Intangible cultural heritage is the crystallization of the wisdom and civilization of the Chinese nation, which is not only a witness to historical development, but also a precious and valuable cultural resource. Intangible cultural heritage that has been passed down for thousands of years contains a string of stories, waiting for people with hearts to listen carefully; one after another works that retain the temperature of the inheritors are dyed in people's minds with a picture of civilization flowing and flowing. The column "Shou Artist" tells the story of non-hereditary inheritors, takes everyone to experience the local history, culture, customs and customs behind the intangible cultural heritage, and experience the charm of the intangible cultural heritage.
As we approach the end of the year, the flavor of the year is getting stronger. In the past, Ningbo people had the custom of making frozen rice candy before the Spring Festival, generally the Waxing Moon began to make, the more severe the winter, the more the gas into clusters, dripping water into ice, the sweeter the sugar.
Hot stove, boiling sugar, stir-frying, stirring, compacting, cutting... Pieces of hot frozen rice candy have just been cut, and they are snatched up by the children waiting on the side, and they taste a bite, and their lips and teeth are fragrant.
In the era when there were no potato chips and cola "blessings", the crisp snack of frozen rice candy was the sweet and warm thought of many Ningbo people. However, with the improvement of people's living standards, frozen rice candy has gradually faded out of everyone's vision, and there are not many people who can do this skill.
In Zhenhai Lipu, there is an old craftsman who still insists on hand-making frozen rice candy, his name is Liu Guowen. In the seventeen-room scenic spot, he used a small shop, a large pot and an ingenuity to adhere to the inheritance of frozen rice candy making skills.
The "sweetness" of ingenuity
Liu Guowen's shop has two stores, one for selling products and the other for production. Thick fog rises in the production room all year round, and passers-by are always attracted by the sweet smell.
On the day of the interview, when the reporter arrived, Liu Guowen was carrying the key step of making frozen rice candy - boiling sugar. Only to see him pour caramel, white sugar, soybean oil, and water into the pot in turn, without using any weighing tools, feeling that the ratio is in line with the "heart", he directly poured it into the pot. After a while, the sugar water grunted and rolled.
The proportion of sugar, water and oil seems to be arbitrary, in fact, it is difficult to control, more sugar will be greasy, more water will be weak taste. And the right sweetness of old Liu's frozen rice candy when he enters it is his decades of ingenuity.
After the sugar water is heated to a golden brown, add sesame seeds, peanuts and high-quality Northeast rice in quantity, and then quickly stir-fry with a spatula to prevent paste. After the rice blossoms are stirred evenly, they are shoveled into the rectangular wooden frame of the board while hot, and the rice flowers are flattened and compacted with a rolling pin, and finally the rice flowers are cut into strips with a knife, and the pieces of white fat and neat frozen rice candy are made.
Frozen rice candy can be made all year round, but october to May is the peak sales season. Liu Guowen said: "Because every October, fresh rice, sesame seeds and peanuts are on the market, and the frozen rice candy is more delicious. ”
"Old Tradition" Transforms into "New Choice"
At the age of 13, Liu Guowen began to learn to make frozen rice candy with his father, who has worked in a cake factory, and by the age of 67, he has been making frozen rice candy for 54 years. From riding bicycles through the streets and alleys, to family workshops, to the net red shops in today's seventeen-room scenic spot, Liu Guowen has gradually changed frozen rice candy from "old tradition" to "new choice".
In 2009, Seventeen Fang Village carried out scenic transformation and upgrading, and vigorously developed rural tourism. Liu Guowen also stood at the "outlet" of rural revitalization and opened a "old Liu frozen rice candy" shop in the scenic spot.
How to make the old craftsmanship and the new countryside collide to spark? How to find a balance between traditional snacks and modern tastes? To this end, Liu Guowen took a lot of thought.
"I designed a 1-pound tiger head bag gift box with the introduction of Seventeen House Village and Frozen Rice Candy printed on it." While upgrading the packaging, Liu Guowen also actively develops new products, such as peanut butter, wine brewing, sesame candy, peanut candy, ginger candy, etc., to meet the needs of people with different tastes. In 2013, he also opened an online micro-store to operate synchronously, and the sales scope was expanded to all parts of the country.
Liu Guowen has also been reported by the People's Daily Weibo, CCTV's four sets of "Far Away Home" columns and the Central Broadcasting Economic Channel, and "Old Liu Frozen Rice Candy" has also jumped to become a national Internet celebrity food. In 2021, his "Seventeen Room Frozen Rice Candy Making Techniques" was included in the sixth batch of Ningbo Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects.
"Old Liu Frozen Rice Candy" is famous, and Liu Guowen also has apprentices who have come to admire him. After the apprentice's apprenticeship, he also opened a frozen rice candy shop in Nantang Old Street, and the business was booming. The raw materials for making frozen rice candy in the apprentice shop are also provided by Liu Guowen. He said that in this way, the quality of frozen rice sugar can be guaranteed.
As a non-hereditary inheritor, Liu Guowen also often participates in intangible cultural heritage activities in Zhenhai's jurisdiction, and has also visited many schools to lead students to experience the process of making frozen rice candy. "Frozen rice candy is the memory of Ningbo people," and I want to do my best to pass on this 'sweetness'!" Liu Guowen said.
A skill needs to be passed on from generation to generation
Excellent traditions, look forward to more ordinary people to carry forward the inheritance
Zhen Lingtong issued a sincere invitation
If you have an old foundation and old craftsmanship around you