牡蛎中所含的多种维生素与矿物质，特别是硒，可以调节神经、稳定情绪。李时珍在《本草纲目》中也说，牡蛎“肉治虚损，解酒后烦热，……滑皮肤，牡蛎壳化痰软坚，清热除湿，止心脾气痛，痢下赤白浊，消疝积块。”它性微寒，同时兼具制酸作用，所以對胃酸过多、或患有胃溃疡的人更有益处。《神农本草经》中记载“（牡蛎）久服，强骨节，杀邪气，延年”。牡蛎中钙含量接近牛奶，铁含量也很高，食后有助于骨骼、牙齿生长等。吃蛎黄的好处有这么多，大概蛎黄就该遭殃了，现在一般都靠养，浇好的水泥柱放入海中，过上一年，水泥柱上就有蛎黄生着了。

蚶

第四，袁枚在水族无鳞单上还提及一样就是蚶（音hān），“蚶有三吃法：用热水喷之半熟，去盖，加酒、秋油醉之;或用鸡汤滚熟，去盖入汤;或全去其盖作羹亦可，但宜速起，起则肉枯。蚶出奉化县，品在蛼螯、蛤蜊之上。”

蚶子，《尔雅》谓之魁陆，有瓦垄蚶、毛蚶、芽蚶。《土物志》曰：有侧径四尺，皆似瓦垄，有文。郭璞《江赋》曰：“洪蚶专车””（宝庆《四明志》）奉蚶的鲜美是极有名的，宁波人食蚶的历史非常悠久，前几年在古墓里就出土过一罐蚶。蚶的做法并不复杂，洗净，用开水烫一下就可以，只不过对烫的要求极高，大概要非常有经验的老司务才可以，水若太烫，则会烫熟，则索然无味了。如果水温不够，则蚶挖不开，吃个蚶，要拿个刀来挖，实在太麻烦。有时候，外地人不喜欢吃海鲜，不是因为味道，而是因为太麻烦。吃个海鲜，有时候会为自己的滑稽吃相而发噱，夸张类似表演。不过袁子才的三种吃法，均比较复杂，宁波人大概就是烫开，醮点酱油就好。

吃海鮮，我还是主张原汁味的吃。新鲜的鱼，一般鲍腌，或是倒些酱油清蒸一下即可;至于虾、虾蛄之类，清水里一煮，放点盐即可，这才叫清水出芙蓉，天然去雕饰。

（由视觉中国供图）

Seafood Dishes of Ningbo Cuisine in Suiyuan Recipes

By Zhou Dongxu

Yuan Mei （1716-1797）， a well-known poet， scholar， artist and gastronome of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）， published  （） in 1792. It is widely recognized as a gastronomic manual and cookbook， introducing Yuans recipes and culinary philosophy on cooking and eating. The book is a systematic record of recipes in 14 categories. And four seafood dishes from Ningbo Cuisine are mentioned. The four seafood delicacies are anchovy， scallop， oyster， and clam.

Anchovy

The anchovy mentioned in the book should be the baby fish only about half an inch long. The fish， if dehydrated， can be stored for a long time and it is an ingredient appropriate for soups， scrambled eggs， and cold dishes in Ningbo cuisine. A brief look into some poem collections can easily provide some information on the fish. One poem describes how fishermen catch the anchovy at night with some lanterns because the fish prefer lights and live in fear of sudden movement and sound. Another poem praises how tiny anchovy helps make a dinner delightful and enjoyable. Yushan Islands of Xiangshan， a coastal county in Ningbo， are where fishermen catch best-quality anchovy. The fame of anchovy from Yushan Islands spreads far and wide.

Scallop

Dried scallop is mentioned in the cookbook. Mr. Yuan says in the book that it is from Ningbo. The scallop meat was widely mentioned in essays and poems by celebrities such as Su Dongpo and Lu You， both poets of the Song Dynasty （960-1279）. Lu Xun， one of the greatest writers of 20th-century China， mentioned in a letter says that he cooked ham with dried scallop and felt as if he had been a rich man. Nowadays， scallop in Ningbo isnt as popular as it was in ancient times. One explanation about the ancient popularity of the scallop is that the dried scallop could easily be stored and shipped. In ancient times， people in coastal areas preferred fresh seafood. In ancient times， there was no good way to keep perishable seafood fresh for a long time. So fishes and shellfishes were dried and kept. Dried salted fish from Ningbo were famous to outsiders and so was scallop from Ningbo.

Oyster

The oyster is mentioned in the cookbook. The prominent scholar and poet named Yueqing and Fenghua in the province as the two counties where the oyster was available， though many people in Zhejiang know for sure the oyster also grows in some other coastal counties in the province. The edible part is taken of the shell and dried and can be a key ingredient for thick soup. Oyster is mentioned in various ancient books on traditional medications. There are in-depth descriptions in these books about the benefits eating oyster can bring to people. As oyster is rich in calcium， it is thought of as good food for children who need calcium to grow tall.

Clam

Yuan Mei says in the cookbook that there are three ways to enjoy clam and mentions clams are from Fenghua. Clam eating has a long history in Ningbo. A few years ago some archaeologists reported that they unearthed a jar of clams from an ancient tomb in Ningbo. For many people in Ningbo， clam cooking isnt that complicated as mentioned by Yuan Mei. Clams are cleaned and then boiled in water for a short while. Then dip the clam meat into soy sauce. Only experienced gourmets know exactly how brief or how long clams stay in the hot water before they should be scooped out fast. Too long in hot water means oyster turns tasteless. Too short in hot water means one needs a knife to cut a clam open. Some people from outside Ningbo dislike seafood not because seafood isnt a delicacy but because one takes so much trouble in order to have a bite.