Fengjiagou Vermicelli

Thousands of people make vermicelli in the Taihang Mountains, and Fengjiagou Village Vermicelli is the most famous.

Northerners like to eat big pot dishes, in which vermicelli is the main character. Everyone eats it from childhood until they close their eyes. As soon as the vermicelli is put into your mouth, you can taste it without having to touch it carefully. It can be said that everyone is a natural vermicelli appraiser. It's amazing that so many and so picky people can unanimously say yes, it seems that Fengjiagou vermicelli is extraordinary.

It is very simple to make vermicelli. Thicken the sweet potatoes, shape them with a spoon, pour hot water into the sticks, freeze them and let them dry in the sun. No matter how stupid you are, you can still make do with it if you learn it three or five times. The simpler things in the world, the harder it is to distinguish between them, but being able to do such a simple thing to the extreme makes people flock to it. It seems that Fengjiagou Vermicelli is indeed extraordinary.

Fengjiagou is located in Jiangshui Town. Apples, chestnuts and other products are well-known at home and abroad. The quality of all villages in the area is the same, so they are all named after "Jianshui". Only vermicelli is named "Fengjia" "Gou", this can be seen from Fengjiagou Vermicelli Cow.

The mother-in-laws praised Fengjiagou Vermicelli for its goodness. As soon as the young people from Fengjiagou, who are nimble-natured, have found the girl they like, they will confidently prepare generous gifts to honor their mother-in-law. They knew that as long as they saw the slender white vermicelli, the mother-in-law's heart would be in the same trench as the son-in-law. Sure enough, every qualified mother-in-law couldn't wait to give a solemn "super praise" to her son-in-law and Fengjiagou vermicelli after tasting it a few times.

The quality of Fengjiagou vermicelli is voted by people with their feet. The workplace is offering welfare benefits, but it’s too expensive and I don’t want to buy it. It’s small and inconspicuous. Vermicelli is delicious, inexpensive and luxurious, and it’s a must-have during the holidays. So when the New Year comes, Fengjiagou vermicelli enters government offices and thousands of households with large and small vehicles. Word-of-mouth spreads with the wind from the bowls of large pots of food, and remains deeply on everyone's tongue and heart.

Fengjiagou vermicelli is famous. Not to mention the dissatisfaction of Jianshui and Xia Dian, the dissatisfaction of Anzhuang and Hedong, the dissatisfaction of Jiazhuang and Qingshaping in Dongchuan, and even the surrounding Jiangjun Tomb and Luluo are full of sourness: Why, you are the only one in Fengjiagou among the ten miles and eighty towns. Vermicelli is famous!

Haha, there is no other, just this place, this water, this person!

Let’s talk about land first. The red clay dry land in Fengjiagou is famously difficult to grow. "It's too soft when wet, too hard when dry, and it can't be peeled off if it's neither soft nor hard." Back then, not long after Yang Kuini got married to Fengjiagou from Dongchuan (generally referring to the Zaoyuan area), her father helped his daughter with work. No one came back at noon. Yang Kuini went to the fields and saw that Old Yang was alone in the clay. In the middle of the ground, I was holding a hoe full of red mud and wiping away tears: When will my daughter get married into a clay nest? The people in Fenggou were happy when they heard this: The sandy land in Xiaodongchuan is very good. Heavy rain can hoe a small amount of water, and a severe drought can hoe a dragon. However, if you hoe well, the seedlings will not grow well, and you will encounter poverty at both ends of the year. Don't underestimate the red clay in Fengjiagou. The stones dug out are all sweet. Although it is an exaggeration, it is true that no matter what kind of sweet potato is planted in the red clay soil and carefully tended, it will be sweet, refreshing, soft and moist. The sweet potatoes here are thick, white and have no residue, making them a good raw material for making vermicelli. Of course, you can’t grow good sweet potatoes just by talking, you need to put in the hard work. In order to maintain rain and moisture, the flat ground must be piled into piles, and holes must be dug for watering. Each hole must contain at least a ladle of water. After the water is soaked, potato seedlings must be placed into the holes and filled with soil. Only 30 rice seedlings can be planted in one load of water, and 13 or 4 rice seedlings can be planted in one load of land. The dry land is far away from the water, not more than two miles away, and it is all mountainous. Every time it is time to plant sweet potatoes, it is also the time when the old and young in Fengjiagou are at their most disgusting. No matter how handsome the young man is, he grins and looks rustic. Don't be discouraged, this is the size, and sweet potatoes require more effort to take care of. Sweet potato is a tuberous root, and the branches and leaves on the ground should be turned frequently and pruned frequently to prevent airborne roots. The hotter the weather, the harder it is to turn the rice seedlings, and even the thickest skin and flesh will fall off a layer. But for the sake of the beloved girl, for the good of the mother-in-law, what does it mean to shed ten layers of skin? The red clay soil in Fengjiagou not only grew good sweet potatoes, but also grew strong and awesome boys!

Let’s talk about water. Don’t think that there is no water to drink because there is a lot of dry land. The water in Fengjiagou is also famous. In the past, people said that one should live by water, which is true. The "holy water" of Fengjiagou is in the center of the village. This is the real spring water - in summer, no matter how dry it is, the fist-sized spring eye always rolls upward with fine waves. In winter, no matter how cold it is, the water is always steaming, and it feels warm when you put your hands in it. The well water, vegetable screening pit, and large pond all use one water eye and are separated from each other.

Of course, this was the scene a few years ago in the 30th National Congress. Later, the water line in the village was moved due to road construction, and the spring water became colder. It was not as prosperous as it used to be, but the water quality was still first-rate. Village cadres have asked the unit to have it tested, and all indicators are excellent. On a summer afternoon twenty years ago, turtles of all sizes lying on the edge of a large pond basking in the sun with green bean eyes were still a sight in the village. My house is close to a pond, and one year a turtle even insisted on crawling into the yard to lay eggs. Using "Nongfu Spring" to make vermicelli is a waste of materials, but you can only use local materials. As for the quality of vermicelli, if you are smart enough, I won't say more.

Finally, let’s talk about people. There is a saying in Jingshui: Jingshui depends on the mouth, Qiannanyu depends on the legs, Fengjiagou relies on the hands, and the shop depends on the water. It means: In Jiangshui Town, the living methods of each village are different. Jiangshui Village is the seat of the township, and its status is equivalent to that of the squad leader. When good things happen, they should be done first, such as "Jiangshui apples, Jiangshui chestnuts" and so on. With these iconic properties, wealth will naturally come; the people of Qiannanyu are quick-witted, and their status is equivalent to that of a study committee member. They can always follow the policies of the superiors, and are praised everywhere. They have everything from small stoves to scholarships. They have received a lot from the superiors in these years. With support, it has become a nationally famous star village; Xiadian Village has a good geographical location and plenty of water. It belongs to the rich second generation in the class and never has to worry about food and drink; Fengjiagou Village has many masons and carpenters, and is smart and willing to work hard. The master of craftsmanship. Isn’t the horizontal ditch that Qiannanyu Village is most proud of embodying the dedication of the Fengjiagou masons? For Fengjiagou people, there is an innate sense of craftsmanship: if you want to do it, do it the best! The best vermicelli maker is Feng Tianjin. I started leaking powder when I was in my teens, and it’s been sixty years now. From stir-frying, heating, adding spoons, shaking spoons, holding spoons, stirring the pot, taking out the pot, pouring water, and putting on the pole... more than a dozen processes are clear to the mind, and they are combined with the dance of the mulberry forest, which is the meeting of the first chapter of the Chinese Meridian. . Watching him make vermicelli is a great artistic enjoyment; eating his vermicelli is a great feast of art!

Every year before and after the cold dew, every household in Fengjiagou Village works hard to make vermicelli, washing the round sweet potatoes, and the thickening machine shared by several households keeps running. After filtration and sedimentation, the fine white and soft high-quality gordon flour is ready, and the rest is left to Feng Tianjin and his colleagues to show off their unique skills. The best vermicelli should be cooked in a boiling pot and then washed in cold water. The lower the water temperature, the better. Once cooled, the vermicelli should be put on the shelf. After no less than 12 hours of condensation in the shade, it will naturally cool down at night between -7°C and -5°C in winter until it freezes completely. Then take out the vermicelli and place it on the drying ground to let it thaw naturally. Now you look again, the whole Fengjiagou has become a vermicelli arena. Who makes the best vermicelli this year will have the answer in the drying.

The vermicelli has become famous, and people in Fengjiagou also feel that it is famous. Therefore, everyone cherishes this reputation and protects it. It must be purely handmade, not adulterated and fake, and not lacking in quality, so that "buyers" can "You will earn when you come" has become a common sense among everyone, bringing a sense of pragmatism and kindness unique to people in the old district to people's dining tables. Eating this vermicelli, you will truly appreciate what "the taste of family, mountains and rivers, the nostalgia, nostalgia and romance" mean!

What are you waiting for? Tomorrow, I will take you with me. You take the money and go to Fengjiagou to buy vermicelli!