In the cold season, what I miss most is often a bowl of steaming chicken soup.

In the market center of F-7 district in Islamabad, there is a dining area nicknamed "Mantianxing", which is actually just some chairs scattered around, surrounded by some snack bars selling fast food in a circle. These snack bars sell all kinds of improved western food, and of course there are Ba-style meatloaf patties. What tastes good and distinctive is drinks. In summer, it is cool soda water and sweet mango juice. In winter, it is chicken corn soup.

Corn chicken soup is a very popular snack here, and its price is extremely low. In winter, from the snack bar in the market, to the barbecue stall set up by NUML's MBA in Rawal Lake Park for business practice, to the cafeteria in the school, there are shadows of corn chicken soup everywhere. Even in the only two Pizza Huts here, even the "chicken paste and cream mushroom soup" has been replaced by "corn chicken soup".

I still remember the famous eggplant in A Dream of Red Mansions. In Xifeng's half-ostentatious description, Granny Liu was astounded. "An eggplant needs dozens of chickens to match it." China always seems to have a problem with chickens in his diet. Whatever you cook, pay attention to the use of broth-broth is chicken soup. And stewed chicken soup also has a variety of exquisite, often put all kinds of precious herbs in the soup with stew. The last bite of Huang Chengcheng's chicken soup was filled with various essences, so it was regarded as infinitely nourishing. The chicken soup that nurtures people is often regarded as synonymous with feelings. In the novels and movies that describe the love between husband and wife, you can often see the scene that the wife serves her husband a bowl of chicken soup made by herself. The elders often express their love for the younger generation through chicken soup (sometimes it is not enough to drink soup, but also to eat a chicken thigh). In the past, when I was in Nanjing, I went back to my grandmother's house every week, and my grandmother always stewed chicken soup. After all, we are old people, and we often forget to put salt in the soup. At that time, we were full of thoughts about losing weight, and we were choosy about not eating this and that, and often used various reasons to avoid the bowl of chicken soup after dinner. Legend has it that chicken soup is anti-cold, so it is often drunk in winter, especially after nine, and when you study hard or feel a little uncomfortable. Now you live alone in school, you can only prepare the medicine in advance when you catch a cold, boil a pot of water and put it on the bedside with a cup, and then wrap yourself in a quilt and wait for your throat to hurt a little. At this time, I think that when someone gave us chicken soup, they were picky everywhere, which is the so-called youth.

There are too many associations and thoughts about the bowl of golden and clear chicken soup, so I always want a bowl of corn chicken soup whenever I have the chance in Islamabad. Although it is also called chicken soup, corn chicken soup is completely different from domestic chicken soup: the whole chicken is cooked with white water with only salt and ginger, the meat is torn into small strips, and it is cooked with beaten egg flowers, corn kernels, salt and pepper. Soup is thick, so it is sticky and thick. When you drink it, you actually dig it with a spoon. After several times of cooking, the chicken is often burned, and because of the pepper, it burns hot and painful all the way from the esophagus to the stomach. When Pakistanis drink corn chicken soup, they usually add vinegar, Chili oil and soy sauce to the soup, stir it up and make it into a bowl with a deep crimson color. God knows what it tastes like.

I always think that making soup is the most delicate and beautiful kind of cooking. It's not difficult to make soup. As long as you have enough sincerity and patience, you can always make a good finished product, and with a little selfish consideration, whether it's frying, baking or frying, it will produce oil smoke that tastes strange and hurts your skin, and the kitchen utensils are jingling and noisy, which is not so quiet and beautiful.

I still remember a friend who once described to me the life he yearned for, that is, he could make breakfast for the people he loved, and cut all the toast and fried eggs into loving shapes. And what I yearn for should be to stew a pot of chicken soup for them-in this increasingly fast-paced and noisy world, only those who really cherish can spend a lot of time on them. The corn chicken soup in Pakistan is stewed in advance and served in a huge iron pot. When the guests want it, they put a bowl on it and serve it slightly hot. This kind of chicken soup is rough and simple, and it is a substitute for homesickness.

When Cantonese food was popular in those years, many soup houses suddenly appeared in the streets. Soybean pig's feet and old duck with bamboo shoots, although there are wild mushrooms of Lycium barbarum and Gastrodia elata in the ingredients, are rich in varieties and, in all fairness, have a good taste. But the real good soup is always cooked for one person at home, not afraid of trouble and complexity, and the love and human feelings can't be bought in the store.

and when I get home, I'll drink chicken soup, no matter whether there is salt or not, no matter how much oil there is, I will definitely drink it all at once.