Time point dye amaranth red

Time point dye amaranth red

Cheng Zhichang

Amaranth, with its tender leaves, mellow taste and bright red color, is a favorite seasonal vegetable in summer.

In the hometown, amaranth is called "dry vegetable", some people think it is a drought-tolerant dish, wrong! "苋" pronounced "drought" is a legacy of the ancient sound.

Amaranth was my favorite vegetable when I was a child. Not only do I like the soft and thick taste, but the natural magenta fascinates me. Just a little bit of soup, mixed with white rice, the color of rose petals, delicate and foreign, at a glance will make you have a lot of appetite. In the hometown amaranth is red and white, and the children will pout their regrets when they are burned.

The children of the Zou family compound, as long as they eat red amaranth at home, a few chopsticks will soak in the soup, they like to carry the bowl of red rice to the door, against the noonday sun, childhood friends together than try whose amaranth is more red, the face is more of a show off.

My mother is very particular about washing amaranth, never allowing us to do it, and indeed the amaranth she washed will taste better. Later, I learned that washing amaranth should be kneaded. Grandma said: Good amaranth, rub it three times. Why is this so, I still don't understand.

Red amaranth is fried and eaten, and white amaranth is used more in the soup. Stir-fry amaranth to iron pot hot oil, the pot is hot to put oil, the oil is hot to put into the amaranth, at the same time a pinch of salt, turn a circle of water, turn a few shovels can be up. When the new fava beans are on the market, they can be accompanied by a handful of fava bean watercress. Remember to put a few garlic heads before cooking, which are garlic heads that have been slapped with a kitchen knife on the cutting board. The garlic head is immediately cooked, half raw and half cooked, the aroma is everywhere, the white crushed garlic head is very conspicuous in the red amaranth, and the amaranth seems to have an aura.

The origin of amaranth is in China, and the ancient character "Amaranth" has been found in the oracle bones of the Yin Shang period. The ancients also called 苋 "篑", and the dictionary "Erya" recorded: "蒉, 赤苋." The famous Qing Dynasty physician Wang Shixiong's book "Diet Recipes for Living with The Breath" is a work of diet and diet therapy, writing about amaranth, he believes: "Amaranth nine tricks, in fact, the lord is blind and blind, and the amaranth character from 'see'." The book also records an interesting story, which is a medical case: "I saw a person with a terrible head pain, blind in both eyes, and asking for a good doctor everywhere was ineffective." Some villagers teach to use wild amaranth decoction at intersections and at the feet of people's houses, stuff the spout of the pot in the pot, and smoke it with both eyes, and gradually see the light, and even regain sight. It can be seen that amaranth has the curative effect of "clearing the blind and clearing the eyes", and it is obvious.

Amaranth in the folk known as "longevity dish", folk have "June Amaranth, when eggs, July Amaranth, gold does not change" said, amaranth is rich in iron calcium ore components, while more carotene and vitamin C, is a vegetable with high nutritional value. Amaranth also has the reputation of "blood tonic dish", often eat amaranth can improve immunity, promote bone development and growth, especially suitable for children to eat. Amaranth is also a "civilian dish", it is said that amaranth is the "skin" in the vegetable field, no need for thick and barren land, no excessive attention, as long as there is soil where it can grow. Amaranth is still a "green dish", because amaranth does not accept pesticides, and it is said that if a little pesticide is encountered, amaranth will wither and its leaves. Without dyeing, natural red, refreshing taste, pleasant fragrance, is authentic and assured vegetables.

It is worth writing about the writer Zhang Ailing's love and obsession with amaranth, which is probably unparalleled in the world. Zhang Ailing wrote in the article that when she lived with her mother in Shanghai, she often went to her uncle's house across the street to eat, and each time her mother would bring a stir-fried fresh amaranth. In her pen, this dish is colorful and sexy: "During the season when amaranth is on the market, I always hold a bowl of amaranth with black oil and purple red and dark green silk, and the fat white garlic cloves inside are dyed light pink. Crossing the street in the light of day, like holding a pot of common unknown Western potted plants, small pink flowers, speckled dark red moss green same serrated edges of the big pointed leaves, vermilion away from the cape, but this flower is not fragrant, there is no hot amaranth fragrance. ”

Interestingly, Zhang Ailing later also had a judgment on the enlarged garlic in amaranth, she said: "Fried amaranth has no garlic, it is simply not worth a stir-fry." "The garlic cloves that many people don't like have actually been recognized by this Jiangnan writer, and the association between amaranth and garlic is also a good story."

Hometown Amaranth elders, there will be a person tall, purple old pole with copper money thick, then it will be of other use. Mr. Wang Zengqi mentioned in his essay "Five Tastes" that many people in his hometown have stinky jars, and among the stinky things, the most special is the stinky amaranth stalk. Chop the amaranth stalk into inches and soak it into it to become a "amaranth grunt", which is another taste of civilian cuisine.

Amaranth, which was stained with the joy of my childhood in the Zou family compound, is still a gorgeous flower in my heart.