Text: Bolanhai
( 1)
"Fried fruit" is a noun, and "fruit" is pronounced softly. This is a traditional pastry in Junan. In fact, it is very simple and common, that is, it is fried with glutinous rice flour or wheat flour in the shape of noodles or strips. But looking at simple things, everyone's taste will be slightly different.
Speaking of it, the word "hi" is special. It is indispensable when it is festive. Especially at weddings, it is the first snack for guests. It is also indispensable to congratulate relatives and friends who have married their daughters, which is called "Happy Fruit".
When I was a child, everyone in the village dug a spoonful of wheat flour as a gift, and the gift was a "fried fruit". Children often get a treasure and take a bite of fried fruit claws, which makes them crispy and fragrant.
In this way, the most grand scene before the wedding is to fry the fruit. The yard is full of villagers who help make "fruit". The roof of the yard is covered with white fruits, and the fruits have to be loaded with several big bamboo baskets or several big wooden baskets on the cart. Looking around, it is a lively and jubilant scene.
Therefore, whoever marries a daughter-in-law to treat guests is: "When you go home to eat happy fruit!" Ask the wedding date: "When do you eat your favorite fruit?"
With the accelerated pace of people's life and the improvement of living standards, this custom has been changed by holding wedding ceremonies. Weddings are cash gifts, and gifts are ready-made snack gift boxes. No one will spend time and energy to fry "fruit".
You can eat "fried fruit" when you are young. Besides happy events, it is the Chinese New Year.
There is another custom in Dongxiang. When relatives come in for the New Year, they should first serve "rice jars" with poached eggs and "fried fruits". "Rice jar" is porridge fried with rice in Huang Chengcheng. When I was a child, I was looking forward to going to menstruation's home for the New Year. In the cold weather, I am looking forward to eating such a bowl of snoring, and I am warm all over.
Now, this custom is easy to change. Nowadays, children seem less eager to visit relatives. It's probably the Spring Festival now, and people have nothing to look forward to.
However, "fried fruit for the New Year" is still essential for the elderly to buy new year's goods. Probably because it still has festive significance in my heart.
(2)
After the exam, the child suddenly felt that the year was approaching. Every year, my mother-in-law always buys a "fried fruit for the New Year" when she returns to her hometown. It seems that not frying fruit is not enough to express the solemnity of welcoming the New Year. Thinking that my waist is not as good as before this year, and I can't support the hard work of rolling noodles, I want to "fry fruit" with my children at home and bring it back to my hometown, so I don't have to rush back for the New Year.
I also learned from my mother-in-law's practice, mixing eggs with flour, rolling them into dough, cutting them into strips, and then asking my daughter for help.
Daughter learns to make flowers. This "flower" is a pattern that must be made in the past to fry "Happy Fruit". The son learns to make a snack, which should be a simple look of the snack he usually eats.
Looking at the crooked products they made, I remembered that when I made fruit with my mother-in-law, the paws made by her old man's house must be cut moderately and neatly, and the fried paws (that is, flowers) should be twisted round and round at the same interval, and the tips of the petals are very similar to the lotus petals on the painting. If I do something irregular, she must correct it later. Even if the raw fruit is placed on the lid, it should be arranged neatly.
Irregular looks are irregular, as long as they are delicious. I comforted myself that I had done it too carefully and wasted my time.
Finally finished, filled several roofs. When you watch it, you will feel a little lively and peaceful New Year atmosphere. The next process is frying in a pot.
I remember that my mother-in-law used a briquette stove when cooking, and fried it when the temperature was not too high. I turned on the gas and used medium heat. Looking at the pot, I felt that after a long time, the oil still didn't move much, and I was a little anxious and twisted into the fire. The oil rolled and I smashed the upper part. The "fruit" rolled in hot oil for a while, then turned from white to yellow, and suddenly turned black again. I'm in a hurry, so I'll go out and salvage it.
The first pot is black.
I remember my mother-in-law put them in the oil pan one by one, which kept the original shape of the fruit well. You shouldn't use fire in such a hurry. So I adjusted the firepower and slowly put it in. When I fished it out this time, it was half yellow and half white. This should be the wrong rotation frequency.
Summing up experience while frying. The girl took a bite: "Mom, why is the fried fruit you made not as delicious as grandma's?"
Sister came, and the evaluation is as follows: some fried lightly, and some fried hard.
Although children nowadays are so picky about taste, people will still praise the fried fruit made by their mother-in-law. Why do the same ingredients make different flavors?
First of all, it should be dough mixing. Mother-in-law is a very meticulous person. Stir-fried fruits and noodles should be soft and hard. I know my face is a little soft, so I can make do with it. It takes a long time for my mother-in-law to meet noodles, and the noodles will be even more gluten-free. I should be impatient. It took me a long time to pick up noodles. These seemingly inconspicuous little details actually have a great influence on the taste.
Furthermore, the temperature of frying and the number of turning will affect the color and taste. The fruit fried by her mother-in-law is bright yellow, neither old nor tender, just like the color in the dye vat. This kind of fruit is excellent in appearance, color and taste. In this way, the heat is well controlled and the frequency of turning is just right, so that the fried fruit is even and there will be no phenomenon of frying old or tender.
Just right is not easy to do.
During the Chinese New Year, it is a kind of pride to entertain guests with this just-right fruit: "Come, how about trying my fried fruit?"
"Can such fried fruit be taken back for the New Year?" I have repeatedly studied these messy finished products and feel a little shy.
"Not bad!" Daughter, this is comforting me.
Send a circle of friends. Everyone says I'm smart, but I feel I can't learn.
Thinking of her mother-in-law making fruit, she is not anxious, slow and steady, and she does everything with her heart. She must do everything to the extreme. I, on the other hand, am always too impetuous and eager for success. Even at work, I am absent-minded, and I have to check my mobile phone from time to time. Therefore, learning can't do things. Doing things like this is the same as being a man. I don't think I can learn her stoic and quiet personality and her extremely hardworking and simple attitude towards life.
No matter how fried the fruit is, it can be regarded as an experience, a nostalgia and a reflection.
In this noisy and impetuous era, we should really calm down and appreciate the traditional things and reflect on the attitude of being a man and doing things.