How did the strange-flavored bean get its name?

Bava beans

Bava beans, also known as peas, Japanese beans, and Buddha beans, are annual leguminous plants with white or light purple corollas with black spots. There have been many theories about the origin of the name of broad beans: Wang Zhen, an agriculturist of the Yuan Dynasty, said in "Agricultural Book": "The silkworms are ripe when they are ripe, hence the name"; Li Shizhen, a famous medical scientist of the Ming Dynasty, believed in "Food Materia Medica": "Bean pods" Like old silkworms, hence the name."

Omnivore Facts Sixteen: Old Beans

Growing beans on the edge of mulberry fields is an ancient farming method that extends from the south of the Yangtze River to Bashu. same. When summer passes and autumn begins, the fava bean stems and pods all turn dark brown. What is harvested and dried in the field is the old pods, which are round and have light tea and dark brown shells.

Besides the main ingredient of Sichuan Pixian Douban, which is hailed as the "soul of Sichuan cuisine", in addition to the local Erjingtiao peppers as the sauce, the second most important ingredient is the bean sprouts. The production method of this bean paste, including fermentation, mold growth, drying, turning over vats and other processes, is said to be quite frightening.

My grandmother once saw her in the countryside. After returning home, she never ate bean paste or the cooked vegetables. When I was young, I would secretly sprinkle a spoonful of red bean paste on a bowl of white rice, and I would eat it with gusto. I would light the bowl up to the sky, so I couldn’t figure it out, but I was afraid and didn’t dare to look or think about the douban paste. How is the sauce made? When eating meat is delicious, you have to think about the unhappiness of the animals when they are killed and stabbed. It is probably cruel to both humans and animals.

There are many ways to prepare and eat Laowudou. When I was young, there were people in the countryside who made homemade "shahu beans" during the Chinese New Year. In a large wok, the beans are buried in the sand and stir-fried, so that the heat is evenly distributed and will not burn. The fried beans will often split into a small opening on their own, making them easy to peel and crispy when eaten. The children grabbed a handful of sand beans, stuffed them into their pockets and ran out. Soon they were followed by a group of friends, and together they enjoyed half the street.

Of course you can stir-fry dried peas without adding sauce, but the ones that are fried directly are renamed "iron peas". This kind of bean peeling and eating takes some time and effort, and it takes a long time to grind your teeth, but it has a different taste. One of my childhood playmates had a small piece of his front tooth missing, which was a gift from this bean, so when I think about it, I feel that the word "iron" is really accurate.

There is another product in Chongqing that is also made from black beans, called "strange-flavored black beans". The beans are wrapped in a layer of seasoning paste and deep-fried. The inside is naturally crispy and golden, but the taste is all in the paste on the outside of the beans, including numbing, spicy, fragrant, crispy, sweet, and salty. The crispiness, sweetness and saltiness are immediately noticeable in the mouth, but they are also ordinary. The wonderful thing is that the numbness and spiciness are secondary. The more you eat, the spicier it gets, and the more you eat it, the number it becomes. Your mouth is rumbling, but your hands are reluctant to stop.

When I left my hometown when I was young, what I missed most was the strange-smelling beans. When we were in Urumqi, a comrade brought a package back home from a visit to the Serbian Army. He put it in the pocket of the Serbian army's coat. When walking on the snow path in the military compound at the foot of Liyu Mountain, his hands started to itch. He took off his gloves, took them apart, held them in his hands, and put them into his mouth one by one. His fingers were frozen stiff. As I walked and ate, the spicy food made me groan and spit out clouds of white mist. In front of my eyes was a vast expanse of white land, woods, rooftops and roads. I still remember the taste and scenery.

For fried beans, there are also "orchid beans" and "jade belt beans" in Jiangnan, and their names are somewhat interesting. Orchid beans are easy to understand. They probably refer to the water-cooked beans that turn into orchid-like shapes when deep-fried. The jade-belted beans took a lot of effort. You can only understand it if you look closely at the brown bean skin left on the waist of the beans. When you burst into laughter, you felt that it took a lot of effort, but in fact the taste was mediocre.

Let’s just call it “fried soybeans” in Xinjiang. Dabancheng's Huihui "fried soybeans" are the most famous. They put a lot of garlic cloves in the oil and fry them together, then sprinkle with salt. It's really fragrant, crispy and crispy. Throwing a few pills into the mouth, it tastes crisp and strong, and I feel sorry for not looking up. It’s been several years since I’ve tasted such a delicious drink.

In addition to stir-frying and deep-frying, there is another cooking method. The most famous of the boiled beans is the fennel bean. This reputation is closely related to a novel. "As soon as Kong Yiji arrived at the store... he said to the counter: Warm up two bowls of wine and ask for a plate of fennel beans. Then he paid nine cents." Master Lu's use of the word "Pai" really shows his charm, which is amazing.

Fennel beans are soaked in water. As soon as the sprouts sprout, add fennel, cinnamon, salt and other seasonings, simmer over low heat, and wait until the water dries up. Its color is dark green, the bean skin is slightly wrinkled, the mouth is soft and chewy, and the fragrance is sweet. It is also a perfect match with Shaoxing Huadiao and other sips. Back then, I tasted it while sitting on a long bench at the Xianheng Hotel in Shaoxing, and it was quite good. It’s just that the beans in the dish are getting less and less, and the words “not too much, not too much! Too much? Not too much” always come to my ears, and I smile secretly in my heart.

Shaoxing calls black beans Luohan beans. When we went to Ninghai and Sanmen in eastern Zhejiang, we found Japanese beans again. If you ask carefully, there is another story. It is said that when Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese, the imperial court rewarded Japanese pirates with their heads for merit. It was inconvenient for the soldiers to march with their heads, so they first went to the back camp to exchange the Japanese heads for broad beans, and then counted the rewards. He counted the little devil's head like a mustard bean. There was a sense of heroism in his name, so he remembered it.