Taro taro

The "Hunan Party" is a small gathering, and there is a dish in it-"Yu He". Just looking at the menu makes people salivate: the stalks are dark green, such as jade, with red pepper and lobster sauce. The dishes are exquisite, and the fragrance and taste are also coming out. Look at the order, dried beancurd in Youxian, small fried meat in farmhouse, fish head with chopped pepper, and of course, there is "Yu He Er" on the menu that feels lively and attractive.

I put the food on the table again and tasted it, only to find that this jade pattern is deja vu. Slightly astringent, a little sweet and greasy, but chewy, remembering and thinking: Is this "taro"? Try it again to be sure-this "Yu He" is indeed a "taro", or in layman's terms, the leaves and stems of taro. It's just a word difference. There's really a difference. Jade, stained with fairy gas, taro, is really a vulgar thing arched out of the soil. "Taro", a common thing in an ancient country that doesn't even eat pigs, has gained a bit of cultural flavor after the hype and brand naming of merchants.

Taro is widely planted in my hometown Jianghan Plain, just like sweet potato and potato are widely planted in Shandong and Henan. Like potatoes and sweet potatoes, taro is rich in starch, easy to grow, easy to harvest and resistant to storage. It can replace the function of rice and wheat in famine years and is widely planted in Jianghan Plain, my hometown. Whenever you go to paddy fields and dry land and look up, you can see a large piece of green taro with thick leaves and thick stems, which stands in a line in paddy fields and dry land, especially conspicuous and dazzling.

March to May is the time to plant taro. The "seed" of taro is actually its tuber buried underground. One month before planting, it needs to be buried in the sand, watered and germinated, and then taro will grow green and jade-like buds. The land where taro is planted is by no means fertile and good. The corner of the vegetable garden and paddy field is humid and close to the water. I don't like other exquisite dishes, but taro just likes it. This is about water taro, and there is another kind of dried taro, so don't choose it. Sandy soil is a good place for it to grow. Taro from sandy soil is delicious, smooth and powdery, which is most suitable for steamed ribs and lean meat.

Other dishes are delicate and need to be served all day, watered, loosened and sprayed, and taro can be planted. It grows like that, the wind comes, the leaves rustle, the rain comes, the dew drops are shaken off, the morning wind and rain dew soak the morning sun and the sunset, and it grows silently on the rural ridge. Like a silent old farmer in the countryside, wooden and firm. And its roots are slowly gestating and expanding. From the tuber, we can separate small tubers, one, two, three ... these are dolls born from the mother stem. We can't understand these things that breed on the earth, but they happen all the time.

It took three months for taro to grow from a low plant into a complete seedling. In May, it stopped the growth of leaves and stems, providing the main nutrients for underground tubers, because this season is the best time for tuber growth. Farmers who know how to plant, at this time, will ridge the taro plant, shovel a thin layer of soil, cover its roots, and then step on it to cover its roots tightly. Under the sunshine in May, the "taro seeds" on taro grow bigger and bigger, and even some naughty taro seeds will break through the soil barrier and break through the ground. At this time, farmers will grab a handful of soil and cover it-because taro can't see the sun, and when they see the "taro" in the sun, it will turn blue and harden, and finally, it will become an immature taro.

In June, the taro in the field can be dug out and eaten. The first crop of taro is rarely sold, but it is usually dug up by itself, fried, boiled or steamed at home, and tasted first at home. Children who dig taro are often small and old. They are eager for this taro, and they are greedy. They don't wait for their parents to tell them-melon seeds, dig carefully, taro stalks are "embarrassed", be careful! He took a bamboo basket and shovel and went to dig taro in the field. One person grabbed the whole taro plant, and the other person took a shovel and stepped on the back of the shovel to dig down. Dragging, the whole taro was uprooted. "There are many sons of this taro!" "Enough for a bowl!" "Do you want to dig one?" "Dig more, or you can eat more." As I spoke, I dug taro. After a while, the bamboo basket was full of taro. Scattered are taro, bamboo green edge, taro seedlings lying down. You can't lose this-there is a big taro attached to the taro seedling, which is the "mother" of taro. You can't lose the leaves of taro. After returning home, parents can pound it into a dish.

When digging taro, I completely forgot my parents' advice. At this time, I found that my whole body was itchy, and my hands, arms, face and feet were naked everywhere, and there was no place that didn't itch. Grasp with your hands, the more you scratch, the more you scratch. Where it doesn't itch, it itches. I stamped my feet in a hurry, but accidentally, the whole person fell off the ridge and fell into the paddy field, becoming a clay figurine. The little friend on the side was about to laugh, but the little friend who just climbed out of the paddy field smiled. It turned out that his face was covered with mud, red and black, and it looked very funny. Helpless, people are greedy. In this way, carrying a bamboo basket, facing the sunset, tickling and returning home.

Parents have a trick to relieve itching. They welcomed the child to the fire to warm himself, and the itching magically disappeared. Of course, it's hard to keep warm in summer. Of course, parents know that throwing a taro into the oven cavity will keep us warm and bake taro. When the taro is cooked, the itching disappears, and there are delicious baked taro to eat. We are all willing to do such a good deed, even if the sweat drips on our faces and squirms like earthworms. Dinner will be ready soon. It was a bowl of fried taro, sliced as white as milk, lying on a thick plate, steaming and fragrant. Tables and chairs are spread out in the yard, and the sky is high and wide. The sunset glow has dyed the sky red, cicadas on the new trees are chirping noisily, and the evening breeze is blowing gently. Everything is so beautiful.

In June and July, taro became bigger. At this time, taro has been eaten on the farmer's dining table for several times, and it is not fresh. Parents make taro in different ways. Stir-frying, steaming, burning, stewing rice and roasting tempt us one by one every day. Cooking is really delicious, but it is powerless after eating for a long time. If steamed, taro is much tender, but it tastes tasteless. Stewed with rice, you can never get tired of eating it: pour the oil into a hot pot, and when the oil is fully heated, put the washed and diced taro into the pot, stir-fry over high fire, and add water until the taro is cooked. At this time, pour the seven-point cooked rice cooked and filtered in the pot into the pot and cover it with taro. Cover the pot and cook for about half an hour. At this time, the taro is stewed. The whole pot of rice, stained with the aroma of taro and oil, suddenly became soft and delicious. When cooking taro stew, our family doesn't cook. After eating a bowl, we will add another bowl until we can't hold our stomachs.

In fact, it is not that fried taro and steamed taro are not delicious, but that fried taro and steamed taro lack the harmony and moisture of meat slices. If there are meat stars in taro, we can dry the whole plate of taro without even leaving soup. Unfortunately, the living conditions were poor at that time. You can't eat meat a few times a year, and you can't see oily meat a few times.

Roasting taro in winter is the most suitable. At that time, the trees were bleak, paraquat was yellow, and Jianghan Plain was dry and cold. Children's favorite thing to do is to keep the oven cavity-euphemistically, it is to add wood to the stove, but in fact, it is to keep warm. This winter, squatting by the fire, the fire in the stove chamber is burning, reflected on the face, especially warm and comfortable. The most comfortable thing is not this-take some potatoes or taro from the cellar, throw it into the fire in the stove chamber, turn it with the tongs, and put rice stalks and cotton stalks into the stove. When the rice is cooked and the baked taro is cooked, find a piece of paper to wrap the taro, quickly hide in the corner, peel off the burnt skin, and devour it regardless of the burning pain in your mouth. You can't eat taro in a hurry. One is hot, the other is easy to choke. However, this cooked taro is also an easy-to-fly duck. If you are not careful, it will become food for your brothers and sisters. Therefore, gorging became a matter of course at that time.

What about the stalk of taro? Has not been discarded. As early as when I dug taro, my parents made it into a dish. Peel off the green husk, cut it into pieces, then put salt and pepper, press it in a ceramic jar, and take it out to eat until it is green and yellow. It is a good dish for next meal, sour and greasy. This dish is called "pickled taro". There are many stalks in taro, so it is impossible to use them all for "pickling". Parents will soak them in water and dry them in the scorching sun in June. This is also a good dish in winter. Stir-fried pork slices after foaming can also be used, and stir-fried lobster sauce and pepper can be used. It tastes crisp and raw.

Taro has many leaves and stems, some of which are used to feed pigs. In fact, pigs stop eating when they eat too much. I always thought pigs were ticklish! Think about it, people's hands itch when they dig taro and wash it. How uncomfortable is it to eat this kind of leaves in your mouth and make your mouth full of hair?

(2)

1980s, reform and opening up,1990s, economic tide. The vegetables planted in the field are old and new, and the taro is still on the edge of the field, which is dazzling green. However, there are still few people planting it. On the dining table, the figure of taro drifted away and disappeared, replaced by chicken, duck and fish. Taro is delicious, but it can't stand the change of time and the rotation of years, and it can't stand the emergence of fresh vegetables and mushrooms after rain.

It will still appear on the dinner table during the Spring Festival. It's not cooking or stewing, but "steamed meat with taro". Cut the fresh meat into sections, evenly fat and thin, mix with special steamed meat powder and cover the taro. Steam in a steamer or pressure cooker for half an hour. Coming out is a good dish for all ages. Oily meat penetrates into taro, and the aroma of taro is mixed with knife meat, which is just right and tastes just right. Meat tastes soft and thick, and taro tastes tender, erosive and slippery. Melting in the mouth, this smell should only exist in the sky and rarely return to the world.

Both parents are masters of steaming taro. /kloc-at the beginning of 0/990, I studied abroad and had to stay at home during the holidays. My parents rewarded me with this steamed taro. I can eat a big bowl of taro upside down. After eating, I stupidly asked my parents, "Why don't you eat?" I looked at my spilled plate and smiled shyly again. They saw my embarrassment, but comforted me: "We often eat at home, so it's rare for you to come back and eat more." In fact, I know they can often eat it there. A steel shovel can't wait to break in half and save it for our study. How can they be willing to eat?

How many festivals are there like this, and how many times do you eat steamed taro? I don't remember it clearly, but I remember that I finished eating and graduated in this way, and then I went all the way from Jianghan Plain to the southern coastal area.

There is much rain and taro in the south. However, this kind of taro is still very different from the taro in Jianghan Plain-the skin is smooth and the head is big, one is three to five pounds; Disgusting, white meat mixed with red silk thread, clearly visible, like exquisite embroidery. It's the first time I bought taro in the market. I don't know yet. When grandma, who sells vegetables, told me it was taro, I couldn't believe my eyes-is this taro really taro? How is it completely different from the taro in Jianghan Plain? Taro or taro, orange in the south and bitter in the north, one side of the soil and water to raise one side, but also to raise one side of the scenery, but also to raise one side of taro.

Buy it home, but you can't. So big taro, stir-fried, steamed or steamed meat? Recalling the braised pork, plum and taro I ate in the restaurant, it was delicious and I wanted to try it once. Unfortunately, I was single at that time, and I couldn't find any oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea in the kitchen. There are plum vegetables there. In desperation, I sliced the taro myself and made a fried taro. In the end, taro was cooked into a dish, but it was not cooked well. Chop it a few times in the hot pot, it becomes light and soft, and finally it becomes taro soup. The first time I fried taro in the south, I ate taro soup, not taro chips.

The taro in the south is actually more delicious than the taro in Jianghan Plain. Taro is divided into red taro (also called red taro), white taro (also called white taro), nine taro (dog claw taro) and betel nut taro (called Lipu taro in Guangxi). Nine taro is mainly planted in Jianghan Plain in the Yangtze River valley, but it is betel nut taro that can really take part in the royal banquet, and Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Taiwan Province Province adjacent to Fujian in the Pearl River valley are the main producing areas of betel nut taro. The world-famous "Lipu Taro" is "Areca Taro", which is produced in Lipu County, Guilin, Guangxi. For hundreds of years, it has been a tribute to the royal family, especially during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The delicious taste of Lipu taro can be seen from this.

In the TV series "Prime Minister Liu", there is a bridge about Lipu taro-Luo Guo is busy holding taro and chewing, experiencing the fun of people's food; Emperor Qianlong's appetite increased greatly, and he also wanted to try "Lipu Taro". The attendants cut out a piece with cotton thread and gave it to Emperor Qianlong. The emperor repeatedly called "delicious! Delicious! " Steamed taro in Lipu. What is it like? Peel off the skin to reveal the white and soft taro meat, and cut it with cotton thread to reveal the red inner core. It's just watching, and it's mouth watering. If you eat, it must be an imperial enjoyment.

All food, pay attention to nature.

The practice of "Lipu Taro" conforms to nature. Without any seasoning, it is steamed purely and steamed through water. The interface of boiling water is as far away from taro as possible, so it tastes very pink, soft, sweet and delicious. Watching, as soft as stepping on a cloud. After steaming, you can use cotton thread instead of cutting with a knife. A contestant who has participated in a cooking competition never cuts vegetables with sharp tools such as a knife. All vegetables that can be peeled by hand are peeled by hand. She said, "When you cut vegetables with a knife, the vegetables will get rusty, which is not original ecology. Their hometown pays special attention to this. " This undoubtedly brings a certain Zen to eating, which is fascinating.

The south is rich in taro. Of course, there are more ways and means to eat taro than in my hometown in Jianghan Plain.

The common one is "Lipu taro with meat". Taro is sliced into thin slices, evenly sized, fried in a pot, and then sandwiched in pork. Putting a layer of "dried plum" under it and steaming it in a steamer is a bit like the practice of "steamed meat with taro" in my hometown. The "Lipu taro braised pork" made in this way has a special flavor and the meat is not greasy. This is a typical way for Hakka Meizhou people to eat taro. In the south, you can see and eat this dish in Meizhou restaurants, large and small. Guangzhou people's "sago taro syrup" is delicious, smooth and sweet, especially in summer. It is a good drink to relieve summer heat, and the main ingredient is also inseparable from taro. Chaozhou people popularized the eating method of taro, cooked taro, peeled it, put it in a hot pot, added lard, sugar and a little milk powder, and pressed it into "milk taro", which is a famous flavor snack in Chaozhou.

There are many ways to eat. Fish, meat, chicken, winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms are mixed and fried to make "taro crisp", which is crispy and refreshing. Cook or stew with meat, or slice into hot pot and blanch to make taro balls, braised taro meat, fried taro slices and taro ribs.

There is a saying in my hometown: whoever tastes good will do it. That is to say, people who like to eat, people who eat a lot, people who have seen and eaten a lot, and people who can cook by themselves. In restaurants in the south, I will try to cook some taro-related dishes to comfort my homesick stomach after slowly eating "taro with plum and braised pork" and "taro with ribs". Although, this taro is not another taro.

The most unforgettable thing is to make a "casserole taro sparerib pot". Buy fresh ribs and taro from the market, cut the taro into pieces, chop the ribs into small pieces, and prepare some garlic and ginger. Heat the oil in the pot, put the ribs on the pot, add the oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, stir-fry over high fire until they are almost cooked, turn off the fire, then put the fried ribs on the bottom of the casserole, cover with diced taro, add water, cover and cook over low heat. Casserole sings on the fire, and the aroma is overflowing. It didn't take long, and a pot of tender and sweet casserole ribs taro was freshly baked. Uncover the lid of the casserole, it's delicious to make people salivate.

At first, I couldn't cook this dish. The person who taught me how to cook this dish is my girlfriend. Finally, she became my wife. In the books I read, the love between men and women begins with borrowing books, one borrows and the other returns, and then they have feelings for each other and flirt with each other. This way of borrowing books is good and elegant, with some cultural implications, but when you think about it carefully, it is somewhat out of touch. In fact, the best love still falls on the earth, with a porridge and a wisp of rice. For example, just grab a person's stomach and then grab a person's heart. The best love still belongs to trivial rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar tea, companionship, warmth, a cup of tea, a mouthful of rice and a dish for a lifetime.

I have seen so many taro and eaten so many taro. What I miss most is the bowl of taro from Jianghan Plain. That bowl of "taro" called "steamed meat with taro" is the best taro food I have ever eaten.

I was in the south at that time, and the bowl of taro was in the north. Fortunately, my parents are still in their hometown. I have a hometown to go back to and a home to go back to. During the Spring Festival, I traveled all the way home, and at the dinner table, I will definitely meet this dish of "steamed meat with taro". I have traveled a lot of scenery, met many people and eaten different foods in different places, but I still have a special liking for this bowl of ordinary steamed taro meat. Pick it up piece by piece and put it in your mouth. It will melt in your mouth and taste the same. My parents sat there, squinting, watching and talking. Outside the window, thousands of lights and sporadic fireworks are blooming and rising in the night sky, which is still the initial warmth.

A person's homesickness is not only in space and time, sometimes, it will specifically point to something, or a certain taste, a certain food. These specific things and things can constitute a memory, either beautiful or sad. A bowl of taro has properly become a bond, connecting me with my growing "hometown", connecting me with my unchanging family, crossing time and space and regions, soothing a wanderer's stomach and soothing a wanderer's heart.

I am still in the south at this time, and the bowl of taro is not in the north.

In 2008, my parents moved to the south with us. And my hometown is completely isolated from us. I also shared a bowl of steamed meat with taro from my birthplace.

(3)

I don't know that human eating is genetic? For example, children in the north love to eat pasta from birth. Children in the south are naturally fond of rice. For example, children born to spicy Hunan girls will mostly be owners who like peppers in the future. I always believe that one side of the soil and water will support one side. Moreover, dragons give birth to dragons, and chickens give birth to phoenixes. Children born of babies who eat noodles will also eat noodles.

/kloc-in 0/00, my daughter was born. She likes to eat all starchy foods, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro and yam. This is similar to me and grandpa. This may be a powerful inheritance. When I was a child, I was a starch lover-as long as there were potatoes, sweet potatoes and taro on the table, I could always eat more bowls of rice. When I was a child, Hu Aishan ate very little. It is said that Henan is its main producing area. At that time, the circulation of goods was not good, and you couldn't eat it if you wanted. Parents cook these foods in different ways-frying and braising in soy sauce, cooking everything, and frying potatoes and sweet potatoes into pieces. Some of them are like potato chips in McDonald's and KFC, which are our Spring Festival snacks.

If you want to eat well, it is not difficult for grandpa to cook it for you in turn.

Smaller, porridge. Adding sweet potato, yam or taro to rice congee has a special flavor. Make sweet potato chips when you grow up. Buy fresh sweet potatoes, cook them, slice them, fry them in an oil pan, and then seal them in a sealed bag. When my daughter wants to eat, she will take out a piece and chew it. Sometimes, just after eating for a long time, I keep shouting "Grandpa, it's better than McDonald's potato chips!" " You do more. "Steamed taro meat every three or five times, pile meat powder on the white taro. It looks delicious, and my daughter loves it.

At one time, my daughter especially wanted to eat "steamed meat with taro". Grandparents heard that they rushed directly to the food market. From this vegetable market to that vegetable market, from small vegetable market to large agricultural wholesale market, the result was empty-handed. The steamed taro used by parents is the "Nine Taros" of my hometown. They have always insisted that this kind of taro is delicious, has the taste of "steamed taro" and has the taste of hometown.

They have been so stubborn for many years. I went to Guangzhou to take care of my newly pregnant wife in 2008. Then take care of the newborn child. On holidays, they will make a pot of "lotus root soup" and steam a bowl of "steamed meat with taro". They are not very particular about eating, but they are also very particular about eating. They buy lotus roots and choose lotus roots sold from Hubei to Guangzhou. Moreover, if the lotus root is produced in a lake, they say: this kind of lotus root will only rot when stewed, and it has the taste of hometown. When they cook steamed meat with taro, they must use taro from their hometown. They think that the "betel nut taro" in the south is too pink and has no texture of "nine taro".

Of course, my daughter doesn't understand this. She only knows "eating taro", but she never knows that taro is also divided into producing areas and taro belongs to it. Some taro belongs to a foreign land, while others belong to their hometown. She never knew that her generation had lost their hometown. No, or in the future, South China and Guangzhou will become her hometown. This is somewhat helpless, but it has become an indisputable fact.

Joke with parents: "Otherwise, under Baiyun Mountain, open some wasteland and plant some taro?"

My parents were silent for a while. "This taro, or home out of the authentic! Otherwise, you let us go back. "

They want to go back. But we can't give up on both sides. On the one hand, we are descendants, on the other hand, we are the home of dreams. In the end, family overcame homesickness and they chose to stay in this noisy city. Although the two old people are accompanied by children and grandchildren, they are equally lonely. After all, in a foreign land, you can't hear the local accent and see your old friends. Growing up in the countryside, you can talk and chat freely when you go out, which is very difficult to do in the city.

In the city, how many old people like this have lived in the vast countryside for the first half of their lives, and have no choice but to follow their children and wander in a foreign land for the second half. Seemingly decent, the heart is alienated and fragile, rooted in the hometown of the heart, and therefore stripped alive. This kind of depression and homesickness can't be explained clearly in a few words.

We can never go back. This "we" includes at least three generations. A generation is who we really are. We left home when we were young, and the old one came back. The local accent has not changed, but we want to go back, but we are homeless. The first generation, that is, our parents, followed us to take root in other places and reluctantly regarded them as their hometown. If they have a home, they can't go back. And our next generation, this generation, has no exact concept of hometown. Where we are, their hometown is also there. The change of time, the cycle of years and the change of society will become an unbreakable truth if we don't go this time. Embarrassed, helpless and irresistible.

One day, my father said: I am dead, you burn me, just find a place to disperse.

A few years ago, he never talked about life and death. But I know he is old enough to talk about life and death. I hope he will live a long life, but people always have to face life and death, and they can't escape life and death.

"Aren't you going back to your hometown?" I asked.

"Want to go back, where are those people, dead, you can also chat with them and talk. But trouble! It will give you trouble. " He is afraid of causing us trouble.

"Let's go home! Go back, not lonely, not lonely. "

Say that finish, I turned my head and secretly wiped my tears.