Fava beans, also known as Hu beans, bonnet beans, Buddha beans, belong to the annual legume family, the corolla white or light purple, with black spots. The origin of the name of the broad bean has had a variety of claims: the Yuan Dynasty agronomist Wang Zhen in the "Book of Agriculture" said: "silkworms, such as ripe, so the name"; the Ming Dynasty famous medical doctor Li Shizhen in the "Food Materia Medica" that "pods such as the old silkworms, so the name."

Mixed food 16: the old Hu beans

Mulberry fields between the side of the beans, for the ancient method of farming, from the south of the Yangtze River to the Bashu land are the same. To be over the summer into the fall, broad bean stalks, pods are withered for the dark brown, collected in the field of sun-drying to play down, is the grains of the round, with a light tea dark brown shell of the old Hu beans.

Being known as "the soul of Sichuan cuisine" of Sichuan Pixian bean paste, that the main material in addition to the real estate two thorns of chili pepper for the sauce, followed by this is the hu bean paste. This bean paste system, that fermentation, long mold, drying, turning the cylinder and other processes of all kinds, view, it is said to be quite frightening.

Grandmother had seen one in the countryside, and after returning home, she never ate the bean paste and the burnt vegetables. When I was a teenager, a bowl of white rice to steal a spoonful of red bean paste, you can plan to enjoy, light bowl to the sky, so how to not understand, but also have a scruple, do not dare to look to think of that bean paste how to make out. Eat meat to eat when, have to think of that animal was killed poking all kinds of bad, to the people on the animal, probably are cruel right.

The old Hu beans system method of eating method is also very much. Hours, the countryside has a New Year's homemade "sand Hu beans". Large frying pan, beans buried in sand and frying, for a heat transfer uniformity, will not fry paste. Stir-fried beans, more than will crack a small mouth, good peeling, crunchy mouth. The children grabbed a handful of sand Hu beans, bulging stuffed coat pockets and ran out the door, will soon be followed by a group of small friends, together with the half of the street to stroll tasteful.

Dry beans and sand of course can also be fried, but directly fried out of the name, called a "Iron Bean". This kind of bean peeling and food have to and take some effort, teeth gnawing teeth grinding half a day, but also another flavor. Childhood playmates have incisors missing a small piece, is to worship this bean, so think of this "iron" word, called a really good.

Chongqing has another product is also made of Hu beans, said "strange flavor Hu beans". Is wrapped in a layer of flavored batter deep-fried beans, the inside is crispy golden, but the flavor is all in this bean outside the batter, there are hemp, spicy, fragrant, crispy, sweet, salty seven. Crisp and sweet and salty is the entrance to know, but also unusual, the wonderful thing is that the hemp and spicy is the backhand. The more you eat the more spicy, the more you eat the more numb, mouth hush, hand but do not want to stop.

When I was young and away from home, the most I missed was this strange flavor of Hu Beans. In Urumqi, a comrade brought a packet back to visit his family, stuffed in the pocket of his coat, walking in the snowy road of the military compound under the carp mountain, walking walking hand itchy. Take off the gloves and pull out the open cupped, one grain at a time to the mouth, fingers frozen stiff. Eating while walking, spicy and numb mouth whistling sigh, spit out a cloud of white mist, in front of the eyes is a white earth, forests, roofs and roads. That flavorful scene, now remember.

Fried beans, Jiangnan and "orchid beans" and "jade belt beans", the name has some meaning. The name has some meaning. The orchid bean is good to understand, probably refers to the water hair after deep frying that bean petals like orchids it. The jade with beans but let a person quite a bit of brain, look at the grain bean waist to stay on the circle of brown bean skin to understand, dumbfounded between, think it is really hard, in fact, the taste is flat.

Or Xinjiang dry, called a "fried soybean". Dabancheng Hui Hui "fried soybeans" is the most famous, put some garlic cloves in the oil with the frying, and then sprinkled with salt, really fragrant and crispy and crunchy. Throw a few grains into the mouth, wide open with a dry and strong, then feel not to tilt your head and float on a big white really sorry people. This is the best thing to do with wine, and I haven't tasted it in years.

Fried and fried outside the cooking, and then there is a boiled. Boiled beans in the famous fennel beans, this reputation and a novel is very much related. "Kong Yiji arrived at the store, ...... said to the cabinet: warm two bowls of wine, want a dish of fennel beans. Then he discharged nine big money". Lu old man this a "row" word, really used out of the charm, marvelous.

Fennel beans are soaked in water, just out of the shoots, that is, add fennel, cinnamon, salt and other seasonings, slow cooking over a gentle fire, to be dry out of the pot of water will become. Its color tea green, bean skin slightly wrinkled, tough and soft chewy in the mouth, fragrant and sweet, with a small mouth to drink a class of Shaoxing Huadiao, is also a perfect match. When I sat idly in the Shaoxing Xianheng Hotel bench tasted, is good. Just that the beans in the dish gradually less, the ear is always floating out of a "not more not more! Not much, not much! Not much also", heart secretly smile.

Shaoxing is called Hu beans Luo Han beans. And then to the east of Zhejiang Ninghai, Sanmen area, but also Japanese beans. Asked, and another palm story. Chuan Qi Jiguang when fighting the Japanese, the court to the Japanese head of the reward, soldiers with the head of the march inconvenient, so the first to the back of the camp to the Japanese head in exchange for beans, and then counted the reward. The little kid head as a mustard bean to count, this child inside a heroic, but also remembered.