The calendar has turned to December again, and we are about to bid farewell to 2017 and welcome the new year of 2018. At this time in my hometown of Yizhuji, it was the time when every family was grinding rice noodles and making rice cakes. Zhuji rice cake is now a delicacy that Zhuji people are proud of. It has moved from their own dining tables to high-end hotels, from their hometown to big cities such as Hangzhou and Shanghai, and has won a lot of praise.

"The people's hearts are so high that they make food with the harmonious sound. The meaning of the year is to win the year, so as to pray for good luck in the future." This poem about rice cakes, which was circulated in the late Qing Dynasty, vividly tells the story that rice cakes are not only a delicacy on ordinary people's home tables, but also people's best wishes for blessing the new year and praying for a better life year by year.

It is the custom of making rice cakes and eating rice cakes at the end of every year. Since ancient times, people have had the custom of eating rice cakes to commemorate Wu Zixu. In 514 BC, King Wu's son Fu Chai believed the slander and killed Wu Zixu after he succeeded to the throne. Before Wu Zixu died, he said to his subordinates: "After my death, if the country is in trouble and the people have no food to eat, they can dig three feet under the city gate wall to find something to eat." Later, the State of Yue attacked the State of Wu, and the soldiers and people in the city ran out of food. Wu Zixu's subordinates led the soldiers and people to dig under the wall, and as expected they dug out many "city bricks" that could satisfy their hunger. It turns out that the "city bricks" are made of glutinous rice flour. This was Wu Zixu's plan to "accumulate food for emergencies" during his lifetime. The soldiers and civilians of Wu State relied on these "city bricks" to tide over the difficulties. Since then, during every Chinese New Year, the people of Wu State would make rice cakes similar to "city bricks" to commemorate Wu Zixu. And Zhuji may have originally belonged to the land of Wu and Yue. The custom of making rice cakes at the end of each year has also been passed down.

I remember making rice cakes when I was a kid. At the end of every year, my father would harvest the sun-dried late rice and go to the processing factory to thresh it into rice. Then the rice is washed clean, and the half-dry and half-wet rice is ground into powder in the village processing factory. There must be more people when making rice cakes, because spreading the rice cakes requires more hands. Although we were still young at the time, the whole family still went out to make rice cakes. If the manpower is not enough, neighbors will be invited to help...

The rural processing factory is particularly busy at this time, and everyone waits in line for a stone basket (a kind of bamboo basket) of rice. The process of making rice cakes is generally like this. First, the rice is poured into a large funnel on a machine. When the machine is started, the white rice noodles will slide into the stone radish from a bulging white cloth bag. Then they are carried to the steam room, where the rice noodles are added with water and kneaded. It is very important to add water at this time, as it is related to the dryness and humidity of the steamed rice noodles, so this step is operated by experienced masters. Then pour the kneaded rice noodles into the wooden steamer on the earth stove and steam it. After steaming, pour it into a large basket, and use two wooden sticks (a bit like a cooking shovel) to break up the cooked rice noodles in the soup, commonly known as "cake flowers". After breaking up, pour the "cake flowers" into a large funnel for pressing rice cakes. At this time, with the roar of the machine, two white rice cakes flowed out from under the funnel. At this time, two people on the left and right need to hold scissors, put two bowls of water next to them (to avoid the scissors and the rice cakes sticking), and hold the rice cakes in one hand. Quickly cut it off with one hand and put it behind. At this time, the thickness and length of the rice cakes all depended on the two people who cut the rice cakes. The person standing next to the person cutting the rice cakes quickly spread out the strips of rice cakes in a large bamboo basket. Because there were many large bamboo baskets in the processing factory, one stall was full, and he quickly took them away and put them on a shelf to cool down. The other empty one will be connected immediately. And our task is to turn over the cold rice cakes. The rice cake that just came out is white and soft. When you bite it, it is soft and chewy, and has a faint rice aroma from the rice cake. It is especially delicious. When the rice cakes are slightly cool, we will collect them one by one and stack them neatly in the stone basket...

The next day, we will pull out the white and fat rice cakes from the stone basket one by one (between the rice cakes) Already a little stuck). Spread out in a cool, dry place. When the rice cakes are dry and cracked, they should be placed in a tank filled with winter water so that they can be stored for a long time.

This is how machine-made rice cakes are made now, but the rice cakes used to be made by hand. The previous steps are the same as the machine rice cake. After the rice flour is steamed into "cake blossoms", pour it into a large stone mortar, use a large wooden pestle with an iron sheet on the head, and beat the "cake flowers" in the stone mortar alone. "Flowers", one person quickly flipped the "cake flowers" that gradually formed into balls inside. Quickly dip it in the fresh water basin next to it, and do it quickly: firstly, it is to avoid "cake flowers" sticking to your hands, and secondly, it can cool your hands. It is similar to making mochi in rural areas. The person who beats the rice cakes must have good physical strength. Because it is very tiring, he often has to change the beats. When the "cake flowers" turn into mochi, they will have Q energy. At this time, pull off a piece, roll it into a ball and add some brown sugar or stir-fried shredded radish. It tastes great. We call it "rice cake porridge" here. At this time, you can pull out a small ball of these mochi-like dough, press it on the wooden mold of the rice cake, compact it and pour it out, and it will turn into strips of bright rice cakes. At that time, some families would also make lifelike chickens and fishes. Therefore, whenever we go to worship our ancestors at home, we put rice cakes that look like chickens and fishes on the offering plate. It has the meaning of "being prosperous every year" and "abundance every year", which is very face-saving. Unfortunately, handwork is always replaced by advanced machines. Nowadays, these handmade rice cakes are rarely seen. Most of them are machine-made rice cakes as described above. There are also many colorful vegetable and fruit rice cakes, with more and more varieties. Rich...

However, Zhuji rice cakes are different from rice cakes in surrounding cities. Zhuji rice cakes taste soft, glutinous, smooth, and a little elastic without sticking to the teeth. Unlike some places, the rice cakes are only soft, glutinous, not elastic, and sticky to the teeth. Therefore, Zhuji people are sending hometown specialties to relatives and friends as far away as Hangzhou and Shanghai. Loved by everyone.

There are also people traveling far away who are working away from home. Bringing home rice cakes not only satisfies their cravings but also relieves their homesickness.

There are many ways to eat Zhuji rice cakes. The simplest way is to cook it with water and add some light soy sauce or sugar. The original flavor is smooth and chewy. That’s my quick morning fix while I’m reading. I remember that the most delicious thing was the rice cake fried by my mother. At that time, the New Year pig was killed. The pig had just been killed and everyone was now tired. At this time, my mother will cut the rice cakes into pieces, use garlic, winter bamboo shoots, and of course ready-made fresh pork. Use lard to fry the meat and winter bamboo shoots, then pour in the rice cakes and stir-fry until the rice cakes are fried. When it is cooked and soft, add the meat and winter bamboo shoot slices in turn and stir-fry, add a little soy sauce, sugar and MSG. Then add the garlic, stir-fry a few times, and a bowl of fragrant and delicious fried rice cakes is ready. Eat a bowl and enjoy the deliciousness of the pork; the crispness of the winter bamboo shoots; the freshness of the garlic, plus the softness and smoothness of the rice cake. The fresh, sweet, crisp, fragrant, glutinous and delicious taste will linger on your tongue for a long time. I can’t stop...

There are many ways to make rice cakes: fried rice cakes with leek sprouts, winter bamboo shoots and shredded pork made by grandma, rice cakes stuffed with eggs, sweet wine and wine as a snack... rice cakes can be fried, boiled or steamed, and can be made in various ways. gourmet food. Although the recipes of rice cakes vary, what remains unchanged is the taste of hometown and the eternal memory of hometown.

No matter how far you go, no matter where you are, what you can never leave is your attachment to your hometown!