? In the 1970s to the early 80s, Qinghai Huangshui is our unique taste of that era, still exists.
? Yumen Oilfield is located in the western end of the Hexi Corridor under the Qilian Mountains, cold and lack of oxygen, poor material life. Father in charge of logistics services in the oilfield bureau, he tried to find ways to seek benefits for employees through various channels. In the early 1970s, his comrades in Qinghai for him to contact the Qinghai Lake Gangcha fishery relations, in addition to the summer every year, my father will always pull from the Qinghai Lake Huangshui fish back. Qinghai Lake and Yumen's climate conditions are relatively similar, long winter time, just favorable Huangshui fish storage. New Year's Day and the Spring Festival period pull back Huangshui are frozen into ice, can slowly enjoy. "Eleven" and "May Day" period, although the temperature is not high, but the car also have to run day and night continuously, in order to ensure that Huangshui fish will not deteriorate. First after nearly a day of bumpy, will drive the truck to the Gangcha fishery, dark before loading the car, night and day to the oil field, over the Darshan Mountain, over the Minle, Zhangye, out of the Jiayuguan Pass, 10:00 am rushed to the oil field, the workers with baskets lined up to buy fish. At that time every city catty Huangshui fish 10 cents, to the early 80s, only 20 cents a catty. Each time each person can share more than 10 pounds.
? Huangshui naked, almost no scales, body shape similar to a spindle, blunt and round head, mouth at the front of the head, beardless, back gray-brown or yellow-brown, gray or yellowish abdomen, irregular brown patches on both sides of the body, fins with light gray or light red. There are also individuals that are light yellow or dark green all over.
? Huangshui fish spiny, fatty meat, braised is the most delicious. My mother is cooking Huangshui master. She first used houma oil to fry the fish into a golden brown, and then poured into the pot of hot water, add peppercorns, onions, ginger, garlic and chili peppers and a little soy sauce, and then put a cup of white wine, let the warm fire stew for half an hour, until the collection of dry broth, the fish out of the pot on the plate. This fish soup thick, flavorful and spicy, so that people's appetite, into a permanent flavor. In those days, the meat supply by ticket, also eat meat once or twice a month, and also each person one or two taels. But every time you eat Huangshui, mother always give each child one or two, everyone ate a lot of fun. At that time a must have two or three pounds, New Year's time can also eat seven or eight pounds of Huangshui big. Later go to the countryside to the army home to visit relatives, not only can eat the Huangshui fish, my father from Qinghai to get the Mutual Daqu, also became my "special supply". Mutual aid dazhu more than a dollar a bottle, wine quality mellow, typical barley flavor, drink aftertaste. In those days, only Xinjiang's Yili Daqu could compete with it.
? Later I realized, Qinghai Lake is a salt water lake, Huangshui is the only species of fish surviving in Qinghai Lake, due to live in the alpine salt water waters, lack of bait, slow growth, a 500 grams of Huangshui need nearly ten years of time to grow into. There is "Huangshui only grow one or two meat every year". It is also because of the slow, has accumulated rich nutrients, the most valuable is natural and clean, completely free of pollution.
Due to the 60s and 70s large-scale fishing methods, so that the amount of Huangshui resources in Qinghai Lake rapidly declining, almost on the verge of extinction. To November 1982, Qinghai Lake for the first time to implement the fishing ban, for the implementation of the Qinghai Lake for a period of 3 years of closed lake fish, in order to give the Huangshui fish to provide rest and recuperation opportunities. To the late 80's, Qinghai Huangshui has been fully banned, Huangshui extremely valuable.
? In May 1989, I in the oilfield Zhangye rest and recuperation center and tasted the long-lost Huangshui in Qinghai. My home downstairs on the first floor living in an old man called Zhang Laosan, because his family's little girl and I was a commune of the insertion of the youth, I often to the old man to ask for warmth and warmth, coupled with weekdays have sip a few mouths of wine hobby, the two have become irreverent acquaintances. One evening, Zhang old man in the downstairs courtyard fiddling with a tin tube type stove, with the fire burning charcoal, will be a large iron pot placed on the stove mouth, added more than half a pot of water, and then will be opened and cleaned more than a dozen half a catty Huangshui fish and a variety of ingredients put into the pot, and then covered with a pot lid, so that the charcoal fire simmering up.
? At this point, a long-lost flavor fills the air.
? "Master Zhang, are closed for many years, where to get Huangshui fish? "I asked with some surprise.
? "The more I think about the real hateful, Hongdong County, there is no good people! "He sang the Qin Opera "Su San Qi Xie", took a puff of cigar, and then answered me with the Qin Opera Dao Bai: "You the official do not know. I later went to Ganzhou City to wander, only to see the streets of people pushing a bicycle to sell Huangshui fish, I immediately pulled out 20 yuan to buy the dozen fish. "
? Qinghai to Zhangye is just across a Darshan Mountain, only four or five hours of driving, which is about the traders through other channels way to get. Perhaps the vendors do not dare to sell in Qinghai, afraid of big noise, take the shuttle bus to the streets of Zhangye to steal the sale.
? "Tomorrow at noon to eat fish! "Zhang Laozi colorful said to me.
The night can still vaguely hear the impassioned singing downstairs. People are old and drowsy, this old man stewing fish while roaring the Qin opera with great interest.
? After dawn, I went to work, only to see the downstairs of the big iron pot is still smoking hot, do not see the old man's body, must have tossed a night, he went back to bed.
? At noon back from work, from the home carried two bottles of Ganzhou Daqu, to the old master Zhang's home. Master Zhang called the next door to the old man Wang, and mixed a few dishes of small dishes, and then the pot of Huangshui fish all poured into a large plate, he yelled: "drink! "Two old and one young clink glasses, a glass of wine down, you can eat fish.
? Elder Zhang life is delicious, but also like to cook, the most skillful is the roasted fish and marinated meat, basically belongs to the Lu Cuisine series of works. Before retiring, Master Wang was a chef at the Oilfield Transportation Department, skilled in all white and red cases, and skillful with the knife, a chef in the eyes of the workers. The two old men talked about cooking skills to flutter, I can not insert the words, just concentrate on eating fish.
? "How is the flavor? You take another bite to feel it! Just kidding, it's not something an ordinary person can make! "Elder Zhang was a little excited, pinching over a fish for me, and had to ask me to say one, two, three.
? Huangshui fish color red, the shape of the fish has been blurred, soup and fish meat has been glued together, into the mouth meat crispy rotten flavor, completely free of other impurities, seems to be something between meat and fish. Fish aroma with a bit of sauce meat flavor, the fish is tender, loose but not loose, taste extremely fresh. And then sip a few sips of the excellent wine, it really makes you feel a little floating.
? This is stewed for fifteen or sixteen hours Huangshui, and is cooked with charcoal. I'm kind of long in the tooth! This is also an unforgettable memory in my food jungle. Although nearly 30 years have passed, but still let me aftertaste. Elder Wang was gentle and considerate, and he never bullshitted anyone. The old man died in the mid-1990s at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Zhang has been a passionate man all his life, and is good at singing, drinking, smoking, and playing cards. I even met him when I went to Zhangye in 2006, and he was still in good health. Later I heard that he was 89 years old when he died.