We are proud to live in this vast country. Five thousand years of splendid cultural civilization cannot be separated from our mother river. The great mother river has nurtured the descendants of our Chinese nation. This river nurtures the people along the coast and makes them live a happy life. However, people living in Qinghai at the source of the Yellow River are different from other places in eating habits and types.
As the saying goes, relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to draft. Qinghai is a province in western China, named after Qinghai Lake. The Yellow River Basin is the main agricultural area, which is rich in crops such as spring wheat, broad bean (locally called "soybean"), highland barley, potato (potato) and rape. In the long-term evolution process, the dietary customs of all ethnic groups in Qinghai have their own different characteristics. Our traditional staple food here is white flour products, including steamed bread, jiaozi, steamed buns, pancakes and dumpling wrappers. Its eating method is close to Shaanxi and Gansu, and its taste is sour and spicy. There are many kinds of pasta in Qinghai, including dried noodles, inch-inch noodles, flag flower noodles, Lamian Noodles, dry mixed noodles, miscellaneous sauce noodles, minced meat noodles, roasted mixed noodles, mixed bean noodles, sprinkled Mi Dou noodles, rubbed fish (with highland barley noodles, and then a small finger-sized noodle is rubbed into a slightly coarse noodle, with both ends tapering and about two inches long, like a small fish), and rags. It's just that the shape is not as regular as dough, because there is no gluten in highland barley noodles, so noodles really don't tumble), bench legs (made of highland barley noodles, rolled into thick cakes, and then cut into noodles with a width of about 0.5- 1 cm and a length of about two inches, commonly known as "bench legs", but actually just a little more stupid than inch noodles). . . . . . .
The most distinctive thing is the local noodles. Qinghai people are very skilled in picking noodles, standing far away from the pot, and constantly throwing the picked noodles into boiling water, which is comparable to the experts in Daoxiao Noodles, Shanxi Province, and the size and thickness of the noodles are also very uniform. Look at the picture of this talented chef below. It's really a sight! The mutton noodles here have a unique flavor and are unforgettable.
The most unforgettable thing is the steamed bread on the dining table, which has a wide variety: steamed bread, flower rolls, steamed buns, fried dough sticks, dog urine (pancakes, oily, crispy and delicious), and dry pot (commonly known as "Guo Kui"), which is thick and big, crisp and fragrant outside, soft and delicious inside, and resistant to storage. People suitable for going out to work. ) I usually eat this kind of wok, or I have guests at home. I once cut my helmet into four or five centimeters wide strips and put them up like building blocks. It looks good on the plate and on the dining table, which makes people have an appetite.
The most unforgettable thing is the potato, which can be said to be a life-saving meal for Qinghai people. Life used to be difficult, and some people really had nothing to eat. They eat potatoes for three meals a day. This reminds me of a joke I heard when I was a child: in the late 1960s and early 1970s, young intellectuals went to the countryside, and every farmer lived with one or two educated youths. An educated youth said: Eat "sheep" at the landlord's house in the morning, "fish" at noon and "eggs" at night. Other educated youths are envious of his good living conditions. As a result, he has three meals a day: fried potatoes in the morning, boiled potatoes at noon, baked potato bumps in the noodles at night, and made potato eggs together, which others regard as "sheep fish eggs".
One side of the soil and water support one side. Different living environments have different living habits and ingredients, which will naturally breed different food cultures.
Qinghai is located in the cold, and people are used to drinking as companions, especially during the Spring Festival every year. Qinghai people often say: "wine is the pioneer, everything comes first." It is said that wine and etiquette exist together, "there is no wine on the table without etiquette", and the rule of changing careers cannot be separated from wine; Without wine, you can't say what you should say. Qinghai is the hometown of highland barley wine, which is produced in Weiyuan Town, Huzhu County. I can't help but think of such a compliment: "The Dragon King's elixir nurtures highland barley, and the Queen Mother makes wine with jade liquid." It shows the mellow and unique charm of highland barley wine. As the saying goes: good wine sells deep alleys, and customers meet the door. Weiyuan town produces good wine and naturally enjoys a high reputation. This reputation is like the fragrance of highland barley wine. Wine merchants thousands of miles away smell the fragrance of highland barley wine and take it to sell everywhere.
When it comes to wine, it is natural to talk about Qinghai people's drinking and guessing boxing, which also contains certain culture. Let's talk about a song I heard drinking and singing a long time ago: a sparrow has a head, two bright eyes, two claws standing on the wall, and a tail left behind. . . . . . Hehe, this song still rhymes a little. The wine is half full, and singing while drinking is very lively. I didn't understand how big the fists they shouted in their mouths and hands were before. After asking and explaining, I later learned that there are also representative words in this wine sequence: wholeheartedly respect you, good brothers, three stars shine high, four seasons get rich, five champions, six or six big luck, seven clever magpies explore plum blossoms, eight blessings live long, and nine (wines) are good wines, and ten people are full. But I'm still confused about the mystery of this guessing game.
China's food culture is profound and has a long history, and the differences between local cuisines and other places are different in their splendor and charm. May our food culture, like highland barley wine, be fragrant, mellow and timeless, adding a little luster to Chinese culture!