Hong Kong people in Tianmen love tea, and children in Zhanggang can make tea. It's hot, and what adults often tell their children to do is: "There is no tea, make a pot of tea." So, the children washed the big iron pot for cooking, scooped up a pot full of water, covered it, and burned it fiercely with firewood. Because adults have told me that you can't use a small fire to burn tea, otherwise, the tea you burn will smell like smoke and taste bad. When the water in the pot boils until the bubbles become big and roll up and down, grab a handful of large pieces of tea from the bamboo basket filled with tea, sprinkle it into the pot, cover it, and it's over.
Usually, after tea is cooked, it is poured into a teapot made of loess, which is called "loess pot" by Zhang Gangren. This is a necessary tea set for farmers in Zhanggang. Which one doesn't have two or three teapots? Which one has no fixed tea table? This kind of teapot can hold about ten catties for the big one and two or three catties for the small one. Because it is made of loess, it is rougher, cheaper and more durable than porcelain, which is very suitable for farmers to drink tea in large bowls. The tea filled with it is mellow and cool, which is in line with the habit of drinking Bingxin tea in Hong Kong. In summer, when adults come back from working in the fields, they shout, "Sift a bowl of tea!" " The children quickly brought a bowl of big leaf tea and handed a big ba fan. Adults "grunt" tea and "shout shout" fan. That way, like Tie Guai Li with a fan in the Eight Immortals, it is particularly comfortable.
this kind of big leaf tea is indispensable for farmers in four seasons, especially in summer. Hong Kong people often say, "Drink a bowl of tea and take a breath." This just shows the role of big leaf tea in quenching thirst, relieving summer heat and relieving fatigue. Zhang Hong Kong people love tea, and Zhang Hong people prefer tea. There are both dry tea and wet tea. The so-called dry tea is the unique hemp leaves, dumplings, lotus leaves and jingguo in Zhanggang, and sometimes fried peanuts and sweets. These snacks and sweets are put on exquisite plates by the host and placed on the table for the guests to taste. Dry tea is usually eaten before and after the Spring Festival. When the guests arrive, before lunch time, the host and guest gather around the table, regardless of adults and children. There are many people and few people, and they are informal and free. While eating snacks, everyone talked about their family, feeling happy and happy, which added to the festive and joyful atmosphere of the program. Eat dry tea, taste the host's snacks, and communicate the feelings of relatives and friends.
Wet tea in Zhanggang is a luncheon after eating dry tea. At the luncheon, the host will set out his own pot-stewed dishes. For a luncheon, there must be ten dishes of stewed vegetables, a plate of steamed bread (a pillow-shaped steamed bread steamed by Zhang Hong-ren in a big steamer, which was cut into pieces with a knife when entertaining guests), as well as Ciba, and the host who pays special attention to etiquette will also prepare a seal (a small cake with stuffing pressed by a mold). When you eat wet tea, you taste the flavor of the host's pot-stewed dishes and feel the host's hospitality.
The dry tea and wet tea in Zhanggang are actually not tea. The reason why Zhang Hong Kong people call it tea is to take the light and thin meaning of "tea", which is a modest statement of Zhang Hong people. The tea in Zhanggang, with the most distinctive and cultural connotation, is Qumi tea. It is said that it has its own characteristics. First, it is exquisite in production. Rice (or millet and barley) should be fried in a hot iron pot in advance to make the rice brown. Then wash it with cold water to remove the burnt rice grains and the smell of burnt rice, then cook it in boiling water, and then spread it to cool it for enjoyment. In these processes, the key is stir-frying and water use. Stir-fry should master the heat, the time is short, Qumi tea is tasteless, the time is long, the rice grains are black, and Qumi tea can't be eaten. Water should be used in a good proportion. If there is less water, it will be cooked into porridge, which is not tea. If there is too much water, cooked koji tea will have no effect on hunger. The seemingly simple Qumi tea is actually a cooking art. The second is the charm of Qumi tea. In June, July and August, "it was noon on the day of weeding, and sweat dripped down the soil." When you are thirsty, hungry and tired, drink two bowls of Qumi tea. Suddenly, your mouth is not thirsty, your stomach is not hungry, and you are not tired. It is amazing. Qumi tea can really quench thirst, relieve summer heat, and also satisfy hunger and fatigue. Third, the way to eat Qumi tea is exquisite. There is a folk song, which is enough to show that:
Hong Kong people in Zhang have a big ceremony,
they go home in June after a fire,
they go in to drink a bowl of Qumi tea,
they pickle cucumbers with salted peas,
salted duck eggs, pickled vegetables,
and there are fragrant baked cakes.
To drink Zhanggang's Qumi tea, you must taste it together with oil and salt peas, pickled cucumbers, salted duck eggs, pickled vegetables and Zhanggang's baked rice cake. Otherwise, it is not enough to feel the unique flavor of Zhanggang Qumi tea. When you drink it?
When you are enjoying this ballad, you may be tempted to ask: How does Qumi tea make rice? How to burn the fire? How to bake oil and salt peas? ..... When you understand these problems, you will sincerely sigh the profoundness and broadness of Zhanggang tea culture, and feel the industriousness and open-mindedness of Zhanghong people.
Now, the Qumi tea and Huoshaoba in Zhanggang have gone out of the county seat, entered the provincial capital and moved to the whole country. It can be said that wherever there is a Hong Kong resident living and working, this unique Qumi tea and baked rice cake are indispensable.