In more than half a month, it will be New Year’s Eve in the lunar calendar, and the year is about to pass! What's more, this is a year of avoiding the epidemic, a year of staying at home, a year of depression in all industries, and a year of frustration! Looking out the window at the withered garden trees, lonely streets, fearful pedestrians, and the "red hoop" used to set up interrogations, I felt bored and empty in my mind.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I often fall into memories of my childhood. I was born and grew up in Yangquan City, Shanxi Province from 1965 to 1979. During that time, I had few worries, no worries, no need to be wary, no fear, only poverty and happiness! The mountains, the water, those innocent playmates, and those naughty incidents in my memory often flash clearly before my eyes scene by scene.

What makes me particularly nostalgic are the food memories of the poor years! It is indeed delicacies. Although most of them are coarse grains, there are many varieties. Adults always try their best to satisfy our appetites. Even though the years are tough, the food is as rough as glutinous rice!

1. Grits (sound Sa)

Grits may be an early food for people in northern China. Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty wrote in "Shuoyuan·Miscellaneous Statements" : "If you don't eat for seven days, you won't be able to make glutinous rice soup." However, regarding the history of glutinous rice dumplings, the legends in various places are different, and the methods are also different or even completely different.

1. Linyi Grits

Grits are the most representative traditional snack in Linyi. It is a kind of chicken breast porridge with salty, spicy, sour and chicken flavor. According to legend, when Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he passed by Linyi for breakfast and wanted to try the famous local food, so local officials offered the porridge. When Qianlong tasted it, he felt it was very delicious and asked casually: "What is this?" The official did not hear clearly and replied: "What?" Qianlong heard it as "grits". So this porridge was called "Ginseng".

2. Yizhou Grits

Yizhou Grits in Shanxi Province actually originated from Linyi Grits. According to the "Linyi County Chronicle", Yizhou Nuo was created by the Jiang family in Linyi and evolved several times. The main raw materials are changed to beef bones, beef, wheat rice, and flour, supplemented by onions, ginger, salt, soy sauce, pepper, monosodium glutamate, allspice, sesame oil, mature vinegar, etc. The craftsmanship is exquisite and complex, and it has now become a daily breakfast for the people of Xinzhou. In 2015, Yu made a special trip to Jingle County, Xinzhou to visit his primary school mentor Ren Yuanliang. Unfortunately, he came and went in a hurry. He only had a night of drinking with his mentor before returning to Beijing. In the end, he never got a first prize, which is a regret to this day!

3. Yangquan Grits

In fact, Grits are available in various places in Shanxi, but the methods are different. I have lived in Yangquan City since I was a child, which is a beautiful mountain city. But in my memory, there is no chicken or beef in the daily rice glutinous rice noodles, only millet and cornmeal. Each of us can make it! I remember that for Yangquan people at that time, breakfast was always served all year round! The raw materials are very simple, but the method is exquisite: boil the water first, then add millet and alkaline noodles to make porridge. When the porridge is thick, add golden corn noodles, then simmer over a slow fire to make the glutinous rice flour. Yes, the house is filled with fragrance!

Eating grits must be accompanied by sauerkraut. People in Shanxi like to eat pickled cabbage, especially in the Yanbei area, and Yangquan is the same! At that time, every winter, every family would buy mustard mustard and mustard cherry from the vegetable station to pickle sauerkraut. Each family had several jars stored, and they all depended on it for the whole winter! But we still have to eat sparingly. We usually put a handful of sauerkraut with ice grits in the center of the blue sea bowl filled with grits, circle it with chopsticks, and eat it with a touch of grits and a touch of sauerkraut. This can ensure The grits and vegetables are all there until the end of the meal, and it’s always delicious!

2. Pressed glutinous rice noodles

Now, according to travel publications, Yangquan’s gourmet business card is Piaopianqu, also known as small glutinous rice noodles. It is said that it has been popular in Yangquan since the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, there is no such thing in my memory! Not only do I not remember eating it, but I didn’t even hear the name until I grew up. The food in my memory is pressed glutinous rice noodles.

The traditional oatmeal glutinous rice noodles are a specialty delicacy of Yu County, a county under the jurisdiction of Yangquan City. They are made of oatmeal noodles. But in my memory, the thing I ate the most in Yangquan was the sorghum noodles. At that time, the supply of materials was quite poor, with very little white flour and quite a lot of whole grains and miscellaneous grains. In my impression, for several years, the mine always distributed sorghum rice and sorghum noodles shipped from the Northeast. Sorghum rice is used to cook porridge, while sorghum noodles are mostly used to make glutinous rice noodles.

There must be a bed for sleeping, which is usually borrowed by the sister from the neighbor Erxi's family. It was a bench with a round hole embedded in the middle. There was a steel plate at the bottom of the hole with evenly spaced holes, and there was a pressure bar attached to the top of the bed. The pressure bar used the lever principle. My sister kneaded the sorghum dough with warm water and put it into the round hole. My brother and I helped press the pressing rod and pressed the mallet connected to the rod toward the dough. Long thread-like glutinous rice balls fell down one after another. The grate under the bed is connected.

When making sorghum noodles, a little cornmeal and elm skin flour are usually mixed in. The cornmeal is added to increase the workability, while the elm skin noodles can make the surface of the glutinous rice smooth and refreshing. To eat glutinous rice, you must have saozi, which is a fragrant and fresh soup: prepared with various condiments such as shredded green onion, minced ginger, soy sauce, mature vinegar, pepper, salt, sesame oil, and diced potatoes, diced carrots and other ingredients. , poured on the glutinous rice noodles, supplemented with hot original soup and green coriander, a bowl of fragrant glutinous rice noodles is ready.

However, although sorghum noodles can fight hunger, they are extremely difficult to digest. After eating, you will feel full, but you will feel embarrassed when going to the toilet! In addition, in my memory, leftover cold glutinous rice is more delicious.

My sister usually stir-fries it with chopped green onion, then pours it with mature vinegar and mixes it with sauerkraut for us to eat. It really captures the warmth of the world in the cold years!

3. Sip the cocoon

Every time I go back to Yangquan and walk on the Taijiu Expressway, I always receive a call from Li Runsheng: "Where are you now? ?"

"We're almost at Pingding after passing Jingxing."

"Okay, we have roads in the city and it's difficult to walk. I'll wait for you at the expressway exit. In the evening, I will take you to the Pingding Restaurant next to Quanmei Hotel to eat pickled cabbage and crickets!”

The crickets are also called crickets, named after their shape of tadpoles. They are the benchmark of Pingding cuisine! Yangquan City originated from Pingding Prefecture, although Pingding County is now the jurisdiction of Yangquan. Yangquan dialect is Pingding dialect, and Yangquan diet is actually Pingding diet. People in Yangquan have a saying: "If you lose your hand, you will really lose your hand. The yam is silky and the cobpole is eaten." When I was a child, the Chinese food of Yangquan people often consisted of pickled cabbage and codpole.

Just like pressing 饸饹, squeezing the worms also requires a squeezing bed. It is made of steel, with a handle with a small hole on one end and a dovetail on the other end. It is placed on an iron pot and has even round holes on the bed. Mix the corn flour with a little bean flour and white flour, mix it with warm water, let it rest for a while, then divide it into small balls and put them on the pressing bed, press them flat, and press them lightly to squeeze out the worms! The tiny tadpole-like noodles that fell from the bed and jumped into the water were swimming in the boiling iron pot. It was so beautiful! Boil for a minute, put it into a basin, rinse it with cold water, put it in a bowl, pour the brine, and sip the coccoides, and you're done.

Since it is said that "sauerkraut chews up codpoles", sauerkraut is definitely the protagonist! I remember the method at that time was: put oil in the pot, wait until it is cooked, add Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili peppers and stir-fry until fragrant, then add shredded onions, ginger and garlic slices and saute until fragrant, then pour in sauerkraut and other ingredients. For side dishes, add salt and soy sauce, add water and boil, and the famous sauerkraut marinade is ready.

Eating sauerkraut, squid, and cobpoles in winter can drive away cold and increase heat, while eating them in summer can avoid summer heat and lower body temperature. The worms are smooth, soft and tender, and they slide into the stomach like tadpoles after a little chewing. Because it is a whole grain, it can promote the peristalsis of the stomach. It is really a good food for health. It carries the historical memory of Yangquan people!

4. Stir-fried and not rotten

Stir-fried and not rotten is also a specialty food of Yangquan. It is named because it does not break even after being fried for a long time. Nowadays, white flour and rice are mostly used for stir-fried rice, but this was not possible in the 1960s and 1970s! At that time, rice was not available, and white flour was in rationed supply, so no one could bear to part with it!

There are many potatoes in Sanjin, so they are called yam eggs. First, peel the potatoes, shred them, rinse them, then pour them into cornmeal mixed with Sichuan peppercorns to make them sticky, and then place them on a basket to steam. After steaming, let it dry for a while, heat oil in a pot, add chopped green onion, garlic slices and steamed potato shreds and stir-fry until light yellow, then add salt and stir-fry until not mushy. Charred on the outside, tender on the inside and fragrant!

Not only potatoes, Shanxi people are diligent and smart, and they can fry everything from elm and sophora flowers to make them not rotten! I even experienced the embarrassing experience of being caught in order to pick sophora flowers for frying! That happened when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school.

At that time, there was a relatively spacious small square in front of the "Dongsi Chi" control room. On the south side of the square, there were two tall and lush large locust trees, with flowers like snow. The bunches are decorated on the branches, and the fragrance is overflowing. Later, whenever I read "Thousands of trees inlaid with silver to refresh the spleen" and "The petals falling in front of the courtyard are dotted with light frost", what always came to my mind were these two locust trees and this neat little square!

The second child (Li Runsheng) and I have been observing it for a long time! One afternoon after school, in order to pick locust flowers and cook them home, we carried our schoolbags and climbed up the tree quickly and secretly. While greedily eating the sweet locust flowers, I plucked a lot of them and put them into my schoolbag. When I was enjoying picking them, I suddenly heard a loud shout: "Someone is stealing the locust flowers!"

I quickly looked down and saw that many people had gathered under the tree. It was so dense that we were stuck in the tree! The second child and I were escorted to the dispatch room. We were made to stand while several people interrogated us seriously. But we both understood each other tacitly, just bowed our heads and said nothing! After a long time, a woman in the crowd suddenly shouted: "Ah, that's the Li Lianlian family!"

Li Lianlian was the father of the second child, and at that time served as the deputy director of the second mine. After hearing what the woman said, the people who were interrogating us were stunned. They no longer made things difficult for us, but they also wouldn't let us go. After detaining us for a while, the second younger sister came and we were taken away by her. After all, they cared about the second youngest's father, so they didn't ask us to compensate, nor did they tell our school. They just treated us as naughty kids from the mines.

5. Paste

Paste is also a unique breakfast dish in Yangquan. It is a sticky pasta made from jiaozi noodles. It is originally a food that is eaten by people in the bitter cold mountain villages, but because of its special dipping sauce and moderately soft and hard taste, it is suitable for all ages and is favored by Yangquan people!

Making the paste is very troublesome! First, put water in the pot, put the washed and diced potatoes and beans into the pot and cook. When the water boils and the vegetables are half cooked, sprinkle in the wild rice noodles. The noodles must be spread in circles along the outside of the boiling water, leaving gaps in the middle and on the edges for steam to pass through. After the noodles are sprinkled, cover the pot and bring to a simmer. When the water and flour in the pot can be evenly mixed, start to make the batter.

Two people must work together to make the paste. One person holds the edge of the pot tightly, and the other stirs it quickly with a rolling pin. After the noodles, vegetables, and water are fully integrated, a pot of gorgeous paste is ready. !

When my family was in Yangquan, my mother didn’t know how to cook it, so we never had glutinous rice noodles at home. I just caught up with it when I went to a classmate's house, and occasionally took a bite, but I didn't think it was very delicious. When I returned to Yangquan in 2013, my classmates invited my wife and me to spend the evening at Cuifeng Mountain. We specially ordered the paste (of course it is now improved). Zheng Shuwen was extra attentive and even brought garlic chili sauce. A bite of Kuai is a soft, glutinous paste, dipped in sour, spicy, and sweet chili sauce. It tastes wonderful. That was the first time I really tasted paste!

6. Pancakes

Shanxi is the capital of pasta, and the most widely spread food in the country. In addition to shaved noodles, pancakes are probably pancakes! Shanxi's fried pancakes are particularly attractive: golden and crispy, with distinct layers and each one has a soul!

The fried pancakes made by Yangquan No. 2 Mine No. 5 Canteen are particularly delicious. Tear off the crispy strands and chew them between your teeth, filling your mouth with fragrance. The inside of the cake is filled with the aroma of salt and pepper, stimulating your taste buds. , we called it "Screw Turn" at that time.

"Let's go and ask our mother for money to buy screws." Erxiao called me quietly

To the east of our school is the No. 2 Mine Office Building, and to the southeast of the office building Next to it is the Five Canteen. We both love to eat fried pancakes, so we often get greedy. Suffering from the lack of money and meal tickets in his pocket, the second child always took me along, and after the second class in the morning, we went to the civil engineering team to ask our mother for money to buy it. The Second Mine Civil Engineering Team is a large courtyard. The mother of the second child is in the courtyard on the north side, and my mother is in the two-story building on the south side. Usually the two of us separate after joining the civil engineering team, and each goes to work for our mother: 5 cents, 2 taels of meal tickets, and we agree to meet at the gate after receiving the money.

Every time I broke up with him and walked upstairs to the small building, my heart started beating a little drum! At that time, wages were low in society and there was no other income. My parents only had 46 yuan per month. They had to support my grandma and grandma, support my third uncle in college, and raise our three children. It was really difficult, and the conditions of the second family were relatively poor. Better. Although I knew in my heart that I shouldn't do this, because of face, I never refused every time Erxiao called me.

Standing in front of my mother nervously, my mother asked me: "What's the matter?"

"I want to ask you for 5 cents and 2 taels of meal tickets."

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"Buying screw-shaped sesame cakes again? Are you two together?"

"Yes," I muttered

Mother blinked and handed it to I never say a word about my money or meal tickets. However, I feel very guilty in my heart! I kept thinking in my heart: "But we can't do this anymore, it really shouldn't be! And my brother is also in school..."

When we met the second child, we hurried to In the Wu Canteen, we bought some crispy pancakes that we were eager to eat. As we chewed them greedily, a look of satisfaction appeared proudly on our young cheeks.

7. Yangquan Pressed Cake

"The golden cake is as thin as paper, crumbs in the mouth, and crunchy." Pressed cake is a unique delicacy in Yangquan City, originating from Pingding County Niangziguan Village, Niangziguan Town.

According to legend, Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty sent his daughter Princess Pingyang to garrison Niangzi Pass. In a certain battle, the Niangzi Army was trapped in the pass and was deprived of food! In order to ward off powerful enemies, villagers used spring water to make batter and baked them into shortbreads that were easy to store and transport, and used them as military rations for the Detachment of Women. The morale of the Detachment of Women was greatly boosted and they finally held the pass. Since then, the sweet and delicious shortbread has been passed down, and to this day!

Making pressed cakes also requires a cake press. They were two round steel pieces with iron rod handles welded to their backs. One summer, my sister got a pair of cake presses from nowhere. Accompanied by the "hissing" sound of cicadas, she always made pressed cakes for our family! She first mixed cornmeal and saccharin into a batter, then rubbed oil on the griddle, scooped up the batter and poured it onto a steel sheet, then quickly pressed the two steel sheets together, baked and flipped them using the stove as a fulcrum. Accompanied by the rich aroma of grain, the golden and fragrant pressed cake is ready!

Take a bite of the pressed cake, and the crisp cracking sound will be heard through your mouth and reach your auricles. It’s so exciting! The thin biscuit crumbs are gently twisted between the tongue, and the aroma of grain locked in it spreads in the mouth, which is endless aftertaste!

8. Cooking coarse grains with fine grains and fine grains with fine grains

There are many Yangquan delicacies in my memory, such as baked cakes spread out with cast iron molds, and "Saiyu Restaurant" dripping with oil. The pies from Yangquan Power Plant, the "pork slices soup" from Yangquan Power Plant, the fried pancakes and "fried cypress" from the "No. 1 Canteen" of the Second Mine, as well as the braised noodles and "cylinder bricks" that everyone makes, etc. Of course, there are also yellow fried cakes and delicious steamed buns of various colors, but those are luxuries and can only be enjoyed until the Spring Festival.

The two characteristics of Shanxi diet are the careful preparation of coarse grains and the fine preparation of fine grains. They are very clear!

At that time, food was supplied in rations. I remember it was 28 pounds/month/person, of which 30% was fine grains and 70% was coarse grains. On the monthly grain shopping day, our family would go to the grain station with my father. My father pushed his "permanent" weighted bicycle, which was filled with large and small bags of various grains, and we carefully supported him beside him.

Such a high proportion of whole grains is not a problem for the wise Shanxi people. They uphold the consciousness of finely cooking coarse grains and try their best to make the food exquisite, creating a warmth in the poor years!

People say that "Shanxi Lao Xi" is picky, but that's because they don't understand! It is true that people in Shanxi live a poor life, I do not deny this, but that is forced by poverty, not by stinging! Because I am from Beijing, I always have to go back to my hometown during the holidays, and I have deliberately compared them in my young heart. There are differences in structure between Beijing and Shanxi pancake pancake pans: Beijing pancake pancake pans are basin-shaped, with a concave flat bottom and a vertical rim around the perimeter. I think this may be to prevent oil from spilling out. Shanxi's pancake pan is drum-shaped, with three legs underneath it to facilitate the pressing of the shovel, and the oil flows from the middle. The cake baked in this way is naturally crispier and more delicious. Indeed, the pancakes in Shanxi are far more delicious than those in Beijing!

Then there are dumplings. Shanxi people especially like to eat dumplings, which are called flat food in Yangquan. At that time, pork was only 6 cents per catty. As a child, I was often surprised that people in Shanxi were willing to spend 2 yuan to cut meat to make flat food, but even though our family was working two jobs, we were always reluctant to do so! Fortunately, people in Shanxi have a habit of sending a bowl of flat food to friendly neighbors whenever they make flat food, so I can often eat meaty flat food!

With their persistence in life, Shanxi people have the drive to make life a flower! When the limited fine grains are in their hands, they must make them with precision, and flower buns are an example of this! Every Spring Festival, people in Shanxi make flower buns. The flower buns are in various shapes and colors. The white flour turns into animals and birds, flowers, birds, fish and insects, and naive dolls in the hands of skillful women. They are lifelike and convey a deep sense of emotion. The local culture and Shanxi-Shaanxi customs!

When visiting the "Wang Family Courtyard" in Lingshi, the poem "Lying in Fen and listening to the waves, the only way in the world is the closest" always lingers in my mind. No matter how difficult and far the journey is, no matter how crazy or greedy I have been, what I can’t leave behind is the freedom, tranquility, naivety, and frankness of my youth! Accompanied by the simple food, the curling smoke and the harsh cold!

In the long night in the desert, the courtyard is full of silence, with only the shadow of a goddess on the ground. The "new coronavirus" virus is still showing fear to the world with its terrifying cloak! But in this world, people gather and disperse in a hurry. How many old debts can be repaid? Can you taste sin? What about original sin awaiting atonement? I have no choice but to put away all my resentment, pour all my expectations into the wine glass, and rest my heart on my longing!

Then he wrote a poem:

Youyan and Pingchu have been depressed, and the epidemic situation has made them even more lonely.

The clouds are obscured by haze, and the heart is dragged away by love.

The tired body is aware of the new sorrow and depression, and the dejected face still recalls the old nobles.

The oak tree has nothing to do with the rise and fall of the tree, but it is a joy to play with the fishermen and woodcutter.

? January 16, 2021