Huang Kailin.
Recently, my wife and I received a gift - a friend drove a box of large rice balls, saying that it was made by my father-in-law's family, so that we could feel the flavor of the New Year in the suburbs of Shanghai.
Catching the box with both hands, it was heavy and weighty. When I opened the lid of the box, I saw that the big rice balls were lying there like a snowball, which attracted people's attention. It's the biggest rice balls I've ever seen. We hurried to boil the water. The glutinous rice balls are boiled in the pot and float one after another, and the cold water is lit three times, and the glutinous rice balls are floating and swaying, and the spire of the pagoda slowly collapses, shrinks, and disappears, and finally returns to a large round ball.
Large rice balls out of the pot. We used chopsticks to hold it around the waist, and when we bit into the rice balls, a fragrance spread. At this moment, Tang Yuan's mouth was open, and the corners of his mouth were still a little upturned. Seeing that it wanted to slip away from the chopsticks, we hurriedly caught it with a bowl. At this time, the big rice balls are like a snowman being melted, and the body can't stand up.
The oil flowers are overflowing, the emerald green is dripping, and a strong fragrance is blowing in the face. Taste its taste, very layered; Looking at its color, green and white are mixed. I can't bear to eat, but I can't help it, I eat it with a mouthful of relish, and my tongue reverberates with a garden full of spring.
The stuffing of shepherd's cabbage mixed with oil, the oily green is moist, and the mist is very attractive. I know that this is a freshly pulled shepherd's cabbage from the vegetable garden, and the original taste of the plant has not been lost at all. Then, hand-wrap it out from an hour ago. Freshly picked and packaged food, the original taste, the taste is very ritualistic, and it is a special presentation of the New Year's flavor.
Fragrant, soft and glutinous, thick and chewy, this is the fattest, largest and softest glutinous rice balls I have ever tasted. Pimples rolled on the surface of the tongue, teeth and cheeks tapped lightly, and before they could chew carefully, they slipped down their throats. Unconsciously, six rice balls fell into the stomach and asked if there was anything in the pot? My wife brought half a bowl of soup and drank it in one go, this combination is really a perfect match.
In the past, the rice wine and Lantern Festival I ate in my hometown were all sweet. I remember that when my mother was alive, I made dumplings, smashed walnuts, peanuts and sesame seeds, and added some tangerine peel and sugar to make the filling. It tastes fluffy like a cake, silky and elastic, giving it a rustling feeling. But if you eat too much, you will get tired, so you have to drink soup while eating, and turn the original soup into the original food, so that you don't feel hungry for a long time. The dumplings I make are big enough in the local area, but they are still not as big as the ones I eat now.
This glutinous rice dumpling is a traditional delicacy in Shanghai. Not only is the appearance cute, the taste is soft and glutinous, salty but not greasy, and it is rare to be refreshing between the lips and teeth, and it means that it is beautiful, which means that the circle is complete, the wind and rain are smooth, and it is full of blessings for the New Year. In the past, glutinous rice balls were mostly made by traditional stone grinding technology, and the soaked glutinous rice was "fed" into the grinding eye with an iron scoop, because they were afraid of "choking", and they had to "feed" some water from time to time. The stone mill needs two people to work together to push, and there is a rumbling sound, and the snow-white rice milk flows out of the grinding cracks, piece by piece, lock by lock, although it is not shaped, but it is endless.
After eating the big rice balls, I went downstairs and met a neighbor in the community. The neighbor is from Ningbo, and Ningbo Tangyuan is famous, so I asked him about the method of glutinous rice dumplings. He said that when he was a child, he followed his mother to make it, and he thought it was very simple, but he couldn't wrap it well, and the glutinous rice balls he made were either crooked melons and cracked dates, or crooked. You have to be skilled in everything, and it's the same for making big dumplings. For example, how to grasp the dryness and wetness of the water mill powder, how to make the "closing dragon" fit tightly, how to wrap it round and smooth, and how to pinch out the "little braid" naturally, these are all skills.
When wrapping glutinous rice balls, first make the wet glutinous rice dough into a drug, then pinch it into a small bag, fill it with filling, and pull out a "small braid" after closing the mouth to make a knot to tie it. Not only can the tip be sharpened, but it can also pinch out cute "little braids", which is a feast for the eyes. This kind of big rice balls is not something that anyone can wrap, and it is necessary to have inherited techniques and skillful techniques, and if you don't get it right, it will be scattered and crooked.
While they were chatting, a local next to him heard it and leaned over to pick up the conversation. In the past, glutinous rice was scarce, and only when it was a major celebration or the New Year did it make large rice balls. The stuffing depends on the season, and there are meat filling, bean paste filling, shepherd's cabbage filling, radish shredded filling, etc. There are many ways to do it, and there are many names. Put it on a steamer and steam, it is a dumpling; Boiled in boiling water, it is a gnocchi; Put it in a pan and fry it in oil, that is, the oil pier; Flatten the dumplings and fry them against the edge of the pan, which is a collapsed cake.
The same ingredients, different tastes, it is really magical and changeable.
Big dumplings are not an idle thing, in Shanghai, it is a very distinctive delicacy before and after the Spring Festival. Holding a bowl of steaming rice balls, there is a festive atmosphere all of a sudden. The bowl is warm, and the heart is warm. Take a bite of big rice balls, in a piece of color and fragrance, savor the longing and yearning for reunion and happiness, and a harmonious life.
People** 2024-02-16 08 edition).