After entering the lunar calendar "the third day of the third month of march", the black and shiny rice that is popular in the area of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai begins to play, and this kind of black rice made of black rice leaves has never been absent every year.
Wu rice tree is also called southern candle, ancient called dyeing, belongs to the rhododendron family evergreen shrub, mostly distributed in southern China, every year on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, people use its leaves to steam rice to eat, rice appears black and named, it is both an ornamental plant, but also Chinese herbal medicine, many ancient Chinese medical texts have records about the southern candle.
In the "Materia Medica" written by Chen Zangqi in the Tang Dynasty, it was pointed out for the first time: "The branches and leaves of the southern candle are bitter and flat, non-toxic, stop the discharge and remove sleep, strengthen the muscles and strengthen the strength, serve lightly for a long time, make people not hungry, turn white and old." In the Song "Kaibao Materia Medica", the production of black rice has a similar description as the "Materia Medica", and emphasizes that it has a strong and healthy effect such as "strong bones and bones, able to do".
Eat the leaves used in the rice is very exquisite, only the leaves out of the spring can take the juice to cook, too old or too tender can not, the ancient Taoists in order to maintain health invented a kind of green rice, the use of this black tree rice leaves, they selected this leaf also in the favor of it "long service light body for many years, people are not hungry, white to old." In addition, the green rice made of black rice tree is made after repeated processing, so it is especially suitable for carrying it as dry food when going out on long journeys.
One of the celebrities who blessed Qingjing Rice was Du Fu, who once wrote a poem: "Don't you have Qingjing Rice, make me color good." There is a lack of medicine, and the mountains and forests are like sweeping." This also shows that today's black rice actually has a deep origin.
In addition to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, Guizhou Guangxi Fujian also has the use of black rice sap and glutinous rice to make black rice food customs, she has a traditional festival is also related to black rice, every year on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar held, its main activity is to go to the wild "stepping on the green", eat black rice, in memory of the ancestors, also known as "black rice festival".
There is no complication in making black rice, and it is more than half successful to take the sap of the leaves of the black rice tree. Today I bought a little leaf of the black rice tree in the vegetable market, consulted a few old Yu Hang's aunts, and under their teaching, completed the work of the successful prelude to the success of the black rice and how to take the juice of the leaves of the black rice tree.
Look up a lot on the Internet, either boiled in water, or to use the stone mortar mash, and more convenient is to directly use the blender to break the leaves to get juice, Yu Hang's old aunt taught the method is very traditional,
The fresh rice leaves purchased are selected to remove the old stems and old leaves, leaving the young leaves;
After the leaves are selected, rinse the leaves with water;
Put a little water in the basin, and then start rubbing the leaves, the Internet said to wear gloves, otherwise the hands will be dyed, but the old aunt of Yuhang District said no, directly rub the leaves;
Compared with boiling water or using a blender, the method of rubbing by hand can stimulate the aroma of black tree rice, and after rubbing, you can smell a fragrant smell; of course, the hands are indeed dyed.
After kneading, find a piece of gauze to wrap the kneaded leaves and squeeze out the juice;
The juice can be put in a glass and refrigerated, and when you want to use it, you can take it out, and you can use it with glutinous rice or glutinous rice flour to make a delicious snack.