Miao non-staple food includes meat and vegetables. Meat is mainly pork, including beef, mutton, chicken, goose, dog meat, fish, wild animals, eggs and products. Vegetables include Chinese cabbage, green vegetables, radishes, leeks, broadleaf vegetables, Dutch dishes, nest bamboo shoots, nest lettuce, celery, Chinese food, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins, loofah and other seasonal fresh beans. In Miao non-staple food, bean products, vegetable products and condiments also account for a certain proportion. Bean and vegetable products include tofu, fermented soybean, soybean paste, tofu, bean sprouts, sauerkraut, pickled spicy food, sour soup, spicy food and dried vegetables. In addition to salt, sauce, vinegar and other industrial products, there are Toona sinensis buds, pepper, pepper, fishing pepper, ginger, onion, garlic, coriander, fennel, dog meat, Polygonum hydropiper, tri-naphthalene and so on.
Food processing Food processing is mainly the processing of staple food, meat and vegetable products. Rice is usually shelled with stone chips or water mill, and the shells are used as pig feed. Corn is generally ground into corn paste. In recent years, most Miao people have processed corn and wheat into flour and made pancakes and other foods. Generally, corn seeds, buckwheat seeds, barnyard grass, sorghum and other foods can be ground, shelled and cleaned. After the Miao people kill pigs, they insert bamboo or iron bars from the hind hoof to the front scapula and ear roots along the lower limbs, blow air to swell the pigs, scrape the hair clean after soaking in boiling water, generally kill cattle and mutton, and then peel and flesh. Dog meat processing is basically the same as pork. Miao people like to eat tofu. Before the Chinese New Year holiday, wash, soak and soften soybeans into soybean milk, cook in hot pot, and add alum water or sour soup to tofu. Douchi is usually made by soaking soybeans until they are soft and ripe, then filtering them, wrapping them with "Douchi grass" and storing them in a sealed barrel for fermentation, then taking them out and mashing them, making them into cakes and drying them in the sun. Bean paste is made by boiling soybeans, scooping out soup and storing it in an altar. Every family can cook sauerkraut. Clean vegetables such as green vegetables, radishes and leeks. , drying in the sun, cutting into pieces, and mixing with glutinous rice flour, sweet wine, salt powder, etc. Stir well and seal in a jar for three to five days. It's bad and spicy. It is customary to wash the bright red pepper, chop it with ginger slices, mix it with sweet wine and salt powder, and seal it in a jar.
Miao people's staple food cooking is simple, and non-staple food cooking is exquisite. There are two kinds of rice: rice and rice. Indica rice is usually cooked in a pot until it is 70% mature, then filtered and steamed in a steamer. Generally, glutinous rice is soaked for 8 ~ 12 hours, then drained and steamed in retort. When cooking with a tripod, you usually put the rice in a tripod, hang it on a beam and cook it under a big fire until it is cooked. Corn and other miscellaneous grains are generally broken and shelled and cooked with rice. When cooking potatoes, potatoes and other miscellaneous grains, slice them and steam them with rice.
Miao people's recipes are relatively simple, including popular soup dishes, stir-fried dishes and cold salad dishes. There are four popular soups: clear water soup, stock soup, sour soup and oil soup. There are two kinds of stir-frying and water-frying, and there are two kinds of cold dishes: vegetarian cold dishes and oily cold dishes.
The cooking of popular soup is very simple. In hot summer, melons, beans, vegetables and other main courses are cooked, scooped out and cooled, and it becomes clear water soup, and seasoning is added when eating. There are two kinds of cooking oil soup. One is to cook the road vegetables and put lard in them. The second is to boil vegetable oil in a pot to let it ooze, and then put the vegetables after the water boils. Broth is usually a convenient dish for relatives and friends when they come in autumn and winter. Cut the lean meat well, put the meat slices down when the pot is boiling, and cook the dish until it is medium-cooked. Sour soup dishes are usually cooked first, and then a little sauerkraut, sour soup, rotten spicy and the like are added. Generally, it is a popular dish in hot summer or frozen season.
Cooking and side dishes are usually carried out in a large pot. After the oil is boiled, add ginger, rice, garlic and other seasonings and stir-fry the meat until it is cooked. Generally, stir-fry in water according to the above procedure, and then cook in water.
Among cold dishes, vegetarian cold dishes are the most common. Usually, coriander, fennel, houttuynia cordata and other spices are washed and chopped, and mixed with Chili powder and salt powder. In addition to the above condiments, oil salad is also mixed with seasonings such as oil pepper, sesame oil, peanut oil and sesame oil.
The main form of meal system and food-by-food system is ordinary meal system. All the family members use clay bowls to hold rice, and the whole family eats it together. Because of the cold terrain, a few areas do not produce indica rice, but only glutinous rice, so glutinous rice is the staple food. In the form of glutinous rice diet, a separate meal system is generally implemented. After the glutinous rice is cooked, spread it on the dustpan. There is a small dish or bowl in front of everyone, which contains dried vegetables such as sauerkraut. When eating, everyone eats with their own side dishes.
Generally, there are two meals a day in the off-season, breakfast at about ten in the morning and dinner after dark. There are usually three meals during busy farming hours, breakfast is usually around 7: 00 in the morning, Chinese food is usually around 2: 00 in the afternoon and dinner is usually around 8: 00 in the evening. Except for a few areas where there is a porridge and a dry meal during the slack season, most areas eat dry meals.
Miao people generally drink more soup. Usually, the boiled soup is put in a small pot and placed on the "three feet" of the "fire pond" and "Ghab jib dul" (meaning fire pit). A palm-sized thin wooden board is placed horizontally on the pot, which is called "pot bridge". On the "pot bridge", there is a "mala Tang" mixed with oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, pepper and other seasonings. When "red" and "white" are happy events, meat is usually cooked in a big pot, then sliced and put into small pots. Each pot serves as a table and everyone eats around it.
Miao people generally like to use "long tables" to entertain guests. A "long table" is a table with four legs, about 60 to 80 cm wide and about 150 to 230 cm long. When using the "long table" to treat guests, it is usually placed in the middle of the "main room". The table is filled with all kinds of soups and stir-fried dishes, meat and fish, and the wine glasses and bowls are filled with bowls or plates. Under normal circumstances, guests sit on the table on the right side of the door, the host sits at the inner end with his head crossed, and the people accompanying the guests generally sit on the table on the left side of the door. Inviting guests to dinner is generally a common dining system to show intimacy. In recent years, some Miao farmers have also adopted the "meal sharing system" and "public chopsticks system" when entertaining guests, but the customs and trends have not yet formed.
Miao people like sour and spicy. During the busy farming season, they go to work in the mountains. Pickled sauerkraut as an appetizer for lunch, the soup of the masses is sour, which can not only flavor, but also strengthen the stomach and produce fluid. In the freezing season in winter, you can eat sauerkraut with soup, and you can drink raw sauerkraut with well water in summer. The cooking is rotten and spicy, and it tastes delicious. So you can't live without acid, so there is a saying that you can't walk without acid for three days.
Miao people like to eat spicy food. Popular soup dishes are seasoned with "dip in water" prepared by peppers, stir-fried dishes are seasoned with peppers, and cold dishes are indispensable with Chili noodles.
Due to poor geographical conditions and high labor intensity, most Miao people use alcohol to relax muscles, promote blood circulation and eliminate fatigue, thus forming the habit of drinking. Every household can make their own koji and brew all kinds of sparkling wine, sweet wine and shochu. When guests arrive or hold wedding celebrations at home, they all regard wine as the highest etiquette for hospitality, and often brew village mash to entertain guests and friends. Miao people generally pour wine for their guests, and the wine is half full, and the host and guest exchange glasses to add wine; In the depths of wine, the host and guest will also sing wine songs for entertainment. On the occasion of inviting guests to drink, young women or newly married wives should sing flying songs and propose a toast to the guests with wine. On holidays, as long as you walk into Miao village, no matter which one you walk into, you can get drunk.
Glutinous rice plays an important role in Miao people's life. On holidays, glutinous rice or glutinous rice cakes should be eaten, relatives and friends should be presented with glutinous rice, sons-in-law should visit their parents-in-law for the first time, new wives should meet their parents-in-law, and even young men and women should use glutinous rice for free love, such as "sister rice" eaten in Shidong area of Taijiang, and glutinous rice is a natural matchmaker.
Flavor famous dishes
"Sour soup fish" is a famous dish of Miao nationality. There are two kinds of fish in sour soup, one is fish in sour soup with sour soup as the main ingredient, and the other is fish in sour soup with bad and spicy as the main ingredient. "Fish in Sour Soup" cuts the bile of fresh live carp, then cooks it in clear water mixed with sour soup and salt until it is half cooked, and then adds a little vegetables, leeks, Chinese cabbage or tofu to cook it together. Dip in "Chili water" and it will be delicious. "Oil-vinegar fish" is made by frying deteriorated spicy food in oil, putting it in clear water, cutting fish gall, cooking it in a pot, and sprinkling spices such as chopped green onion, Jiang Mo, pepper and Polygonum hydropiper. It is characterized by oil but not greasy, fresh taste and bright color.
"Green pepper fish" is also one of the famous dishes of Miao nationality. Cut the fish gall and boil it in boiling water. Put the order as soup in the boiling pot. Take out the fish, remove the bones, mash the meat, mix with the cooked and mashed green Chili sauce, and sprinkle with salt powder, pepper, chopped green onion, Jiang Mo, Polygonum hydropiper, etc. , especially delicious.
Grilled fish with citronella is an excellent traditional dish of Miao nationality. After eviscerating the live fresh fish, put it into a paste seasoning mixed with spices such as ginger, onion, garlic, pepper, pepper and sesame oil, tie it with citronella, paste it with yellow mud, bake it in a big fire, and peel off the yellow mud and citronella. When barbecuing, the sesame oil of citronella seeps into the fish, which is tender and fragrant, and has the effect of "beggar chicken".
"Pickled fish" cuts open the live fresh fish, takes out the internal organs, removes the salt powder and spicy noodles, and puts them on a hot pot or a fire pond until they are half dry. When friends and relatives come, take them out for steaming and slice them with scissors or a kitchen knife. It's also delicious.
"Dog meat soup pot" is a traditional Miao dish. Kill the dog, depilate it, wash it, chop it into small pieces, stew it with slow fire, spoon the soup into a small pot, put it on three feet, burn it with charcoal fire, and put the mixed "dog meat", tri-naphthalene, Polygonum hydropiper, coriander, fennel, sesame oil, pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, monosodium glutamate and spicy food into the pot.
"Soaking in water" is also one of the famous dishes of Miao nationality. There are two kinds of "soaked pork" and "soaked dog meat". When killing pigs in the New Year, chop up lungs, water, oil, brittle bones, and some fat meat and brain marrow, mix them with glutinous rice, pig blood and spices such as Polygonum hydropiper, pepper, tri-naphthalene and coriander to make a paste, add salt and pour them into the cleaned small intestine. After cooking, it becomes a kind of pig blood sausage, which is delicious and called "bubble". Inviting relatives and friends to have dinner together is called "eating out". "Dog blood soaked in water" is basically made in the same way as "pig blood soaked in water".
Jiaohua Chicken is a traditional Miao cuisine. Generally, after the chicken is slaughtered, the internal organs are taken out, the prepared seasoning is stuffed, the chicken feathers are all wrapped in wet mud, and they are put into the fire for barbecue. After roasting, the mud is cut and the hair is removed, making it a delicious "beggar chicken". This dish is not popular, only some Miao people in Taijiang, Leishan and Danzhai counties can cook it.
"Fish sauce" is a traditional condiment of Miao nationality and a traditional famous dish. It is usually made by putting the caught small fish in a spicy and salty jar and sealing it for one year. It can be used as a special delicious steamed food, and it can also be used as a seasoning for popular soup.
In addition, Miao people in Congjiang, Rongjiang and Liping counties like to make "lampblack fish", and the production method is the same as that of Dong people.