"Zhou Ba Yang" refers to eight kinds of wild vegetables growing on the sandbanks along the Yangtze River. It is a typical Yizheng flavor. Of course, it is also found in other places adjacent to the Yangtze River. The eight specific varieties of Zhou are: Artemisia, asparagus, celery, malantou, silver carp moss, wild wild rice, lotus root, and purple fungus. The last two are said to no longer exist, so they are gradually being replaced by wolfberry heads and chrysanthemum brains. Wild vegetables like silver carp moss are probably rare to begin with. I asked a lot of local people, but almost no one could tell what they were like. Some of the younger ones had actually never heard of it. So it seemed that this one could not be counted among them, so shepherd's purse replaced it openly.
Originally, Chinese toon is also a famous local wild vegetable. However, firstly, Chinese toon is a tree, which is quite far from the word “vegetable”. Secondly, Chinese toon rarely grows by the water, so Let’s choose shepherd’s purse. However, as a result, the varieties of Zhouba that are popular on the market today are quite different from those of old, and we can only feast on the new varieties.
There is a poem by Su Dongpo called: "The ground is full of artemisia and the reed buds are short, it is the time when the pufferfish is about to come up." In this poem, three kinds of river delicacies are mentioned, namely artemisia and asparagus. , and puffer fish. I once said in "Jiang San Xian" that in my personal mind, Jiang Xian is not just the living creatures swimming in the water, but also the distinctive wild vegetables growing on the river banks should also be included in the list of river delicacies. fresh category. Although the word "fresh" is literally composed of "fish" and "sheep", its meaning does not only refer to animals. What's more, a banquet with the theme of "River Food" would seem incomplete if there were only fish, shrimps, crabs, turtles and other fresh fishes in the water without some wild vegetables from the sandbank as embellishments. Of course, this is just a personal opinion, and most people may not agree with it, but that doesn't matter.
Wormwood is similar in shape to Chrysanthemum chrysanthemum, but the leaves are finer and the stems are more slender. When using in dishes, take only the stems. After removing the leaves, cut into pieces that are more than an inch long. If the stems are a little tough, you can tear off the outer skin. After washing, it can be served cold or stir-fried.
The salad is very simple. Blanch the artemisia in boiling water, drain the water, add salt, monosodium glutamate, minced garlic, sesame oil, mix well and serve. Ingredients can be added when stir-frying, such as dried fragrant pork, bacon, sausage, shredded pork, etc. It is best to add salt to the oil pan before frying, so as to keep the green color and shape of the artemisia from wilting. The flavor of artemisia is mainly fresh and crisp, leaving a fragrant aroma on the teeth and tongue after chewing.
When we were young, we used to tear off the petioles of sweet potato vines and fry them as vegetables. From the appearance point of view, the sweet potato vines on the plate are very similar to the mugwort, and the taste is crisper and tender. However, the sweet potato vines are a bit sour, so they are not as refreshing as the mugwort. In addition, according to Mr. Shen Congwen, the "quality" of sweet potato vine is not as high as that of artemisia.
The asparagus in Zhoubaxiang is the young sprout of reed, which is probably the "reed sprout" in Su Dongpo's poem, but it is not the latest style that looks like a writing brush on the market today. This kind of bamboo shoots, called asparagus, looks not much different from bamboo shoots when they grow in the ground. But in fact, the bamboo shoots of this kind of bamboo shoots have a thicker coating, but the flesh of the bamboo shoots is very thin and very tender. .
The asparagus season is very short, usually only half a month. After this period, it will be gone, so you have to be in a hurry to eat asparagus. Asparagus is usually eaten by frying the meat slices and adding chives. The fried asparagus is as fat and white as nephrite, delicious, sweet, and plump and smooth in the mouth, without the fibrous feel of bamboo shoots at all. In addition, asparagus can also be used as an ingredient, such as puffer fish stew, catfish stew, duck stew, beef vermicelli stew...
There is now a processed and vacuum-packed fresh asparagus on the market. , but no matter how it is vacuum-packed or kept fresh, it is undoubtedly much inferior to freshly picked asparagus in terms of color, flavor, and flavor.
I ate a kind of wild vegetable called "Pucai" in a small restaurant in Shiyezhou under the Runyang Bridge. It also looks like bamboo shoots, but there are only one round of bamboo shoots. , no bamboo shoot meat. At the time, I thought this was the so-called asparagus, but later I heard someone in the restaurant say that it was the buds of cattails. Cattails are also what people in our hometown call water candles. In my impression, as soon as water candles are unearthed, they have already separated into flat sword leaves. How can there be such bamboo shoots? Could it be that this cattail is really over the top? Asparagus at that time, but I can’t be sure, it’s yet to be tested. If this cattail is indeed another specialized variety, it can be added to the revised eight varieties of Zhou.
According to my understanding, the so-called continental celery is actually water celery. This kind of wild vegetable is very wild and can often grow in patches. Therefore, among the eight species of continental celery, it is one of the least valuable. Role. This kind of dish is sometimes made in the cafeteria of our unit, usually fried fennel leaves with cress. It is said that cress has high medicinal value, especially for high blood pressure. Unfortunately, it has a very special smell. I don't like it very much, so I don't like to eat this dish.
Malantou is one of my favorite wild vegetables. Not to mention in Yizheng, in other places in the past, whenever I saw Malantou, I would try to get a good meal. There is another story in it. You can write a separate article in the future, so I will omit it here for now.
Compared with cultivated wild rice, wild wild rice is very small, and some are as small as bamboo shoots. In terms of making dishes, it is no different from ordinary wild rice, except that it is "more natural. Greener", and of course the price is higher.
Wolfberry is a small shrub whose fruit is a valuable Chinese medicinal material. The young leaves of this small shrub can be eaten as wild vegetables. In fact, wolfberry does not grow near rivers, but usually on wasteland on hillsides. If it is not artificially planted, it is rarely grown on a large scale, so it is not very convenient to pick a sufficient number of wolfberry heads. The eating method of wolfberry head is roughly the same as that of mugwort, malan head, etc. It is nothing more than cold dressing and stir-frying. However, when cooking wolfberry head, you need to add some light soy sauce, and the taste is slightly bitter.
The chrysanthemum brain was originally the tender core of a wild chrysanthemum, but now the chrysanthemum brain can only be regarded as "wild but not wild", because in Yizheng locality, rural people have generally put it in front of the door and behind the house. Planted in open spaces. Moreover, the plant of chrysanthemum has a strong vitality. After being planted one year, it will continue to grow and flourish in the future. Not only will it die in winter and bloom in spring, but it will also grow from new buds in spring to blooming in autumn. It can be picked repeatedly in the middle. The more you pick, the more you will get from the core. It can be said that "the more wild vegetables you pick on the roadside, the more prosperous they are"!
Chrysanthemum brain and egg drop soup is the most representative way to eat it. According to data, it is not only rich in nutrients, but also has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, regulating appetite and lowering blood pressure. It is the best way to prevent heatstroke and clear fire in summer. Excellent product. Because of this, people here are very fond of chrysanthemum brain. Several of my colleagues like to drink egg drop soup cooked with chrysanthemum brain.
When cooking chrysanthemum brain soup, you must control the heat. Well-cooked chrysanthemum soup has green chrysanthemum leaves and golden egg blossoms. It is fragrant and sweet with a slight bitterness, which is very similar to the "character of tea". But if it is overcooked, the soup will turn dark green, and the egg drop will not only "wither", but also foam, which is very unsightly, and the taste will be bitter and astringent, which is not only difficult to arouse people's appetite, but also a bit unpleasant to drink.
The last one is shepherd's purse. The most common shepherd's purse in restaurants is also served cold. But the shepherd's purse that is served cold is different from other cold dishes. It is not only chopped very finely, but also mixed with fine diced dried tea leaves. What is even more different is that the shepherd's purse always has a special shape when it is served on the plate. The chef fills the mixed shepherd's purse into a special mold in advance. Some of these molds are barrel-shaped, some are triangular, and some are six-pointed stars. The cold dishes are stuffed into the mold, pressed into shape, and then removed from the mold and put on a plate. Then various embellishments are added around it, making it so beautiful that you can't bear to eat it. However, shepherd's purse tastes a bit hairy and not as tasty as Malantou.
Dumplings stuffed with shepherd’s purse are the best among dumplings. Blanch the shepherd's purse, drain, chop, add mushrooms, green onions or leeks, you can also add some scrambled egg slices, or add minced meat directly, mix well. It is best to mix the flour yourself. The finished dough in the market is not very good and too thin.
Shepherd's purse dumplings are suitable for boiling. When the feast comes to the end, it is a great dish to serve as a staple food. It will not only relieve fat but also fill your stomach!
If I have the chance, I really want to have a wild vegetable feast. The ideal recipes are: Stir-fried sausages with wormwood and artemisia, clay pot with asparagus and minced meat vermicelli, stir-fried celery with fenugreek, cured horseradish head, fungus and wild wild rice, Cold wolfberry head, chrysanthemum brain and egg drop soup, and boiled dumplings stuffed with shepherd's purse. There are stir-fried, cold, stewed, soup, and staple food. There are also meat and vegetable combinations, red, yellow, green, white and black, all kinds of colors are available. Everyone who wants to sit down will come again Half a catty of aged flower carvings, hey - "What more could I ask for"!