Buy rice noodles in front of the long street —— Rereading Old Taste

In the book "Old Taste" by Mr. Wang Zengqi, the article about rice noodles and bait blocks can be described as a classic among all the articles about rice noodles and bait blocks!

Wang Lao wrote: "Before I came to Kunming, I didn't eat rice noodles and bait slices. After leaving Kunming, I have hardly eaten rice noodles and bait slices. I have lived in Kunming for nearly seven years and have eaten a lot of rice noodles and bait pieces. I eat it two or three times a week. " Wang Lao is a veteran diner from other provinces, eating rice noodles and bait slices. He wrote about these two unique foods in Yunnan with his own personal experience, which is not profound, but full of rice noodles and bait pieces.

People who haven't eaten rice flour bait will inevitably move their index fingers after reading Wang Lao's article; Those who have eaten it have seen it and want to taste it again. Unfortunately, in 1986, Wang Lao returned to Kunming, and several kinds of rice noodles that he loved in those years disappeared and were replaced by Wang Chang rice noodles.

Wang Lao wrote: "More than 40 years ago, there was no Wang Chang rice noodle in Kunming. This is probably from Guizhou. When did you come? Why can Wang Chang rice noodles crush all the meat of braised chicken (roll) and become the overlord of Wang Chang rice noodles? It's braised chicken. Nobody likes braised meat? Work? Not making money? I don't think so, I am really confused. " After reading this passage, I also seriously thought about it. It is also said that Wang Chang rice noodles come from Sichuan or county. However, with the development of economy and the large population flow, these changes will inevitably occur, but it is best to keep the old-fashioned rice noodles. 2 1 century, the old-fashioned rice noodles were restored and innovated.

Cold rice noodles have a unique taste and are very popular with bachelors, he wrote. "Eating cold noodles in summer, sweating profusely, but feeling refreshed."

There are shops selling cold rice noodles in Kunming, and some counties don't need special shops to sell cold rice noodles, because they don't need a stove to support the pot, just use a pair of shoulders. For example, Hui people near Mojiang County often go to the city to sell cold skin. One end of the burden is fresh rice flour wrapped in gauze, and the other end is bowls, chopsticks and various seasonings. After entering the city, I put down my burden in a busy street, borrowed a small stool from the next door to sit behind the burden, and the business started. The laundry basket at one end of the rice bowl is divided into two layers. Put chopsticks in the basket, put a wooden plate at the mouth of the basket, and put seasoning in the plate. Someone came to buy it, took a big bowl, put rice noodles, soy sauce, vinegar and other seasonings, and handed it to the customer together with a pair of bamboo chopsticks. Customers will eat at the next stop. When the first bowl was served, the diners immediately surrounded themselves with rice noodles. In less than one meal, the rice noodles were sold out. Some even brought big bowls or even big plates from home to buy, which sold faster. I ate this kind of cold rice noodles once when I was a child, which was surprisingly delicious. All kinds of preparations for cold rice noodles are made by women at home, especially the production of spices, which are varied and meticulous. It's men who carry the burden to sell. When I was an adult, I asked a Hui friend, "Why is the cold rice noodles you went back to the village so delicious?" She smiled mysteriously and said, "You can do this with your hands, and others can't learn it." This is well said. Hui women are ingenious and naturally have their own unique skills.

Crossing the bridge rice noodles is a "big meal" in various ways of eating rice noodles, which requires high equipment, ingredients and chef skills (especially knife skills) and is relatively expensive. Therefore, during Wang Lao's life in Kunming, even in the fifties and sixties, there was absolutely no rice noodles sold in small counties. Nowadays, many towns and villages in Yunnan sell rice noodles crossing the bridge, even out of the province.

Walking in the downtown area of Guangzhou, you will always meet Yunnan rice noodle shop or crossing the bridge rice noodles. During 1999, I met a fellow villager in a newly opened rice noodle shop in a hotel in Baiyun District, Guangzhou. He is one of the chefs specially hired by this hotel from Kunming to make rice noodles. His surname is Zhu. He told me that after graduating from high school, he studied cooking in a vocational and technical school, specializing in making rice noodles across the bridge. Work in a grand hotel after graduation. "Guangzhou's salary is several times that of Kunming. However, I didn't come for a high salary. I just want to go out of Yunnan and open my eyes. After the contract in Guangzhou expires, I am going to Beijing and Shanghai to learn more. " Zhu Xiao said. I asked, "Are you from Kunming?" "No, my hometown is in mojiang hani autonomous county, a national poverty-stricken county. So after working outside for a year or two, I want to go back and do something for my hometown to get rid of poverty and get rich. " Zhu Xiao's words moved me very much. This Yunnan rice noodle crossing the bridge is more delicious in a foreign land than in Kunming!

I prefer rice noodles to bait. Silk bait slices, fried bait slices and roasted bait slices prefer roasted bait slices. Didn't the eighteen eccentrics in Yunnan say that Baba called bait? When I was young, I only knew Baba, but I didn't know the bait. There is a neighbor, Grandma Peng, who specializes in Baba. Her Baba dye is yellow and red, and the pigment is obviously pure natural. There is a plant called dyed rice fragrance. The water boiled with this flower is yellow, and the rice steamed in glutinous rice is yellow. Baba, born yellow, looks good. I don't know what plant red is made of, but it's definitely not a chemical pigment. First, there was no such thing to sell at that time, and even if there was, this illiterate grandma Peng would not know. When Baba made it, there was also a wooden mold with some patterns on it, such as rabbits, birds and puppies. The children saw it and naturally liked it. They must ask their parents to buy some grandma Peng's Baba. Unfortunately, after I went to school, such a beautiful and delicious Baba disappeared, because Grandma Peng went to another world.

Return to Kunming in September this year. For more than ten days, I have rice noodles for breakfast every day, and I have bait slices instead. Pot rice noodles, tofu pudding rice noodles and bait pieces eat the most. Another new variety, called mushroom rice flour, has only appeared in recent years. It's cooked rice noodles. Take it into a bowl, add a spoonful of fried boletus, add soy sauce and other seasonings, and stir with chopsticks. The smell of the bacteria is fragrant. Eating a bowl is not enough.

The rice flour bait in the south of the colorful clouds is delicious.