The custom of old rice wine

A folk song circulated in Macheng for many years: "Old rice wine is a bitter fire, except for the emperor, it is me." It vividly tells the happy life scene of local people in winter. The latitude here is not high, which is a good place for summer vacation and leisure, but it is cold in winter. In fact, the winter temperature here is around 0℃, and the lowest temperature will not exceed minus 10℃. But it's extremely cold here. This kind of cold is different from the cold in high latitudes. Probably because of the abundant rain and high air humidity for many years, the cold here is particularly cold and biting. In order to keep out the cold, people in the mountains made another fire pit in the kitchen hall. In winter, people burn a big fire in the fireplace to keep warm. The fuel for the fire is mainly pine branches and tree shrews. Making a fireplace is very particular. The location of the fire pit must be selected in the corner of the house to occupy as little space as possible; At the same time, you should not be too close to the wall, you should sit in a crowded place as much as possible; You can also consider installing a hook under the beam to facilitate hanging the kettle and pot. After selecting a good point, dig a round pit with a diameter of one meter and a depth of about two centimeters from the ground, and then use blue bricks as the pit edge, so that a fire pit is completed. Keep warm by the fire. Because the fireplace is located in the corner of the house, it avoids the cold wind around it, and the fireplace is slightly lower than the ground, so the utilization efficiency of heat energy is greatly improved. With the improvement of living standards, bungalows covered with adobe have basically disappeared, and people have lived in buildings built of reinforced concrete. However, in the mountainous area, almost every family has a bungalow next to their building, which is specially reserved for the fireplace. The fire pit is connected with the hanging pot. Where there is a fire pit, there is a hanging pot, which should be used as a fire pit. The hanging pot is actually an iron pot with ears, but an iron buckle is fixed on the two ears of the iron pot, and the iron pot can be hung on the hook through the iron buckle. The hook is very clever. It makes good use of the mechanical principle and can move up and down and be fixed. Actually, the workmanship is not complicated. It's just a combination of a chain and a long-handled hook. Just tie a ring at the upper end of the chain so that it can cover the hook handle, tie a small wooden board or iron plate at the end of the chain, cut a round hole just passing through the hook handle at one end of the small board, and then pass the hook handle up through the round hole of the small board until it passes through the collar at the upper end. In this way, a pair of hooks is made. Usually the fire is accompanied by boiling water, and the hanging pot is hung when eating. This is a hanging pot. Speaking of hanging pots, we should talk about two kinds of dishes, namely bacon and fried tofu. Smoked bacon is a necessary food for farmers in mountainous areas. After entering the winter, people slaughter old pigs early, marinate the pork and hang it above the fire pit for fumigation. Smoked bacon is bright red and fatty white, and its shelf life can be as long as three years. After cooking, there is a faint rosin in the meat flavor, which greatly increases the appetite. It is particularly commendable that fat meat is better than vegetarian meat, fat but not greasy, smooth and refreshing, and it can really make people enjoy the pleasure of gluttony. Fried tofu is another flavor. The fried tofu here is to fry the whole piece of tofu in an oil pan, then marinate it in a vegetable jar for later use with pickled peppers, then take it out of the jar when eating, cut it into small pieces with a knife, and then eat it directly in a pot with bacon. This kind of fried tofu is crispy outside and tender inside, fragrant and sour, and has a unique flavor. Mountain people are not good at making many tricks, and like to cook all kinds of vegetables in one pot. Before meals, the bacon is cooked, the fried tofu is cut, and everything is poured into the hanging pot. Sometimes, dried bamboo shoots, dried radishes, dried bracken, dried fish and vegetables are added to the hanging pot, and the hanging pot is hung on the hook on the fire pit to cook. When eating, everyone sits around the fireplace, holding a pair of chopsticks in each hand, warming themselves by the fire, and chatting at home while eating, which makes them feel happy. If guests come, the host family must take out aged rice wine. Old rice wine is brewed by mountain people themselves with glutinous rice. People usually take out three or two hundred Jin of glutinous rice every year to brew old rice wine. After the wine is brewed, it should be sealed in a wine jar for a period of time, and you can drink it after all the glutinous rice is turned into wine. Warm the aged rice wine before drinking. Good old rice wine is clear and transparent, slightly chrysanthemum yellow, and it has a strong sticky feeling when twisted by hand. It is called "Proton Wine" locally, and it only needs to be warmed before drinking without boiling. Because of the high alcohol content, it is easy to burn and catch fire after boiling; At the same time, there is no need to add sugar, it is very sweet. According to the medical records in Wan Mi Zhai, old rice wine has the functions of relaxing muscles and activating collaterals, invigorating lung and spleen, eliminating dampness and cold, warming middle warmer and benefiting qi. Drinking old rice wine often is beneficial and harmless, but you shouldn't be too greedy. It is often said that drinking three cups of old rice wine will not make you drunk, and you will not wake up for three days after you get drunk. It can be seen that although the old rice wine is delicious, it is also very powerful to drink too much. Sitting by the fireplace, baking a blazing fire, eating bacon hanging pots, drinking glutinous rice and old wine, talking about daily housework, getting drunk and getting hot, and being connected with Shu Tai all over, the cold in winter is dispersed to the outside of the cloud nine, and the room is full of warm and harmonious atmosphere. This is really the day when immortals live.