What do the people of Tianshui call this?

Alfalfa, everyone in the world calls it alfalfa.

It’s the beginning of spring again, and it’s time to go out and eat fresh vegetables from the fields.

There is a way to eat alfalfa called "alfalfa tender steamed buns", which is a way of eating alfalfa noodles steamed and dipped in red oil and garlic paste.

The method is very simple and everyone can do it. I am just expressing it in words here.

1. Use alfalfa tips to remove the hard joints of the stems, wash them clean, and remove 500 grams of alfalfa. Drain the water and set aside. 500 grams of flour, add salt, peppercorns, 13 fragrant chicken essence, pour some sesame oil, mix well and set aside.

2. Mix the two evenly. It is required that the flour and alfalfa are fully mixed. You cannot see the alfalfa not coated with it, nor can you see the pure flour.

3. Steam in a basket, steam for 10 minutes until the steam comes out. Plate and serve. Prepare another plate of red oil mashed garlic and dip some chopsticks into it.

4. It can also be made into alfalfa dumplings, alfalfa noodles, alfalfa pancakes, etc.

Thank you for the invitation. This dish is called alfalfa.

Although I am not from Tianshui, I recognized it immediately because I often ate it when I was young. This dish is by no means exclusive to Tianshui. I don’t know if there are any in the south, but you should be able to see them in most areas due north. It tastes very delicious. It is mixed with flour, steamed, and then poured with rapeseed oil that is almost smoking, and spicy vinegar and garlic water. It is very delicious. Or, when eating noodles, grab a handful of washed alfalfa vegetables and fry them in the pot. After cooking, take them out with the noodles. It is also very delicious. The green vegetables, white noodles and red spicy seeds will increase your appetite.

This question brought back memories of my childhood. When I was young, after school, I would carry a basket, invite my friends, and go to the fields to pick alfalfa in groups. While pinching and playing, he often forgets the time and doesn't go home until very late, which makes his family take advantage of him. Therefore, it is common for him to be reprimanded or even beaten by adults. Because of his playfulness, he often corrects his mistakes and repeats his mistakes. Now when I go back to my hometown, I run into my childhood friend, and I still mention it from time to time, often laughing about it. When I was in school at that time, all my homework was done at school. It seemed that there was no homework left. Look at today's children, which one of them starts doing homework as soon as they put down the bowl, and they have to finish it very late. Weighing their schoolbags again, they were all heavy, even bigger than a small person. It was really heartbreaking to see this situation.

It’s spring, and alfalfa will soon be available at the morning market, and you’ll be able to feast on it again.

I happen to be from Tianshui, so let me tell you.

The one in your picture is alfalfa. In Tianshui City, Gansu Province, there are many, both wild and cultivated.

Alfalfa is mainly used for pasture. But in urban areas, people use it for food. Its nutritional value is very high. It has the effect of clearing the spleen and stomach, relieving large and small intestines, and reducing bladder stones. Alfalfa is the richest source of vitamin K, with a higher content than any other vegetable. Others such as vitamins C and B are also quite rich.

Of course, the best way to eat alfalfa is fresh, and it also tastes delicious, because fresh alfalfa is available in all seasons. It is also produced even in the cold season, but due to the relationship between climate and land , sometimes the product is very tender, sometimes very old, patients may wish to use this with their meals to prevent bleeding. Salted "pickled golden cauliflower" has the same effect.

In spring, my family and I go to plant alfalfa, which is very delicious when eaten cold.

In Tianshui, you can go picking before and after Qingming Festival.

This is called alfalfa. I remember that in the 1970s, an uncle from my village served as a soldier in Tibet, and he seemed to be a division chief. I took his wife and my aunt to Tibet. After getting pregnant in the spring, I wanted to eat light and fresh vegetables, which were not available in Tibet. One day, the chief asked them to play at home. Passing by the chief's garden, I found a lot of alfalfa. My aunt was very excited. She was embarrassed to say it during the day, but secretly went to pick alfalfa at night. In the dark, the chief's guards thought he was an assassin and caught him, and sent him to the chief to deal with it. The chief saw that it was the secretary-general's wife and asked her what she was doing. The aunt said she wanted to eat alfalfa. The chief called his uncle to give him a lecture, telling him how he got the position of chief executive, what he lacked, and why he let your wife eat horse grass. My uncle said that alfalfa is a green vegetable and is very delicious. When it gets old, it becomes horse grass.

If you don’t believe it, we’ll make it, give it a try. After eating it as a good leader, I felt it was really delicious and a misunderstanding was resolved. There is a joke that the secretary-general's wife loves to eat horse feed.

Alfalfa, pinch it back when the buds first appear in spring, cook it and soak it in cold water. It is very delicious. You can also use alfalfa to make slurry. Strictly speaking, alfalfa is pasture and is cultivated in pastoral areas and used as forage. , found all over the country.

Alfalfa sprouts.

I went to school in Tianshui twenty years ago. Every year before Qingming Festival, people from the suburbs of Tianshui pinched alfalfa sprouts and sold them in the market. People in Tianshui City would buy them back and use them to blanch them. Eat it cold, or use it to make hot pot noodles, or soak it in water. At that time, there were many people selling rice and fish noodles in the snack street in Jianchang next to the city center square. They were used to cook noodles in the spring. Vegetables with pulp are alfalfa sprouts, and chicory is used in summer and autumn. People in Tianshui like sauerkraut the most. You can eat it from the time when the sprouts are sprouting. At this time, you can eat it cold or stir-fry, and it will be eaten until autumn. Buy some and store them in the refrigerator. You can also make some when you want to eat them in winter. In short, Tianshui people like to eat alfalfa, chicory, celery, and cabbage sauerkraut. This preference has not changed until now...

Isn’t it called this by people from Tianshui? The whole northern region is called alfalfa, right? This dish has a particularly fragrant taste in spring. Blanch it with boiling water, add some garlic, millet, spicy balsamic vinegar, and an appropriate amount of salt. It is especially delicious when mixed with it. In addition, it is also a good choice to mix flour, salt and five-spice powder evenly and steam it to eat. In short, alfalfa is the best seasonal vegetable in spring.

This thing is available everywhere. I only know that it is called grass seeds in the local dialect. It was originally used to feed pigs, but now it is used to feed people.

The flowers are quite beautiful. They are common flowers that I grew up with, and I often loved playing with grass. I loved playing in the entire grass seed field. Soft.

After the flowers bloom, beekeepers will keep bees nearby. The honey is called snow lotus honey. The flower resembles a lotus, so it is called snow lotus honey.

After the grass seeds are mature, they are cut and finely chopped and used to feed pigs. Nowadays, you rarely see them. You can even grow them for your own consumption. Fried rice cakes and fried rice are pretty good. I heard that they can also be eaten cold.

People in Tianshui call alfalfa "wide bean sprouts" and dandelions "Guo Laogang"! Alfalfa was first introduced and promoted as pasture. In spring, when the alfalfa has just sprouted, it can be pinched and eaten cold, made into syrup, and made into steamed buns (Casa) and served on the dining table. Alfalfa has a well-developed root system, is very drought-resistant, and plays a significant role in soil consolidation and preventing soil erosion.