Cool powder from northern Sichuan to Duck Creek

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Original DaiHucheng Literature May 14, 2020

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Author: Shen Qianji

The brand "Northern Sichuan Cool Powder" has swept many provinces across the country, and I am a northern Sichuan native who naturally likes to eat Northern Sichuan Cold Powder. Chuanbei cold powder is a unique snack in northern Sichuan, although it is not as famous as Lanzhou Ramen Shaxian snack, but it can still be found in many cities across the country, although the signs of shops around the world are not bad, whether it is the orthography of the book, it is not bad, but the color and taste of the taste are 18,000 miles apart. True similarity is rare.

I remember that at that time, a bowl of cold powder was about two or three hundred yuan (old coins, that is, two or three cents), and the vendors carried the burden, on one side was a cold powder clay pot, on which was pressed a cutting board, and on the cutting board was a large piece of cold powder covered with a white cloth; on the other side were various spices, especially red and shiny spicy oil and boiled soybean sprouts and a polished brass knife. So that later grown up because of the work relationship ran a lot of places across the country, where the store with "Chuanbei cool powder" regardless of the size and regardless of whether the storefront is luxurious or not, and the standard of judging whether it is authentic now feels ridiculous when you think about it, then look at whether the cold powder is a brass knife, and then see if there is a large plate of boiled soybean sprouts for backup. It should have been observed whether the texture of the cool powder was authentic, but it was not carefully studied. As for why the northern Sichuan cool powder used a brass knife in that year, there is no way to verify, but the habit of adding a little soybean sprouts to the northern Sichuan cool powder has continued to this day.

I remember when I was seven or eight years old, my mother and a few women in the neighborhood were roasting the warm winter sun in front of my house, or holding the soles of my shoes or doing some needlework, while posing with the dragon gate array, I and a few friends were also playing along the street. At this time a burst of "cool powder! The shouting of "cold powder" came from far and near, and a vendor carrying a burden of cold powder came along the street. Young women are generally hungry, so they called the cold powder burden to you to ask for a bowl, the mother hurt her son, and also called a few of our friends over, still one bowl for each person. The vendor saw that the business was booming, only to see the copper knife flying on the cutting board, the sun shining on the copper knife, with the beating copper knife flashing golden light, and soon hit (cut the cold powder into pieces, the hometown called the cold powder) a lot. After beating the cold powder, he held two bowls filled with cold powder in his left hand, grabbed a handful of bean sprouts that had long been boiled in his right hand, and sprinkled some on each of the two bowls, and the two bowls of bean sprouts were as many as ever, no one had counted them, and it was estimated that there would be no error of one or two. Then sprinkle some salt on each of the two bowls, scoop two spoonfuls of ginger garlic paste (soaked in ginger and garlic with a little boiling water), scoop a small spoonful of Boryeong vinegar, and finally drizzle a large spoonful of chili oil, the aroma of the cold powder will come out at once, and you can't help but salivate. The spicy oil in northern Sichuan is unique, the red is bright, the aroma is pungent, and it is only fragrant and not spicy in the mouth, which leaves a deep impression on me. Later, why it was called "Northern Sichuan Cool Powder", and why this "Northern Sichuan Cool Powder" flowed to many provinces, I really know very little.

When I grew up, I went to Guizhou to study and work, but from time to time I still thought about the "cold powder in northern Sichuan" that was drooling. More than ten years ago, I traveled to Beijing on business, and I was overjoyed to see a shop with a sign "Chuanbei Liang powder" in a hutong near Dashilar in downtown Beijing. There are many customers who go to the store, although they have to wait for some time, they are still happy, one really wants to relieve their hunger, and the other is to see the snacks in their hometown open to the capital, and they are also happy for them. Waiting in line to get the cold powder place I don't feel half cold! What is this "Chuanbei cool powder"! I saw a waiter bring eight or nine bowls of beaten cold powder from a large plastic plate next to him, and another waiter used a spoon to scoop a large spoon of something like sauce that was not famous in the middle of winter, poured some in each bowl and distributed it to customers. When it was my turn, I asked in Sichuanese, "What is this plus?" ”

"What do you say?" She couldn't understand Sichuanese. It is no wonder that how many Lanzhou ramen you see all over the country are Lanzhou people? How many of the snacks sold in Shaxian are from Shaxian.

"I said, 'What are you putting on this thing?'" I changed to Mandarin.

"You don't understand this! This is the seasoning of Kawabetsu cold powder! The service staff replied. Then he added, "This is our store's finest." ”

I took this bowl of "Chuanbei Cold Powder" refined by this shop to find a seat, stirred it with chopsticks, and a sour smell penetrated my nostrils. I squeezed a piece into my mouth, and a strange taste stimulated my taste buds, and it was really difficult to swallow and spit it out quickly. I smell it again, not only sour but also a little bit of nose, smell more and feel like vomiting. I put down the bowl, I really wanted to smash his "Chuanbei Cool Powder" signboard, which was simply insulting my sense of taste and insulting my hometown!.

"Chuanbei Cool Powder" has not applied for a patent, that is, you can't take it when you sell rat meat. He said he was the most authentic, can you help him geometry? I put down a piece of this unique "Chuanbei Cool Powder" that did not move, and left the store indignantly.

There is also a "Chuanbei Liang powder" shop on Zunyi Park Road in Guizhou, and it is also selling the famous "Duck Creek Cool Powder" in Zunyi. Compared with the Beijing one, this "Chuanbei Liang Powder" is not very authentic except for the bean sprouts and the polished brass knife, but the taste is very close, and it is not easy to eat a bite of the hometown taste that is similar to seven or eight points in a different place. And here the "Duck Creek Cool Powder" is very popular in the local area, it uses the oil sea pepper preparation method and the hometown of the spicy oil preparation method is much the same, the hometown of the spicy oil pays attention to color and fragrance, a spoonful of spicy oil red shiny, fragrant to make people salivate, the aftertaste is long; and Zunyi's oil sea pepper with Chaotian pepper, the color is dark red, a spoonful of oil sea pepper poured into the cold powder, there is a special fragrance, eat into the mouth and swallow into the stomach, spicy to your heart, so that it captures your sense of taste, spicy you want to eat. Although the two have their own advantages, the same point is that they still want to eat it.

I was born in northern Sichuan, but I have spent half of my life in Zunyi, which is my second hometown. Over time, I both missed the northern Sichuan cool powder in my hometown and liked the Duck Creek cool powder in Zunyi.

After retirement, I often live in Chengdu, every year Qingming back to my hometown to visit the grave, always do not forget to eat a bowl of "Chuanbei Cool Powder" that won the nanchong city famous snack shop on Liulin Road before leaving; sometimes I go back to Zunyi and reminisce with old classmates and old colleagues, and I can't forget to go to Park Road to taste the "Duck Creek Cool Powder" that has been separated for a long time!

Cold powder, a kind of ordinary snack that can no longer be ordinary, seems to have a special fate with my life.