Chaoshan Xu Zhenshi
Grass grits! Grass kway teow to sell!
Grass kway teow is a popular snack with local characteristics in the Chaoshan area, and is called fairy grass honey in some places. Whenever there is summer, next to the main road and alley mouth in the Chaoshan area, there are vendors selling grass and rice, or pushing carts, or setting up small stalls, holding porcelain bowls in one hand, and holding metal pieces of shoveled grass in the other, constantly "ding-ding-dong- and ding-dong" to attract business, and the sound is very crisp and beautiful. In the distance, I heard the sound of the iron spoon tapping the porcelain bowl, and I didn't have to twist my head, so I knew that there was a grass seller!
In Chaoshan Province, all "kueh" is made of rice as raw material, and this kind of thing can be used as a custom, which is a daily food and hunger; It can be used as a festival to worship the gods. Therefore, the word "粿" already has an almost sacred meaning in Chaoshan Province. And using the word "koeh" to praise this kind of summer food that is not made of rice is enough to see that everyone is affectionate about its style.
It is made from the xianren grass (xianren grass is also called caoqin grass, which is a specialty of the Chaoshan area). The immortal grass is decocted to remove the liquid medicine, filter the juice to remove the slag, add an appropriate amount of starch (usually with potato flour), stir well, heat and boil, and then put in a container (traditionally a clay bowl and a porcelain jar) and condense it into a paste, that is, it becomes a black crystal grass kway.
I remember when I was a child, when the vendor picked and sold, there was a bowl and chopstick holder and brown sugar, and the dishwashing water was placed under the shelf; One end is a small cylinder. When sold, cut a copper spoon from the top layer of the grass kway out of the bowl, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and light a drop of orange paste. Chaoyang and Puning rural selling grass kway, a porous copper coin planer, the coagulated grass in the bowl is planed up, become a strip, add brown sugar, eat warm or cold can be eaten. Eating grass can relieve the heat, but it should not be left overnight. In case of rain, people will not eat. There is a saying in the Chao language, called "the grass is cooked, and the situation changes in the day". Describe seasonal changes and bad luck in business. When I was a child and my friends ate grass, I didn't need a stool, I didn't need a spoon, as long as I picked up the bowl, turned the bowl with my hand, sucked hard with my small mouth, "hey" A sound can drink half a bowl, crisp and clean, of course, we will always be more sugar than who, who has more grass and so on, but also pestering Aberga sugar, eating grass and rice together the little friends are always carefree and free.
Chaoshan folklore has a saying: "The grass is cooked, the weather changes (referring to thunderstorms, commonly known as wind and rain), and two bowls are sold to make one." And "The south bank floats dark clouds, and the grass is sold and stored." "Three or four sell bayberry, five or six herbivorous kunium." "and other folk songs. It shows that there is a certain season for the consumption of grass, and there are many people who eat it in the summer, and if it rains, few people will eat it. It also shows that grass kon has a good anti-heat effect. Due to the convenience of eating, the price is cheap and suitable for the season. For thousands of years, in the middle of summer in the Chaoshan region, it was deeply loved by the people. Therefore, it is most appropriate to call grass kway teow as a very close to the people and very grass root food!
In the hot summer, come to a bowl of grass kway teow, smooth and sweet, is a must-order summer food for Chaoshan people! Chaoshan people love grass grits, and what they like is the simplicity of grass grits. Instead of exquisite utensils, it is served in a clay bowl. Simple, using only one indigenous raw material; The price is close to the people, and it can quench the thirst in the summer. It is precisely because of this that the grass has unlimited vitality. This bowl of grass kway teow stored in the depths of memory is sweet and refreshing, blowing away the dry heat of the whole summer and warming our worries about our hometown in this life.
Chaoshan summer unique "jelly"
· SUMMER·
In the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, there are many special foods, and many Chaoshan cuisines are the "taste of childhood" in the hearts of Chaoshan people who are wandering in a foreign country. Like the "tofu flowers" and "grass kways" in the Chaoshan area, the sea stone flower is the memory that accompanies the children growing up by the sea. Haishihua is a common street snack in chaoshan area, the most common in coastal Raoping County, and is inexpensive and cool to relieve the heat. It has the reputation of "jelly pudding" and "deep sea jelly". Sea stone flower, is a dark brown sea vegetable (stone cauliflower), after drying, boiling and other steps to make, now some food streets, there are still shops selling this ancient summer artifact. A bowl of sea stone flowers, carrying the taste of Chaoshan throughout the summer!
The sea stone flower is a coral-like creature on the seabed that grows on the rocks of the sea. The stones should be clean and there should be no mud. When the rain is abundant, the rain washes the stones clean, and the sea stone flowers grow well. Sea stone flower is a kind of green cold drink, with the sea algae "stone cauliflower" shredded, mixed with a little sweet potato powder, cane sugar cooked, condensed into small strips immersed in water to pick and sell. The original sun-dried seaweed is boiled with water, and then the slag of the seastone flower is filtered, and then it is planed into silk after solidification, so the sea stone flower seen is filamentous. Sweltering weather, what is the most relieving heat? Come to a bowl of chilled sea stone flowers. The flavor of sea stone flowers is cool and unique, with the taste of the sea, giving people a feeling of coolness, sweet and refreshing, cold and thorough, delicate taste, natural health, suitable for all ages, and has the effect of clearing heat and cool blood, which is definitely a first-class dessert.
When boiling sea stone flowers, add a little rice vinegar, which can not only remove fishiness, but also make a qualitative change in taste; The traditional way to eat is to add a spoonful of sugar water, the entrance is sweet and silky, and the cool sea stone flowers slide from the lips and the tip of the tongue to the throat, all the way to the stomach, as if taking a cool bath. In the era when air conditioning was not yet available, a bowl of sea stone flowers could fade the heat of the day. Sea stone flower is a kind of natural materials, simple production methods and flavor of the snack, many elderly Chaoshan people are obsessed with it, and in the eyes of professional chefs, sea stone flower has a cool and smooth taste, but also has a strong plasticity, so it is still a food raw material with a lot of creative space. Sea stone flowers have always been eaten as jelly and cold powder. In the eyes of many chefs, the gum of the sea stone flower is used, strawberries, mangoes and kiwi fruits are added to make a crystal jelly, and finally sprinkled with special rose candy, which becomes a colorful, Q-bomb, fragrant and enticing jelly.
In the "Journey to the West" by the novelist Wu Cheng'en, in addition to the well-known peach and ginseng fruit, the sea stone flower is also mentioned on many important occasions: in the "Hongmen Feast" of the golden-nosed white-haired mouse essence, "vegetables are more up-to-date... Stone cauliflower, yellow cauliflower, fried in green oil"; In the feast of the king of the daughter kingdom, "The eight precepts are good and evil, let go of the belly... Yellow cauliflower, stone cauliflower, seaweed... A bone was spicy and drank five or seven glasses of wine"; After returning from the scriptures, the Tang Emperor Li Shimin's banquet was "stone flower fairy vegetables, fern powder dried weed ... It is said that there are not enough tastes of delicacies and delicacies, and it is indeed a big country in China. ”
When the late Qing Dynasty poet and diplomat Huang Zunxian traveled to Japan, he found that they "could eat raw and cold", and also liked to make sea stone flowers into jelly, so he wrote in the "Chronicle of Japan" that "stone cauliflower is raw on the sea stone, a Qiongzhi, boiled into frozen, with a square box with copper coins as a sieving eye, na cai in the middle, built with a wooden pole, sneaking out like a wisp, ice clean and lovely, the Chinese named oriental watercress also", and also gave a poem: "Qiongzhi makes vegetables green lotus bags, locust leaves clear springs as cold as possible." There is always no smoke and fire in the vegetable shoots, and it is actually cold and eating in the direction of the dynasty. ”
Now, natural agar made from seastone flowers has been found to be widely used in food, medicine, daily chemicals, and biological engineering. From this point of view, the sea stone flower is a flower that naturally blooms on the rocks on the seabed, and it is also a bright flower on the condensed stone of human wisdom in the unknown ocean.
A magical drink - Chaoshan herbal tea
In Chaoshan, there is a magical drink.
It is widely distributed, can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys, and is usually available for purchase in less than 5 minutes.
It can cure all kinds of diseases, suitable for all kinds of dizziness, brain fever, physical discomfort.
It has a unique taste, a slightly bitter entrance, a sweet aftertaste, and a minute to teach you what is called "bitter and sweet".
It is: Chaoshan herbal tea.
"Chaoshan herbal tea is not bitter"
Herbal tea as an intangible cultural heritage,
Is our Guangdong special drink,
And herbal tea is actually "neither cold nor tea",
It is a drink made from Chinese herbs.
The reason why it is called herbal tea,
It is because it has the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, dispelling fire and dehumidifying.
Why are Chaoshan people able to endure hardships?
Because since we were young, we were forced by our parents to drink herbal tea!
From a young age, I had to cry under the coercion and temptation of my parents,
Swallow the herbal tea one by one,
By now, whenever there is any discomfort, it will be consciously,
Go to the herbal tea shop to buy herbal tea,
God knows what I've been through over the years...
Probably only when drinking herbal tea,
Will think that the tangerine peel is so delicious!
Drinking milk tea is not as good as drinking herbal tea,
"Hot Gas" and "On Fire"
These are the two words that Chaoshan people most often hang on their lips.
Herbal tea is medicinal cold and can dissolve internal heat
Made from Chinese herbal decoction,
It has the effect of clearing heat and detoxification, quenching thirst, dispelling fire and dehumidification, etc.
"Autumn-Winter Anti-Autumn, Spring-Summer Away Hot and Humid".
Chaoshan people are inseparable from herbal tea all year round!
As a food town, Chaoshan people will never be aggrieved in eating, and they are particularly particular about eating and drinking, not only eating well, but also eating right. Old fire soup, sugar water, and herbal tea can be described as the three treasures of health care of Chaoshan people. In the minds of Chaoshan people, herbal tea is really a drink that can cure all diseases.
Tired of spring and summer? Come to a bowl of herbal tea to relieve the heat. Thirsty? Come to a bowl of herbal tea to reduce dryness and nourishment.
There are many types of herbal tea in Chaoshan province, and not all of them are bitter.
Generally speaking, the more popular ones are: clear heat and detoxification tea: it has the effect of clearing wind and heat, detoxifying and reducing swelling. It is suitable for the effect of sore throat, wind fever cold, thirsty red wind fever disease. Cold tea: has the effect of clearing heat, detoxification, detoxification, cold and flu. Damp tea: It has the effect of clearing heat and dampness, relieving heat and eliminating annoyance, quenching thirst, and strengthening the stomach. Raw jin moisturizing tea: has the effect of clearing heat and throat, quenching thirst. Suitable for sore throat, dry throat and hot throat. Under the fire tea: has the effect of diarrhea, detoxification, cool blood and throat. It is suitable for the effect of mouth and tongue sores, sore throat, upset eyes, warm fever.
If you want to drink sweet, there are also: Luo Han Guo Five Flower Tea: it has the effect of dispelling dampness and dissolving phlegm, clearing heat and moisturizing the lungs. Bamboo cane grass root water: it has the effect of clearing heat and vitality, relieving heat and annoying, and moisturizing throat. Chrysanthemum Pear Water: Has the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, clearing liver and eyes, and dissipating wind and heat. As soon as you go to the herbal tea shop, the boss will ask you what is uncomfortable, whether you have a cold, fever, sore throat, or acne, sleep is not good. Experienced bosses can immediately prescribe the right medicine for you and send you a bowl of "black bottomless" herbal tea.
After frowning and drinking, he licked his mouth endlessly, and a bowl of "bitter water" went down to his stomach, feeling that the whole person was much more comfortable.
There is a kind of fire that makes your mother think you are on fire, who when you were a child did not often drink summer dry grass and honeysuckle cooked by your mother...
Even if I study or work outside now, every time I leave home, my mother will still stuff two large bags of summer dry grass herbs into her luggage.
For many Chaoshan people, herbal tea is no longer the "childhood shadow" of childhood, but more of an "old And Guang" feeling.
It's a taste of home.
So, do you want to have a cup of herbal tea?