When grandma was still alive, she should be regarded as a candidate who could cook a little at home. Although most of the meals of the day are cooked by my mother, I remember that my mother occasionally cooks something, some of which are just like her original, so I never eat out, so I temporarily call it "my mother's exclusive private kitchen".

When I was a child, it was inevitable that one of the three children in the family had a cough, a cold and a fever. When the child is sick, the biggest headache for parents is to give medicine. It's no use telling the children that "good medicine tastes bitter and is good for the disease", so the aunt started taking the medicine from the source. There is a dish that I can't forget for a long time, and that is the medicated diet cooked by my aunt. It was originally used to treat our sore throat, but because we all feel delicious, we occasionally have a sore throat and let my aunt do it. This medicated diet has no name, so I call it "Dimei lean meatball soup" (Dimei is a hometown dialect, with many nicknames: Dimei, throat grass, star grass and so on. )。

Chinese medicine is very popular in our country, and we seldom go to the hospital to see a doctor. In those unpretentious Chinese medicine shops, there is often a respected old Chinese medicine practitioner who has a kind heart and has no doubt about his medical skills. My neighbor had a slight illness, so he went to the Chinese medicine shop, took several doses of Chinese medicine, took a few pills and took them back. In addition to Chinese medicine shops, we can sometimes see some old women selling some newly picked medicinal materials in the vegetable market. Honeysuckle, pitcher plant, houttuynia cordata and Hedyotis diffusa, including the plum blossom used by my aunt for medicinal diet, are also bought from the vendors of these old women.

I bought a bunch of fallen plums, which were messy and had some weeds on them. Aunt spent a third of the morning cleaning and separating those stems and leaves. The leaves of Prunus mume are small and round, and the leaves are serrated around them. At first glance, they are similar to weeds on the roadside. Then the aunt will take out the separated stalks and cook the soup, then pick them out, boil the leaves, then take them out and chop them with pork, add seasoning and stir them, then knead them into balls, and finally put them into the soup cooked with stalks before, and cook them into this "thin plum ball soup". Even if the plum is boiled and chopped, it tastes good. Embedded in the meat foam, it's a little rough and I can't say it. In addition, the artificially chopped meatballs are very elastic. This smell made me want to stop when I was a child. Let's talk about this smell again. The herbal fragrance of Prunus mume itself seems to bring the umami flavor to the meat. So far, the taste buds still remember the taste, sweet and delicious, and the boiled soup can drink several bowls! So this herbal medicine for sore throat has become a dish in my aunt's hand, but this dish is really seldom eaten. I can't get enough of it, and I remember it until now.

Being sick seems to be a good thing because of the delicious food. When you are sick as a child, you can ask for leave from school, which will be especially accommodating. So I don't think getting sick is a bad thing. Of course, a minor illness is a minor illness. If it's really serious, it's still physical suffering. However, the right medicine is always necessary. Not all the medicines are delicious when my aunt is ill. In most cases, there are too many bitter Chinese medicine soups, and even her ass will suffer. There is a second Chinese medicine practitioner in my family, who runs a pharmacy. Growing up, he saved a lot of medical expenses. Every time I was taken to a Chinese medicine shop in Bo Er by my aunt, I watched Bo Er grab all kinds of Chinese medicines one by one from a neat drawer. Faced with the smell of traditional Chinese medicine, many children have to cover their noses. I like it very much. There are also stethoscopes, abacus, small scales and weights for weighing medicines, mortar and pestle for researching medicines ... all of which were novel things for me when I was a child. Just looking at them when I see a doctor adds a little fun to my boredom.

These pictures of seeing a doctor as a child, as well as the pot of "lean meatball soup" cooked by my aunt, have been deeply imprinted in my mind for so many years. I don't know if I will have a chance to taste that taste again in the future. Maybe I can only find a time to do it myself. ...