拥有壮美自然景观的山东，钟灵毓秀，美不胜收；拥有“孔孟之乡、礼仪之邦”美誉的山东，历史悠久，文化灿烂；拥有大气鲁菜和精致小吃的山东，热气腾腾，珍馐飘香……《In Shandong》原创英文系列视频，邀请外国友人一起品鉴山东的“颜值”“滋味”和“内涵”，一起走近勤劳聪慧的山东人。

　　In China, there are many places where people prefer spicy food,but a place like Zaozhuang is still rare because "Zaozhuang Spicy Chicken" has dominated locals' dining table for hundreds of years.Zaozhuang is located in the south of Shandong Province,close to Weishan Lake. Most of the locals preferspicy food because of the high humidity.

　　According to legend, in the late Qing Dynasty, in Lincheng County, Shandong Province, ( in Zaozhuang nowadays), there was a chef named Xu Zihua, who used to work as a royal chef in the palace, opened a restaurant after returning to his hometown and created "spicy chicken".The dishhas a spicy flavor, which made diners sweat but hard to resist. There was a saying,"The guests sit ten miles away, can still smell the fragrance of the chicken".Zaozhuang was the transportation hub of the North-South shipping lanes at that time, and there was an endless stream of merchants. Zaozhuang Spicy Chicken waspassedfrom mouth to mouth with general approval.

　　Till now, Zaozhuang spicy chicken is still a popular dish on the table of Shandong people.Zaozhuang spicy chicken is bright in color, spicyand fragrant, with traditional and exquisite workmanship, and strict ingredients.Genuine spicy chicken needs to be made with Zaozhuang local chicken, peppers and peppercorns.If two or three of the ingredients were replaced, the spicy chicken fried in Zaozhuang can only be counted as chili fried chicken, not the traditional Zaozhuang spicy chicken.In thisdish,the chicken and peppers go fifty-fifty, and the whole chickenis buriedby the peppers.This is by no means cutting corners because of the lack of chicken, in fact, in this dish, peppers and chicken are equally important.

　　Zaozhuang Spicy Chicken is a uniquelocal delicacy that carries food memories of generations.The custom of eating spicy chicken has been passed downfor 300 years.In 2016, Zaozhuang City was named "Hometown of Spicy Chicken in China".Zaozhuang spicy chicken cooking skills wereselected into the fifth batch of representative projects of Shandongprovincial intangible cultural heritagein 2021.

　　中国人擅长吃辣的地方并不少，但是像枣庄这样以一盘“枣庄辣子鸡”称霸餐桌几百年的却不多见。枣庄地处鲁南，濒临微山湖，可能因为湿度较大的原因，当地人大多能吃辣。

　　相传晚清时期，在山东临城县，也就是今天的枣庄薛城北，有一位叫徐子华的厨师，早年在宫中做御厨，晚年回老家开了一家饭馆，根据自己多年的经验，创造出了“辣子鸡”。他创造的辣子鸡辣中有香，辣而不过，吃起来虽满头大汗却欲罢不能，当时有句话赞扬徐子华做的辣子鸡“鸡香飘十里，客坐十里外”。枣庄当时为南北航运的交通枢纽码头，来往客商络绎不绝，枣庄辣子鸡在当时被传为美谈，为天下爱好美食之人所推崇。

　　直到今天，枣庄辣子鸡仍然是山东人餐桌上备受人们喜爱的一道菜。枣庄辣子鸡色泽鲜亮，香辣入味，做工传统且精细，用料非常严格。正宗的辣子鸡需要用枣庄本地特有的鸡、辣椒、花椒才能做出来。一旦替换其中两三样食材，即使在枣庄炒出的辣子鸡也只能算作辣椒炒鸡，而非传统枣庄辣子鸡。大盘辣子鸡中，鸡肉和辣椒各半，整整一只鸡放进去，却被辣椒“掩埋”。这绝不是因为缺少鸡肉而偷工减料，实在是这道菜中，辣椒与鸡肉并重，缺一不可。

　　枣庄辣子鸡是承载了几代人饮食记忆的乡土美食，是枣庄独树一帜的珍美肴馔。

　　300年来，食用辣子鸡的习俗不断持续延伸，2016年枣庄市被命名为“中国辣子鸡之乡”。2021年，枣庄辣子鸡烹饪技艺入选山东省第五批省级非物质文化遗产代表性项目名录。

　　橡果工作室出品

　　视频：周溪琳

　　文案、配音：武玮佳

　　策划：辛然

　　（部分素材来源：大众日报、齐鲁晚报、海报新闻）