Speaking of konjac, it is not only a medicinal material, but also a commonplace ingredient in the countryside, and the people of Yaoguan in Shidian County call it "water cabbage". The konjac is sliced and cooked into a crystal clear, "jade" quality ice delicacies, which are put on the table and become a memory of rural food.
Yaoguan people love to make "water vegetables", regard making "water vegetables" as a kind of fun, cultivate self-cultivation and temperament in the refinement of food, condense the quicksand of time in "Jane", obtain an unhurried calmness, and achieve tranquility and far-reaching in trivial time.
The "magic" of konjac lies in its syrup containing slightly poisonous, which has a certain corrosive effect on **, and it is necessary to wear gloves when making it, so as not to make your hands red and itchy. When making "Mizuna", first wash the konjac, scrape the skin, cut it into small pieces with a knife, and then put it into a refiner and add twice the water to grind until the material is fine into a pulp; The ground slurry is poured into the basin, and the water is added for the second time, and the water added is lime or soda soaked alkaline water, stirring by hand while adding, and the resistance brought by the solidification of the slurry is clearly felt during the stirring process, and the slurry and alkaline water slowly react at this moment. The stirring time is controlled to about one minute, too long will cause the solidified paste to break and affect the forming effect. In the whole process, the amount of water determines the concentration of the pulp, and the concentration of the pulp determines the key to turning konjac into "water cabbage". Stir well and let stand for at least 4 hours.
The food slowly accumulates over time, the paste slowly solidifies, and when touched lightly, the color is transparent and elastic. At this time, water is poured in, cut into blocks with a knife, and placed in warm water for final shaping, a process called "swimming". The whole process should master the slow "swimming", in the process of "swimming", the konjac gradually fades away the numb smell, gradually becomes ripe, the time of "swimming" shall not be less than an hour, to achieve the effect of "passing the knife and not scattering, encountering chopsticks constantly", and then salvage it out, soak it in clear water to keep it fresh and set aside, at this time, the konjac transforms into the "water dish" that Yao Guan people think about, it is made when it meets water, accompanied by water, and swaying like jade luster.
Although the dense fiber of "Mizura" is not easy to taste, it does not affect the Yao Guan people's very casual way of eating, which can be mixed or fried, hot and cold. "It's good to eat shreds cold, and it's good to eat slices hot", no matter which way to eat, after cutting, put it in boiling water to blanch the alkaline taste, and then salvage it out and rinse it with water. Eat it cold, mix "water cabbage" with pickled vegetables, add spices such as oil and spicy seeds, peppercorns, etc., and stir it into a "jade Linglong" that is clean and ice-clear; To eat it hot, it is necessary to stir-fry the "water cabbage" in a hot pot, which can be boiled with ham meat, green onions, red peppers, etc. to form a fragrant "gold inlaid jade".
Yao Guanren turned konjac into a "water dish" way of eating, both hot and cold. Put it on the table, beautiful and delicious, pick it up with chopsticks, the silk is continuous, and the pieces are roundabout; Sent to the mouth, indulge in silky, soft and glutinous fragrance is permeated with a coolness, seemingly plain and light, but in fact it is hot and sweet. Blindly solve all kinds of deficiencies, and taste the true taste of life.