Sichuan, which has been known as the "Land of Heavenly Palace" since ancient times, has a variety of fresh vegetables throughout the year.
However, the vegetables on the market can not meet the stomach of sichuan people, all year round, mother-in-law, grandma will always carry a small basket from time to time, holding a small shovel, up the mountain, in the field, looking around for the most primitive taste - wild vegetables.
Wild grass, more people eat, become wild vegetables. Delicious Sichuanese, sitting on the lush mountains and forests of their hometown, naturally will not let go of the wild taste.
How wild are Sichuanese people eating vegetables? It can only be said that the toon folded ear root dandelion yellow cauliflower trembled...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > how hard Sichuanese try to dig wild vegetables</h1>
Born in the countryside, Sichuan Wa, who did not dig wild vegetables in the field with her parents and did not go up the mountain to find mountain goods, was not enough to talk about childhood.
Tender folded ear roots, wild onions that spread over the mountains, purslane that grows on the ground, celery flourishes at the water's edge... Wild vegetables grow wildly on the land of Sichuan.
Compared with the plump and thick grown vegetables, wild vegetables are "anti-bone", often with straight fibers, clear veins and full of toughness.
In terms of taste, wild vegetables are naturally not as sweet as grown vegetables, but they are bitter and astringent, but its true temperament makes Sichuan people "eat and fall in love".
Wood ear fungus dish
Wild vegetables with tenacious vitality have tempted the taste buds of Sichuan people since ancient times.
Zheng Gu of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Spring In Shu": "Harmony and warmth are on the day of picking vegetables, and loneliness is not a flower detector." ”
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the second of February every year was the "Picking Day", that is, the day of digging wild vegetables.
From the princes and nobles to the ordinary people, they will collect wild vegetables, but the nobles are to experience the fun of wild vegetables, and the ordinary people expect that the pot of fresh wild vegetable soup.
People can rush to dig wild vegetables, thanks to the natural conditions of Sichuan.
Sichuan has a vast territory and a variety of terrain, with basins, hills and mountains, so that different kinds of wild vegetables can compete fairly.
Coupled with the diversity of climate, the basin is a central subtropical humid climate zone, the southwest Sichuan mountains are located in the subtropical semi-humid climate zone, and the northwest sichuan is an alpine plateau alpine climate zone, so that the warm-loving, cold-loving, and wet-loving wild vegetables have the conditions to grow.
Such unique natural conditions have created Sichuan's rich wild vegetable resources. China's wild vegetable resources are about 113 families and more than 1,000 kinds, while Sichuan's wild vegetable resources are nearly 700 species, and there are more than 100 kinds of widely distributed folk commonly eaten wild vegetables.
Unlike other regions, where wild vegetables are picked in spring and summer, Sichuan's wild vegetable picking season is still very long, and seasonal wild vegetables are sold all year round.
However, although there are wild vegetables for sale in the wet market, the essence of eating wild vegetables lies in the word "wild", which lies in the pleasure of digging from the soil by one's own hands.
Even the most fashionable urban beauty, back in Sichuan, can not escape the fate of following her mother to climb the beam to pick wild vegetables, and it is necessary to dig until the fingers have become black and dirty, and only then can the "homecoming ceremony" be completed.
Delicious and dangerous coexist, in order to dig wild vegetables, Sichuan people are very hard, often accidentally on the social news.
Some people pay the price for digging wild vegetables, and some people make a fortune from wild vegetables.
Sichuan Wa, who grew up in the mountains, saw business opportunities in the wild vegetables that the locals did not see strangely, and made wild vegetables into a business and sold them to the city people who were hungry for this umami taste.
Sometimes, Sichuan people go into the mountains to search for wild vegetables, harvesting not only a meal of umami, but also a close-up view of national treasures, which is more clear than ipanda live broadcast.
Speaking of which, the Sichuan people's privilege has been fully embodied.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="150" > Sichuan wild vegetables in one entrance, on top! </h1>
The wild vegetables dug up desperately must be accompanied by the most authentic methods, so as not to "waste things". But if you ask Sichuanese where the best wild vegetables are made, they may say: Made at home.
First of all, let's talk about the folded ear root that makes countless outsiders "smell the wind and be afraid", for Sichuan Wa, from the beginning of eating, this taste is deeply rooted in DNA.
Cold mixed ear roots are the most common way to eat, almost to the point where they would not be a feast without this dish.
The simple oil and salt seasoning retains the unique nose fragrance of the folded ear root to the greatest extent, and those who love it love this "overbearing" smell.
Almost all wild vegetables can be mixed cold, but only real Sichuanese can adapt to this "fierce" way of eating.
Purslane, named because its leaves are shaped like a horse's teeth, are cold and mixed, and the taste is not only sour, but also has a slippery taste.
In ancient times, emperors also tasted purslane as a way to observe the people's feelings. The Tang Yulin records: "Emperor Dezong took the throne at the beginning of his reign, and he was deeply respected by the ritual law... Summon the pilgrims to eat horsetooth soup, and there is no salt cheese. ”
It can be seen how good the taste of cold mixed wild vegetables is.
Another Sichuanese approach to wild vegetables is "vegetarian meat cooking", where wild vegetables are cooked along with meat, broth, lard or other non-vegetarian ingredients.
For example, the folded ear root fried bacon, which is more accepted by the public than the cold mix folded ear root, the folded ear root is crispy, the bacon is tender and delicious, and the meat and vegetarian are integrated, complementing each other.
The practice of wild vegetables is also "seasonally limited", and during the Qingming season in the eastern Sichuan region, the traditional custom of making "Qingming dishes and rice dumplings" is retained by the family.
Qingming cuisine is known as sage herb in pharmacopoeias and ancient books, and it has a light taste and a faint aroma.
Wash and chop the Qingming vegetables, make a dough evenly with glutinous rice flour, and then wrap the bacon and other fillings on the pot and steam, the green dumplings are salty and tempting.
Image source: CCTV News
The "Qingming Vegetable Dumplings" in Jinfeng Village, Dazhou City, are particularly fragrant and are famous for their best products. Every time they arrive at the Qingming Dynasty, the villagers will use the first cage of Qingming rice dumplings under the 500-year-old dragon tree at the mouth of the village to worship the ancestors and thank nature.
There is also a native amaranth, which is also the darling of the Sichuan people's table.
In Sichuan dialect and Wuhan dialect, amaranth is pronounced as "Han cuisine", which is considered to be a remnant of the ancient sound, because the ancient sound of "Amaranth" is pronounced as "Han".
Amaranth soup is a sharp tool for Sichuanese people to cook, amaranth is tender and easy to cook, and the red soup and fragrant flavor after cooking make people can't help but eat another bowl of rice.
The sautéed amaranth has a red juice. Source: Sichuan Cuisine
Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, amaranth appears in the field, wild amaranth is not afraid to pick, the longer it is picked, the new leaves can soon grow. Growing continuously, it is continuously served on the table of Sichuan people.
Of course, in addition to the simple cold mix, stir-fry and other methods, Sichuan people can also make wild vegetables into "famous dishes".
The local specialty sunflower, because of its leaf shape like a duck's palm, is also often called "duck foot sunflower", usually used in soups or stir-fry, and has a slippery, sticky taste.
A more high-end approach is to wrap the young leaves of sunflower vegetables with fluffy and soft chicken breast puree and soak them in clear broth, which is a very classic feast dish, called "chicken sunflower vegetables".
However, no matter how strange the wild vegetables, there is a common way to eat in Sichuan, that is, to put down the hot pot.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="152" > wild vegetables and is always difficult to tame</h1>
Judging from the records of the "Book of Poetry" that "picking rolled ears and not harvesting baskets", China has a history of eating wild vegetables for thousands of years. However, the reason for eating wild vegetables has quietly changed in the development of the times.
In the old days, peasants, who accounted for the majority of the population, were in the "belly layer" of the whole society. People's greatest wish is to be free from hunger and cold, and the coarse grains, home-grown vegetables, and naturally grown wild vegetables support survival.
Schematic diagram of the food culture layer. Source: "On the Hierarchical Structure in the History of Chinese Cuisine"
Wang Zengqi also recorded in "Seven Years of Clouds and Smoke" that he was poor and embarrassed in school when he first arrived at Southwest United University:
"Dish, I'm sorry, can't think of a way. There are a lot of wild vegetables around the school, and we eat wild vegetables... The most eaten are wild amaranth, gray cabbage, and a broom seedling that looks like a feather duster. Wild vegetables are really some of our noodles. ”
From this point of view, it is not a pity that wild vegetables have withdrawn from the table.
When wild vegetables lose their edible value, doesn't that mean that people have more delicious and productive foods? In the past, the sale of wild vegetables that no one wanted at a low price has become a "rural flavor", which does not explain the amazing growth of people's living standards?
Wild vegetables can even be transformed into agricultural resources, creating economic benefits for Sichuan.
The dried bracken processing base in the north of Mianyang River, the bracken flour processing base in the northern part of Tongjiang County, the bracken flour processing base in the two townships of Kongshan, the weicai production base in Nanchong, etc., the planting and processing base of these wild vegetables give the products between the mountains and the wilderness the opportunity to create higher value.
Sichuan's mountain and forest scenery is the most precious gift of nature. Source: Sichuan Cuisine
However, wild vegetables are always difficult to tame.
To become a cultivated vegetable, it is necessary to go through the process of domestication and selection, and wild vegetables always retain their own personality.
For example, the root of the folded ear has been artificially cultivated, but it is still mainly in the wild; there is also the cabbage that has long become a regular visitor to the table, because the plant is small and it is always difficult to cultivate.
Cauliflower
Perhaps, free from the unrestrained field, wild vegetables will lose their true temperament and lose the bitter taste in their memories.
The foodie Xiao Kuan explained the meaning of food to us in the book "Taste of China":
"Everyone has a way to know the world, and what I choose is food. Food is not only three meals a day, the five flavors on the plate, but also fireworks in the world, mountains and rivers. Through food, we touch the fiery land of China and feel the rotation of the seasons. ”
For Sichuanese, perhaps the most memorable thing about their hometown and family is the plate of wild vegetables that cannot be tamed and grown wildly.