Red noodles are unpalatable, this is an indisputable fact, if in the hot summer, let you eat mustard sauerkraut soup red noodles for three days every day for lunch, I am sure you will say, ah, ah, this is even more difficult to eat! When you think of sauerkraut soup, you will think of the red noodles that are difficult to swallow, it is really a soup that is difficult to drink, the noodles are unpalatable, and the past is unbearable!
The sauerkraut in our hometown is mainly made of mustard greens, and the local dialect in the village calls mustard greens as mustard knots. When it is just done, the mustard knots are white and raw, the vegetable leaves are green, both beautiful and delicious, it can be said that it is the home dish of the old family. If you put some tofu and soybeans, stir-fry on high heat, it is still a good hospitality dish, but unfortunately, at that time, tofu and soybeans can not be bought casually.
Over time, the sauerkraut will turn slightly yellow, and over time, people will call sauerkraut yellow cabbage. In other words, sauerkraut is the official name, and yellow cabbage is at best the name of the land. However, in terms of taste, color, and texture comparison, there is a big difference from the sauerkraut of the chefs in today's restaurants, and the sour cabbage that people in the Northeast love to eat.
One side feeds the other. Our place has hard water and soil, a large temperature difference between day and night, and except for the high yield of watermelons, everything else is average. Wheat production is even less high, in the early years, the yield per mu is only about three hundred catties. Every year, the public grain is paid, there is very little left, one person is divided into more than ten catties, barely able to eat a white noodles during the festival, and the family is sick and drinks soup. Three meals a day for every household are either red flour or cornmeal. In the 1970s, during the climax of Xuedazhai, the rural areas promoted the new sorghum high-yield variety "three feet three" on a large scale, and the leaders of the social and social teams wanted to win the red flag of high grain production. In this case, each family did not even share much corn, which was a bitter member, and all of them became veritable "suffering people"! How many people have broken their hearts and broken their stomachs because they eat red noodles.
The white noodles can't think of it, and the jade is not much, and the only thing that can be expected to add to the stomach is the disgusting red noodles. More often, we eat red noodles to stir the elm skin and cut the tip. To eat this pasta, you need toppings, which we call reconciliation. At that time, it was either vinegar blending or sauerkraut soup. Some people don't even have sauerkraut soup. Every day at noon, pitifully, either pour some vinegar, or pour some sauerkraut soup, eat that thick red noodles, one meal is OK, two meals are barely enough, five meals and six meals are even eaten, do you think that is what it feels like? The children are crying their noses and rubbing their eyes, and the adults are frowning, and there are many people! Until now, people who have come from that year and month are still waving their hands and sighing when they talk about sauerkraut soup: "Don't mention it, don't mention it, when you talk about sauerkraut soup, there are endless sad things, that's a lot of time!" ”
The seeds of mustard are small, purple in color, almost as large as a grain of millet. When people plant next, in order to save seeds and spread evenly, they also have to mix some small grains of rice. The next planting time is generally after the watermelon pulls the melon vine, and then it is planted in the melon field. The advantage of this is that the fertility of the watermelon field is still there, and a shallow ditch is opened with a hoe, and the mustard seeds are evenly sprinkled inside, and a thin layer of soil is covered with a thin layer of soil, and the seedlings will emerge in a few days.
Mustard grows up to be easy to manage and does not take much effort. Water a little water, take a big hoe a few times, and you're good to go. After harvesting in late autumn, wash and dry the mustard knots and leaves, and you can make sauerkraut. The steps and process of making sauerkraut are not complicated, first take a rub to rub the mustard knots into silk, then chop the mustard leaves, and then put them into the cylinder to compact. Lay a layer of sorghum stalks on top, press a stone, and put it in a cooler home. Finally, boil a large pot of pepper water, pour it in while it is hot, and put the cylinder lid well. In the next few days, we will have to wait patiently for fermentation.
During this period, white foam will often appear in the vegetable jar, which is actually a reaction substance after fermentation, and can be scooped out at any time and dumped. Generally speaking, after half a month, it is basically fine, and due to fermentation, you can already smell sour. At this time, it is necessary to remove the sorghum stalk and press the stone on top of the sauerkraut.
The freshly made sauerkraut is still very fresh, with a faint fragrance in the acid, the dish is crisp, and the soup is slightly sour. Cold mix, or pouring noodles with soup dishes, also feel appetizing. Afraid of eating every day, there are meals, in addition to pickles, is sauerkraut, this can be eaten tired and crooked, some people even see sauerkraut on the stomach,
At that time, there were very few cabbages and carrots in the team, and in a winter and spring, the farmers relied on sauerkraut and pickles to eat vegetables. To be able to eat cabbage and carrots is to improve your life. In later years, even the mustard greens were divided less. This can be troublesome, all said bran vegetables half a year of grain, this is even less mustard knots, why eat? You can't always pour vinegar and eat red noodles every day, right? As for eating red noodles poured with pickle soup, that is, no matter how good the stomach is, you can't eat it!
People sighed and worried, and had to rack their brains to think of a way, and some people came up with a way to replace mustard greens with cabbage leaves and carrot shreds to make sauerkraut. The specific method is the same as mustard sauerkraut, but the taste is very different, the texture is soft, the fragrance is lighter, the color is not bright, in the end it is delicious or not? So far, I can only say that I can only eat. The biggest advantage is that this sauerkraut process is not demanding, cabbage leaves, fennel white leaves, even old leaves, young leaves can be done, typical of large groceries. From late autumn to April, sauerkraut accompanies people for nearly half a year.
The single diet will inevitably lead to poor nutrition, coupled with working day and night, many people are yellow-faced and thin. At that time, I really shouted the slogan of learning dazhai, doing farm work like cattle, every family ate sauerkraut rice, every household smelled sauerkraut, everyone put sauerkraut farts, and spit sour water after meals. No wonder people are still sad when they say it: "People are more bitter than livestock, that is, they can eat some sauerkraut!" How can you say it's delicious? But in the bitter sun and moon, what can you eat without eating it? If you don't eat it, you have to eat it! Alas, the life of the suffering man, to speak of it, must be thanked for it! ”
But who would have thought that feng shui took turns, and the sauerkraut that used to be disgusting and disgusting could now appear on the menu of a restaurant. However, the big fish and meat that made people drool at that time were left out in the cold by the villagers, and the reason was that they were afraid of eating too much and had "three high" miles!
To tell the truth, the first time I ate sauerkraut, I really can't say that it is unpalatable. Afraid to be afraid of every day, eat it all! In fact, you just eat big fish and meat all the time, and you can't enjoy your appetite. If you want to say that sauerkraut is delicious, in the Jinzhong area, it is better to be in Dongshan county than Pingchuan. Shouyang's small package of sauerkraut, exquisite and beautiful, moderate acidity, open a bag to drink in the summer, full of comfort. Heshun sauerkraut, served with boiled eggs, a bowl of bitter buckwheat noodles, or cornmeal with noodle porridge, is a perfect meal.
When I was working in Xiyang, I often ate sauerkraut when I went to the countryside to eat, and I thought it was better than Shouyang and Heshun. Especially eating sauerkraut in Xizhai and Zhanshang areas, I always feel very different from the sauerkraut in my hometown in Pingchuan. The main color is fresh and full, and the taste is tender and crispy. Careful understanding is mainly due to the difference in water quality. Madaoling Village in Zhanshang Town is the birthplace of the XiaoHe River, where the water source is abundant, the water quality is sweet and pollution-free, and the mustard planted is also pollution-free.
Here's why! I have been to Madaoling, which is far away from the hustle and bustle, the terraces are picturesque, the river is still, the sparkling water is sparkling, and it is a paradise. No wonder the sauerkraut here is delicious. I have asked the locals, in addition to the good water quality, they also practice differently from our hometown. One of the biggest differences is that the mustard greens are rubbed into thin wires and then blanched in boiling water before proceeding to the next process. It seems that the local products have their own local truth, and the special products have their own special taste, you must admit.
But then again, no matter whether others say sauerkraut is delicious or bad, I'm always in awe of it. When you see it, you have a sour feeling in your heart; when you eat it, you have a bitter taste in your mouth. Because when I was a child, I really ate enough, and I was afraid. I will never forget the years of eating sauerkraut, and I hope to never live like that again...
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