Since ancient times, tea has been an indispensable part of Chinese life, in this vast land, the appearance of tea is "ever-changing", each of which is the crystallization of people's wisdom, such as Tujia rice tea.
Tujia rice tea, also known as "yin rice tea", is a peculiar flavor snack of Shizhu Tujia Cottage and a traditional food loved by the Tujia people. Mimi tea is also known locally as "welcome tea", as the name suggests, guests come to the house and drink a bowl of tea to quench their thirst.
Speaking of the origin of this rice tea, there are some stories -
According to legend, the Han Dynasty general Ma Yuan, who was stationed in Jiuxi Eighteen Ridges, was threatened by the local miasma, so the general used tea leaves, zhuyi, sesame seeds, etc. to grind into powder, and then add salt to make soup for soldiers to drink to prevent miasma.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the Qing army invaded, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered Qin Liangyu, a female tushi of Shizhu, to lead the white pole soldiers north to Qin Wang. At that time, when the weather in the north was cold and the plague was prevalent, the Ming soldiers were extremely uncomfortable, and the stone pillar soil soldiers repeatedly surprised and won many battles. Yuan Chonghuan, commander of the three armies, investigated the reason, Fang knew that the Shizhu Toast Soldiers were cold-proof, and every breakfast they brought with them were mixed with northern beef, dried tofu, and wheat noodles to cook into a soup, and they knew that they had the divine skills of fighting wind and cold, resisting plague, and strengthening their physique, so they were greatly promoted in the army.
The "Chronicle of Longshan County" compiled by Qing Jiaqing in the 23rd year (1819) clearly records: "Those who have so-called oil tea take soybeans, buds, sesame seeds, rice flowers, dried tofu, dried pine ru, bacon dumplings, fry them with grease, stir them up; put them in the water, add tea leaves to the oil pot, fry them for a few boils, drink in a bowl, and soak all the things to show respect." ”
In view of its unique efficacy and fragrance, the Tujia family in the Wuling Mountains in southeastern Chongqing especially like this cuisine and regard it as the highest etiquette for entertaining good guests. Later, it gradually became a custom, and it evolved into today's "rice tea".
Rice tea has a strong aroma, delicious taste and peculiar craftsmanship, which can not only be used as the highest etiquette for entertaining good guests, but also as a snack to fill the hunger, and can also be used as a drink to refresh the thirst, with the effect of nourishing the yin and nourishing the kidneys and enhancing appetite.
Tujia rice tea was also included in the "ShiLing Hall Rural Chronicle" in the Qing Dynasty, and became the customary "Tea Classic" of Tujia Cottage. There is also a widely circulated "Six Mouths of Tea" song, in which tea is used as a medium, with interesting duets and witty language, showing the scene of Tujia Brother pursuing Ah Mei.
As a traditional snack of the Shizhu Tujia family, rice tea has been available in every household for thousands of years, and everyone in the Tujia daughter will make it. Ma Fangrong's family is a typical representative of Tujia rice tea, which began with her maternal grandmother Li Yonglan. Ma Fangrong learned the production techniques of Tujia rice tea with her mother from an early age, and mastered the whole process technology from soaking glutinous rice, steaming, yin, rubbing, drying, etc. to stir-frying bubble rice and boiling water to brew Tujia rice tea.
In order to carry forward the Tujia rice tea culture, further highlight the quality and cultural characteristics of rice rice tea, improve its popularity and influence, and distinguish it from the rice oil tea in Enshi, Hubei Province, Ma Fangrong specially went to Enshi to investigate. After returning, she combined the eating habits of the people of Shizhu County, and mixed the rice tea with Shizhu green tea and peanuts, sesame seeds, ginger, etc., respectively, into rice salt tea, rice rice ginger tea, rice rice sugar tea, etc., constantly meeting the needs of the public's tastes, brewing a unique Tujia rice tea.
Scoop a few spoonfuls of rice, add a little mash, brown sugar or sugar, rinse and stir in boiling water, this is the most original rice tea. Now rice tea, according to the guests' preferences, can also add black sesame seeds, beans, peanuts and other accessories.
A bowl of Tujia rice tea is made in this way——
1: Soak the glutinous rice in well water for more than 24 hours, drain the water and steam it on the wood, pour out the cool shade to semi-dry and dissolve the block, and move it to the sun to dry into yin rice. Heat an iron pot into the river sand and add tung oil to the yin rice and stir-fry into pickled rice.
2: Prepare salt, shredded ginger, cooked sesame seeds, crispy peanuts and fried tea leaves.
3: Bring water to a boil in a pot and add ginger shredded to boil. In an empty bowl, add salt, pickled rice, cooked sesame seeds, crispy peanuts, and fried tea leaves.
4: At this time, the ginger soup has been boiled, scoop a spoonful of ginger soup into the bowl.
Look at the white bubble rice tumbling in the bowl, just like the enthusiasm and boldness of the Tujia family, accompanied by ginger, rice, tea, a bowl of porridge non-porridge, like tea non-tea Tujia flavor rice tea drinking good Bashi!
Source: South Bank Cultural Tourism WeChat public account, Shizhu cultural tourism WeChat public account, Jiaxiang network WeChat public account, Shizhu newspaper