There is a talented man named Shaojiu Lao Pei at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province. In fact, his surname is not Pei, and his name is Bai Yuanchao. The reason for this is that the word "white" in the local dialect is the same pronunciation as the w

There is a talented man named Shaojiu Lao Pei at the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain in Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province. In fact, his surname is not Pei, and his name is Bai Yuanchao. The reason for this is that the word "white" in the local dialect is the same pronunciation as the word "Pei". Uncle Bai is 69 years old this year. He has been cooking persimmon wine at home for more than 30 years. Every winter, he has to set up local equipment for soybean wine at his doorstep. After one month, he can earn 50,000 yuan without leaving home. Uncle Bai has become a celebrity because of persimmon wine.

Photographers like to shoot rural themes and have been old friends with Uncle Bai for more than 10 years. One day in early December, I suddenly received a call from him that I started cooking persimmon wine this year. The news was a bit too early. According to past experience, the uncle started to cook wine in the 39th day. He explained on the phone, "This year's weather is frozen early, so you have to cook it. Ancient methods of souvenirs are used to make the weather, so you can't miss the opportunity."

Our group rushed to Uncle Bai's house early on Saturday morning. He still sat in front of his home gate with a set of earth equipment of more than 100 years. He dug three holes on the ground, combined the iron pot, large urn, and iron grill according to regulations, and a cement telephone pole made a chimney. This year, we specially used carton pieces to form a simple house, which became a souvenir workshop.

Uncle Bai is from Danfeng County, Shaanxi Province. When he was a child, he had many brothers and sisters and his financial conditions were not good. He was in his 20s and came to this mountain village called Magou. Rural people all have a habit of recruiting smart children outside, which is to avoid being wronged outside. Uncle Bai's parents also had the same idea back then. The uncle came to Shanxi to work hard, work diligently, be kind to others, and is smart. He has a good reputation in the village and at home. He grows crops and is a capable person in the village. He has been a village cadre for decades. He runs a small shop at home, plants pepper trees in the field, and makes wine. He is a powerful man who deserves his reputation.

After the reform and opening up, the land contract responsibility system was implemented in rural areas. Uncle Bai relied on his flexible and smart mind to make a fortune. He firmly believed that farmers should find a way out in the countryside when they get rich. After the busy farming season, he seemed not satisfied while running the convenience store at home, so he asked the elderly in the village about how to use persimmon souvenir and took the lead in setting up a souvenir stall in front of his home.

Uncle said that the process of making persimmon soju is to wait for the persimmon to be picked after the frost every year, and then crush it and put it in a large jar or a large jar for two months to ferment, and then fire it after it is frozen in the sky. The method of firing is also relatively simple. First, mix the fermented persimmon sauce with crop straw, then put it in the soil equipment to distillate it, and the soju will be done.

Uncle Bai said it was easy to do but difficult to do. The process seemed simple and very particular to do. Each link had to be accumulated through experience, otherwise the soju would not be able to flow out. After more than 30 years of experience, he summarized a set of mature experience based on the teachings and practical operations of the older generation. For him, soju is easy to get.

Uncle Bai cannot do without his wife's help in making shochu. He is the one who completes the physical and technical work. Although his wife is helping, not everyone can do this shochu. Take this fire as an example, it is also a technical job. Starting from pouring the raw material persimmon sauce and crop orange stalk mixture, the size of the flame is strictly required. If you don't master the shochu well, you will not succeed.

Uncle planted more than 10 acres of persimmon trees in the field, all of which were prepared for soju. He said that it takes roughly 2 hours to cook a pot of wine, and 20 to 30 kilograms of persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon wine persimmon for about a month. During this period, in addition to completing one's own tasks, we also have to help the villagers cook some wine as a fine wine for guests during the Spring Festival.

Uncle Bai's equipment for making soju wine is all common iron pots and large jars used in rural areas. The most precise one is this "iron ring". Its diameter is about 1.2 meters and its bottom is conical. It is something passed down from the hands of the older generation. I spent a lot of money and bought it for more than 1,000 yuan.

The large iron ring is extremely useful, with a conical shape on the lower part and is used to guide the flow of wine. Pour cold water on the top to cool it. This is the crystallization of the invention and wisdom of the ancestors.

fermented persimmon sauce and crop short straws evenly stir, in order to have a gap in the middle of the distillation, which can pass through water vapor. At the bottom is a large iron pot, with a grate installed inside, and a large jar without bottom in the middle plays a steamer. After about 30 minutes of cooking, the liquid of the soju will flow out. It takes about 2 hours to cook, and a pot of fine wine will be released.

Whenever Uncle Bai starts to cook persimmon wine, there will be many villagers around the small local workshop. They gather here to taste persimmon wine and chat. This place becomes the most lively place in the small mountain village in winter, and the whole village will also be filled with the fragrance of wine and persimmon fragrance.

According to this 80-year-old uncle, persimmon wine is a pure fruit wine, a natural drink, which is delicious but not good, and has the effect of softening blood vessels. The elderly in the village like to drink a few sips. He has been drinking for more than 30 years and has to come 2 taels every night before going to bed. Every year, Lao Bai also entrusts him to burn 200 kilograms.

The reason why Uncle Bai is called a method of making persimmon soju is that one is equipment soil and the other is method soil. Take this stove as an example. Three connected soil pits are dug directly on the ground. When the firewood is lit, it will make a whistle sound like a steam locomotive. The speed of the rhythm is the size of the fire. Of course, this fire burning is Bai's professional technical job.

Uncle said that there is a lot of rain this year, and the rate of soju is relatively low, and a pot can only produce about 20 kilograms.

Uncle Bai has 1 son and 2 daughters. The children all start families and start businesses, and their lives are pretty good. The old couple grow crops at home, open shops, and make soju wine, and their lives are quite fulfilling. The uncle said that the children felt that souvenir was very hard and they would not let them do it anymore, but he just couldn't stop. Souvenir in winter has become a part of his life and he will never be able to do it in this life.

Uncle said that the lees of soju are also a good thing. When it comes to the pepper field, it is farm fertilizer. The peppercorns grown in this way are very fragrant.

Uncle can produce more than 1 ton of persimmon soju wine every year. The wines from that year were stored in wine cellars built in earthen kilns. Except for the amount you keep at home, most of them will be sold. The price per catty is 20 yuan. Of course, this is the price of old wine stored in cellars of more than 2 years. Uncle Bai’s persimmon soju is very famous, and the sales of soju are not a problem. When you sit at home and don’t leave your home, people come to buy it all year round. Foreign customers often drive to buy it, most of which are Shaanxi and Henan. In total, they will earn more than 50,000 yuan in one month of cooking every year.

Uncle Bai said that planting persimmon trees in the mountains is also considered to be the state’s recommendation to return farmland to forests. Persimmon trees green the mountainous areas and produce fruits to brew fine wine. For him, it is a business without foundation. Being happy with something is a life enjoyment, and what is the purpose of being a mood. The old wine is stored in the cellar, and you can enjoy life by yourself all year round, and you can make some money. The life in the elderly is quite comfortable.

When we left, we bought 2 kilograms of persimmon wine that had been stored in a 7-year-old cellar, and took it home as a fine wine for guests during the Spring Festival, and savored life with our relatives and friends. Everyone, have you ever drunk this native persimmon soju? [If you want to see more stories about the people, please click on the upper right to follow]