Kusui (草粿粿) is a simple seasonal snack made with a Chaoshan flavor made from grass grits. Although all kinds of Internet celebrities are full of cold drinks nowadays, for Jiexi people, we still miss the bowl of slippery and tender grass, especially in the sweltering summer, if you don't eat a portion, it is inevitable to feel regretful.
However, in the blind pursuit of efficiency, many merchants who sell grass and kway teow have given up the time-consuming and laborious ancient process. But fortunately, there are always some people who stubbornly adhere to traditional techniques and cook the bowl of grass in memory with their hearts...
Ancient method of boiling · more than 30 years of persistence
Every time it was time to make the grass, Limber had to get up early in the morning and soak the grass for at least an hour and a half. When you soak it enough, you are ready to clean it. For a better taste, a bundle of grass and grass, Limber sometimes had to repeatedly wash it a dozen times, constantly pouring water to filter until there was no sand and dust precipitation. The process is simple and tedious, but it is extremely challenging and patient.
After cleaning, it is time to start boiling the grass. A large cauldron of three or five firewood, a scoop of clear water a few inches of streamers. The fire in the stove beat, occasionally bursting into a crackling sound; in the pot, the grass was boiled warmly, and if you listened carefully, you could hear a slight grunt. Nearly 6 hours of boiling, so long that it almost gives people the illusion that time is infinitely stretched.
It was hard to boil the grass out of the thick juice, but it was only half a mile away from getting a bowl of grass that would bounce "duang duang", and it was still "a long way to go".
After boiling the grass grits juice, Lin Bo also adds boiling water to continuously knead and filter, repeating several times, just so that the grass can be "squeezed clean" to get the "pure Zhen" grass grits. When rubbing, the aroma of grass kueh wafted out, instantly arousing the hungry worms in Xiaobian's stomach, and I was eager to eat a bowl immediately.
Filter the grass kway teow water, throw away the residue, and then continue to boil in a large pot, carefully skimming off the foam, until it is almost boiling, add the prepared starch water and stir well. In order to make the taste of the grass more dense, Lin Bo even filtered the starch water with a filter cloth, which fully demonstrated the thoughtfulness and care of a craftsman.
After adding starch water, patiently stir until boiling, and then scoop the grass kway water into the bucket, and then leave it to time to cast magic, and when the grass water cools to a certain temperature, it will condense into a jelly-like snack that we are familiar with.
In the time of waiting for the grass to condense, we chatted with Lin Bo and listened to him talk about the interesting things he had walked the streets and alleys in those years, and the simplicity and innocence of people who had bartered for things before... After a while, the grass was condensed. The freshly condensed grass is still steaming, cut and scooped into a bowl, sprinkled with brown sugar, or added sugar or honey.
After watching the production of grass kway teow, Xiao Bian can't help but sigh that eating a bowl of kway teow may not even take 5 minutes, but making a bowl of traditional kway te chrysobium takes hours of effort - before and after a dozen times of cleaning, rubbing, so long that I almost forgot the time of boiling...
The process of grass kway teen is indeed not complicated, but the monotony and time-consuming and laborious hidden under the iceberg are more likely to make people smell the wind and retreat, when more and more people choose more convenient grass kway teow powder production, only to make Limber's persistence more valuable and more moving.
It is grass and rice, but also childhood
Compared with ice drinks, warm grass is more healthy, but also comes with the effect of detoxification and detoxification, a full bowl of grass is not long after the belly, delicate and tender grass seems to dance on the tip of the tongue, between the lips and teeth is full of unique fragrance, people are satisfied.
Mr. Liang Shiqiu once said, "Food often contains the most vivid memories." A bowl of grass grits, let us travel back to the time of childhood at once.
I remember those hot summers, in the afternoon in the alley, a melodious "grass ~ ~ ~ Kway ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ At that time, the price was cheap, two or three dollars had a full bowl, carefully holding home, grunting and drinking, but still felt unsatisfied, but the shouting was long gone, can only taste the aroma of grass, waiting for the next happy encounter...
When we grew up, we ate a lot of grass
But it was always a little bit worse than the taste in my memory
After a fruitless search, I began to think
Maybe we really can't get it back
It is the leisurely childhood in the memory
Or the rustic and time-consuming craftsmanship
......
Source: Cotton Lake Today