Many friends who like to visit some ancient towns in Chengdu must still have the impression that there is often a snack sold on the street - mugwort steamed buns, and many Sichuanese people also call it "Artemisia steamed buns". Worn with bamboo skewers and fried, the taste is very fragrant. In fact, many Chengdu natives have to make their own mugwort steamed buns every year, and the methods are also diverse, salty, sweet, stuffed, and there are many tricks without filling. The fried one is basically limited to attracting tourists in the ancient town, and every household rarely uses this method. One may be because of the cost of oil, and the other is that it feels that there is no technical content.
Chengdu Luodai ancient town sells fried mugwort steamed buns
Chinese pays great attention to the harmony between man and nature, in the alternating season from winter to spring, many people also like to go to the Chinese medicine pharmacy to let the doctor prescribe a dose of "seasonal medicine", so that their bodies can quickly adapt to the arrival of spring. More people are in line with nature, eat some seasonal fruits and vegetables, and making mugwort steamed buns is also a habit of many old Chengdu people and even old Sichuan people.
Mugwort can be used as a whole herb, which has the effects of warm menstruation, dehumidification, cold dispersion, hemostasis, anti-inflammatory, asthmatic, cough, fetal safety, anti-allergy and so on. Mugwort leaves are dried and mashed to "moxa", and moxa strips are made for moxibustion, it can be said that mugwort is a treasure all over the body. Although the people do not necessarily know that mugwort has these effects, but when the spring comes, eat mugwort, and use mugwort to make mugwort steamed buns from generation to generation.
Mugwort – I took a picture of it when I picked it
Mugwort is a traditional Chinese medicine and a wild vegetable, and the unique fragrance it emits is also what attracts people. There are many of these things in the fields and in the wilderness. In the past, our family had many relatives in the countryside, and when it was time to make mugwort steamed buns, they would go together to pick them. When I was a child, picking mugwort should be the last thing parents were willing to let their children help, because there is a kind of dongdong that looks like mugwort and also sprouts in this season. Children can't recognize it, although it is also non-toxic, but the taste is not good. The children are also happy to be idle, a group of friends will go crazy everywhere, crazy and hungry to come back just in time for the mugwort steamed bun is ready.
Now because of urban development, there are no relatives in the countryside, and it is not so convenient to pick mugwort. However, the place where I go to visit the graves of my ancestors every year is the vast countryside. As soon as the grave sweeping ceremony is over, you can go all over the mountain to pick it. It won't be long before you can pick a whole bunch. Whenever this happens, we will joke with each other: "Every time in the name of sweeping the grave, the result is to pick mugwort."
Fresh mugwort leaves that I just picked back
The noodles for making mugwort steamed buns must be mixed with glutinous rice noodles and rice noodles in a certain proportion, and all the glutinous rice is too soft to pick up when cooked. When I was a child in the countryside, it was all hand-ground powder by my mother and grandmother with stone grinding, and the proportion was just right. In fact, according to their own hobbies, if you like a little harder rice, you can put a little more, and if you like soft sticky rice, you will put a little more. Later, the machine replaced the stone mill, and only needed to take the rice to the market to find a special grinding place to grind it into powder. Now it is simpler, directly on a treasure to buy this leaf rice flour can be, I used this for a few years, I feel that the ratio of glutinous rice and rice is very appropriately controlled. However, I always feel that my mother did not make it as fragrant as when I was a child with stone grinding, which may also be a kind of nostalgia.
Leaf rice flour that I bought on a treasure
Wash the mugwort leaves that have been pinched back and cook them in the pot until they rot with a gentle twist by hand. Let cool and rub together with the leaf powder until the mugwort and rice flour are completely fused. The longer it is served, the softer the rice noodles and the better the taste. But this step is the most physical test, every year to do mugwort steamed to the noodles of this step, I am a step aside while complaining: "Oh, forget it, next year do not do, too tired ...", but every year when it is time to do mugwort steamed buns, this kind of "complaining" will disappear, and when I see the mugwort leaf spitting out young buds all over the mountains, I will happily pinch the mugwort leaf again. Sichuan people may all be foodies, not only can eat, but also very good at making their own food, besides, mugwort steamed bun is also called "Qingming cake", probably because it is only limited to around the Qingming Festival. Making mugwort steamed buns is also a custom, but I still hope to pass it on.
I'm cooking mugwort leaves
I'm making noodles
Good mugwort leaf noodles
Just now we said that some people like to make mugwort steamed buns without filling, some people like to make stuffing, I think there is no soul without stuffing. The stuffing of the steamed buns is also very strange, but I still like to follow the way I have always used it for generations - bacon sprout stuffing.
We have a video about Sichuan people making sausage bacon every Year during the New Year. My family is no exception. Every year, when making bacon, a piece of stuffing is deliberately reserved for making mugwort steamed buns in the future.
This video has talked about Sichuan people making sausage bacon for the New Year
If you ask everyone, what do you think of when you mention Yibin, Sichuan? Wuliangye? Yibin noodles? Nanxi dried tofu? That's all right! Another kind of Dongdong that exists like a god in the Sichuan diet is Yibin sprouts. In Sichuan, the status of every household is even higher than that of Yibin Wuliangye. Making buns, making leaf dumplings, making salty roasted white, dry sautéing four seasons beans are inseparable from sprouts, of course, the filling of mugwort steamed buns can not be less than this legend. There are bags of broken rice sprouts in the supermarket, but the effect is not very good, the market has sold this long, buy back their own fine cut is the best. This year, when I bought leaf rice flour on a treasure, the owner directly sent sprouts, which saved me from running the market again. Just need to clean and cut into fine mince for later, here to give the intimate shopkeeper a thumbs up.
A treasure on the purchase of leaf rice flour shop to send sprouts
The bacon is peeled and cut into small particles, the fresh pork is also cut into small particles, and the fat and lean are cut separately. First put the fat meat in the pot to refine the oil, the fat meat is slightly browned, then pour the lean meat and stir-fry to maturity, then put the meat out, leave the bottom oil in the pot and put the sprouts into the pan and stir-fry until the water is dry. When the sprouts crackle in the pot you can smell the unique aroma of the sprouts. Occasionally a sprout will jump on your face and make you jump, and you will laugh while scolding, thinking that it will not be long before the fragrant fruits of victory will be placed in front of you.
Stir-fry the sprouts and then re-pour the minced meat and stir-fry, at this time you can taste the taste. Because the sprouts and bacon are salty, if you feel light, then put in the right amount of salt, if the taste is light, you can not put salt. Wait for the minced meat and sprouts to stir-fry evenly after turning off the heat, and then put in a large number of green onions, using the residual temperature of the meat and sprouts to cook the green onions, at this time the whole kitchen is filled with aroma, tired in the morning, smell this smell and know that it is a big step closer to success.
After the filling is fried, it must be put out to cool, and it is best to put it in the refrigerator to freeze it after it is cold, so that the oil will not flow everywhere when you start wrapping the steamed buns for a while, which is a reason for making buns.
Once the noodles and fillings are ready, you can wrap them. Before that, in order to prevent the steamed bun from sticking, it is necessary to prepare the mat first. Some people like to use corn leaves as mats when making mugwort steamed buns, and I heard that there are still dried corn leaves for sale in some township farms, but more are collected when they eat corn and dried for later use.
The mugwort steamed bun made by my son's grandmother is a mat made of corn leaves, but this is not called a mat, it is simply called "bun", haha
I used to use lettuce leaves when I used to make it. After steaming, the steamed bun has a fresh smell of lettuce, and when eating it, the lettuce leaves can be eaten together without tearing it off. At that time, the mother would go to the market in advance to pick up the lettuce leaves discarded by the vegetable vendors, and choose the good and tender ones. In the past two years, because I bought leaf rice powder on a treasure, the owner directly sent good ginger leaves to be more useful. First, the good ginger leaf has a certain thickness, and the steamed bun can be easily torn off after steaming, and second, the good ginger leaf has a unique fragrance, which was originally used to make leaf dumplings. Take it back and cut the middle leaf stem, and then cut it into small pieces and use it.
A treasure to buy leaf powder, the store sent good ginger leaves
The last step is to wrap the stuffing. When wrapping, you must pay attention to the fact that the dough is first made into the shape of a nest head in your hand, and then put the filling to facilitate the mouth of the steamed bun, otherwise it is easy to expose the filling.
I'm stuffing and getting steamed in a steamer
The mugwort buns are prepared and ready to be steamed
Steaming on the pot is generally more than 20 minutes and the steamed bun is cooked. At this time, you will feel the back pain, stand for a day, tired for a day, wait for the steamed bun to ripen while eating the next work of your own, all the fatigue turned into sweetness.