Many people have heard of a unique folk delicacy in the southeastern region of Guizhou - "Niuqi Hot Pot", also known as "Baicao Soup". When you first hear about "Hyakoyu Soup", many people mistakenly think that it is a high-quality nourishing meal that brings together a variety of precious plants and is carefully cooked.
However, in reality, "Hyakkaoyu" is simply a thick soup made by removing the incompletely digested grass from the cow's stomach and then processing it. Legend has it that before slaughtering a cow, it is made by letting the cow eat grass and Chinese herbs to increase its satiety, then killing it, removing the forage from the stomach, squeezing out the juice, and then adding cow bile or other spices to simmer over a low fire.
Don't think that "Baicao Soup" doesn't sound good, this is a delicacy for the common people in southeast Guizhou, and it won't be taken out on a big day. Liu Sui, a native of the Tang Dynasty, verified that it came from ancient Vietnam, when it was still Chinese territory.
In short, the history of "Baicao Soup" is quite long. However, what I would like to share with you is an anecdote about "Baicao Soup" - during the Red Army's Long March, 31 Red Army soldiers completed the most arduous Long March by eating "Baicao Soup".
In the autumn of 1936, when the Red Second Front Army was crossing the grassland, Deng Danming, the instructor of the 6th Company of the 1st Battalion of the 48th Regiment, inadvertently tasted the "Hundred Herb Soup". When it comes to meadows, the first thing that comes to mind is the endless swamps, but in reality, the toughest part of the meadow is actually the gravel section.
It was a barren place, devoid of any water or vegetation, and an oppressive feeling permeated the air, making the already exhausted warriors even more exhausted. When traversing the swampy terrain, the warriors could also use the grass in the meadows to boil water for their hunger, but in the gravel sections, they could not find anything edible.
As a result, they can only rely on their weak bodies to move forward. However, this is not the worst-case scenario. In order to maintain the physical strength of the warriors, the head of the legion ** had to kill his own mounts and distribute two taels of horse meat to each of them.
However, there was no salt and no fuel to make a fire, so the warriors had to bite the bullet and eat the raw horse meat bit by bit. This is the real experience of those unsung heroes in the Long March of the Grassland, who overcame many difficulties with tenacious perseverance and incomparable courage and wrote a glorious revolutionary epic.
The superiors tried their best to allocate us a cow, two taels of beef per capita, but the way to eat it was still to eat it alive. After the beef was eaten, the team was ready to move on. For Deng Danming, who is tall and has been hungry for a long time, this bit of beef is not enough to stuff his teeth.
As he packed his bags, he thought about how to get through it next. The troops marched very slowly, and Deng Danming walked and walked, passing the place where the cooking squad slaughtered cattle. The edible parts of the cow were all removed, leaving only a puddle of blood and a messy hoof mark on the gravel floor as the cow struggled, and a pile of green grass residue.
Deng Danming walked over to take a look and found that the pile of grass residue was an incomplete grass root turned out of the cow's belly, and it still had a disgusting fishy smell.
Despite the foul smell emanating from the pile, it aroused Deng Danming's great interest. He crouched down and began to take a closer look at the pile of grass residue. You must know that the Red Army was extremely short of food on the Long March, and the hunger experienced by the commanders and fighters is unimaginable to people today.
At that time, just a little bit of green could make people salivate. As long as it is something that can be eaten, even if it is as difficult to eat as a belt, even if it is only a little bit, it can save a life.
And now, there is not even a single grass to be found on the gravel ground, and the pile of grass residue in front of him that has not been completely digested makes Deng Danming's heart excited. He grabbed a handful, thought it was edible, and decided to take them with him.
He took off a pair of trousers, tied them tightly, stuffed the pile of grass into it, and let the pile of grass "ride" on his shoulders and continue on his way. At that time, there were only 31 soldiers left in the 6th Company where Deng Danming was located, and everyone walked very hard and slowly.
Deng Danming caught up with them and said happily: "Haha, comrades, I have found something to eat for everyone!" ”
Deng Danming looked at the unbelieving soldiers, smiled slightly, and threw his pants on the ground, emitting a foul smell from the trouser legs. He said solemnly: "This is a baby, the nutritional value is high!" ”
The fighters were still skeptical. However, on the rest of the Long March, this pile of grass residue played a huge role, allowing the lives of the 31 surviving fighters to be extended, and finally out of the meadow.
Although they are only eaten raw and not boiled, they are still grateful. Decades later, this stuff from the belly of the cow has become a specialty in some places.