Text: Lin'er

Picture: Source Network

Winter has just gone and the snow has melted. The footsteps of spring follow a soft rhythm, dyeing the earth green. The tender grass crawled through the newly awakened soil, timidly sticking its head out, curiously looking at this colorful world. They stretch out their tender leaves, and their fluffy green colors sing and dance in the company of the breeze. At this time, shepherd's purse also began to grow vigorously. Moistened by the spring breeze and rain, it was a good time for the villagers to eat shepherd's purse. When shepherd's purse is on the market, it is called the Outing Festival in my hometown, and it was also called the Vegetable Picking Festival in ancient times.

This seemingly ordinary shepherd’s purse belongs to the cruciferous family. It is also called shepherd’s purse, chicken cabbage, and gut grass. Its leaves are tender and the stems and leaves are fragrant. The whole dish is edible and has a delicious flavor. , the top grade of green game, has been deeply loved by people since ancient times. Spring comes early in February. On February 2nd, the dragon raises its head. If the dragon does not raise its head, it will not rain. From the second day of the second lunar month on the lunar calendar, spring returns to the earth, thunder shakes, and everything revives. The dormant creatures begin to wake up from hibernation, and the "dragons" also raise their heads from their slumber and start to move. At this time, it is suddenly warm and cold, the clouds are calming and the rain is coming, and everything is revived. The old family members said goodbye to their leisure time and began to work in the fields. They welcome spring flowers to bloom, poplars are fluttering, and bright yellow elm leaves are also standing on the branches; among the withered and yellow grass, little bits of new green are born. The wind is green, and the grass and trees are also dyed green. In the bright yellow and green mountains and fields, people working in the fields would bring a small bamboo basket and a small shovel. After work, women often picked up a few handfuls of wild vegetables to take home. In the 1970s of the last century, the economic conditions in rural areas were not very good, and wild vegetables were of course half of the staple food. When I was very young, I heard a ballad sung by my aunt: "Wild vegetables grow in the field. If you have them, you will be a mother. The little shepherd's purses are tender and tender. Pick them as your staple food..." There are many varieties of wild vegetables in my hometown. , in my impression shepherd's purse is the most delicious one. But what grows most frequently in the wild fields are bitter greens, fluffy greens, purslane, noodle greens, as well as big green cabbage, small green cabbage, day lily and so on.

When I was a child, I would carry a bamboo basket and a small sickle, and go pick wild vegetables with my brother and sister. We walked in the fields in the countryside in twos and threes, singing in our mouths: "Play." Spring is over, running barefoot. Picking wild vegetables and pulling out grass needles." The fields in the countryside are beautiful, with hills, rivers, bamboo forests, and fruit trees. The children carried sickles and bamboo baskets and traveled all over the mountains and fields. There were wild vegetables to pick on the slopes, in the fields, and in the grass. Some are chubby, some are long and thin, some have just sprouted, and some are already growing together in clusters. My sister said, hurry up and pick, the dish will be the one you pick. Let's compete to see who can pick the most. So we scrambled, made noise, and laughed. When we were tired, we all sat on the ridge of the field to rest for a while. At this time, I would take off my shoes, roll up my trouser legs, and catch small fish and shrimps in the ditch next to the field ridge. My sister and I were pulling out needles from the field stems. The purple grass on the field stems was pointed and pointed, and it must be needles. We use our thumb and forefinger to pinch the tip and lift it upwards, and the buds and stems below will be severed. This is called a plucking needle. The grass needle peeled off the bracts and threw the snow-white flower spikes inside into the mouth. It was soft and sweet. On those days when they could not eat three meals a day, this was the best snack for rural children. After a while, I caught a lot of small fish and shrimps. Brother said, let's go home and let mom cook fish for us. Brother, you can eat Mao Zhen. Brother smiled and grabbed a lot of needles. He peeled them off one by one and said, "I don't like eating them one by one. It's too unsatisfactory to eat like that." He simply peeled off a lot of needles and kneaded them into pieces. Tuan, eat it in one bite...

When I got home, my brother and I helped pick the shepherd's purse, my sister was responsible for getting the fish and shrimps, and my aunt was busy kneading the dough. After picking the shepherd's purse, wash it with clean water first, then scald it with boiling water, squeeze out the water, chop the shepherd's purse into small pieces with a knife, and then start stuffing the vegetables with seasonings. At that time, at most two eggs or a little tofu could be added to the filling, and it was already pretty good. The aunt took off a small piece of dough. She quickly turned it in her hand, and a round and thin dough came out quickly. Then she picked a small piece of stuffing, closed the palm of her left hand, and moved the fingers of her right hand. After a few pinches, a round bun appeared in front of us. Then, the aunt placed the buns neatly on the table.

Jinger, come and help mom make a fire and cook. My sister quickly said, "Here we come, Mom." My aunt's house is a big thatched pot with a chimney and three pot halls, so cooking is very fast. Three pots were cooking together, one pot was cooking porridge, another pot was cooking fish, and in the other pot, Auntie started making kang cakes. I saw my aunt turning a small bun in her hand, and a round cake came out. After the pot was hot, my aunt put a little oil in the pot first, and then put the cakes into the pot. After a while, the bright yellow shepherd's purse cakes were cooked, and the house was filled with the fragrance of shepherd's purse. It was so fragrant. It makes people drool. The fire in the pot hall made my sister's face look red and beautiful. It’s time to eat. The red shrimps and fish, the yellow shepherd’s purse cakes, and the thin corn porridge on the table greatly increase your appetite. Auntie said, Lin'er, does it taste good? Are you used to it? Delicious, so delicious.

The uncle smiled and said, of course it is delicious. Your father loved shepherd's purse cake when he was a child. When you go back, ask your aunt to make more and take it back so that your parents can try it too...

Shepherd's purse is not only delicious. It is a delicious vegetable on the table of ordinary people. As early as the middle of the Qing Dynasty, it was listed in the royal palace's meal menu and became a delicacy of the royal nobles. Shepherd's purse is a popular vegetable that can be cooked in various ways. For example, it can be combined with meat fillings and fish paste to make shepherd's purse meatballs or fish balls and added to soup. It can also be directly mixed with tofu, meat slices, etc. to make soup or stir-fry. It can also be made into dumplings or wontons, and can even be combined with crabs, shrimps, carp, etc. to make high-end dishes... Shepherd's purse is fragrant and tender, leaving people with endless aftertaste. My family has a special liking for shepherd's purse. "On February 2nd, pick shepherd's purse, and the shepherd's purse is wrapped in pancakes. If you don't want to eat it, you won't eat two or three pieces." This is the old family's praise for shepherd's purse.

At that time, I often heard from my grandpa that shepherd’s purse is rich in protein and glutamic acid. Eating shepherd’s purse regularly is good for the liver. Jiang Kui of the Song Dynasty described the scene of the growth of shepherd's purse in his poems: "The spring breeze has passed for ten miles, and all the shepherd's purses are green." There is "Who says tea is bitter, it is as sweet as shepherd's purse." Shepherd's purse is sweet, and its leaves are also good for making soups and soups. There is also a saying here that "on March 3rd, shepherd's purse is a panacea". Use shepherd's purse, japonica rice and peanuts to make a thick shepherd's purse porridge called "hundred-year-old soup". It is often eaten by the elderly to prevent diseases and It can prolong life. On the second day of February, every family eats shepherd's purse steamed buns. Legend has it that children who eat shepherd's purse on this day will not get scabies. If there is a married daughter in the family, she must take her daughter back to her parents' home to eat shepherd's purse steamed buns. Every household also eats noodles, fried rice and steamed buns. Oil cakes, popcorn, etc. are compared to being the leader. Every year on Qingming Festival, a bunch of white shepherd's purse flowers are hung in front of the door of every house. It is said that these can ward off evil spirits... Some elderly people say that eating shepherd's purse is to commemorate Wang Baochuan, who suffered in a cold kiln for her husband Xue Pinggui. He lived in poverty for eighteen years and lived a very poor life. He lived by picking shepherd's purse every day, which became a legend among the world.

Nowadays, there are many people selling wild vegetables in the vegetable market. I didn’t expect that shepherd’s purse is so expensive. One kilogram of shepherd’s purse costs ten yuan. In the past, people in my hometown ate wild vegetables mainly to survive the famine years. Nowadays, people eat wild vegetables just to taste the freshness and change the taste. Every time I taste this delicious food, I always think of the fragrance of shepherd's purse in my childhood. Shepherd's purse falls first in spring and is the first primula to return to green. It grows lying on the ground and is fearless despite the wind and rain. Shepherd's purse grows in the wild, so it is easy to pick. The great writer Su Shi highly praised shepherd's purse. He once praised that "eating shepherd's purse is extremely beautiful" and said that shepherd's purse is "a natural treasure. Although it is small and has five flavors, it has beauty beyond the taste." The great poet Lu You also praised shepherd's purse in his poem: "The remaining snow has just disappeared and the garden is full of shepherd's purse. The glutinous rice soup is more precious than lamb's purse."

In the sunny spring, make an appointment with a few friends and go to the fields. It’s a very pleasant thing to pick shepherd’s purse! On the land where grass grows and flowers bloom, the purple and white broad bean flowers tremble in the breeze, like butterflies about to fly; the bright yellow rapeseed flowers are exuding bursts of fragrance, refreshing, swaying in the breeze, waving one after another Golden flowers; pink peach blossoms and snow-white pear blossoms also exude an alluring fragrance. Various wild flowers are blooming and competing for beauty. They are in various shapes and colors, some are as white as jade, some are as bright red as fire, and some are as dark yellow as gold. The pink color is like a light layer of rouge, which forms a colorful picture against the background of the grass. We pulled out wild grass needles and laughed like silver bells while running. Facing the spring, I picked wild vegetables, but I picked out the joy of childhood and the wonderland on earth.

A shepherd's purse flower sings from the bottom of my heart: The peach and plum blossoms in the city complain about the wind and rain, and spring is in the shepherd's purse flower in Xitou. Spring has returned. Look at the spring streamers curling up on the beautiful women's heads.

Shepherd's purse is the spirit that announces spring, and shepherd's purse is the decoration on the head of the spring beauty...