Peng Crystal Silk Rice Noodles is a geographical indication certification trademark.

Peng Crystal Silky Rice Noodles are a specialty of Pengshui County, Chongqing.

In Pengshui, sweet potato is called red potato, so the powder made from red potato is called sweet potato starch.

If you want to obtain high-quality crystalline sweet potato starch, you must first work hard on the selection of sweet potatoes. Zeng Qinglu, who has lived in Yushan for a long time, is a scholar who has studied local humanities and history for a long time. In an article introducing Yushan Jingsi Wild Rice Noodles, he wrote: "In terms of variety, Baihua Yaoshan must be used because of its high yield. Large, with high flour extraction rate and sweetness; from a regional perspective, we must choose red potatoes grown in sticky loess with sufficient light. Because of such light and nutrient conditions, the red potatoes grown under such light and nutrient conditions are large and uniform, with smooth and tight skin, suitable for processing. . ”

In fact, people engaged in sweet potato starch processing have not stopped exploring more high-quality sweet potatoes. Deng Xinbo, a staff member of the Longxu Jingsi Sweet Potato Flour Professional Cooperative, told the author that now they have chosen the Yushu King with higher yield and flour extraction rate, and the starch content can reach 20.

Farmer proverbs say, "If the oriole goes away, sweet potatoes will grow." Every autumn, sweet potatoes pile up in mountains in front of the processing factory. The sweet potatoes that come here have red skin and white flesh, and are uniform in size. They are all excellent raw materials for making crystalline sweet potato noodles.

The first process is to "bathe" the sweet potatoes. Carloads of sweet potatoes are poured into the cleaning machine until there is no sludge on the skin before being sent to the next process - crushing. Don't underestimate the process of washing sweet potatoes. The cleaner you wash them, the more crystal clear the color of the sweet potato starch will be.

After crushing, the residue without nutrients is filtered out, and the remaining material is transported to the sedimentation tank for precipitation.

During the precipitation process, the impurities and oil contained in the sweet potato skin will float to the surface. This layer of yellow material is what people usually call "oil powder". The starch of the oil powder has not been removed. The produced sweet potato starch is dark and not translucent enough. People usually remove the oil powder so that the sweet potato starch becomes crystal clear.

After 24 hours of precipitation, the water is poured away, and the remainder is starch, which the locals call gouache. The gouache is as white as cheese and looks like mutton fat.

Machines can be used to help with the steps of cleaning, crushing, filtering, sedimentation, and oil removal, but when it comes to the core step of making crystalline sweet potato starch—"Langshan sweet potato starch"—you have to rely on it. Artificial.

The word "lang" is actually a homophone. Deng Xinbo said that he didn't know how to write the word. Anyway, in Pengshui dialect, everyone pronounced it this way. In front of the "Langtao Noodles", workers scooped out a bucket of starch from the sedimentation tank, put it into a mixer, added water, and stirred to make starch slurry. The dryness and humidity of the starch slurry is particularly important: if it is too dry, the powder will not dry and the powder will break easily; if it is too wet, the powder will not dry and will stick easily.

The tool of "Langtao Fen" is a homemade wave basin. It is said to be a basin, but in fact it is more appropriately called a box. The wave basin is made of aluminum, rectangular, chest-length, and has fixed dimensions. Only scoop out a spoonful of starch slurry each time you "wave" it, so that the size of the "waved" noodles will be consistent. Use a large iron pot commonly used in rural areas to boil a pot of water. Feel it with your hands. When the water is slightly hot, you can start "spraying" it. The workers hold the wave basin, place it on the water, and gently rock it back and forth. The starch slurry "climbs" all over the bottom of the wave basin as the wave basin shakes, slowly changing from white to transparent. People with strong hands can make waves. The thickness of the powder that comes out is even. When the vermicelli is almost dry, sink the basin into the water and cook for one minute. After cooking, take it out and a piece of vermicelli is ready.

After the vermicelli cools, the vermicelli will rise. There is also a trick for making powdery skin. Before "spreading" the powder, brush a layer of vegetable oil on the bottom of the basin. When the powder is raised, slowly pull it from both sides to the middle, and the powdery skin will hang upside down on the bamboo pole. After a day or two of drying, when the vermicelli is completely dry, cut it into shreds and then dry it.

When it comes to the drying process, it is also the most beautiful moment for the sweet potato noodles. The pink skin on the drying pole is smooth, thin and shiny; after being cut into strips, it looks like a beautiful woman's hair, as smooth as a waterfall.

Sweet potatoes are a whole grain, so they don’t seem to be on the table.

However, many people don’t know that as early as the Qianlong period, people in the Pengshui area changed the fate of sweet potatoes. They removed the dregs and used sweet potatoes to make crystalline sweet potato starch known as the “treasure of the mountains.”

Pengjingjingshiyaoshufen

Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County Sweet Potato Professional and Technical Association

12405997

Jingshuishiyangfen (Vermicelli) (Article))