Speaking of dried radish, one of the eight major dried in western Fujian, shanghang people are proud. Because it is crispy and delicious, it has become a common small dish on the table of the people of Shanghang, and it is also the best hometown souvenir for the wanderers who go out in Hangzhou.
Most of the dried radish in Shanghang come from Shuinan, Zhangtan, Tupu, Kyushu and so on. Due to the proximity to the Tingjiang River, the sandy soil is loose, which is especially suitable for the growth of radish.
In my memory, every year, the family has to set aside a large piece of land to grow turnips and pickle dried turnips. After the autumn, I began to buy seeds, and the seeds used to pickle dried radish are also very exquisite, and it must be "Ninghua radish seeds", which is said to be because the dried radish pickled from Ninghua radish is of the best quality. After weeding and reclaiming the land, the seeds will begin to be sown in the cold dew season. In just three months, you can harvest white, long, delicious and juicy white radish. Freshly plucked radish, remove the radish leaves, roots and surface radish whiskers, use a large wooden barrel to press a layer of radish layer by layer of salt, press a few large stones on the top layer, add a small amount of water, and marinate for a week. Under the action of salt, the volume of the radish has become much smaller, leaching out of the brine, which is necessary to fish out and dry it with a special bamboo mat, to turn over, dry evenly, remove the excess water in the radish. When the sun is half dry, the salt water soaked in the original wooden barrel is filtered, the sand is removed, and then boiled in a large pot to wash the dried radish. Add the dried radish, rinse the dried radish once with boiling brine, rub it while hot, wash it, and dry it again, and the color of the dried radish will turn brown. Dried radish can be pounded and sealed in a clean dish. The flavorful dried Shanghang radish is ready. The longer the sealed radish is preserved, the stronger the flavor of the dried radish!
When I was a child, it was my grandparents, my parents and fathers were in the battle, the family was busy, it was not busy, and the custom of pickling dried radish has been inherited to this day.
The dried radish that was pickled one by one was uniform in size, all brown, emitting a unique aroma of dried radish, which would make you salivate. The simplest and most primitive way to do the dried radish is to soak the dried radish in water, remove most of the saltiness, fish it out and chop it into small particles, put it on lard, and stir-fry it in a pan. The dried radish that comes out of this way, with white porridge, can be eaten in large bites of several bowls. The simplest cooking, restore the most natural taste. It can be said that the author grew up eating dried radish since he was a child, and the memory of dried radish has been deeply imprinted in his mind since he was a child.
In the past few years of going out, I have occasionally seen the trace of dried radish on the shelves of supermarkets. I had a little excitement in my heart, but when I saw the place of origin again, it was not Shanghang, and I felt a little lost for this. You can only comfort yourself with foreign moons without Chinese rounds, and dried radish outside without home incense.
Dried radish is a memory of home for me.