The most famous wild vegetables in Jiangnan are shepherd's purse. There's a Song poem: Spring is the shepherd's purse flower in Xitou. The folk songs in the south of the Yangtze River sing: On March 3rd, shepherd's purse flowers compete with peony.

Which wild vegetables in the south are the most classic? ■ red candle

Cha Gong Naibao's "Ye Cheng Vegetables" has an entry of chrysanthemum leaves, which is estimated to be another title of chrysanthemum brain: "Wild chrysanthemum and September chrysanthemum at the same time, with small yellow flowers and fragrance. Its tender moss belongs to the vegetable family, with clustered vegetable beds, especially in spring and summer. Picking with dew, nails are fragrant. "It's cool and dizzy, and it's refreshing."

Chrysanthemum brain is probably the bud or branch of wild chrysanthemum. No wonder there is a bitter taste. Drinking a bowl of chrysanthemum brain soup makes you feel cool, as if you put a little tiger balm on your stomach, which can prevent heatstroke. Nanjing is one of the four major stoves, and the local people have a bowl of chrysanthemum brain soup at the bottom, which has more or less strengthened their resistance to the heat.

It seems that there are many people who are obsessed with the chrysanthemum brain in Nanjing. Gong Naibao belongs to an old-timer. He lived in a foreign land during the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty, "recalling the beauty of Jinling vegetables from afar, but not coveting them". He selected dozens of impressive ones and described them in different categories: "The foothills of Yecheng Mountain, where my home is located, are also famous for their names. Zhongshan Huaishui, the words return to the dream in front of the lamp; "A cigarette in the rain smells like incense on paper, and homesickness makes you feel better when traveling." In the book, Gong Weng also prayed devoutly: "One day, he will return to Baimen, become a neighbor in Wubang, buy half an acre of garden, farm a border, irrigate water for his relatives, and grow old. I wish to stop here." God promised. " In his mind, he is happy to return to Nanjing, have a private plot and be a vegetable farmer.

I can't say that there is no such simple desire in my heart. Especially in Beijing, after I was tired of eating tasteless Chinese cabbage, I thought about giving up like Tao Yuanming more than once, not bending my back for five buckets of rice, disarming myself and returning to the field, and forbearing the word "peace" in exchange for the "vegetable" book next door. Wild vegetables in my hometown have their own temptations. No wonder many vagrants, such as Zhou Zuoren and Wang Zengqi, have written excellent chapters on this topic. They all used this way to satisfy their cravings. I might as well try it today.

Alfalfa is also mentioned in Ye Cheng Shu Pu, which has a long history: "Historical Records" shows that horses in Dawan country are fond of calamus, which was made by the Han Dynasty and planted in the palace. Miscellanies of Xijing, also known as Huaifeng. Dry new green, beautiful color shines on people's brow. "Since the Tang Dynasty chanted it, it has become Mr. Guangwen's elegant style." Alfalfa, also known as Chinese milk vetch, is quite ornamental. Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, it is listed as food in the dish. I'm afraid in the local people's concept: plants that look good should also be delicious.

Zhou Zuoren wrote in his article "Wild Vegetables in Hometown": "There is also a wild vegetable that is often eaten when sweeping graves, commonly known as Caozi, commonly known as Ziyun. After harvesting, farmers sow in the fields and use them as fertilizer. It is a kind of plant that is despised, but it tastes delicious like pea seedlings when it is cooked with tender stems. The flowers are purplish red, and dozens of acres are continuous. They are splendid, such as covered with gorgeous carpets, which are very beautiful, and the flowers are like butterflies and chickens, which are especially popular with children. There are white flowers occasionally, which is said to cure dysentery. It is very precious, but it is not easy to get ... "

Nanjing people will not be unfamiliar with the name of alfalfa. When I was young, I lived in Wei Gang, outside Zhongshan Gate. There was a block called Alfalfa Garden since ancient times. Unfortunately, more and more houses were built, and almost no grass could be found. There is no alfalfa in the alfalfa garden. The rest of my life is late, as if I have never eaten this kind of wild vegetable that tastes like pea seedlings. Maybe I have, but it doesn't match the name. Alfalfa has never been sold in the vegetable market. Alfalfa, has it really disappeared from the vegetable basket of Nanjing people?

When I was in Nanjing, I often ate pea heads, namely pea seedlings. Yecheng Vegetable Spectrum calls it pea leaf: "People from Jinling Township regard Tanaka as the head of pea, which is especially fat and tender, slightly sweet and unique. "All meat and vegetarian restaurants prepare this product as a cup and spoon." My parents are also good at frying shredded pork after slicing a kind of water bamboo mentioned in Yecheng Vegetable Manual: "Water bamboo leaves are like reeds, and middle moss is also true. However, it is wrong to say that the moss is rice moss. It's right to say that those who don't eat are water bamboo. As thick as a child's arm, it is specially designed for kitchens. "Jinling people call it Linggua, and you can see how fat the moss is." This is a very common home-cooked dish.

Similarly, there is also Artemisia selengensis, who goes deep into the homes of ordinary people: "The seedlings are born in March and April, with flat leaves, bald and fat. Boiled broth is delicious, or it is also suitable to cure vegetarian food, which is a home-cooked food in my hometown. "If you don't eat it for a long time, you can use it occasionally, and it tastes better than ordinary vegetables." The taste of chrysanthemum morifolium is strange and can't be described in words. It makes the tip of your tongue slightly numb, but it is very appetizing.

The most famous wild vegetables in Jiangnan are shepherd's purse. There's a Song poem: "Spring is the shepherd's purse flower in Xitou". The folk songs in the south of the Yangtze River sing: "On March 3rd, shepherd's purse flowers compete with peony". The Book of Yecheng Vegetables says, "Vegetables are what poets see, but bamboo shoots wither Qin, which is the best": they are born in the fields, not afraid of ice and snow, and have a sweet taste. Dongpo's so-called treasure of nature is not content with five flavors, but the one who has the beauty of foreign flavor is also. A kind of dry leaves, the greener after ripening, commonly known as crispy rice. Another kind of disambiguation with broken leaves, which villagers call glutinous rice. "

Zhou Zuoren said that East Zhejiang used to stir-fry rice cakes with shepherd's purse. Wang Zengqi introduced the way to eat in Jiangsu: blanch shepherd's purse, chop it, mix it with dried fragrant herbs, add ginger rice, pour sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, or use dried shrimps, or not; This dish can be served as a cold dish at a banquet. Fold it into a pagoda shape by hand, push it down and mix well. As for Nanjing people, they also like to mix shepherd's purse with meat stuffing, make spring rolls, make wonton or jiaozi. Take a bite, and the fragrance will overflow.

"There has always been an elegant legend about shepherd's purse, but it seems to be dominated by Wu." (Zhou Zuoren's language) Shepherd's purse has become a symbol of spring in the south of the Yangtze River. It is the most fresh, and it needs to be picked, fried and sold now.

When I was a child, my mother took me to the foothills of Zijin Mountain for an outing. I always carried a small shovel and a bamboo basket, and squatted down from time to time to dig shepherd's purse by the roadside. I also like to rush to do this kind of work, and I am always as serious as an engineer digging mines. My mother stood by, praising my sharp eyes and dexterity, and promised to give me a good tooth sacrifice when I got home. This kind of sloppy and interesting labor itself seems to be more intoxicating than actually eating shepherd's purse in your mouth. Especially after many years, it makes me aftertaste. My mother is still in Nanjing, but she is very old. I miss my mother in a foreign land, and what comes to my mind is still her young face and posture when she taught me to dig shepherd's purse. Mother, when I come back to my hometown next time, I will definitely help you to visit the Purple Mountain and see if you can dig up the shepherd's purse in they are tall once more in the spring wind. See if you can still find the ethereal shadow of yourself or each other?

Shepherd's purse, because I dug it myself and my mother taught me to dig it, is closest to me emotionally. Although it also marks a period of time that can't be recovered like nature. I picked shepherd's purse, but lost my childlike innocence.

Malantou, who is as famous as shepherd's purse. Zhou Zuoren quoted a children's song in "Wild Vegetables in Hometown": "The shepherd's purse is Malantou, and my sister is married at the back door." There is an entry of Malan in Yecheng Vegetable Spectrum: "It is also a kind of wild vegetable, which grows along the Ce Tian River, and is quite different from other vegetables. He is a stranger to food. However, its flowers have long adorned sketches for painters. " You can cook and paint, which is a reward for elegance and vulgarity. Like a virtuous kannika nimtragol

Everyone knows that Lycium barbarum can be used as medicine, and the head of Lycium barbarum (that is, the tender leaves of Lycium barbarum) is a delicacy of Nanjing people. It is typical that medicine is better than food. "In the early spring, the tender moss is angry, and it is two or three inches long and fried, and it is cool and refreshing. Self-admiration, elegance is not related to the smell of fishy smell. Bitter and sweet, the olive in its fruit is also. "When the child is ripe in autumn, it is just red. Take it lightly and replenish qi." ("Yecheng Vegetable Spectrum") Wang Zengqi said that gouqi head can be fried with oil and salt, or boiled with boiling water, chopped, and mixed with sesame oil, sauce and vinegar, which seems to be more fragrant than shepherd's purse; Eating in spring can clear the fire. For example, people in the north eat endive, but I don't know what it is.

In Yecheng Vegetable Catalogue, there are only a few strokes about amaranth, which Nanjing people love to eat very much: "Today, there are two kinds of vegetables planted in vegetable gardens, red and green, which are smooth and pleasant. Long summer vegetables, cover one or two. It is better to plant it after autumn. "

Wang Zengqi has a good knowledge of purslane: it is very common to eat purslane in ancient China, and horse amaranth is mentioned side by side with human amaranth (namely red and white amaranth); Later, fewer people didn't know how to eat. He spoke from a national perspective.

In fact, in Nanjing, there are quite a few people who eat amaranth. It can even be said that every household loves it. I grew up with the snack amaranth. Especially the fried amaranth, the soup was dyed blood red, and it was like purple medicine. Put the vegetables into the rice bowl, the chopsticks tips will be dyed red, and the rice will also be dyed red. At that time, it was amazing to me. Like magic at the dinner table. I estimate that my lips are also dyed red, and spitting after a meal is also faint red.

I used to think: how nice it would be to dye cloth with amaranth; Open a printing and dyeing shop, save more pigments ... Amaranth, amaranth, bright as it is from a big dye vat, but it is imported from My Sweetie and delicious. The dish of amaranth became a palette, and I used a brush (actually chopsticks) to stir it around.

Following Gong Naibao's "Ye Cheng Shu Pu", there was another man named Wang Xiaofeng who wrote a book "Continued Ye Cheng Shu Pu". Because he recalled delicious food in the war and poverty, he laughed at himself: "When your index finger moves, the ink is heavy, and you don't despise eating meat, so you can chat and remember it." "I didn't know her face was delicious by continuing the spectrum."

He introduced sagittarius: "Qunfangpu is made of arrowhead mushrooms, which give birth to twelve sons at the age of one, and thirteen sons when there is a leap. There are many kinds of vicious ponds in Xuanwu Lake and Mochou Lake, such as taro, which tastes slightly bitter. "Materia Medica" says, it can pour stones and cure all kinds of poisons. Tender, greasy and smooth, the steamed duck cook the meat tastes very different. "Stewed chicken with chestnuts is pleasant, and I am also a cloud to a loving mother."

When Wang Zengqi was in his hometown in Jiangsu, he often drank pickled mushrooms soup. Later, once, he accompanied Shen Congwen to eat fried pork slices with mushrooms. Shen Congwen ate two slices of mushrooms and immediately felt: "This is good! Grids are taller than potatoes. " Wang Zengqi thinks that paying attention to "style" in eating vegetables is in line with Shen Congwen's language style. He stresses "style" in everything, including mushrooms and potatoes. The "case" here probably refers to character or style. The arrowhead mushroom is also round, but it is smaller than the potato, and it has a bitter mouth, like a naked skull tied with a braid. My hometown people vividly compare it to "the Qing Dynasty".

"Northerners don't know arrowheads. When I buy arrowhead mushrooms, someone always asks me,' What is this?' -'arrowhead mushroom'. -'What is arrowhead?' That's not easy to answer. "Wang Zengqi had such embarrassment in the vegetable market in Beijing. According to him, there are occasional mushroom sellers around the Spring Festival in Beijing. It must have been shipped from Jiangnan. Not to conquer northerners, but to comfort the "handful" of southerners who moved to the north.

The potherb mustard, which is supplemented by the book "Continued Yecheng Vegetable Spectrum", is preserved by Nanjing people every year: "The vegetables in deep snow are frozen and damaged, but they are different species that are only green and cover mustard. Living in Yongdong, the snow is delicious. Every mustard mushroom is boiled with salt water, which is fragrant and slightly added with sesame oil. Cold food is especially wonderful. Secondly, meat is also good. Pickling can protect against winter, and it will be hidden until next spring. It will be sour and fragrant in the urn, and it will be light yellow, with unique taste. "What I planted in my hometown has never changed its taste." People in Nanjing stir-fry shredded pork with mustard, stew edamame and soak rice (or porridge) in boiling water, which is very refreshing.

There is also a cooking method of gourd, which has been lost even in Nanjing. At least, if you ask all the restaurants, there won't be a chef who can cook this dish. It can only be kept on a piece of paper: "People in wuyue are living in Hulu, and the custom of Yongdong blooms day and night, and my hometown can be used as a soup. Shred the meat, and analyze the mixture into a delicious taste. Or gouge out the center, actually with minced meat, steamed for delicious, You Mei. Vegetarian food is also suitable. "

Then, let this ancient dish remain on paper forever. It is tantamount to letting us always keep an almost perfect imagination of it.

All the wild vegetables in Nanjing, in my imagination, are more attractive and more vital than in reality. Alas, the wild vegetables in my hometown are dying one after another, but they are alive in my imagination. Like time, they are immortal. If people also have their spiritual roots, they are my roots. I am actually looking for the roots when I write this article.

When I look for roots, I am as serious as an engineer digging mines. No, this metaphor is not appropriate enough. I should say I want to be more religious.