越地滋味醉鱼香

陈荣力

（一）

越地盛产黄酒，闻名遐迩，其实白酒（烧酒）也堪称翘楚，只不过在黄酒的盛名之下，白酒难免有灯下黑的尴尬。就像水袖翩翻、嗲糯缠绵的越剧声名遐迩，高亢炽烈、激昂奔放的绍剧少有人识一样。

越地白酒的原料主要有兩种：一是做黄酒的副产品酒糟;一是种植的高粱（粟）。无论是酒糟的糟烧，还是高粱的粟烧，两者皆具香醇、浓烈、热辣的品性。

与黄酒相比，糟烧和粟烧还有一个重要的特点——不易变质。也缘了上述品性，在越地，糟烧和粟烧除了饮用以外，也是制作醉族菜品的主要辅料。如果说糟烧、粟烧是越地醉族菜品得以笑傲一方江湖的点铁成金之指，那么后者亦似打坐的蒲团，让糟烧和粟烧静修百炼钢化为绕指柔的造化。而两者因果机缘的融合，我以为最具代表性的当数醉鱼干。

越地本是水乡泽国，又毗邻杭州湾，水产、海鲜众多，醉族菜品的谱系远比霉族、臭族菜品来得丰富。在醉族菜品中，醉虾、醉蟹、醉泥螺为活醉生吃，需以吃惯了的“肚货”为前提，否则上吐下泻是分分钟的事。而醉鸡、醉鸭、醉猪肚等是烧熟了的熟醉，安全是安全了，但与活醉相比，鲜度却打了折扣。惟有醉鱼干，既是剖了就醉的活醉，又是蒸了才吃的熟吃，鲜活和安全两全其美，且醉鱼干的保存期又长。所以在越地的醉族菜品中，醉鱼干恰似一艘未曾停歇的夜航船，在越地乃至江南更多地域的餐桌和食客的舌尖，活络络地往来着。

（二）

1928年1月，32岁的胡愈之因在前一年上海“四·一二”政变中与郑振铎、冯次行、章锡琛、周予同、吴觉农等人写了义正辞严的“抗议信”，遭到国民党当局的迫害，被迫流亡法国。临去国前，胡愈之回到故乡——越地的绍兴上虞。得知胡愈之将赴法，开明书店的一帮老友夏丏尊、章锡琛、叶圣陶、周予同、章克标等人，便聚在上虞春晖中学白马湖畔夏丏尊的平屋里为胡愈之饯行。那场饯行是凝重的，夏师母怕也端出了乡间最好的菜，而此中最让入座者一饱口福、津津乐道的，是夏师母自己做的醉鱼干——这是早些年我写《大道之行——胡愈之传》时，从圣陶老的公子叶至善先生的回忆文章中扒来的桥段。

其实即便不是为胡愈之饯行这样凝重的场合，醉鱼干也时常是当年平屋里的佳肴。那时，朱自清、丰子恺、朱光潜、杨贤江等人在春晖中学教书时都不带家眷，唯一带家眷的只有夏丏尊。夏师母好客又要面子，于是当朱自清等一拨时不时来平屋蹭酒蹭饭时，总要想方设法为大家端上一盘既能佐酒又可下饭的醉鱼干。

（三）

我不知道当年夏师母做的醉鱼干用的是什么鱼，应该会是青鱼吧。青鱼是做醉鱼干最好的原料，白马湖又盛产青鱼。

与其他的醉族菜品相比，做醉鱼干最要紧的便是原料的选择。圆滚滚、实墩墩的青鱼，之所以是做醉鱼干最好的原料，在于青鱼品性彪悍、劲大力足，为水中一霸，又以螺蛳和小鱼小虾等活物为生。彪悍和劲霸，让青鱼的纤维特别结实细腻;而以活物为食，则使其肉质肥嫩和油润。

往往一盘青鱼做的醉鱼干甫一上桌，但见玉白的瓷盘中，一爿手掌大小的暗红闪着金黄的油泽，那暗红胜琥珀如红檀，在油泽的裏挟中若一团盘踞的炭火，映得那袅袅弥漫的甜馨和鱼香，似乎也有了颜色。

甜馨和鱼香愈来愈浓，两颊生津和垂涎盈舌是早已抑制不住的事。迫不及待地搛一筷醉鱼干放入口中，先是甘洌的鱼香带着酒味的芳醇，接着是油润的甜糯渗着细微的咸鲜。鱼香、芳醇、甜糯和咸鲜并不就此蛰伏、打住，相反随着齿舌的吮嚼、味蕾的搅和，鱼香散了又拢，芳醇若有若无，甜糯方占C位，咸鲜又喧宾夺主。

在如此糅合交融、滋合重生的浸淫、诱激里，食道舒了，筋脉张了，肠胃通了，丹田畅了，甚至血液和细胞里都印染了醉鱼干的馨香，挥之不去。“宁可抛弃三分田，不可错过醉鱼干。”老话对醉鱼干美味的形容，当不是诓语。

（四）

越谚对看似简单实则不易的事，有一句形象的描述，叫“看看蛮灵清，做做累煞人”，这句话用在醉鱼干的制作上也颇贴切。

醉鱼干的制作方法并不复杂，通常是将鱼剖鳞刮了，洗干净后拿一个放得下鱼身的容器，撸一遍粗盐，倒上糟烧或粟烧，再放点桂皮、生姜、茴香腌醉上几天。尔后挑一个晴朗的天气，将鱼晒或晾干了即成。这看似简单的制作中，有一个关节几乎决定着成败，那就是时间的把控，尤其是对天气的选择。

一般来说，做醉鱼干只能是在冬季。春季鱼还是苗;夏秋两季多雨潮湿，鱼干易发霉生蛆;而只有冬季，塘干鱼肥了，呼呼的西北风又带来冷冽干燥天气的时候，醉鱼干才有了粉墨登场的条件和舞台。

然而同样是在冬季，阴晴雨雪的日子并不固定，因此什么时候腌醉、哪个辰光晒晾，腌醉、晒晾多久，这些都得对天气有个基本的预测，并根据预测有个倒置的安排。甚至太阳下晒几天，串风处怎么晾，是晾在上风口还是下风口，皆须根据鱼的大小和天气随机应变。往往太阳下晒得多了或串风处晾得久了，醉鱼干便发硬发韧，让人嚼得皱眉头，反之则起腻发黏极易变质。

当然上述做法虽规范严谨，却也并非是制作醉鱼干的金科玉律。也有随意的，如扛了一顶小扳罾（zng）往门口的河道里一放，半天下来，两三寸长的小鲫鱼、小白条、柳刀鱼等装了半筘籀（ku zhu）。吃不完怎么办，草草地掐了肚也不去鳞，抓一把粗盐倒半碗粟烧随便腌了，尔后趁一个猛太阳，暴晒一两天，那蒸出来的小鱼干肉虽不多，但咸鲜、香醇、耐嚼，同样别具一番风味。

（五）

一方水土孕育一方风物，无论是名流大伽沽酒论诗的盘中佳肴，还是百姓草根填肚下饭的碗里之爱，大凡有特色的菜品，既是智慧、经验的结晶，一定程度上也是天人合一的产物。而这样的天人合一，除了制作的机缘与造化，自然也包括情感的追念和契合。

多年前的一个年末，我赴沪拜访女作家程乃珊。乃珊老师乃海上名媛，又是大孝之女，当时她年已九十、长于上虞小越的老母尚在世。出于礼节，我带了产于上虞白马湖的醉鱼干。从沪上返还的第二天，乃珊老师即发来一个电子邮件：昨天老母尝了白马湖醉鱼干，高兴了一夜。她说离开家乡七十多年，又吃到了家乡的醉鱼干，就像又回到了童年一样，真的太好了。乃珊老师往生已愈六年，先她而走的老母在离去之前尚能一慰乡愁，这无疑是醉鱼干的功劳。

記忆里总有这样的画面历久弥新：一个越地的小镇，长巷短弄，乌瓦粉墙，一座古朴的台门临河而栖。台门的西厢房里，一张暗红的四方桌靠窗搁着，窗外是杨柳倒垂、石桥玲珑、流水清澈的河道。黄昏降了下来，小方桌上随意放了花生、螺蛳和几碟小炒，一大盆暗红油泽的醉鱼干置于中间。黄酒温了上来，四方桌前的一老一少端起酒杯浅浅对酌，一筷醉鱼干入口，前朝往事、乡俚旧闻随着醉鱼干的馨香悠悠荡漾。此时窗外有返归的农船“伊呀”的橹声，屋内有暖黄的夕阳透过窗棂慢慢淡去，醉鱼干的馨香一直沉浮着，似乎愈发地浓了……

民以食为天，在越地、在江南，那堪称醉族旗幡一样的醉鱼干，或许能让你深谙“食为天”的真味。

Eastern Zhejiang is famed for yellow wine， but in my opinion the spirits produced in this part of the province are equally good. Unfortunately， the spirits are overshadowed in reputation by the yellow wine. The major ingredients for the strong distilled alcoholic drinks in the province are distillers grains left over from making yellow wince and sorghum. The spirits of eastern Zhejiang are hard yet mellow， hot and strong. Something they have in common is that they dont go bad easily. Thats why they are often used to marinate food.

In eastern Zhejiang， shrimps， crabs and mud snails are often steeped alive in spirit for varying periods before they are served as a delicacy. Chickens， ducks and pork tripe are cooked before they are marinated with wine and served.

In my opinion， the best of all the food processed with a strong alcohol in various ways is fish steeped in spirit first and then dried for storage and future consumption. Other alcoholically processed foods are usually consumed immediately or good for short-time storage. The fish steeped in spirit and then dried is meant for long storage period. The reputation of the dried marinated fish goes back to a long time ago.

There is an anecdote about the dried and marinated fish as a delicacy. In January 1928， Hu Yuzhi， then 32， was to go into exile due to political persecution by the authorities. Before he left for France， he came back to visit his relatives in Shangyu， then a rural county of Shaoxing in eastern Zhejiang. Hu visited a group of friends who were teachers at Chunhui Middle School on White Horse Lake in Shangyu. A farewell dinner was given in honor of Hu Yuzhi. The best dish at the dinner was a plate of marinated and dried fish. Ye Zhishan， the son of Ye Shengtao who was present at the farewell dinner， mentioned the fish in his memory of his father. Apparently， Ye Shengtao had reminisced about the dinner and the fish privately to his son a long time ago.

The black carp is best for making the dried marinated fish. It is a voracious creature feeding on snails and mussels. The dried marinated black carp looks fine and tastes fine. A gourmet can spend a long time explaining how to appreciate such a delicacy and discussing every detail of the delicacy.

It is not complicated to make a dried marinated fish. Remove all the scales and gut and clean the fish before the fish is placed into a vessel large enough to contain it. Apply and rub crude salt evenly to the fish and pour spirit onto the fish and add spices such as Chinese cinnamon bark， ginger， and aniseed. The fish stay submerged in the spirit for a few days. Then pick a fine day and dry the fish. Winter is the best time to process the black fish.

But the black fish is not the only species that can be marinated in spirit and then dried. Small fish can also be processed in the same way and then dried for a day or two before it is steamed and served.

Years ago， I went to Shanghai and visit Cheng Naishan， a woman writer of national renown. Back then， her mother， over 90 years old， was still alive. Her mother was from Shangyu. I brought some dried marinated fish as gift to Cheng. One day after I returned home， I received an email from Chen Naishan. Cheng said her mother enjoyed the fish very much and was so happy that she couldnt sleep for a night. The 90-year-old said she had been away from home for more than 70 years and after eating the dried marinated fish， she felt as if she had been home again. She said she was really happy. I was happy after learning about this.