A pot of chicken broth
Text/He Xing
During the National Day holiday and more than ten days of annual leave, I finally got together the time and went to the road of self-driving in western Sichuan. I have more than 10 years of experience in going out by car, and I am a regular customer on the road, and I am very addicted. As the days go by, I have walked more and more places by car, and there are fewer and fewer places that can attract me to go, so I have been cherishing and planning some fascinating places, putting some boutique routes and places of fascination backwards, hiding them, arousing their interests, riveting their energy, and then going to have fun.
Kawanishi is one of my treasures over the years.
To be honest, because I have seen the big rivers and rivers, this time I drove in western Sichuan, and I was not the most looking forward to the phenological scenery of western Sichuan. What made me look forward to it for a long time, and what made me think about it day and night was the pot of stone pot chicken soup hidden in the deep taste buds of Lulang Town. Lu Lang's stone pot chicken is an Internet celebrity delicacy on the 318 highway, with the Tibetan fragrant chicken purchased by the nearby people, supplemented by palm ginseng, matsutake mushroom, saffron, gastrodia and other medicinal materials, simmered in a local specialty stone pot over slow fire, there is a faint fragrance of medicinal herbs in the soup, and the chicken is tender and delicious. Because I watched other people's Sichuan-Tibet trips on the Internet, as well as their evaluations of Lulang Stone Pot Chicken, I was fascinated by this real estate delicacy and thought that it must be the taste of the beauty of the world on the Sichuan-Tibet line.
Desire is like wine getting older and older, and after three years of the new crown epidemic, I have broken away from many dreams of going to distant places. On the Internet, the treasure land in western Sichuan is becoming clearer and clearer, and every scenery and mountain beam, I have checked it over and over again, and it is deeply imprinted in my mind, as if I am in the scene, and I can't press it. When I got the holiday, I packed up my bedding and cooking utensils early, made up the bed and car, maintained the car, went to the hospital for a physical examination, and set off without waiting.
Which mountain have you been on before, and what mountain are you? After the Changdu Temple, you can go to Ya'an, on the ancient tea horse road, listening to such a song is particularly exciting. The mountains and rivers are gone, the beautiful scenery is coming, the car shadow is passing by, and the boundless scenery of western Sichuan is both eye-catching and refreshing, but I am flawless. What I can't forget in my heart is to go to Lulang Town to eat that pot of hot and fresh stone pot chicken, and feel the ultimate moment of this trip. The car passed through Litang, and the lover was seriously anti-high and vomited. I asked the owner of the roadside restaurant and said that the situation was very serious, and he needed to go to the hospital for oxygen as soon as possible, otherwise his life would be in danger. After listening to the frightened cold sweat, hurriedly found the way to find the Litang County People's Hospital, the nurse was familiar with the driver, billed and paid, and soon the oxygen was served, I wanted to smoke for half an hour, but I was told that one hour is the lowest limit, since I paid for it, I endured the time, and I had to suck enough for an hour. Although I didn't vomit myself, my head was swollen and I felt that my reaction was much delayed. For driving safety, I accompanied my wife to breathe oxygen for an hour. When inhaling oxygen, my lover also joked that it was not worth suffering this sin for a pot of chicken soup.
After inhaling oxygen, the ground is already dark, but the sky is still very bright, and it is really worthy of being a city in the sky. Litanghai dialed it up, didn't dare to stay at all, and drove forward with a stiff head. Breakfast in Kangding in the morning, the stomach of the snack pad eaten in the car at noon, in addition to the upper side, get off the car to take pictures, there is no rest halfway, all by this pot of chicken soup hanging has been walking forward, until 2 o'clock in the morning, finally drove the car to the Shangri-La town of 2900 meters in the sea, the Internet introduced that there is no high anti here, only to rest at ease, all the way to worry about needless to say, on the road over the rabbit mountain, Haizi Mountain saw a number of car accidents, the sky from time to time with light rain, the night of the plateau is cold, this pair of new to the plateau, For me, who is not familiar with the world, the intuitive and thorough warning goes deep into my heart.
After visiting the scenic spot in Aden, I was finally scared to pee and no longer dared to go forward. I bought matsutake mushrooms at the Tibetan house on the side of the road, and by the way I inquired about the practice of stone pot chicken, the Tibetan housewife in charge of the house communicated with us in fluent Chinese, she said that there is no fixed practice of stone pot chicken, the main seasoning is palm ginseng, and the rest is just put away, and the chicken used is her own free-range chicken. In the face of my lover's serious reaction, after getting this basic approach, we finally made a difficult decision not to risk our lives for a pot of chicken soup and return the same way.
On the way back, I was lucky enough to buy better matsutake mushrooms in Yajiang, saffron and palm ginseng in Xinduqiao, and Tibetan gastrodia the size of a little finger. When I decided to go back the way I came, I was really heartbroken, but reason told me that I could no longer take risks for a pot of chicken soup. But when I bought palm ginseng in Xinduqiao, the desire to eat the stone pot chicken soup rekindled. So the focus of our journey turned to how to find an authentic Tibetan fragrant chicken. Soon after walking out of Xinduqiao Town, we met a Tibetan brother with a large herd of yaks in the depths of the poplar forest, and he could sell his Tibetan fragrant chicken to us. Tibetan fragrant chicken is not big, and there is not much meat, which is not as affordable as the local chicken in the mainland, but in order to be able to eat a pot of authentic stone pot chicken, we finally gritted our teeth and asked the eldest brother to help us cook clean.
The lover's high reaction is serious, and the Xindu Bridge is not too high. Find a good campsite and plan to rest for one night, my lover lies in the car to rest, I put on the pot, light the fire, and start to concoct chicken soup, wash the pot and cut the meat, outdoor cooking stoves and pots are very important, in order to be able to eat this pot of chicken soup, this self-driving I specially added a plateau gasoline stove, the fire is very large, can stir-fry the kind of fierce fire of yak meat. Soon the chicken soup was cooked, and I couldn't wait to pay for it, it felt very ordinary, and after another bite, it was still very ordinary. Brought to the car for her lover to smell and pay for it, she said that in addition to the chicken soup flavor, the fragrance of matsutake mushrooms is quite strong, and she also feels very general after drinking a sip of chicken soup.
After drinking two bowls of chicken soup and eating the steamed buns brought from home, I couldn't help myself, my head was dizzy, I was worried about the high reaction, and I didn't dare to think too much, so I went to bed early.
When I came back, I thought about this failed pot of chicken soup, and I don't know what went wrong! I feel that if I hadn't been deceived by those people on the Internet, maybe the locals artificially contaminated the deliciousness of Lulang chicken soup in order to promote local delicacies and promote specialties, misleading a rookie like me. In order to make this wish successful, I did not choose a pressure cooker to cook, but bought a Xingyang black clay clay pot and an electric pottery stove that can be boiled for a long time on slow fire from the Internet. When the equipment was ready, I bought one of our local female chickens from the wet market, which was buttery and yellow. After dinner, I began to cook the stone pot chicken soup again, adding water, cutting ingredients, adding chicken, stuffing the lid, adjusting the heat, and the family waited quietly for this pot of chicken soup, intending to cook it slowly for a night.
After boiling the pot and skimming, turn down the heat a little more, simmer slowly, and go to rest first. Lying on the bed, I felt much less sleepy because I was thinking about the chicken soup. Slowly, the fragrance of chicken soup floated in the air, got up and went to the kitchen to check, it was really amazing, in the light rising heat, the chicken soup in the clay pot was slightly churning, and the fragrance of matsutake mushrooms in the kitchen was mixed with the taste of chicken soup, it was really a delicacy in the world, this is more than a little time in the night, the chicken has not been grilled, and it will continue to boil slowly.
Lying on the bed, thinking about the situation of rushing from Litang to Aden that night, I was really scared! More than 200 kilometers of the road actually ran for more than five hours, the city in the sky under the night, the night sky as blue as day, in addition to the clear moon as a large plate, there is no other trace of distractions and clouds, the sky is bright, the earth is black, under the illumination of the headlights, our bed car stubbornly walked forward on this plateau road, for fear of encountering a bear, did not dare to open the door to get out of the car to adjust the adjustment, huddled in the car, everything in front of it is unfamiliar. Seeing that my lover was uncomfortable, I didn't dare to stop, and I drove forward, looking forward to driving to the low place of the sea as soon as possible, looking for a sense of security that I could rest assured. At night, the vastness of Rabbit Mountain and Haizi Mountain is accompanied by the cold wind of the plateau in the middle of the night. Yang Mai Yong, Xian Nai Ri, Xia Nuo Duo Ji Sacred Mountain stands in the world, it is said that after the worship can realize the wish of the heart, all the experience is worth it, only less at the moment! Lying on the bed, I slowly fell asleep.
Early in the morning, my lover's surprise woke me up, and I learned that the chicken soup was cooked, and in my sleepy dream, I forgot about cooking chicken soup, but fortunately the pot was not boiled dry, the heat was just right, the smell of and the aroma of chicken were just right, and the stove was in good working condition after a night. Thinking of our ups and downs for more than 30 years, I laughed and shared the deliciousness of this pot of chicken soup with her.
Life always has a shelf life and freshness, and after paying for it, it will be forgotten, but happiness is always in front of this moment, and every day waiting for this moment to come. To do what I want to do the most, willing to be able to harvest the fulfillment, but the result is a small and bitter citrus fruit, but as soon as I turn around, the wish is realized in front of my eyes.
Next to Yang Maiyong is Xian Nai Ri, and behind Xian Ji Ri is Xia Nuo Duoji. The days are always spent in the mountains and rivers. Do not damage the Sanskrit line, live up to the city, move, walk over, do not ask the result, do not ask about the future, it is always the best of both worlds. It's like tossing and turning in order to boil this pot of chicken soup, and finally drinking this delicious and fascinating chicken soup in your own home, and in the process of exploring it, boiling it, and tasting it, those bits and pieces of memories always precipitate the taste of happiness.
About the Author:
He Xing, a native of Yunyang, Hubei, is quiet and active, likes donkey walking, and occasionally writes. Writing in the heart, deeply rooted in the homeland, I am willing to meet you in the pen, on the paper, on the clouds, and in the sunshine.