The past events of childhood are like light-colored landscape paintings, quietly immersed in the depths of the years. Once illuminated by the light of the heart, the years that are still fresh in the memory can be awakened.
In the 1980s and 1990s, in my hometown of Gansu Province in the impoverished northwest, those wild "bitter vegetables" in the fields were a filling and delicious wild vegetable. Nature has selflessly given inexhaustible and inexhaustible precious material wealth to the kind-hearted people on the loess land.
Every spring in March, the vast yellow land ushered in the season of red flowers, willows, peach blossoms, and apricot blossoms blooming to their heart’s content. Various wild flowers bloomed in the fields; various wild grasses also showed their yellow-like flowers. The wheat seedlings in the crop fields also showed a lush green appearance. At this time, the wild "bitter cabbage" also grew four or five tender green leaves! The spring of singing and dancing birds and the fragrance of flowers awakens the faces of the seasons on the loess land, and also awakens the innocent childlike innocence of a group of playful and innocent teenagers!
Every time in this season, whether the weather is sunny or rainy, the empty wilderness outside becomes a paradise for a group of playful, innocent and ignorant teenagers in the village. We skylarks were jumping for joy, carrying small bamboo baskets, whistling and singing children's songs. We gathered up with friends of the same age in the village to have fun in the beautiful mountains and rivers and pick wild "bitter vegetables" in the fields.
Those pairs of bare feet are so comfortable stepping on the soft loess; those innocent, young and worry-free little faces are more brilliant than the wild flowers all over the mountains and fields! At the same time, with a pair of chubby little hands, he randomly selected the wild "bitter vegetables" growing in the middle of the grass. Collect the joy that nature has selflessly given to mankind! Pick up the infinite vitality awakened by the spring in March in this life!
As the sun sets, I see wisps of dinner smoke rising from the roofs of every farmhouse in the village. At this time, at the entrance of the village, I also hear mothers calling out their children’s nicknames. A kind, warm call. A group of playful teenagers finally knew it was time to go home! We stepped on the sunset, listened to the melodious sound of the flute, returned home with a full load, disappeared at the entrance of the village, and were led back to our respective homes by our respective mothers, holding their chubby, dirty little hands...
Cold Salad The taste of "bitter cabbage" is long and fragrant. Rinse the freshly picked "bitter cabbage" with water several times to remove the soil and impurities, put it in boiling water, scald it slightly, and then put it in clean water. Wash it once, then put it on a porcelain plate, mix it with chili pepper, salt, vinegar, minced coriander and minced garlic. At this time, the "bitter vegetable" is red, white and green, and it is pleasing to the eye, with good color and taste. , fragrant and fragrant, it is ready to eat. "Kuchicai" is refreshing and delicate in the mouth, with a special bitter flavor!
You can also pick more "bitter vegetables" to make "sauerkraut", a unique delicacy in the northwest. It can be eaten at any time of the year. But it requires several steps to make it. First, carefully select a large number of "bitter vegetables" to avoid yellowing and rotten leaves, and then rinse all the selected "bitter vegetables" with clean water many times. , put it in a pot of boiling water and cook it, rinse it with water several times, squeeze out all the water, put it in a porcelain jar, add a fermentation agent called "water slurry", and then put it in warm boiling water , submerged the "bitter koji" in the porcelain vat, sewed the lid of the cylinder, and after 24 hours of fermentation, a refreshing and sour "bitter koji sauerkraut" delicacy was made.
In my memory, during the poverty-stricken years of the 1980s and 1990s, a bowl of delicious and refreshing "bitter koji" sauerkraut was also a life-saving food for every farm family. Because at that time, my hometown was relatively remote and backward, and the folks were struggling to provide enough food and clothing for the whole family. During the lean season, a bowl of "bitter cabbage" sauerkraut, together with "sauerkraut soup" made from corn noodles and potato noodles, can also fill your hungry stomach and help you get through the pain of hunger.
When I was studying at Dingxi Middle School in Gansu Province in 1992, rural students could not afford the school cafeteria, so they united with a few students to rent cheap private houses near the school and used kerosene stoves to cook. Every week when I go to the countryside and bring back enough dry food for a week, I must also bring a pot of "Kitqu sauerkraut pulp water" in a plastic pot. In the boiled water noodles, put a few potato slices, and then put some "Bitter koji sauerkraut pulp water" "Water" is much more delicious than simply boiling water to cook noodles!
"Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi."
In recent years, the party's reform and opening up policies to benefit the people have also brought about earth-shaking changes in my hometown. In the past, the "bitter vegetables" that were everywhere in the mountains and plains were not only a home-cooked dish on the tables of farmers, but also one of the most popular green vegetables for urban residents. They have now appeared on the tables of urban residents; more importantly, "bitter vegetables" , is a valuable Chinese medicinal material with special curative effects in anti-inflammatory and improving immunity. It has been wrapped in exquisite packaging boxes and sold all over the country. At the same time, the inexhaustible wild "bitter vegetables" available all over the mountains and plains have brought a huge economic income to the folks in my hometown.
The lingering fragrance of "bitter vegetables" has witnessed the tremendous changes in the countryside of Longyuan before and after the reform and opening up. Coupled with the return of farmland to forests and grasslands in recent years, and the step-by-step implementation of the party's policy of attaching importance to the environment and preventing soil erosion, the "bitter vegetables" all over the mountains and fields have a better living space. At the same time, it also heralds our future. The folks in my hometown are getting rid of poverty and moving toward prosperity, drawing a beautiful blueprint for a well-off life in the future!