Sour and spicy are indispensable flavors in the daily life of Xiangxi people. There is a saying that "peppers are used as salt, and sauerkraut is used as rice". Therefore, in the local Miao villages in western Hunan Province, almost every family grows peppers, and every household has a sauerkraut altar. The sourness and spiciness of Xiangxi are the taste that penetrates deep into the bone marrow of Xiangxi people.
Xiangxi likes spicy, but the spicy is not fierce, revealing spicy; Xiangxi loves sour, has many classic sour dishes, as the saying goes, "three days do not eat sour, walk and jump"; whether it is invigorating sweaty spicy, or endless aftertaste of sour, can make ordinary dishes away from bland, unique flavor. As long as you eat it freely, you will be pleasantly surprised.
The mountains of Xiangxi are densely forested, the climate is humid, and it is often foggy. Endless dishes are either salted or placed on jars, in various ways, just to prolong the storage time, from which the raw materials derive a variety of sour flavors. This acid is not acetic acid, not a condiment for daily meals, but a sour taste produced by the fermentation of the grain itself. As a result, acid has become an indispensable taste in Xiangxi, and it also has the effect of anti-diarrhea and diarrhea, helping digestion, enriching the taste of dishes, greatly reducing pain, and protecting the joy and well-being of a party of water and soil.
The spicy in Xiangxi is mostly spicy. Local chili peppers are not only a seasoning, but also a separate dish. Chop chili peppers, beat chili peppers, pickled peppers and more. When the delicious and mellow spicy taste of various dishes is mixed with the umami taste of other dishes, the rich taste makes the spirit of "spicy not afraid" of Xiangxi people come out. Since you eat spicy, you must sweat profusely, exhale, and enjoy the hot and spicy scent with endless aftertaste.
The sour and spicy of Xiangxi is integrated into countless lives and tastes, containing the wisdom of Xiangxi people and the historical background of the development of Xiangxi. The Xiangxi people develop it to the fullest, until they brew a local exclusive taste, which is also the essence of the Xiangxi taste.
Shallotic acid
Sun-dried wild shallots.
In spring, wild shallots grow everywhere on the slopes, woodlands, and fields of western Hunan Province. The experienced Xiangxi people began to go up the mountain in droves to pull back, first eating a few fresh wild shallot stir-fry dishes, and more importantly, the wild shallots they had saved were pickled into sauerkraut to ensure that they could eat it all year round.
Therefore, in the middle of summer, fresh wild onions are no longer visible in the market, but onion acid is everywhere. Although the wild shallots are inconspicuous, if they are washed and stir-fried after being pulled back, the taste is very delicious. Shallots can be used as a boiled dish or as an ingredient. Shallots with tender spicy seeds, or mixed with sour and spicy seeds to make a paste, can enhance appetite. When stir-frying bacon, onion, the bacon tastes more beautiful, the shallot flavor is more fragrant.
Shallots, also known as wild garlic, garlic, etc., contain calcium, phosphorus and other inorganic salts, which can strengthen the spleen and appetize, help digestion, degreasize, and promote appetite.
Every year around the time of the Qingming Dynasty, pulling onions is a happy activity of the Xiangxi people. The shallots in western Hunan are not artificially cultivated, but rely on natural wildness. Xiangxi loves to plant fruit trees, such as oranges, peaches, etc., and large areas of wild shallots can often be seen along the edges of various orchards. Wild shallots have a stronger aroma than the idyllic green onions. Whenever the shallots that roam the mountains grow fat and tender, people use sharp knives or sharpened wooden sticks to dig along the roots of the shallots and dig out the heads of the shallots together. After the dug wild shallots are taken home, weeded, washed with sediment, and hung in a ventilated place to dry. When the moisture is semi-dry, cut finely, put into a jar and seal, and place in a cool place. After about two weeks, the shallot will turn sour, and then it will be made into a carrot.
Chili sour is both a dish and a condiment. The finished shallot acid has an aromatic smell, as long as it is lightly pinched in the hand, it will diffuse an aroma, and it can also be eaten raw, chewed in the mouth, and the mouth is fragrant. Use it to make dishes, fresh and fragrant, such as: shallot sour soup, shallot sour stir-fried dumplings, dried pepper and pepper and other.
Although the shallot grows in the mountains, it is regarded as a health care thing in the eyes of Chinese medicine people. The "Dietary Therapy Materia Medica" describes the shallot in this way: "The main consumption of the valley can be eaten, and the five viscera are not enough to be qi"; the "Kaibao Materia Medica" also says that the shallot is said: "The valley is eliminated in the warm, and the next breath kills insects". Where there are symptoms of edema, swelling, swelling and poisoning, Chinese medicine people will say, find some shallots, it can play a good effect.
Hardcore meal: Egg with chili peel
Egg with chili peel is a dish that any Xiangxi family would make.
It's easy to make this dish at home. It only takes a few peppers, a few peeled eggs, and a few garlic seeds to make in a few minutes, and the ingredients and methods are very simple.
Seemingly simple dishes, but the selection of materials is very exquisite.
First of all, the pepper is best to choose the local full of long and thin peppers, the size is moderate, not thick and not thin, too thick, too thin will affect the taste, too thin and not beaten, a few strokes will be thin, the dish is not good; the spiciness should also be moderate, too spicy to eat, not spicy and less tasteful.
The peeled eggs are best marinated by themselves with local duck eggs. When it comes to the pickling of peeled eggs, the Xiangxi people have a unique secret. Local duck eggs are pickled from good quality skin eggs, which are off-white in appearance and have no black spots. Pick it up with your hand to feel heavy, gently knock twice on the back of your hand, you can feel the elasticity of the leather egg inside, and finally hold the two ends of the leather egg, shake it in the ear, the good leather egg is very tight, it is impossible to hear the sound.
When I was a child, I remember doing this dish at home, my father would cut the green pepper and red pepper with scissors, take out the chili seeds inside, wash them clean, control the dry water, and then grill the peppers on the charcoal fire, about 3 minutes, the peppers began to emit a hungry fragrance, at this time the peppers have become soft, the skin is slightly charred, indicating that the firing can be over, the pepper skin is peeled off, and the leftover tender pepper meat is spared.
After selecting and processing the main ingredients, the subsequent process is much simpler. At this time, Xiangxi's bowl can come in handy. Put the prepared green peppers, peeled eggs, and garlic seeds together in a bowl, sprinkle with the right amount of salt, a little soy sauce, or add a little sesame oil, and beat it evenly little by little.
Beaten pepper peeled egg dish, with the freshness of fire-roasted chili peppers, slightly spicy in the aroma, combined with the thick and thick skin egg smoked aroma, coupled with the spicy garlic, the whole dish is fresh and pleasant.
Every time I have this dish at home, I can always swallow two bowls of rice in one breath and eat it. The spicy taste makes me sweat a lot, and often at the end it is the pepper mixed with rice and liquidated!
All summer, there is no spicy or happy at home, and spicy is a delicacy!