Diamond horns are called old diamonds in Taizhou, whether they are tender or old

Lingjiao, in our Taizhou called old Ling, whether it is tender, or old, all called this. On weekends, accompany friends from other places to play in the countryside, halfway through the car, the wind blows rice waves, there are stalls on the side of the road, selling sand watermelons, selling pumpkin cucumbers, and also selling diamond horns, scrawled on wooden boards: fresh old ling. Friends are puzzled: it is an old Ling, how to say fresh? He didn't know the beauty of my native dialect. Jiangnan water town, rivers longitudinal, lotus, lingjiao also many. Rhombus has a wild diamond, home rhombus, early in March, green leaves floating on the surface of the water, the leaves gradually grow, the triangular diamond leaves are densely next to each other, looking at a green in the distance, sometimes there are small fish playing in between. In May and June, between the green leaves, three or three pairs, small white flowers bloom, night and day, a clear and silent color. When the lotus flowers fall and grow into green lotuses, the diamond flowers also fall off, bearing fruit with sharp corners and bends, and in early July, the small diamond horns quietly grow among the underwater branches and leaves. When the autumn wind is together, the lotus canopy and the diamond horn can be picked, and the people at the water's edge, holding up wooden boats or sitting on the log pot and the big foot basin, row into the water, pull the rhombus vine from under the water, and pick the diamond horns one by one. Those old diamond horns that have not been picked will automatically fall off and sink to the bottom of the water. In the coming year, it will take root and sprout, and from the black hard shell, it will drill out the tender white buds. There are many types of diamonds, no horns, two corners, triangles, four corners, the color is blue, green, red, white, purple, black. Wen Zhenheng's "Chronicle of Long Things" records the diamond horns, there are water red ling, yan lai red, yingge qing, wonton ling, wild ling, white sand corner, just listen to the name, you feel a breath of fresh air, full of Jiangnan flavor. In the paddy fields of my hometown, some seedlings with diamond horns are sometimes planted. "Jiading Chicheng Zhi" records, "there are several kinds of bull head diamonds, green diamonds, triangle diamonds, etc.", the bull head diamonds, that is, big red diamonds, green diamonds, that is, big green diamonds, a green shell when green, black brown when old, such as wearing hard armor, such as black-faced old bags, iron face selfless appearance. The diamond horns are hard and upturned, like bull horns, with thorns in the horns, and there is a brutal force, like a stunned second-in-command. Hometown of the diamond horn black skin thick meat, raw eating is not very sweet and crisp, with shell cooked, the taste is good, the diamond meat powder sticky, rustling texture, very chewy, can be used as a casual fruit, can also be used as a snack. Shaoxing is a water town, there are many diamond horns, there are hunchback white and water red diamond, hunchback white shell green white, back slightly bulging, and water red diamond, all over the body of water red, such as the beautiful woman's fragrant red belly pocket. The water red diamond water spirit is sweet and should be eaten raw, and a strand of water is cooked. In the old days, women wrapped their feet, and the water red diamond was very delicate, and the boring literati used the red diamond to symbolize the woman's fragrant feet. I used to sit on a black canopy boat, eating the water red diamond that the boat lady had just picked, and after peeling the shell, it revealed a snow-white carcass, crisp and sweet, full of moisture, such as green lotus seeds, and clearing the mouth abnormally. The cyan diamond horns, like the green clothes on the stage, are generally four corners, and the diamonds of Jiaxing South Lake have a unique appearance, a green and blue, round and hornless, and prominent in the middle, like a small yuanbao, so it is also called yuanbaoling. Autumn to Jiaxing, friends to entertain dinner, always indispensable a plate of fresh Nanhu Ling, raw eating, thin skin, tender and juicy meat, very sweet, can be included in Jiangnan Jiaguo, there is Bai Juyi said "tender peeling green diamond horn, thick frying white tea buds" of the elegant fun. When the South Lake Is tender, the color is turquoise, and until it is ripe, it is slightly yellowish. The hornless South Lake Ling, only the South Lake has, and when it goes elsewhere, it will give birth to two horns, which is really strange. There are proverbs in my hometown: Gu Yu Green Plum Plum Is Fragrant, Little Loquat has turned yellow, Summer Solstice Bayberry is red like fire, Summer Lotus Is Pengshui Yang, Autumn Equinox Diamond Horn Dance Knife and Gun. When the autumn equinox arrives, the diamond corner is on the market, and the east and west piles are placed on the vegetable market. When you go to the vegetable market, don't forget to buy some crisp and raw diamond horns. Fresh Rhododendron root, Ling is the fresher the better, Lingjiao can be eaten raw, can also be steamed, cooked after peeling shell to eat, or as a vegetable, fried meat slices chicken slices, refreshing and delicious, can also be cooked porridge to cook rice or made into Diamond powder. There is porridge in my hometown, and I chopped up the meat and boiled porridge, and added top brown sugar, which has a unique flavor. The diamond horns that are too late to eat are placed in the wind to dry, known as "wind diamonds", which can be stored for a long time. "Dream of the Red Chamber" also wrote about red ling, when the autumn wind rises, the horn and chicken head rice are ripe, Bao Yu thought of Shi Xiangyun, so he asked the raiders to send two small filigree boxes to the past, first unveiled one, which contains two fresh fruits of red ling and chicken head rice, and that one, is a plate of osmanthus sugar steamed new chestnut flour cake. In Jiangnan, there are two dishes related to Lingjiao, one is called July River Pond Fresh, there are Lingjiao, broad beans, fish rounds, dotted with dark green lettuce, fresh and silky, delicious and abnormal. There is also a dish called Lotus Pond Moonlight, which is fried with lotus seeds and lotus seeds and three fresh braised, and eaten into it, a mouthful of Jiangnan flavor.

Column Editor-in-Chief: Kong Lingjun Text Editor: Chen Shuyi Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Zhu Xuan

Source: Author: Wang Han