When visiting the homes of Tujia compatriots, you must try the Tujia people’s special snack - fried rice. It is made by steaming and drying glutinous rice, then frying it with fine gravel in an iron pot. When eating, it can be washed with boiling water, or mixed with corn sugar or potato sugar to make cakes and fried rice sugar.

Fried rice

In rural areas, glutinous rice is associated with New Year festivals and delicious food. In addition to making glutinous rice cakes, making rice dumplings, making glutinous rice balls and steamed blood cakes, Tujia people are also fond of making fried rice. The Tujia people are very particular about making fried rice, and they also regard whether they can make fried rice and whether it is done well or not as a sign of whether a woman is capable and diligent.

To make fried rice, the first thing to do is to select suitable glutinous rice. Long-shaped grains are more suitable. Although the yield of Nuogu is not as high as that of other varieties, in order to make fried rice and other foods, farmers generally plan which fields should be reserved for the cultivation of Nuogu during sowing in spring. Sometimes there is no glutinous rice growing at home, so I have to exchange it with other people.

Cooked glutinous rice

Secondly, the glutinous rice should be soaked in cold water before steaming, and then steamed with a steamer after swelling. The method is similar to steaming glutinous rice to make glutinous rice cakes. Just don't steam it too much. After steaming, pour it into a dustpan and dye part of it with red and green food coloring to make it colorful. When drying, keep kneading the glutinous rice balls into particles with your hands, which the locals call "yin rice". Yin rice can also be cooked in oil soup and put some lean meat in it, which makes it more fragrant and flavorful than simple glutinous rice.

Before frying, the dried Yin rice should be wrapped in a cloth and covered with a bedding. When frying, a few drops of tung oil should be added to the river sand. When the sand is hot, scoop it out. A shovelful of rice is buried in the middle of the sand. After it has fully expanded, scoop it out and use a sieve to remove the sand. The remaining fried rice will be fragrant and crispy without any sand. The fried rice fried in this way has smaller particles than the popcorn made by machine, is more delicious and is better soaked.

Fried rice

Both yin rice and fried rice can be given as gifts. Cottage people generally eat fried rice during three seasons: New Year and festivals, planting and threshing, and drinking rice wine. This is mainly to entertain guests from afar and to reward people who come to help with the work. Fried rice is not considered a staple food. It is only used for breakfast or late-night snacks. It is regarded as the prelude before the main meal and the end of the day.

When eating fried rice, you can soak it in fermented glutinous rice or tea soup. You can even add some sugar to the boiling water to soak it, which is very convenient. The elderly often eat fried tea leaves mixed with fried rice, which is said to refresh their mind. As for children, they can also eat it dry like crispy noodles. If you go out, you can also bring a bag with you as road food.

The fried rice should be spread out immediately to avoid the remaining temperature causing the fried rice to turn yellow

Fried rice can be eaten dry, but it is more commonly eaten soaked in boiling water. Rice and eating rice are very particular. Generally, brown sugar and fried rice are put into a bowl, and then boiling water is poured slowly around the edge of the bowl toward the center of the bowl. If you start pouring toward the center of the bowl, the fried rice in the bowl will be pushed around and spread all over the floor. , Therefore, the Tujia people all have a folk proverb of soaking rice in boiling water and soaking it all around. The method of eating rice is even more unique and mysterious. The owner only gives one chopstick. If he asks for another one, the owner will laugh and use two chopsticks, which will kill the mother-in-law.

A bowl of fried rice soaked in soup

Tujia people also mix fried rice with rice sugar or sweet potato sugar, add ginger, sesame seeds, and peanuts and heat them together, then put them into a wooden mold and press them. Okay, then cut it into pieces with a kitchen knife, commonly known as, cut sugar,, cut sugar, and fried rice, and put them in a jar. They can be used at any time. They will not soften and deteriorate in a year and a half. It is regarded as the Tujia children in the past. The most luxurious snack.