Baba is delicious and hard to push.

? Grinding rice noodles, making rice cakes, making Baba and making jiaozi are the busiest events in rural areas in mid-December.

? As the saying goes, Baba is delicious and hard to push. Whether Baba is delicious or not is first served with rice. Too much glutinous rice will be too sticky, and Baba is not only difficult to make, but also won't be stored for a long time. Eating too much indica rice will be too bad. Generally, 50% glutinous rice and 50% indica rice are the best combination. First of all, we should wash the rice in the river and soak it in the water tank. We soak overnight at home, that is, soak the night before and grind the next morning.

? After the stone mill was carried back, it was surrounded by a raft, covered with thick plant ash and straw, and covered with a large clean sheet. When everything was ready, the factory started. 100 kilograms of rice often needs to be ground all day, and Baba is delicious and difficult to push! It is sometimes done by me and my sister in law. Naturally, reform is the mainstay, supplemented by Xiaomei. Tumbling is undoubtedly the rotation between me and the three main labors, Xiao Di and Xiao Chun. It's easier for two people to pull at the same time, but the rhythm should be absolutely the same, and you should use it skillfully. Don't push too hard, or you will sweat and gasp.

? At that time, several stone mills in the village were busy all the twelfth lunar month, and the sound of grinding came and went, day and night, interwoven into a cheerful peasant serenade to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year.

? After the rice flour is ground, the filtered rice flour is kneaded into rice flour balls on the chopping board, which generally requires manual labor. The more you knead the powder, the softer and more cooked it becomes. Then knead the dough into long strips, pick them by hand, cut them with a knife and divide them into equal parts of millet dough. Made of wooden rice cakes by molding is called solid Baba. But there is only one template, and most of them are rubbed with both hands and palms, and they are successful with a hard press. This is called solid Baba, also called jiaozi. If you want to pack pickles, bean paste, sesame seeds and other fillings, they are collectively called Chinese cabbage Baba. When cooking in the countryside, the head of the family secretly put a one-yuan coin in the stuffing. Whoever eats it indicates good luck and wealth in the coming year. I remember one year, I bit a one-yuan reform package and almost bit off my front teeth. I choked back the pain and secretly put away the coins without saying a word. I still understand the truth that you can make a fortune without revealing your wealth. If the children eat it, it will definitely ring half the village. In addition, swallowing coins is also quite dangerous.

After Baba is done, put it on a wooden drawer, and it is a wooden steamer. Layer by layer on a cauldron filled with water. The edge of the cauldron should be sealed with cloth to prevent steam from leaking out. Set up dry firewood prepared in advance in the kitchen and burn it violently with a raging fire. There must be a fire. When the steam reaches the top floor, Baba will steam. Then pour them into the prepared, washed and wet drying baskets.

? As soon as the cabbage is baked, everyone can't wait to grab a full meal. Let's reform this family to send a few, and that family to send a bowl. Every year, all the cabbages at home are swept away, and there is not much left. Because the stuffing has really been reformed, pickles are naturally popular with meat. Once a year, everyone has to freeze for two days. When it can be broken and divided, put it in a big water tank and soak a load of river water in the twelfth lunar month. This water should be changed frequently, so that Baba jiaozi can be preserved for a long time.

? When farmers are busy, they have no time to cook. They boil a pot of boiling water, add a dozen jiaozi, and when jiaozi comes to the surface, put a handful of green vegetable moss and hang some glistening lard left over in December with chopsticks, they can eat it. Green and white, with good color, fragrance and taste, it is better to eat when you are tired and hungry than delicacies, and seedlings are inexhaustible.

? Sometimes guests come. Before cooking, put five or six jiaozi, beat three eggs, put some green leaves, add a chopstick and make a big bowl. The guests are full and happy, which is better than big fish and big meat. In fact, Baba jiaozi is an emergency during the busy farming season. It is delicious and full, and can be preserved for a long time. I'm afraid this is the main reason why every household has to work hard to rake jiaozi every year!

? With the rapid development of the times, a large number of farmers moved into cities and lived in high-rise buildings. This rural folk custom of holding new year's goods to kill pigs has gradually died out. Jiaozi's folk activities of mutual assistance and cooperation no longer exist, but are replaced by rice cake processing plants and large-scale food processing enterprises in villages and towns.

Rural farmers pick rice to a nearby processing factory and pay processing fees to pick rice cakes and go home. New citizens living in high-rise buildings only need to buy a few kilograms of finished rice cakes in the surrounding community vegetable market or supermarket to solve their hunger. In recent years, with the rapid development of online express delivery industry, people can shop by clicking on their mobile phones. Taobao, JD.COM, Pinduoduo, countless online platforms, various shopping methods, Baba jiaozi, and colorful rice cakes of all tastes. As long as you need it, it is convenient and fast at home, delivered to your home by express delivery, and paid for inspection.

? With the development of science, it is convenient for the people, but we seem to find that the strong flavor of the year has faded; The harmony and cooperation between people have disappeared; The simple and harmonious human touch between neighbors is gone. The rapid development of science will inevitably lead to the disappearance of some fine traditions and folk customs, which is the necessity of social development. I told myself, there is no need to worry too much and moan too much!

? I write this article only as an indifferent and pure memory of the deep homesickness, sweet taste of the year and warm affection in those days, to share with people who left the land and nature, and to trigger a look back and nostalgia for the lost years. ...

'

one