Chapter 7 Drinking wine and tasting fish in Baokang

In the vast Shennongjia forest sea, there are many water systems leading in all directions, such as the beautiful Xiangxi River, the mysterious Guanyin River, the swift Songluo River, and the dangerous Yinyu River... Among these rivers, there is a small fish about three Up to five inches long, white scales with small black spots, nocturnal.Probably because of the barrier of high mountains, forests and seas, the small fish also has different names, such as earth fish, spring fish, etc. In short, it is such a small fish that lives in the streams and rivers in the virgin forest.The clear stream only made the little fish look handsome.Their way of escaping is to drill into countless stone crevices in streams and rivers like lightning, so it is difficult to see its true colors in the river.

This time to Shennongjia, I rode a Jincheng 250 motorcycle from Beijing for 1,500 kilometers, and arrived at Baokang County.It was getting late, and when we entered the mountain city, the northern plain stretched for thousands of miles, and then turned into a mountain road with countless bends, and the streets on the hillside of the mountain city were also curved.I first inquired about the hotel, and it was said that the Yinhe Hotel was good, so I moved in, parked my motorcycle, and hurried to find a restaurant. The first time I came to Baokang, I thought I must taste the taste of Baokang. In the mountains, where there are many species, there are always some unexpectedly good tastes.Baokang County is located in a large canyon in the mountains, where there is a famous river called Siping River.The mountains are green, the water is long, the lights are on, the streets are sparsely populated in winter, and the cold mountain wind blows, creating an atmosphere that makes people feel lonely.

I vaguely remember that Baokang is the hometown of Xiaosu, a famous novelist in Hubei. In such a mountainous county, people's language is soft and soft, soaked in the beauty of the landscape.I entered a shop first, bought two packs of cigarettes, and asked the boss about good restaurants in the area. I wanted to ask where there are local specialties. The boss introduced a few restaurants, and then simply told a young man next to him to take Take me to an oriental hotel.When I went to the hotel, there were no diners left, only the family of the store was left eating around the table. I flipped through the menu and said that I want to eat Baokang’s local dishes. The hotel owner said, let me serve you with four dishes, which are fried wild fish, boiled stinky dregs, fried incense and fried Chinese cabbage. The price is 40 yuan.There are no other small wines in the store, only a little muddy wine. I thought it was a little muddled fairy. I asked him for 28 yuan, so I bargained with him and got it to 20 yuan a bottle.It turned out that Xiao Chen, who brought me here, was a salesman of Xiaomutusheng, who was in charge of sales in the Baokang area. I asked him to have a drink with me.

Xiao Chen Zhushan, who lives in Shiyan, once worked as a salesman in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and returned to Shennongjia because of homesickness.Regarding Shennongjia, there are generally two views. One is the Great Shennongjia area, that is, Shennongjia in physical geography, which generally refers to the Shennongjia mountainous area; the other is the administrative area, which refers to the current Shennongjia forest area. When the food was served, the little fish was cooked really well, fried tenderly, and arranged in two circles around the plate.I asked what is the name of this fish in Baokang, they said it is called wild fish, also called small white fish.The fish is white, with sparse small black spots on the scales, spindle-shaped, thick flesh and few thorns, that is, there is one main thorn.When I started to drink, Xiao Chen hadn't drunk the little foolish sage he was promoting. He repeatedly corrected me, saying that this wine was little foolish sage, but I always said it was little foolish fairy.What he meant was that the little muddled sage was higher than the little muddled fairy.This guy calls everyone Boss, I say Boss is very vulgar, don't call him Boss, but I can't correct him.

The stinky residue is not stinky, it should be stinky tofu residue, boiled with the green leaves of Chinese cabbage, it tastes good.It is fried with smoked bacon and green garlic. This kind of taste can only be eaten in the mountains.Drinking slowly, chatting with Xiao Chen, the night in the mountain city is very quiet, and it feels like time is far away.A small bottle of wine in three taels, I drink two taels, and Xiao Chen drinks one or two, after all, it takes two people to drink.In the middle of the drink, Xiao Chen encouraged me not to leave for two days, and to accompany him to promote Little Confused Saint. I thought his idea was weird.

Xiao Chen has been staring at the cabbage and peanuts to eat, he thinks the small white fish is very precious, I tell him to eat, he will take one.The small white fish is really tender, the skin is slightly dry, lightly fried, and the fish is just cooked through.The meat of wild fish is firm and fine, so the fried small white fish is also very complete.The white and tender meat has a slightly salty taste on the skin surface. When you bite it lightly, the fish meat has a fresh and sweet taste, like a gurgling stream. Feel it in the process of tasting fish.This fish, I believe it is multi-scaled jaw fish, commonly known as spring fish, Cyprinidae, Barb subfamily, white turtle genus.It is called a little white fish in this way, but it has some roots.

It is also in Shennongjia. In the summer of the year before last, I ate fish in Songluo Township. The fish was fried until it was withered and yellow, and then boiled in a hot pot.In Shennongjia, hot pot is also eaten in summer.The taste here is slightly hot and sour, with a seasoning called Mujiangzi, which looks like camphor seeds, but is smaller, smaller than peppercorns, smells of stinky hemp, and the hot pot is very good.It is said that there is also there in Hunan, called Litsea cubeba. I also like the way of eating in Songluo Township. It is a heavy-flavored way of eating, and the way of eating Baokang is the original flavor.There is a Songluo River in Songluo Township. The river has a huge drop and the current is fast. When I go down the river, the cool water pushes me down.The water is clear and the mountains are green. I want to lie in the water and look at the mountains and the blue sky and white clouds above the mountains.As soon as I lay down, the river rushed me four or five meters away. In desperation, I grabbed a stone and went straight down the river.Therefore, the rivers in the world are not the same rivers. It doesn't mean that they have the same character if they have the same word for river.

Just holding on to the rocks, letting the river wash away, looking at the mountains.The mountains in Songluo Township are magnificent, especially several isolated mountains, rising from the ground, standing majestically among the mountains in Songluo.The sky is blue, clear and clean, the forest under the blue sky, the leaves of the plants are emerald green, exploding and setting off bursts of green waves.On the river beach, walking up, there is a group of children fishing, occasionally caught one, a silver glint in the sun. After crossing the Songluo River and eating the fish of the Songluo River, there will be a sense of intimacy.But unfortunately, he was drunk by a group of people from Songluo Township. The main culprit was Director Cao of the Finance Office at that time. He drank Baogu wine from Songluo Township.Later, I went to the Xinhua Great Fault and arrived at the mouth of Dazong Gorge. The Yu family lived in Niulantou. Together with the Yu family brothers, I went to the water pool of Dazong Gorge to cast nets and catch native fish to eat.In Xinhua Township, it was the first time for me to look at this fish seriously. It lives among the sand and stones, so it is also called Tuyu, which has no logical connection.To eat native fish at Yu's house, put the native fish directly into the hot pot of potato soup.The potato soup in Shennongjia can be called a flavor, cut into thin slices, and boiled in hot and sour soup.

Eating local fish at Niulantou, opposite the gate is Yujia Mountain, which is huge, with high and dangerous peaks.It is said that the signal of the mobile phone can be received there.There is no mobile phone signal or electricity in Niutantou. Diesel lamps are lit, the lights are dim, and there is thick black smoke from the first floor.Looking from the hot pot, there is a moon pasted on Yujia Mountain outside the door.What a big, bright moon.It seems that it can be touched from Yujia Mountain.At this time, the shadow of the mountain is solemn, and the forest frogs by the stream are screaming "bang bang", accompanied by the strange cry of a night bird.Put fresh local fish into the hot pot, it will be cooked in a short time, fresh and tender, hold the fish head with chopsticks, put the whole fish into the mouth, suck it lightly, the fish meat will fall off, throw the whole fishbone with the fish head, drink it A sip of grain wine, drinking in the mountains, is still so leisurely and far away.

Niulantou is 15 kilometers away from the road, half of the distance is walking on the riverbed and climbing the hillside. There is only one family left in Niulantou. The road has been buried by landslides, or small shrubs have grown. The road section is covered with vines and thorns in a large area.The guide holds a sickle and cuts while walking.Most people follow the Guanyin River to Xiaozong Gorge and then return.Xiaozong Gorge is also called Yixiantian. When people stand in the gorge, the running water flows over their ankles coldly. Even in summer, the wind inside the gorge is also cool and suffocating.

I entered the Dazong Gorge only a few hundred meters away. The cool breeze flows from the underground river, and the sunlight shines in flat. The green leaves on the gorge are fresh and tender.Down from the mouth of Dazong Gorge, there are countless deep pools, and some native fish live in each pool.Each of the lower nets is only three or four feet long, or one or two earth fish are tied up.I dug a small hole on the river beach at the mouth of the Dazhang Gorge, surrounded by pebbles, and put a live native fish in it to take a photo, but there was no water in the photo, and the fish seemed to be swimming in the air.Water is colorless, which can be confirmed here.It has the clearest water in the world, and of course the freshest air.Or because I was on the scene, I caught the earth fish from the pool and put it in the hot pot. It was the most beautiful earth fish I have ever eaten.Based on the boiling of the pot of potato soup, the earth fish does not need to have other cooking methods. So, when I passed the Laohekou this time, I saw that the water was several meters deep and the bottom was clear, the aquatic plants were swaying, and the fish were cruising there, so I thought of the local fish in Shennongjia.Go south from Shihua Town in Laohekou, completely enter the mountain road, one bend after another, combined with the bending technique used to train motorcycle driving here.There is a river beside the road, which flows cleanly, and there are houses by the river, one or two or three, with black tiles and white walls, and occasionally small buildings made of red bricks.The surrounding mountains are covered with vast forests.There may be several rice fields beside some forests. The water in the fields that have been harvested has drained, and the piles are standing, and there are chickens and dogs walking around.Some places are vegetable fields, where they are lush and green, mostly cabbage, radish and green garlic. When I arrived in Baokang, it was only 100 kilometers away from Shennongjia. Xiao Chen told me that there was snow in the mountain, and after crossing the highest mountain in Baokang, I went downhill to the administrative boundary of Shennongjia.Several big bowls of dishes, but this plate of fried small white fish was completely eaten by me.Living in a mountain city is like living in a dream. Thinking that I will arrive at the end of this trip in two days and enter the Shennongjia Golden Monkey Research Base to observe the golden monkeys, I feel joyful anticipation in my heart.Is that Siping River the river I have seen?There are gold panning machines on the riverbed in some sections of the river, but they are not in operation. I tasted a few Baokang small white fish. After all, it is not the small fish in Shennongjia. The local fish in Shennongjia is called Changjiang 鱥. It is also fresh and natural like the mountains and waters in Shennongjia.After drinking, I walked on the street of Baokang. The mountain city was silent and the sky was gloomy. I was worried that there would be snow in the next day, and the mountain would be blocked by heavy snow, which would make it more difficult to climb the mountain by motorcycle.However, I thought in my heart, no matter how heavy the snow is, I have to climb over those mountains, will Baokang give me luck?Most definitely.