In the northwest, especially in Gansu, a "dark" specialty pasta has been passed down from generation to generation: slurry noodles. People who love it will always say a Northwest saying: It really makes people "eat deliciously"! And there are many people who can't see it.

As the name suggests, slurry noodles are a kind of noodles with slurry water as soup. Noodles are not strange, but how is the paste made? Why can it not only be criticized by some people, but also make some people unable to stop?

Slurry, which tastes sour and refreshing, is made from celery, chicory, soybean sprouts, cabbage, etc., blanched in boiling water and then fermented. But in fact, many vegetables can be put into the slurry tank as long as they are a little green.

For example, Chinese cabbage, celery, and even green onions and garlic seedlings; you can also pick some wild vegetables: shepherd's purse, bitter greens, lala greens, knife greens...

In Gansu In rural areas, almost every household has the habit of brewing slurry. There is always a large vat of slurry under the chopping board in my kitchen.

Ceramic vat is the best device for brewing or storing slurry. The specific reason is not clear. I think it is probably because it can ensure the unique environment required for brewing and storing slurry.

I have seen a lot of how to make slurry since I was a child, and I don’t think it is complicated. But it is not that easy to make a perfect vat of slurry water.

Wash the vegetables (cabbage/celery/bean sprouts), cut into slices or large pieces and put them into a vat, then pour in the boiled clear noodle soup, or make some clear noodle soup with the noodles. After it cools down, add the starter, cover it, and wrap it in a few old clothes.

Generally, after pouring in the starter and leaving it for four or five days, a tank of slurry water will be ready. The "primer" here generally refers to the old slurry water, which is the thickest part at the bottom of the previous tank of slurry water.

The introduction is particularly critical to the success of making a tank of slurry water.

If your own is not too thick, you can go to someone else’s house with a horse spoon and ask for a spoonful. If the slurry water at your home is not sour, you can also go to a neighbor's house who has successfully made a tank of slurry water and ask for a primer.

After the slurry is prepared, the vegetables pickled in the slurry in the tank can also be eaten directly. Celery is the most common sauerkraut, which is what northwest people call "sauerkraut."

But this kind of sauerkraut is completely different from that of Northeasterners. It is often served as a cold dish with rice (various pastas) or eaten with boiled potatoes.

Perhaps because they want to get rid of the embarrassment of eating noodles with syrup every day, Gansu people have also invented countless ways to eat noodles based on syrup. Stir-fried dough balls, steamed rice, slurry fish, slurry noodles... and these can all be collectively called "sour rice".

Compared with sour rice, the others can be collectively called "sweet rice". It can be seen that the glutinous rice series accounts for almost half of the noodles eaten by Gansu people.

Chuan Tuan can be said to be a paste made from mixed noodles. It was also a "life-saving meal" for farmers in the northwest in the 1960s and 1970s. Now it has transformed into a special snack.

This thing called "铓饭" is made in a simple and crude way, and its taste is hard to figure out. It has left a shadow of childhood for some people who are not used to it but have to eat it.

In recent years, Lanzhou people who love to drink syrupy water have invented syrupy drinks, which can be regarded as a mudslide from the northwest in the milk tea industry.

I remember that a relative from the south came to my house as a guest. When he took the first bite of the syrup, he found it difficult to swallow. When we told him how to make the syrup, he felt that it was not good. Is it just the smelly vegetable water? ! I will never try again.

To be honest, it is not just outsiders who are not used to eating glutinous rice noodles. Even locals in Gansu probably don’t like eating glutinous rice noodles. If we look into the reasons, I think many of them are because of: poverty and fear of food! There are also many people who think it is not delicious!

In the early years, eating milk had nothing to do with preference, but was mostly forced by reality. In the past few years, the conditions of many families in rural Gansu were not good, including mine. Because it doesn’t require any side dishes or much oil and water, it saves the most money.

Over time, children in many families are afraid of eating glutinous rice noodles. When they see the glutinous rice noodles made, they simply stop eating and would rather squat aside and eat steamed buns.

In addition, many areas in Gansu have arid climate and lagging economy. Farmers are generally self-sufficient in farming, and the only things they grow are wheat, flax, corn, potatoes and other highly drought-resistant crops. Crops are generally used for one's own consumption. The excess is either sold at a low price to send children to school, or made into pig feed.

Therefore, I have eaten all kinds of noodles and all kinds of potatoes since I was a child. It is difficult to eat fresh vegetables all year round.

Especially in winter, there are no vegetables to eat. You can only pickle some pickles with vegetables stored in the cellar in advance, and then ferment a tank of slurry water to ensure a smooth winter.

Nowadays, conditions are better and off-season vegetables can be bought in the market. However, because of the high price, families who save a little will still continue the previous practice. After all, eating water from the water is always the most cost-effective.

There are also many people, especially those of their parents or grandparents, perhaps syrup has long been ingrained in their taste memory. Although I can now eat all kinds of vegetables and can afford to eat big fish and meat, I still think about eating a bowl of water all day long.

After all, there is a saying: "Three pounds of chili peppers and ten pounds of salt will last half a year from a jar of syrupy water." In difficult years, a jar of syrupy water can be the lifeblood of a family.

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