An important part of pickles is salt. There are many records about salt in ancient books. In " Shangshu ", there is a Fu who said that when he was young, he was engaged in construction and was good at building walls. To be made Shang Dynasty Prime Minister, gave Wu Ding a lot of advice, they are all inspirational chicken soup. Wu Ding has benefited a lot and is handy in governing the country. Once Wuding admired Fu with emotion and said: "If you make a soup, you will only have salt plums."
For example, if you make a good soup, you are salt plums, which is absolutely indispensable! Soak the vegetables in salt, and push salt as the absolute protagonist. If you hold it in the "C" position, the dish becomes a pickle. To make good pickles, especially good black pickles, the process is complicated and cumbersome, and it contains hard work and wisdom.
The flat-headed people do not have the high-end dishes in Zhumen of the temple. All year round, most of them are pickled vegetables. There are many different types of pickles, which vary from place to place.
In my hometown of Lunan, the most representative one is black pickles. As the name suggests, the pickles are jet black, even pitch black, no one dared to eat them outside of Lunan.
When I was a student, I took some to Yantai. When I saw it, people hesitated and didn't dare to move their chopsticks. However, this black pickle is the favorite of Lunan people, and it is the daily necessities of the hard years. No one can tell from which old age the ancestors here, and from whom they had a whim, began to make this amazing dish.
The raw material of black pickles is called mustard , commonly known as hot pimple, and another name is "erdaomei". Sowing in the beginning of autumn, ridge transplantation, more resistant to cold, is one of the few remaining green in the field in late autumn. Harvested in frost season, generally pale green, with pale roots. The fruit (actually the root) has two symmetrical grooves on both sides of the lower part of the fruit, which are covered with roots and are as thin as eyebrows, which is the reason for the "two eyebrows".
At first glance, this name seems to be beautiful and beautiful. It is really lumpy, far inferior to the smooth and smooth of radish; its taste is unexpectedly spicy and bitter, which is difficult to eat; but it is quite stubborn, independent of cold autumn, indifferent to the trend, self-sinking and brewing; the season changes to the bright spring, a little bit Turn around is a mellow body. It is guessed that in ancient times, the people of the Chinese people were very discerning,Tasting and comprehending, appraising its true qualities, and assigning its name. Eyebrows show their shame; mustard, show their introduction.
The picture is from the website
. Before pickling, first repair the "second eyebrows", carefully peel off her "eyebrows", do not need to wash them, stack them in the corner, put them for a week or longer, and let them The sun that can only be enjoyed by unearthed in the sun, taste the deep cold day by day to reduce its moisture and increase its toughness.
This is a knack for inheritance and an important step, which will directly affect the color and taste of black pickles, which will be vividly displayed when the pickles are out of the pot.
is followed by a careful and thorough cleaning to clean the sand on the hot bumps to avoid teething. It is already winter, frost flower is blooming, the north wind is bitter all night, and thin ice is occasionally seen early in the morning. The water in the well began to be bitterly cold, and the cleaning work was very hard.
Mother has to do it every year. In fact, in the past two to three decades, she has eaten very little and most of them have been given away. Over the years, I always try to make time to return to my hometown to replace my elderly mother.
Mother's hands cracked in winter, and her fingers cracked deep. When I was young, I went to the outdoor tsubaki tree to look for the solidified light yellow resin that oozes from the trunk, lightly scraped it off and took it home.
When night comes, my mother picks a small piece with a needle, and the flame near the oil lamp burns it and drips it into the cracked opening. This can cut off the tingling of cold water during work. It is hard to manage the house and it is not easy to be a mother... ...Every time I think of my mother frowning and sorrowing and persevering because of the pain, a pin-piercing sorrow and sorrow immediately rises in my heart, and tears burst into tears.
After cleaning the hot bumps, put them in a porcelain jar and sprinkle with a layer of coarse salt according to the proportion. The mother always insisted on pickling with coarse salt. During the pickling season, some people go to the village to yell and sell, and the source of the channel seems to be legitimate. The coarse salt grains are jagged, and the crystal color is grayish. Contains a trace amount of magnesium chloride , which is the main ingredient of bittern , which is good for antiseptic. The key is to have the plain taste that the refined salt lacks. The coarse salt melts as it falls, and it melts as it falls, following the slow footsteps of winter.
The full jar of spicy pimple has now entered the five-month pickling stage, placed in a place where it can be exposed to the sun,There is no need to cover if there is no wind, sand, rain or snow. If you need to cover, use a thin stick to pad between the edge of the tank and the scorpion, which is conducive to ventilation.
After a period of time, the water in the hot pimple gradually seeps out, and every three to five days thereafter, use a wooden stick to lightly pound it and conduct vibration to make the pickling even. This is also a long fermentation process, peculiar and pleasantly surprised.
As time goes by, the pungency and bitterness of the hot bumps are quietly released. After the first month of the year, one can be fished out and cut and eaten as pickles. Gorgeous half-turn, salty and crisp first.
In February, fish out the hot bumps and place them on the grate beam to dry. Pay attention to the forecast, don't get caught in the rain, and put it away at night as much as possible. The sun has shrunk more than half, wrinkles are vicissitudes, and you can pinch it hard. The pickle juice, let it settle in the tank, let it settle and clear, and prepare it for the use of yellow vegetables.
The picture comes from the website
During the Ching Ming season, village willows are slanting, and alleys are flying flowers. It is the season of pickles. Choose a good day carefully, sunny and warm, no important things to leave home, and peace of mind.
Get up in the morning and get busy, the scene is warm and grand. Wash the big iron pan and boil it dry, put the dried hot pimple in it, scoop in the pickle juice, bring to a boil on high heat, then slow down the heat. The word "Yang" contains heat and patience. Accurate grasping requires long-term experience.
After more than an hour, the fragrance began to diffuse. At this time, the spicy pimple was the most fragrant and the salt taste was moderate. If you are in front of the pot, you will be greedy, and you can't help but uncover the pot and taste it first.
quickly squeezed out one, like a small fist, gurgling, hot cooked meat, dark butter and bright, full of richness. Gently opened, the layers inside, the mellow fragrance overflows, and the entrance is soft and chewy. This is the effect of placing the hot pimple in a pile and holding the light mouth cold. The roughness of the past, blooming round and gorgeous.
Spicy and bitter, it is the memory of last winter. Storms and rainbows, life is about the same.
A family of yangcai, neighbors know well, the fragrance can't be covered. Regardless of whether it is early or late, when it is mature, neighbors have the habit of sending each other away, and they become vulgar without a promise. Show and taste each other, share skills and experience with each other, and point out minor flaws, so that you can get better in the coming year.
When I was young, my mother always asked me to send a little from house to house, and when I returned, the bowl was full of praise. The black color of pickles comes from the iron pan, from the chemical reaction of iron and salt,If the juice is fully harvested and left out of the pot overnight, the color will be deeper and saltier, which is more conducive to long-term storage. No one has studied the microscopic origins of the color black and the evolution of the details. It must be a rather complicated chemical reaction. Obviously, black pickles are rich in iron ion , which is beneficial to people.
When I was a child when the pickles were cooked, I immediately thought of holding a small piece, rushing to the field, ran into the wheat field with interplanting peas...The pea sprouts are fresh and tender, pinch and stuff them in. In my mouth, the taste of spring is immediately permeated, and another bite of black pickles will make the taste of spring more vivid and fuller, and you can have a full stomach.
People take food as their heaven, and eating is too important. Regardless of poverty or wealth, the topic of eating continues from morning to night. Zhangqiu people said: " pancake rolls with green onions "; Lunan people said: "pancakes with pickles rolls onion", highlighting the role of black pickles.
The old people worked hard and sweated in the field for food and clothing. The pancakes provided energy and the pickles boosted their strength. Days, just go by day by day, month by month, year by year, duty, work tirelessly, never neglect.
Nowadays, people's recipes are rich and colorful, and there are plenty of dishes to choose from in five cold and six summers. The variety is dazzling, and the extension of well-off is fully displayed, and it is a national and peaceful atmosphere. Black pickles seem to be dispensable, at least it is no longer a necessity, the countryside is no longer a family, and the neighbors have them, and they can’t eat evenly. However, there are still many people who love to eat it.
My mother told me that some nephews and grandsons who were engaged in physical work would come to my house after a while, went straight to the old jar under the table, found a few pieces to take away, and said, it’s better to eat with this one. Full and comfortable eating. My mother is very proud, that is her work.
Occasionally I think that when I get to work near Sangyu, I will definitely return to my hometown. From planting to harvesting, from washing to pickling, a pot of black pickles is produced throughout the process. Send it to your neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and people who love to eat while it's hot. I wish my mother good health, and then I can nag back and forth, point left and right, and slowly count out the memories that have been soaked in those years...My old mother is eighty years old and has a camel back.
Source: Tancheng County Procuratorate
Text: Wang Chengqing
(Note: Wang Chengqing is a former staff member of the Tancheng County People’s Procuratorate)
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