The taste of childhood

The taste of the New Year in childhood | Popcorn

Walking, walking, the pace of the New Year is getting closer and closer. As soon as the winter solstice passes, the New Year is right around the corner.

Every year when the twelfth lunar month arrives, I always look forward to the Chinese New Year as I did when I was a child. It is said that as you grow older, you will dislike celebrating the New Year less and less, but I seem to be an exception. Nowadays, there is no shortage of food and clothing, and there is no longer any desire for food as a child. Looking forward to the Chinese New Year is more about recalling the strong flavor of the New Year when I was a child, and the mood of being intoxicated in the flavor of the New Year.

Thirty years ago, what remains most in my memory is black and white. Just thinking about it at this moment, the red flowers, green leaves, golden sunshine... all turned into black and white. In the black and white time and space, the old man popping popcorn and the machine, as well as the scary banging sound - this picture is deeply imprinted in the depths of memory.

When I was a child, every year at the end of the year, my mother always prepared some snacks for the New Year. The sweet potatoes dug out from the ground are kept at home for a period of time, washed and cut into slices, boiled in boiling water for a while, then taken out and dried into sweet potato slices. The water in which sweet potatoes have been boiled many times is rich in sugar. Slowly boil the water dry and boil it into sweet potato sugar. This is the secret sauce for making popcorn.

The popcorn popper lives in another village, and at the end of the year he always carries a load and travels from village to house. Every time you go to a village and shout at a place where people often gather, the children who hear the shout will run to tell each other. After a while, every household knew it.

The adults measured some rice from the rice vat, put it in a dustpan, brought some firewood, and led the children. The children brought big plastic bags to the place where the popcorn was popped. Whoever comes first and who comes last just tell each other. The happiest people at the moment are the children, running and jumping happily around the popcorn stove.

Put the rice in the popcorn stove, cover the lid tightly, fasten the safety lock, and place it on the firewood for heating. The children stared at the dark stove, watching the stove slowly turn on the fire. When the heat reached a certain level, the master would shout: "It's on!" When the children heard the shouting, they covered their ears with their hands and immediately dispersed. With a loud noise, the popcorn took advantage of the impact and all rushed into a dark and ventilated bag. The adults picked up the bags again and put the popcorn into the plastic bags they brought. The popcorn at this time has no sweetness, only a faint rice aroma. The children will grab a handful to satisfy their craving first.

After taking the popped popcorn home, the only thing left to do is to reunite these scattered "flowers". Take out the sweet potato sugar that has been cooked previously, mix it with the brown sugar in the pot, stir evenly, then put the popcorn into the pot and stir together to form a ball. When the put in popcorn is all balled together, immediately remove the pot and put it in In the wooden frame, press it flat and tightly. After cooling, cut into strips first and then into slices. Popcorn made into flakes is sweet and delicious. I can't help but always eat a few more slices, but I can't eat more.

Making popcorn chips is a technical job. If the sugar is not boiled well, the heat is too low or the sweet potato sugar is added too little, it may cause the popcorn to not form into balls and make flaky popcorn. My father has been making popcorn snacks for many years, and when we occasionally fail, we, my siblings, can’t help but feel a little regretful when we see him. You can't eat popcorn in slices. When you eat it in pieces, it actually tastes the same. When my mother saw our disappointed expressions, she would always think of ways to pop some more popcorn and make it into popcorn chips again.

Eating crispy popcorn, the sweetness remains in my memory. Nowadays, you can buy popcorn on the street and eat popcorn at any time. There are popcorn mixed with various nuts and popcorn of various flavors. When I ate it, I either felt it was too hard or too sweet. I could no longer find the crispy taste and feeling of the popcorn I had when I was a child.

I think of my parents busy making popcorn when I was a child, and the excited expressions of my younger siblings eating popcorn, and my heart is filled with happiness. Now, parents no longer have to make popcorn chips with their own hands. The popcorn slices from my childhood have been left behind in the long river of time, along with the strong flavor of the New Year.

Yue Sai