Chapter 75 Late Autumn and Evening Song

Siong is what we call cabbage today.The ancients commented on the taste of vegetables, admiring "early leeks in early spring, and late autumn wombs".Early chives are chives. In ancient times, the method of artificially cultivating chives was not common. Eating new chives at the beginning of spring is the most seasonable and the natural taste is the best.As for cabbage, it is best to recommend the end of autumn because although cabbage is common all year round, it will taste particularly delicious after the frost in the field.This trick is known to farmers and housewives in the north, so when the ancients talked about "Fan", they especially praised "Late Autumn and Evening Song".There is neither snow nor frost in the south, so I don't quite understand this mystery.

The allusion of "Late Autumn and Late Siong" comes from the Six Dynasties. "Zhou Ke Biography": "Yong is poor and has few desires, and eats vegetables all day long. Prince Huiwen asked Yong, what is the best taste of vegetable food? Yong said, early spring is early leek, autumn is late late cabbage." The ancients called Chinese cabbage "Song", according to Li Shizhen's explanation: "According to Lu Dian's "Pi Ya", the sycamore is a Lingdong evening tune, which is common in four seasons, and has the function of sati, so it is called song, and today it is called cabbage. "

Although the Chinese cabbage referred to by the ancients refers to the cabbage that we often eat today, the cabbage it refers to seems to refer to the cabbage that the northerners call it, that is, the so-called "yellow buds and whites", that is, Cantonese cabbage. What people call "Shaoxing cuisine" does not refer to "Jiangmen Chinese cabbage".Because this kind of Chinese cabbage is often called "green cabbage".There are Chinese cabbage and small cabbage.The big one is pickled by people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang in winter and becomes "salted cabbage", or "salted cabbage" for short. It can be eaten raw, stir-fried, or boiled in soup.A kind of Chinese cabbage, not too big or too small, with greener stalks, only available in spring. Shanghainese call it "Xiaotang Cai".There is also a smaller one, like the new gram vegetable, called "chicken feather vegetable", which is only available in summer and is a wonderful dish for boiling clear soup.There is also a kind of dish that grows close to the ground, with flat and round body and green stalks, called "Tagu Cai". It is cooked with sliced ​​winter bamboo shoots and is a winter delicacy in Shanghai restaurants.

The northern native vegetable we call "Huangyabai" is as common in the north as the "green vegetables" in our south.But when it is transported to the south, it becomes more and more expensive, and its value is also different. It is honored as "jiaocai" and "Shaocai". They are not sold at vegetable stalls, but hung in front of fruit shops. This is really rare and expensive. The yellow sprouts in the north, after the frost and before the snow, have to be picked up from the fields, hidden in the cellar, and covered with straw.In case of frost damage, it can be eaten from late autumn to early spring.What they usually say "slip cabbage" and "boil cabbage soup" refers to what we call "yellow buds and whites", not "green vegetables".There is another kind of real "yellow bud white", which is cultivated in the cellar with horse dung like artificially cultivated leeks before the common cabbage is on the market.Because the sun is out of sight, the stems of the vegetables are particularly white and tender, and the leaves are light yellow, which is the origin of the name "Huangyabai".In the past, it was a treasure on the table of the high-ranking officials in the capital. Later, the transportation was convenient, and vegetables from the southern region could be transported to Beijing in time, so "Huangyabai" was no longer valued by people.