After a simple rebirth

When it was almost dark, Second Aunt Fu came over to call them to eat, and Fu Ying and a few others went over. Fu Ying helped pass the bowls, and they sat there waiting to eat.

There weren't many dishes in the evening, but they were divided into two plates and placed around the stove. There were stir-fried pork with carrots, stir-fried eggplant slices, stir-fried konjac tofu with pickled cabbage, and a big pot of soup in the middle. It looked very appetizing.

The carrots are small carrots grown locally. They don't grow too big. The largest ones are not as thick as cucumbers. This kind of carrot is very sweet. Fu Ying has tried to pull it out of the ground, wash it, and eat it in a few bites. The ingredients are delicious, and it tastes even better when paired with stir-fried meat.

The eggplants are also a locally grown variety. Unlike the long and thick ones in the supermarket, the eggplants here are round and plump. Some are as thick as arms, and they are not necessarily purple, there are also light green ones.

In Guangdong, eggplant is cut into strips and fried, or made into eggplant stew. In Yunnan, it is directly sliced ​​and fried. There is no problem except that it consumes too much oil. Fu Ying used to love to stir-fry eggplant, but it was not fragrant if there was not enough oil, and her father told her not to put too much oil in the stir-fry.

Konjac tofu fried with sauerkraut, to be honest, I haven't eaten this dish for several years. The last time I ate it was when I went back to Yunnan Province for the Chinese New Year. Fu's mother suddenly bought some konjac tofu and asked her to cut it into the size of wolf-tooth potato strips, and then stir-fry the sauerkraut first, and then stir-fry the konjac tofu. Fu Ying did as she was told, but unfortunately she didn't control the heat and seasoning well, so it was just average. I haven't seen konjac tofu sold in the market in Guangdong Province, and I didn't think of this dish. I didn't expect to see this dish now, it can be said to be a surprise.

A big pot of soup, which can be called assorted vegetable soup, contains fresh tender corn just picked today, newly ripened tender beans, and large pieces of potatoes. No seasoning is added, it is just boiled in water. The main thing to enjoy is the sweetness of fresh crops.

Of course, the dipping sauce is also the finishing touch.

This dipping sauce doesn't seem to have anything special in it, but it's very delicious. It has the salty, spicy and numbing flavor that people in Yunnan Province love, and after dipping it, you can perfectly taste the sweetness of the corn. The key point is that it's not fragrant first and then salty.

Now that everyone is together, it's time to start eating. Men like to drink first and then eat, so they just give them empty bowls and chopsticks. Women and children just serve themselves the rice and start eating. Fu Ying chose to serve herself the rice.

Wang Yu was still distributing drinks, one 1.5-ounce bottle of yogurt for each person. Children all loved this sweet and sour drink, except Fu Ying, who had never been used to it since she was a child, and always refused. Fu's mother didn't drink it either, probably because she wanted to put it in her pocket and take it home for them to drink. Fu Ying also put it in her pocket and took it back for Fu Zhe to drink.

Fu Ying picked up the tender bean with her chopsticks, dipped it in the dipping sauce and started eating. It was delicious, the sweetness and spiciness did not conflict in the mouth, and there were mint leaves in the dipping sauce, but the taste was not strong.

Here, some people like to put fresh mint in the water. Mint is easy to grow, like Houttuynia cordata, there is a large patch of it on the edge of the ridge. When you want to eat it, just pick some fresh leaves from the top, keep the roots, and you can pick fresh tender mint again after a while.

Fu's father also likes it, especially when eating rice noodles. He said that rice noodles would lose their soul without fresh mint, just like Fu's mother always puts watercress in it. Fu Ying is different. She likes to put fresh coriander in it.

Everyone sat down and started eating, except for Second Aunt Fu, who didn't know what to do. Aunt Fu asked her to come over and sit down to eat together. She served herself the rice and ate while standing, asking anyone who needed more to call her.

After Uncle Fu finished cooking, he returned to his status as a great uncle. His cup was filled with bulk liquor bought from the grocery store. He took a sip of the wine and ate a bite of the food while chatting with others. His voice was so loud that passers-by could hear it clearly.

The three people in the Fu family didn't say anything, just focused on eating. Fu Ying suspected that her second uncle used to be a cook. The best meals she had when she was a child were at his house, and now when she comes back, the best meals she has are still at his house.

The most delicious dish is konjac tofu fried with sauerkraut. Konjac tofu is difficult to flavor, but it is a perfect combination with sauerkraut. Both Fu Ma and Fu Ying like to eat it.

It seems that the varieties of green vegetables used in sauerkraut in each place are actually different. The sauerkraut that Fu Ying had eaten in Guangdong Province was not that fragrant, and it could not be fried to have that crisp, sour and fragrant taste.

The pickled cabbage in Guangdong is made from turnips, and some are made from mustard greens. They are not sour or crispy enough, so they are only used as a side dish to add flavor and are not eaten much. The pickled cabbage in Northeast China is made from Chinese cabbage, which is not sour, but the pickled cabbage stewed with vermicelli is really delicious.

The sauerkraut here is made from locally grown Chinese cabbage. After the corn field is harvested, one or two pieces of land closer to the ground are turned over and the seeds are sown. Generally, cabbage, mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, and white radish are harvested in November. The Chinese cabbage is used to make sauerkraut.

Thanks to her second aunt who loved to pull Fu Ying to work, Fu Ying pickled sauerkraut twice.

If there is no snow in winter but there is frost, you can prepare to pickle sauerkraut. As the old people say, vegetables that have been frosted are sweeter and more delicious.

Fu Ying and Fu Ergu each carried a backpack and went to her field, picking out the larger plants and cutting them close to the soil with a sickle, leaving the roots behind. They would just dig them out and leave them to rot when they were planted in the spring. When the two backpacks were almost full, they would carry them back to Fu Ergu's house. Fu Ergu would cut off the rotten leaves to feed the chickens, and Fu Ying would wash the dirt between the leaves with warm water.

Then she boiled water in the largest round pot in her house. When the water was about to boil, she put the cleaned green vegetables in. She put all of them in and blanched them for two minutes. After the vegetables at the bottom were turned up and evenly blanched for a while, they could be put in the pot. The earthen pot in the countryside was as high as Fu Ying's thigh. After wiping it clean, she put the green vegetables in one by one, without adding salt or anything else. After it was full, she poured some last year's pickled cabbage water and sealed it for fermentation.

The lid is also very particular. It is not the threaded lid used in the current industry. It is made of the same material as the earthen jar. There is a space for the lid at the mouth of the jar. The lid is like a small bowl, which is placed in the concave part. Similarly, pour last year's old water in a circle in the concave part, so that the sealing effect and fermentation effect will be better.

Pickled cabbage in winter is the most delicious. We used to eat it for a year, but now that we are a little richer, we like to eat it all the time, so it is gone in a few months. Pickled cabbage in other seasons does not necessarily have to be made from Chinese cabbage, mustard greens can also be used, the pickling method is the same, the taste is not so sour, but it is also delicious.

I wonder if Fu's mother will also pickle sauerkraut this winter. Her family's land has been given to Fu's second aunt to plant, and the land has not yet been opened, and the seeds have not yet been sown! Currently, the sauerkraut that the Fu family eats is given by the second aunt, and they also buy some at the market.

After dinner, Fu Ying and Fu Zhe slipped away first. Even if Fu Ma was not at Second Aunt's house after dinner, she might not be at home. There were so many relatives, and they would not ask where Fu Ma was going.