Yangkou Shrimp Sauce (a specialty of Shouguang, Shandong)

Introduction to Yangkou Shrimp Sauce: Yangkou Town is a key fishing town in the province and has been awarded the honorary title of "Advanced Fishing Town in Shandong Province" by the Shandong Provincial People's Government multiple times. As early as the Northern Wei Dynasty, the processing method of shrimp sauce was recorded in the book "Qi Min Yao Shu" by the outstanding Chinese agronomist Jia Sixie (born in Shouguang): "The method of making shrimp sauce is to mix one dou of shrimp with three liters of rice, one liter of salt, one liter of water, five liters, and adjust the sun to expose the essence of spring and summer. Yangkou shrimp sauce has a long history of development. Yangkou Town is located to the east of Laizhou Bay in Bohai Sea, with convenient boat fishing and early development of the fishing industry. According to page 130 of the 1998 "Yangkou Town Chronicles", "Shrimp sauce is made from both hairy shrimp and processed shrimp (maggot shrimp). The best shrimp sauce is made from shrimp, which has a fragrant and delicious taste and is popular throughout the country. In Shanghai and Jinan, Yangkou shrimp sauce is well-known." This shows that Yangkou shrimp sauce has been famous for a long time. The Republic of China version of the "Shouguang County Annals" records: "The production area of shrimp sauce is Yangjiaogou, which is transported by the Xiaoqing River to the south of Jinan and by land to the Yishui River in Linqu. It is also sold in this county. The 'Yangjiaogou' here is now known as Yangkou Town. According to the 1985 "Annals of Yangjiaogou Town, Shouguang County" on page 94, "During the peak season of production, there was no time to air dry, so it was forced to be made into shrimp sauce." The production of Yangkou shrimp sauce has a long history and has been passed down and developed as a result. With the development of history and the continuous progress of industrialization, various forms of modern processing methods such as refrigeration, refrigeration, air drying, vacuum packaging, and ready to eat food have emerged. Although the preservation level of aquatic products has been greatly improved, the "Yangkou Shrimp Sauce" marinated by ancient traditional methods is still highly favored by consumers for its unique taste, exquisite craftsmanship, salty but not astringent, and fresh but not light quality. The product is sold all over the country and is a local specialty that Shouguang people are proud of. It has become one of the "Top Ten Famous Foods of Shouguang". Shouguang Baoye Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. and dozens of other leading aquatic processing enterprises have been committed to exploring and developing traditional processing techniques for sheep mouth shrimp sauce in recent years. They have successively won honors such as Shandong Famous Food, Shandong Iconic Specialty Brand, Top 10 National Famous Specialty Brands, and National Trusted Specialty Food Brand. In order to further protect this excellent local characteristic product, the People's Government of Shouguang City established the Shouguang Fisheries Association in October 2008, implementing the business management model of "Enterprise Association Base". At present, there are nearly a hundred enterprises engaged in the processing of Yangkou shrimp sauce, with an annual processing capacity of over 5000 tons and an output value of nearly 100 million yuan. Yangkou Town has become a truly renowned shrimp sauce processing and production base in China

There are many shrimp sauce processing factories in Shouguang Yangkou, with yards the size of a football field filled with hundreds of shrimp sauce jars. Still using ancestral craftsmanship, the tools are also traditional jars. The shrimp raw material is selected from the "fat" shrimp during the Qingming Festival. After the shrimp salt is poured into the tank in proportion, it should be poured continuously and then fermented. Fermentation requires stirring shrimp paste up and down with a specialized wooden rake on sunny days when the temperature is at its highest, then pressing and smoothing it, and using sunlight to heat it up to promote natural maturation. After more than 8 months, the shrimp sauce fermentation recipe has been completed and can now be launched on the market.

Folk self marinated shrimp sauce is relatively simple. Usually choose some small sea shrimps, which are the size of the so-called "shrimp skin eye", only about one centimeter long. The small sea shrimp is light white in color, delicious, extremely tender, and inexpensive, which is commonly seen in the market. When I was young in Qingdao, I would ride my bike to Shilaoren in April or May. There were small shrimp like this sold on boats by the seaside, which were freshly caught and thriving. Go home and pick up the seaweed, shells, and miscellaneous items inside, then you can marinate them. It doesn't need to be rinsed with water, just use it with plenty of freshness. Small sea shrimps live in very salty seawater, and when making shrimp sauce, a lot of salt needs to be added to kill bacteria.

The folk pickling method is to first use a rolling pin to lightly mash the shrimp, and then put them into a ceramic container after being mashed. Containers must be cleaned thoroughly and controlled for moisture before use. After placing the shrimp in the container, salt should be added, preferably small coarse salt, to enhance the aroma after marinating. Salt is usually added to one pound of shrimp, two or three taels of salt. After adding the salt, stir well, seal the mouth with gauze, and let it ferment naturally in a sunny place. The fermentation process requires opening the gauze and stirring once a day with a dry rolling pin. Be careful not to let flies fall on it, otherwise maggots will grow. If there is sufficient sunshine, it can be eaten in a week, and the longest is only half a month. The prepared shrimp sauce is bright red in color, with a layer of red shrimp oil on the surface, and a strong aroma. Once the shrimp sauce is marinated, there are cries of vendors coming from the streets and alleys. The shout of the shrimp sauce seller in Shouguang: Go for shrimp sauce, go for shrimp sauce. In the streets and alleys of Qingdao, people from the Laoshan seaside shout, "Sell shrimp sauce -, sell shrimp sauce -. Shrimp sauce is purple red in color, viscous in texture, fragrant in aroma, without fishy smell, and moderately salty, making it a small dish for the poor."

Regional Scope

The production and processing of Yangkou shrimp sauce are mainly distributed in Yangkou Town, Shouguang City, Shandong Province. Yangkou Town is under the jurisdiction of Shouguang City, Weifang City, Shandong Province, located on the southern coast of Laizhou Bay in Bohai Sea, at the mouth of Xiaoqing River. The regional scope of Yangkou shrimp sauce is Yangkou Town and some surrounding villages, with a longitude of 118 ° 46 ′ -118 ° 58 ′ E and a latitude of 37 ° N. Between ° 11 ′ and 37 ° 17 ′, with a total area of 13000 hectares and an annual output of over 5000 tons.

What are the product characteristics of Yangkou shrimp sauce?

1. External features: Yangkou shrimp sauce has a purple color, a viscous texture, a fresh and fragrant aroma, no fishy smell, fine texture, and no impurities.

2. Intrinsic quality indicators: According to Chinese nutrition reports, the beneficial effect and medicinal value of Grasshopper Shrimp are relatively high. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that grasshopper shrimp has a sweet and salty taste, a warm nature, and has the functions of strengthening yang, nourishing kidneys, replenishing essence, and promoting lactation. People who have been suffering from chronic illnesses such as physical weakness, shortness of breath, lack of appetite, and pale complexion can use it as a nourishing and therapeutic food. Eating shrimp for ordinary people also has a strong fitness effect. Sheep mouth shrimp sauce maintains the inherent nutritional components of grasshopper shrimp, with a unique taste and delicious aroma. It is a high protein, low-fat, and low calorie nutritional food. Shrimp sauce is rich in protein, calcium, iron, selenium, vitamin A and other nutrients. There is also an important nutritional component in shrimp sauce - astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is the strongest antioxidant found in nature so far, and its antioxidant activity far exceeds existing antioxidants. The ability of natural astaxanthin to scavenge free radicals is 6000 times that of vitamin C and 550-1000 times that of natural VE, known as super vitamin E; In addition, a clear characteristic of natural astaxanthin is that it is the only type of carotenoid that can pass through the blood-brain barrier. Eating shrimp sauce is quite beneficial to the body. Although shrimp sauce is rich in nutrients and can be consumed by most people, it is a volatile substance that is not suitable for people with chronic illnesses or during periods of internal heat; Elderly people suffering from allergic rhinitis, bronchitis, and recurrent allergic dermatitis should not eat too much shrimp sauce. Shrimp paste is generally used as a condiment and can be eaten in a variety of ways. It can be used not only for cooking, but also for dipping shredded scallions in the sauce with corn cakes. It can also be used for seasoning dishes, such as shrimp paste, tofu, shrimp paste, scrambled eggs, etc; Shrimp sauce is the most delicious when consumed in various fresh dishes and meat; Eating Noodles in soup with a little shrimp paste will have a special flavor; It can also be eaten raw or steamed as a dish; Dipping shrimp sauce with seasonal vegetables such as cucumber, scallions, radish, lettuce, spinach, etc. is known as the super delicious "spread shrimp sauce", which is the most delicious traditional food in Shandong. Especially, dipping scallions in shrimp sauce is a classic delicacy for Shandong people. The safety and hygiene indicators comply with the requirements of the shrimp sauce hygiene and safety regulations in "Shrimp Sauce SC/T3602-2002"

3. Quality regulations:

a. If all the inspection items meet the standard requirements, the batch is judged as qualified. The average net content of each batch shall not be lower than the standard indication

c. If one of the other inspection results is not qualified, it is allowed to double the sampling to recheck this indicator, and the batch of products will be judged as qualified based on the retest results

d. If two or more indicators are found to be unqualified in other inspection results, the batch of products shall be judged as unqualified

Tasting and Eating Methods of Sheep Mouth Shrimp Sauce

There are many ways to eat shrimp sauce. For making large dishes, you can stew tofu, and for lazy people, you can eat it raw by dipping scallions in shrimp sauce.

. The traditional way of eating is to stir fry shrimp sauce with eggs. Take a few eggs and beat them in a bowl to make egg mixture. Add an appropriate amount of shrimp sauce and scallions, and be careful not to add shrimp sauce as it is extremely salty. Stir the egg mixture and shrimp sauce evenly, add more scallions, add minced ginger and stir fry in a wok without adding salt. Stir fry until fragrant. You can also use this method to fry shrimp paste egg cake, or steam shrimp paste egg custard. In short, shrimp sauce pairs well with scallions and eggs, and of course, corn flour cakes are also a must-have. Combining these ingredients together is a perfect match. It should also be noted that shrimp sauce is a volatile substance, and those with chronic diseases or inflammation should not eat shrimp sauce. In addition, shrimp sauce has a high salt content and should not be consumed in large quantities