Source of this article: Time Weekly Author: Liu Wenjie
No one is looking forward to autumn more than Cantonese.
For many people, the mid-autumn full moon night is a romance surrounded by mooncakes. But for Cantonese, this is a little bit of a sense of ceremony - a mouthful of sweet incense to be baked.
The sweet scent was hidden in the rice paddies. Around the autumn equinox, the rice is pregnant and blooms. The grass worms that live on this break out of the soil and are full of stomachs. The old food on the shore was satisfied, and the insect cubs were fat and juicy.
The ritual sense of the old Guang into autumn: after eating the tile bowl baked grass worm Source: Weibo screenshot
As a well-known foodie in the country, Guangdong people know how to grasp this happiness. In the eighth and ninth months of the lunar calendar, as long as you catch the grass worms, hurry up and get off the pot, whether it is raw baking and frying, you can experience the happiness of a mouthful of bursting pulp, and the sweet fragrance will follow.
This mouthful of happiness is actually a precious treasure on the table.
Grass insects have extremely high requirements for the growth environment, and there will be no trace of grass insects in polluted places. With the continuous change of the environment, the living space of the grass worms is compressed, but the good old food of this mouth continues to push up the value of the grass worms - those who are full of paste, fresh and fat, the most expensive can sell for 300 yuan / jin, and it is lucky to be able to eat it.
Comic strip "Rice Flowers Fragrant Rice Worms" Source: Visual China
Since the 1990s, Zhuhai Doumen began to artificially farm grass insects in the beach. In recent years, the output of artificially farmed grass insects has been continuously improved, with an average production capacity of 150 to 200 catties per mu. Therefore, Doumen Lianzhou Town was rated as "the hometown of Chinese grass insects" in the industry.
"The survival rate of grass worms is about 80%. One acre of land can grow 200 catties of grass worms and sell for 130 yuan / catty. Mr. Xie, manager of the demonstration site for the breeding of artificial seedlings of grass insects in Fu'an Village, Lianzhou Town, Doumen District, Zhuhai City, told the Times Weekly reporter that the grass insects that are now farmed are not worried about selling, "Every year when the harvest is harvested, there are intermediaries who specialize in harvesting grass insects waiting here in the early morning."
Treasures of the Cantonese people
To say that Guangdong people eat wild, it is indispensable to the credit of grass worms.
In the zhihu topic "What is the experience of northerners living in the south", some northern netizens sincerely asked: "Why can bugs be eaten as vegetables?" ”
When outsiders see bugs, most of them are trembling.
In the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the grass worm matures, and the time weekly reporter Liu Wenjie / photo
The whole body of the live grass worm is golden with red and green, and the pulp is full. As the insect body squirms, the red-green body fluid under the epidermis seems to flow. What makes people feel frightened is that the grass worm has densely packed small feet on it, and when there is movement, it is abnormally agile, for fear that people will not be able to see that it is a worm.
Cantonese people see bugs, and even their eyes are full of love.
The fuller the worm, the more sweet it is. The tile bowl baked grass worm is to experience this sweet and fragrant authentic way of eating - the tile bowl is poured with peanut oil, and the grass worm is poured in to drink the oil, and then it will automatically crack and burst the pulp.
Tile Bowl Baked Worm Image Source: Weibo screenshot
At this time, pour the egg syrup into the tile bowl and add some tangerine peel. Under the hot baking, the surface becomes scorched and crisp, scoop up a piece with a small spoon and bite it, the entrance is soft and tender, full of sweet and fragrant, far from the egg can be compared, not greasy at all.
Diners who have eaten a bite will have this umami taste unforgettable.
There are also shops that make the grass worms more Cantonese - put rice milk in the iron plate, add a few grass worms, steam for a few minutes, roll up the noodles to make grass worm intestine powder, attracting Guangdong diners to queue up, just to sigh a sentence: "Intestinal powder plus grass worms, this breakfast is more nutritious." ”
In order to preserve this fresh taste, Cantonese people will also make dried worms, worm cakes, and worm paste, not only as a home-cooked dish, but also bought and given away.
Grass worms are indeed the treasures of the Cantonese people.
The "Compendium of Materia Medica" writes: "Grass worms, Fujian, Guangzhou, Zhejiang along the coast, shaped like earthworms, The Min people eat steamed eggs, or as ointment food, feed the guests as bread, and cloud food to supplement the spleen and stomach." ”
This is regarded by the Cantonese people who know the goods as the "Cordyceps sinensis" in the water. "Someone specially found it to feed the mothers at home, which is very good for the body." Uncle Chen raised more than 50 acres of grass worm fields in Doumen Lianzhou Town, and has seen the love of good eaters for grass worms, "Many guests are bought in a few boxes and boxes, and some people in Macao, especially entrust people to come and buy, do not ask the price, a purchase is several pounds."
"Over-made hate and not back"
Knowledgeable Cantonese people know that "grass worms are too much to make, hate to return."
"Making", in Cantonese, refers to the harvest season. "When made" means that it is exactly the season of early taste, and "over-made" is to miss the season, want to eat but have no need to eat, regret.
It is these edible timing and medicinal value that together create the important position of grass worms in the hearts of Guangdong people.
The price can be reflected in place - the wholesale price of 300 yuan / kg of grass worms, a few hours can be robbed. Some stall owners said that after the grass worms are listed, they can sell nearly 100 kilograms a day.
Grass worms, not you can eat if you want to eat Image source: Weibo screenshot
"Two or three hundred, you may not be able to buy a pound." Guangdong netizen @Kid Lau mentioned on the social platform that every grass worm season, how to buy fresh grass worms has become the focus of the whole family meeting. "Foreign relatives in the family often shout for help to send some grass worms to dry up."
But it's not something you can eat with money.
The degree of prestige of the grass insects can be called the "noble among the insects" - it only grows in the wetland soil layer at the junction of brackish and fresh water, and feeds on the grass, hence the name. The growth of grass insects requires that the water is salty and suitable; the sun should be basking during the day; the softness of the mud should be suitable; and the water quality should be clean.
Which one is not up to standard, the grass worms can not grow, or directly explode.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Pearl River Delta estuary area, which has always been rich in grass insects, has always been rich in grass insects, and Zhuhai Doumen, Zhongshan Shenwan and other places are traditional production areas. At that time, catching hundreds of pounds of grass worms at a time was not a problem.
Zhuhai Doumen rice field is a traditional production area of grass insects Source: Visual China
"In the impression, grass worms are a home-cooked dish." Uncle Chen, 75, was born and raised in Lianzhou Town, Doumen. The dense river network and wide distribution of tidal flats provide a unique natural growth environment for grass insects, "when they are young, they will eat, and every small road (children) will eat."
However, with the change of ecological environment and the decline of natural population resources, traditional production areas such as Zhuhai Doumen have reduced their annual yield to 20 to 50 catties per mu. After 2015, many grass insect beaches yield even less than 1 kilogram per mu, and the yield of good grass insect beaches is only about 10 kilograms per mu, and many grass insect beaches are basically abandoned.
Grass insects with extremely high requirements for the growth environment, coupled with the influence of growth characteristics and activity laws, produce less.
Zhuhai Doumen does not want to waste such a resource advantage.
Since 2016, the Hekou Fisheries Research Institute of Doumen District has carried out a pilot project of breeding artificial seedlings of grass insects in Nanmen Village. In the autumn of a year later, Nanmen Village harvested 2200 catties of grass worms, with an average yield of 55 catties per mu. In the same year, the yield of the nearby grass insect beach was less than 10 catties. After another year, Nanmen Village doubled its average yield per mu to 130 catties.
The review team came to Lianzhou Town artificial breeding of grass insect pilot and Doumen Town Nanmen Village artificial breeding pilot, after inspection, unanimously determined that the local grass insect industry resource advantages are obvious, the first to form the industrial scale, economic and social benefits are obvious, the development prospects are broad, in line with the China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association "Chinese characteristics of aquatic products town" name of the evaluation conditions and requirements.
Relive the memories of the umami
Bearing the title of "the hometown of Chinese grass insects", Doumen grew bold to continue experimenting.
In 2019, the Hekou Fisheries Research Institute of Doumen District leased 50 acres of grass insect fields in Fu'an Village, Lianzhou Town, and built a grass pest conservation demonstration site, which was cared for by professional conservation personnel living in the grass insect field.
According to public information, Lianzhou Town has taken the lead in breaking through the artificial breeding technology of grass insects, forming an industrial scale, and has developed an area of 975 mu of grass insect breeding, and can develop an area of tens of thousands of mu. The output of grass insects has reached 20 tons, the annual output value is about 7.2 million yuan, and the number of grass insects employed has reached more than 1600 people.
Zhuhai Doumen's grass insect breeding pilot Times Weekly reporter Liu Wenjie / photo
Mr. Xie is the staff responsible for the conservation of grass insects, "every year in the 9th month of the lunar calendar, the next year in the lunar calendar in September fishing." He told the Times Weekly reporter that in the middle of this year, he had to watch the grass worms here.
Yu Qi said that it is better to say "spoiled" - the field should be weeded regularly, because the grass grows too high to affect the grass worms to bask in the sun; remove the fish and shrimp in the field, they will eat grass worms; but also have to take care of the dryness and wetness of the soil.
"Like these days, Zhuhai always has torrential rains, the time is short, it is good, if the rainstorm lasts for a long time, you must pump water, otherwise too much water will not be immersed in the mud." Mr. Xie said that the mud in the grass worm field should not be too dry, and the longer the grass worm grows, the deeper it will be drilled, so the mud field should remain soft.
During the day, the grass insects all burrowed into the mud, and the Times Weekly reporter Liu Wenjie /photo
In the eighth and ninth months of the lunar calendar, it is the harvest season and the time to test the fishing technique.
During the day, the worms burrowed into the mud, leaving only countless small holes in the surface of the mud. At one or two o'clock in the morning, the river rises and floods into the fields, and farmers put up bamboo pole nets, and when the tide fades rapidly, they will bring out swarms of grass worms.
It's not time to cheer. Mature grass worms are more sensitive, and when they are caught, they will use too much force and will also burst the pulp.
Even if it is successfully fished, it will test efficiency and patience - the grass worm must be quickly put into a salty and suitable water tank, otherwise it will still burst out of the mud for too long.
As soon as the busy work is three or four o'clock in the morning, the aquatic intermediary who has been waiting for it brings these joys of success to the city, or enters the seafood market, or turns around and brings it into the restaurant that greets you in advance, so that the foodies who have been waiting for a long time can quickly eat this bite.
He worm, after tasting this bite of fresh, can not forget the source: Weibo screenshot
For Lao Guang, this umami taste still hides the beauty of childhood. Netizen @ Huayi's kitchen still can't forget the scene of the whole family going out to catch grass worms in the past, and the memory still has the taste of homemade worm sauce sent by grandma thousands of miles away.
Time passes, but the taste buds have memories. "Sister-in-law, come back tomorrow to eat grass worms." In the middle of the night, @Huayi's kitchen phone rang, and the end spoke a familiar rural tone, which turned out to be the cousin of the township cousin fishing for grass worms, shouting to come back to meet.