Chapter 90 hard gruel

The writer Wang Meng once wrote a novel called.Taking porridge as the title of the book has a taste of returning to basics.The author himself does not deny that he has a habit of drinking porridge.According to the Chinese "diet therapy", porridge does have the effects of nourishing the stomach and helping digestion. Beijingers love porridge, especially this "hard gruel".At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the stalls selling breakfast in Beijing were called "porridge shops"-the staple food was porridge.As for drinking soy milk, that was later.As soon as it was dawn, the porridge shop began to hang lights and open for business. The customers were those old and young men who carried birds in cages, hung their throats, or rushed to work.Steamed twisted rice porridge is a major feature: break up the freshly fried twisted doughnuts in the oil pan, put them in a bowl, and then pour the gruel made of sticky polished round-grained rice on top. blended together.The climate in the north is cold. After waking up, go out to drink a big bowl, invigorate the blood and warm up the body, and feel energetic all day long.Old Beijingers are lazy, playful, and don’t like to work. Most of them go to porridge shops for breakfast.There are too many customers, and the tables and stools are limited, so you often have to stand and drink porridge with a large bowl in your hands.The business of the porridge shop is as good as that of the teahouse during the day.Therefore, there is an allegorical saying in Beijing: "The business of porridge shops is lively early in the morning." In fact, porridge shops not only sell breakfast, but also "barley rice porridge" in the afternoon-it is just sweet porridge with brown sugar added.For people to add meals when they are tired, it is called "order supplement" in Beijing dialect.Similar to the afternoon tea bar of Europeans.

The porridge shop is the base camp, and there are many "porridge pickers" who cross the streets and alleys-the equivalent of guerrillas.A shoulder pole, carrying a charcoal stove, and a porridge pot on the stove, selling along the way.The porridge is always hot.But the Beijingers of that era were addicted to porridge.It is impossible to live without such a king for a day.The hard gruel brought tenderness to people in poor times. Congee shops have long been a thing of the past.Listen to Mr. Wu Zonghu's explanation: "The congee shop continued for more than ten years in the Republic of China. Later, because of the rise of 'almond tea' and 'tofu paste', it was easier, more delicious, and rich in nutrition than porridge. The porridge shop was gradually eliminated. In 1938, the last porridge shop outside the east entrance of Dengshikou in Dongcheng and on the west side of the road was also closed, and the porridge shop ceased to exist.”

The last porridge shop can definitely form a story.Why did it persist until the end, and why couldn't it continue? The porridge shop has disappeared, but Beijingers' preference for porridge has not changed. Every year on the eighth day of the lunar calendar, Beijingers have the custom of eating Laba porridge. "Not to mention far away, only in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was inevitable from the court to the common people" - Liu Zhongxiao wrote an article "Buying Porridge and Fruit" for this reason.Beijingers commonly call the raw materials for preparing Laba porridge "mai porridge fruit".Because of the different raw materials selected, Laba porridge can reflect the differentiation of rich and poor. "Painful people divide the raw materials into two parts: 'grain' and 'fruit'. Grains are called miscellaneous grain rice, including japonica rice, glutinous rice, barley rice, millet, yellow rice, barley rice, sorghum rice, chicken head rice, water chestnut rice, Mung beans, red cowpeas, white kidney beans, white peas, red kidney beans, red beans. Fruits include red dates, raw chestnuts, lotus seeds, walnut kernels, pine nut kernels, peanut kernels, sugar lotus seeds, sugar walnut kernels, sugar peanut kernels, hazelnut kernels, Melon seeds, red raisins, white grapes, green plums, melon strips, green shreds, red shreds, longan, lychees, golden jujubes, gold cakes, preserved almonds, preserved apples, preserved peaches, persimmon sticks and fresh fruits for porridge, oranges, Apples, etc. The number of varieties can reach up to a hundred. So some people say: In the past, such a meal of Laba porridge could cover the living expenses of poor people for several months."

Laba porridge is also available elsewhere, but it is definitely not as elaborate as that made by Beijingers.This is porridge, it is an encyclopedia.Only the emperor has such a good taste?Beijingers, I admire it. Cooking porridge once can create a feast like a man-han banquet.Without the fate of wealth and honor, how can the annual Laba porridge be rendered so brilliantly.Laba porridge is soaked in people's belief in adequate food and clothing and prayers for harvest.Or to exaggerate it: it is the epitome of ancient agricultural civilization. Liu Zhongxiao also introduced: "On the night of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, porridge is made at five o'clock. The first pot of porridge is for Buddhist temples and ancestors, the second pot of porridge is eaten at home, and the third pot of porridge is specially given to relatives and friends. So old Beijing is in On the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, there was an endless stream of people delivering porridge in the streets and alleys. In addition, some people smeared Laba porridge on the jujube trees in the yard, saying that the jujube trees "eat" the porridge and can bear more fruits. It is said that for those who are particular about eating Laba porridge, they have to drink it until February 2nd. There is a saying in Beijing called "Laba porridge for sending letters". It’s something to eat.” It can be seen that for Beijingers, Laba porridge is no longer an ordinary food, but close to some kind of sacred ceremony.They take the trouble to select as many raw materials as possible for the annual Laba porridge, and package the simple food such as porridge in such a complicated way—it even becomes a gift for worshiping gods, ancestors, and even relatives and friends.Their love for porridge is so extreme: porridge not only penetrates into the homes of ordinary people, but also can be found in elegant halls.Laba porridge in Beijing is the most humane.There is a force of human emotion in this hard gruel.