Foreword: The earth dog - Chinese pastoral dog, as soon as it determines that you are the owner, it is absolutely loyal. No matter what the owner treats it on a daily basis, he will continue to wait for you for the rest of his life.
Yesterday, I accompanied my friend back to my hometown, AnfuNanXiang. As soon as I entered the village, I saw my mother and a few elderly people sitting on a bench in the sunbathing area, chatting about home cooking, and a few shiny earth dogs snuggled next to me. Seeing this very ordinary scene in the countryside of central and southern Gan, I can't help but think of a past event.
Throughout the ages, every household in the countryside in the south of Ganzhong has kept earth dogs, one or two, and there is also a litter of puppies. The earth dog I have at home is golden and usually taken care of by my parents. Saying that it is caring, in fact, it is the mother who feeds it with leftovers every day, not an old saying: dogs are not poor. Adults have no special feelings for earth dogs, thinking that they are like chickens, ducks and fish, just an ingredient, a domestic animal.
Once, the earth dog was hungry and stole the stewed pig food in a large pot. At that time, my mother never ate breakfast herself, and she was mowing grass in the field hungry, and insisted until noon when she returned home, and she was upset. When my mother was drinking water in the clay pot next to the earth stove, she found that the lid of the fir pot had been removed from a slit, and the pig food was messed up, and it was immediately angry. The yellow dog kept following her, turning around, and the mother went straight down with a sickle and cut the neck of a dog. The wound on the dog's neck, still bleeding after a few days, and only after half a month it was scabbed, what a hatred and hurt!
Every time I see a scar on the yellow dog's neck, I feel pain. For this reason, I did not speak to my mother for a long time. The mother didn't poke at it either, as if she were all right.
However, the yellow dog seems to have a good scar and forgets the pain, and will follow the family all day long. It especially loves to wag its tail with my little sister, roll around, and play tricks. After living in peace for several years, the yellow dog was loyal to the lord, the caretaker was strong, and occasionally he could catch a few rats, drive away the weasels, and keep the family's food and chickens and ducks from harassment.
The yellow dog is docile and loyal, and can understand people's hearts as the years go by, and his personality is gradually independent and no longer clingy.
My sister and brother-in-law are contracting projects outside the home, and they are busy all year round, and they can't take care of their children without leaving home. Therefore, the eldest son was fostered in my house, and the second son was entrusted to the care of grandparents.
Day after day, the little nephew and the big yellow dog became inseparable partners.
On a whim, the little nephew would ride on the back of the old yellow dog, grab the dog's ears with both hands, pinch the dog's belly with his feet, and keep shouting: "Drive, drive, drive!" The old yellow dog also rode him obediently, letting him toss and turn, still walking slowly, as if afraid that he would fall off his back.
After the autumn of that year, my father and mother were contemplating building a new house for the coming year. The application for building a house was approved by the village committee, but because there were more families in the township who were eager to improve their housing conditions, they submitted applications for building houses to the township management office.
My family's application was stuck in the township, and the village party secretary asked my father to find a way to accommodate the township leaders.
Therefore, the father found his friend's son, Xiao Yao, the township organizer, and discussed it privately. Xiao Yao proposed: On Friday, he accompanied zhou, the elder of the rural management office, to the countryside, stopped by my house for a light meal, and approved the construction of the house.
Anfu Nanxiang, whenever winter comes, dog meat will always become the protagonist of people's table, they get more heat from dog meat to resist the cold of winter. Dog meat eats warm bones and stomach in winter, which can cure rheumatoid arthritis. Some people, in order to strengthen the pharmacological function of dog meat, also eat dog blood wine raw. Therefore, whenever there are valuable guests who come, they must kill the chickens and beat the dogs to eat. As the saying goes, autumn and winter dog meat is ten miles fragrant.
The mother proposed: The old yellow dog was made, and it was also considered a contribution to the construction of the house.
Father acquiesced.
Uncle HuaJia, who is over the year, saw that there were guests in my family, and immediately enthusiastically rolled up his sleeves to help.
Uncle Dae wrapped a strong nylon rope around the yellow dog's neck. The old yellow dog seemed to understand: the time of death has arrived. Its eyes were silently weeping, and the twenty- or thirty-pound old yellow dog only hummed a few times, and its limbs struggled twice before it was strangled by the big burqa in the crack of the door.
In the small farm yard of my family, the uncle set up a large iron pot, added enough water, made a fire, added firewood, and burned the firewood vigorously. Uncle Da put the big yellow dog in the water and boiled it, and murmured, "Beast, take a hot bath and take a good morning to reincarnate." "I saw that the uncle turned the yellow dog in the pot sharply, and at the same time used a large iron spoon to scoop water on the yellow dog's fur. When white smoke came out of the pot, the uncle said, "Okay, out of the pot." A handful of yellow dogs was lifted from the pot and thrown onto a large snakeskin plastic bag that had been laid on the dirt floor in advance, and the dog's hair was quickly plucked, revealing its snow-white skin, glowing silver in the sun.
The uncle then placed the earth dog on an iron rake and lit the dry straw so that the flames could burn all over the dog's body. The roasted brown of the dog skin is commonly known as "bouncing dog". This is also an indispensable step, one is to burn off the missing fine dog hair, and the other is to burn the smell of straw in the dog meat.
Uncle Dabo lifted the dog to the Chen Shan River in front of the village. In the flowing clean river water, uncle first brushed the dog skin that had been burned yellow by the straw with a bunch of dry straw. This is the result of the "bullet dog" in place, which is entirely dependent on the rich experience of uncle. Uncle Scraped the dog skin with the blade again until he was satisfied. Dissecting dogs is a pleasure for him. This also tested his understanding of the structure of the ingredients, precise cutting of the joints connected by flesh and bone, perfect separation, and ultimate knife skill. Just like advanced martial arts, only when kung fu is practiced to perfection, the knife can be carried at will and with ease. The uncle skillfully cut open the dog's chest, dug out the internal organs, and cut off four paws.
Then, the uncle found a thin bamboo pole, turned the slender dog intestine over, and then cut the dog's belly - stomach, cut open and then turned over, the dog urine bubble is the same, carefully washed several times, before using a bamboo basket to pack. The uncle came back with the dog "shell" that had been dug up and eviscerated in one hand, and the dog's entrails in the other.
As soon as I got home, I chopped off the dog's head and four claws, along with the old yellow dog's internal organs, put them in a pot, blanched, cooked, and then peeled and boneless.
"Braised dog meat" has certain requirements for the size of dog meat: first use a bone machete to cut the dog "shell", cut it into strips of meat, and then chop it into a suitable three centimeter square, almost one or two heavy pieces of meat.
After chopping the dog meat, the internal organs are also blanched with water, the dog intestine is cleaned and cut into sections, the stomach, heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and other slices are sliced, and the dog's head is also decomposed and potted for later.
First estimate the weight of the earth dog, the ratio of meat to oil is 10:1, prepare two or three pounds of farm pressed rapeseed oil, half a pound of ancient pressed camellia oil. In addition: one or two old gingers are washed and sliced, half two cinnamon peels washed and broken, a handful of wild mountain peppers washed and cut into rings, and two or three dried peppers dried by red TongTong farmers are cut into one-centimeter-long segments with scissors and set aside in an enamel bowl.
Wash the pot, pour in half a pound of tea oil and fry the incense, drizzle the pepper segments three times, increase the flavor and spiciness, and do not fry the paste. A pound or two of the farm's pressed rapeseed oil slid into the pot again, and after a while it made a crackling sound, like a long-lost piece of music. After the rapeseed is fried, use a clay pot to set aside, leaving only a little oil in the pan. Then, pour the dog meat into the pot and stir-fry over low heat, sprinkle with a few salt bars, and drizzle with old smoke to add flavor.
The dog meat is stir-fried non-stop, and it can't stop for a moment. Always beware of the dog meat fiercely pasting the pot, then it will be too late to regret it. The "smoke scars" caused by the paste pot are difficult to remove, difficult to swallow, and will be scolded by people who eat dog meat.
When the dog meat is fried and the skin turns slightly yellow, the bones are exposed. Uncle Dashi prepared the fried vegetable oil, cinnamon slices, and old ginger in advance, and then stir-fried to create the aroma.
Uncle then added mountain spring water to the pot, once to the foot, just covered (soaked dog meat. Braised dog meat is very taboo to add cold water many times. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to cook. The soup was tumbling in the pot and steaming hot. After carefully skimming off the foam, the uncle covered it tightly with a cedar pot. Occasionally opening the lid of the pot to check, uncle pushed with a shovel to let the dog meat evenly heat in the hot soup.
After the dog meat in the pot is cooked for about two hours, add the dried chili peppers fried in camellia oil, pour in the chopped offal, wild mountain pepper rings, the tea oil left in the enamel bowl, sprinkle some pepper, etc., and turn it over repeatedly. The juice is collected in place on a high fire, and a large pot of soup becomes a thick soup, and the surface of the dog meat attached to the yellow and red is mouth-watering. Uncle Da can't wait to pinch the pieces of dog meat to taste in his mouth - buckle, chewy, lips and teeth left fragrant.
About 30 minutes after cooking. As thin as beige. Soft silk, spicy and pleasant, eat while hot.
The village party secretary led the lean township organizer Xiao Yao, the shy belly of the head of the local management office: Zhou Weigang (pseudonym), and several retinues. As soon as they entered the house, uncle and father greeted and saluted warmly and arranged for you to sit down. The smiling mother also immediately brought a cup of hot tea, and added a few plates of snacks - sauce radish, rock sugar dried eggplant, sweet tangerine peel, as well as fried peanuts, fried potato chips, fried sugar ginger...
The dog meat is soft and salty. Uncle Da first took the dog meat out of the pot and put it in the pot, which was the first hard dish on the table, and placed it in the center of the Eight Immortals table. Then put the second way; Wood-fired pots of farmhouse chicken soup are served on the table, followed by stewed pork trotters, steamed ham, and stewed lees fish, like the stars accompanying the moon. Finally, my mother fried several plates of seasonal vegetables grilled from her own vegetable garden, which were fresh and dripping, such as green leaves with red flowers, which was very festive. My father took out the Nanxiang bad skin roast that he had collected for many years, and the wine was rich in aroma and could not be drunk.
The father also called two nephews with a large amount of alcohol, just to make a table, to accompany the guests to drink, help, enjoy the farm delicacies.
The important thing about a rural family feast is that it is happy and harmonious, but the satisfaction conveyed by delicious food is essential. People and food, since ancient times, have always had a taste, in its unique way, on the tip of the tongue to remind us, recognize the whereabouts of the clear sky, do not forget the origin of yesterday. People's long-term running-in and purification of food. Wine and food are infatuated. No matter how hurried people's steps are, no matter how scattered and sad, how involuntary they come, how sophisticated and not simple their purposes are. One cup, but the worries of life's trivialities, and to be idle; two cups, the resentment and hatred are gone, and to be harmonious; three cups, rich and poor are spoiled and humiliated, and get family affection, friendship, cold and warm self-knowledge, full of love...
In the face of a table of farm delicacies, a large table of people drinking is a sense of pride. The dish has been five flavors, the wine has been three rounds, and the uncle proposes: stroke your fist to help you.
Director Zhou pretended to shirk at first - "boxing skills are not exquisite", but he could not resist the enthusiasm of the host and the encouragement of the same table, and it was difficult to withstand the temptation from fine wine and food, so he 'shirtless' went to battle.
"High ascension position", "crab fist", etc., two people in a group of punches, take turns, the loser drinks, the accompanying person applauds, persuades the wine.
To the place of affection, guess each other: "'Immortal to', 'add or subtract positive', 'five sons and three guesses', 'open the net and close the net'" or "pairs".
The more you drink the wine, the more you drink it—the sweetness of the wine, the heat of the dog meat. The mood of a table of people is high, eating large pieces of meat, drinking wine, and chatting about current affairs and homely things. A table of people and wine bonded, the relationship between each other was much closer, immediately from strange to mature. Director Zhou took the wine, patted his chest, and promised with a big belly: "Everything is easy to handle, the village has agreed to it, and the matter of Principal Zhu's house construction approval is wrapped up in me." ”
After a "light meal", the matter of building a house approval stuck in the township soil management office was also smoothly resolved.
The parents who secretly snickered in their hearts also joined the ranks of toasting, and said enthusiastically: "There is no good dish today, I have neglected you, and I still look forward to Haihan." ”
"Director Zhou, you are both a distinguished guest and a rare guest. I toast you with four glasses of wine, no respect, thank you very much! The father stooped down and said, "I'll do it first, Director Zhou." you! Drink slowly and eat more. ”
"Principal Zhu, you are too polite. It's my part. Director Zhou said with a peach blossom on his face and a full burp.
"Xiao Yao, another day, I will definitely ask your father to play." This is a rare opportunity, and I will accompany you to drink four glasses of wine! The father said with a smile, "Dry, you are young, drink more wine, and eat as much as you like." ”
Xiao Yao said sincerely, "Teacher Zhu, you and your father's friendship have been ironclad. You are so enthusiastic! ”
The mother said happily: "Old secretary, I also toast you with four glasses of wine, a little heart, and express my great gratitude!" Then he said, "I'll do it first, you old!" Drink less – feel free, eat more. ”
The old secretary said with a blush: "They are all from their own families, too polite to see the outside." ”
Dog meat, known as the "supreme treasure", has a tender taste, and the meat is firm and full. There is a folk proverb that "dog meat rolls three times, and the gods and immortals are unstable". A table of people is really drunk, and they can't stand steadily. The old secretary, lying on the edge of the table, fell asleep. Young and lean Xiao Yao, shaking and shaking even his steps were chaotic, as if he was dancing "disco". As soon as Director Zhou was discharged from the hospital, he leaned against the corner of the wall, vomited, and even choked out tears.
The drinking guests were all helped away one by one, and only a mess was left under the eight immortal tables in the hall.
When the sunset was full of sky, the little sister of Cardamom Nian took the naughty little nephew home from the kindergarten in the village.
Smiling and innocent, as soon as he stepped into the door, he smelled a strong smell of wine, saw bones on the ground, cigarette butts.....
. Suddenly, the little devil and the big man fully understood——
In an instant, the tearful little nephew said angrily: You eat so deliciously, have you forgotten that dogs eat before they die? ”
The parents were stunned and shook their heads helplessly.
The little sister persuaded the little nephew not to use it for a long time. In his sleep, he still faintly heard his little nephew still sobbing and talking in his dreams.