Prose | Frost-stained persimmon red (Yu Lingbo)

Peach apricot plum jujube these fruit trees, most of them are uniformly planted in the orchard, by special people to take care of, the general villagers are not scattered, because a fruit, it is easy to attract broken babies and troubles, it is not easy to survive to maturity, a little careless, more likely to be led by people, for this trouble angry, real can not be drawn, so the planting is less. Even the original ones, in a fit of rage, simply picked up a sharp axe and cut off the arithmetic ball.

　　In fact, today, the material is extremely rich, people's quality is generally improved, the city's sidewalks on both sides, there are no apples, pears, cherries, peaches to make sidewalk trees, the reasons are clear. Only persimmon trees, flowers also bloom, fruit also bear fruit, but the fruit from green to red is always astringent can not be eaten, need to be warm, warm, hanging, put, until the internal chemical changes, astringent sweet, can be eaten. Ping Su did not need to be cared for, so there were persimmon trees everywhere inside and outside the village. In the late autumn, when the wind and frost beat, the persimmon leaves turned red, red all over the trees, and red on the ground. The dolls find a sharp branch to poke up, the branch is full in an instant, take it home, it is not only a good feed for cattle and sheep, but also can burn the pot and simmer the kang, when they see the thick stem of the leaf, they will pull with their friends, and the first to break is to lose. In the cold winter moon, the snow flutters, the whole world is crystal white, only the persimmons on the persimmon tree are bright red, like a cluster of burning flames, proud of frost and snow, a unique scene in its own pass.

　　The rarity is precious, the persimmon tree is everywhere, and the persimmon is light and not rare. In the past, other fruits were few, but also expensive, like apples, bananas, duck pears, a few cents a pound, only persimmons are not valuable, the village can not sell at all, the croppers will carry a cage of persimmons into the city to sell, the scale does not have to be brought, because regardless of the pound, but on a sale, a penny two, the buyer crouched in front of the cage, enjoy to eat, after eating before counting persimmons to settle the bill. There are the greedy and cheap citizens, or put the persimmon tip under their feet, or throw it far aside, and the countrymen who sell persimmons may not see it, and even if they do, they just smile and pretend not to see it. Persimmons are still like this, that is to make persimmon cakes under the persimmon peel, screw broken persimmon horn, not to sell the price, the city dolls often use to sell toothpaste skins to get a few cents, you can buy a large bunch of persimmon peels, persimmon horns.

　　Originally, I always thought that only Qindi produced persimmons, but later I learned that there are persimmons everywhere except Tibet and Xinjiang. But Qindi's persimmons are undoubtedly of the best quality and the most famous. There are mirror heart yellow, mirror persimmon, pointed persimmon, cow heart persimmon, cow egg persimmon, fire pot persimmon, gourd persimmon, of which fire crystal persimmon can be described as a natural thing, for the best persimmon. This persimmon is produced in Lintong at the foot of Lishan Mountain, which is originally the remnant of the Qinling Mountains, an extinct volcano located in the hinterland of Guanzhong, and the persimmons produced are not large, like chai eggs, round and rolling. Take it off in autumn, sit in the cool of ventilation for a period of time, wait for the frost to fall, automatically soften, and the color is red as a flame, at this time the skin is as thin as a cicada wing, from the top of a peel, a persimmon for a week, the persimmon peeled off, there is only a complete fruit, can not bite, can not swallow, just a mouth, a gentle inhalation, the red meat juice is like thick honey, slowly into the mouth, slowly into the throat, seedless and slagless, sweet from the mouth to the throat to the abdomen, and finally to the brain, the whole body is only happy, only at this time, you understand what is sweet as honey, I was also even more impressed by the magic and wonderful name of the fire crystal persimmon.

　　This is how to eat fire crystal persimmons, and there is another kind of persimmon that needs to be processed before eating. Dozens of miles north of Lintong, is Fuping, although it is close at hand, the persimmons there look very different from the fire crystals. The persimmons of Fuping are huge, as large as cattle eggs, plucked from the tree, peeled, worn with rope, hung in the sun to dry, and when their moisture evaporates, they are stacked in tile pots, neatly arranged, and in less than ten and a half days, there will be a layer of frosting on it, white as snow. At this time, persimmons have become cake-shaped, flexible tendons, sweet as food, but also the material for making pastries and steaming sweet rice, but the price is not often enjoyed by civilians. As for other soft rotten persimmons, the people in the city often mixed with white flour, and then wrapped in green and red silk, walnut kernels, rock sugar, boiling hot oil pot fried, called persimmon cake, is also a special name of the ancient city, especially the best in Huifang. As for persimmon wine and persimmon vinegar, it is the way the townspeople skillfully dispose of residual persimmons.

　　Guanzhong proverb cloud: delicious and difficult to overcome. Persimmons are cold, heavy food, not to eat more, more food is easy to accumulate food, and it is difficult to go down. Therefore, fire crystals, persimmon cakes, and persimmon cakes do not dare to eat more.

　　There is also a tree, whose wood and its leaves and flowers are the same as persimmon trees, and the fruit that is produced is the same as that of persimmons, but when the fruit grows to the size of an adult's thumb, it no longer grows. Persimmon ripe, red like fire, this fruit is always green, and astringent can not be eaten, need to be picked and placed for a period of time, when the color becomes black, there is a sweet taste, the taste is the same as persimmons, but the core of the big meat is less, not as sweet as persimmons. Somehow, the townspeople call it a soft jujube, probably because of its size and crumpled appearance similar to that of a dried jujube. In the past, almost every village had soft jujube trees, and there was the spirit that woke up, cut off the canopy in winter, grafted persimmon branches, and blossomed in the spring, and the persimmons were formed at the flower base. Today, the soft jujube tree is almost extinct, and when asked about the soft jujube, many young people are confused and do not know what it is.

Source: Xi'an Evening News