Chapter 2 Yuanling sun-dried orchid meat

Speaking of Yuanling, it is Shen Congwen's Chenzhou and the main road to Xiangxi, and it is also his second hometown. In 1933, Shen Congwen and his five brothers and sisters agreed to build a new house in Yuanling, named Yunlu, funded by him, and asked his brother Shen Yuelin to supervise the construction, as a place for his mother to spend her twilight years and her brothers and sisters to gather.Shen Congwen's, "Xiangxing Sanji" all wrote about Yuanling. In 1937, Shen Congwen returned to Xiangxi with his wife and children and lived in Yunlu in Yuanling. He created a collection of essays, including "People of Yuanling" and other chapters.

Yuanling, known as Chenzhou in ancient times, is located in the northwest of Hunan, in the upper reaches of the Yuanshui River, bordering Taoyuan and Anhua in the east, Xupu and Chenxi in the south, Guzhang and Luxi in the west, and Zhangjiajie in the north. It is known as the gateway to western Hunan.Yuanshui enters from the southwest, pours into Dongting Lake in the east, traverses Yuanling County, and is divided into two parts, north and south. Yuanshui is one of the four rivers in Hunan. It flows through Huitong, Hongjiang, Zhongfang, Xupu, Chenxi, Luxi, Yuanling, Taoyuan and Changde, and flows into Dongting Lake at Deshan. The whole journey is 568 kilometers. Chenzhou is The post station by the Yuanshui River and the station for travelers.Another river that flows through Chenzhou is called Youshui, which runs through Longshan, Baojing, Yongshun and Guzhang, and flows into Yuanshui at the mouth of Yuanling Xizi.The main stream of the Youshui River flows 146 kilometers in western Hunan. The Huayuan River and the Mengdong River are its tributaries. They are the main thoroughfares for the circulation of materials and tourists in western Hunan. There are many piers and famous towns along the river.

Yuanling Qin set Qianzhong County as the county government.In the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (202 BC), Yuanling County was established. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, Yuanling became the state, road, government, road, provincial government, administrative office, and special agency.The ancestors of Yuanling lived a life of fishing and hunting, farming and multiplication, and pig feeding was extremely fashionable.The black mountain pig in Daheping, Yuanling, the cool umbrella pig in Xinhuang, and the Longtan pig in Xupu are called the three famous pigs in Huaihua.Daheping black mountain pig is suitable for breeding in mountainous areas. It has a strong body, straight back and waist, no dragging belly, strong limbs, strong adaptability, resistance to extensive feeding, high slaughter rate of fattening pigs, strong fat deposition ability, and tender meat.

The men in Yuanling lived on the Yuanshui River, relying on the water to drink water, and making a living by discharging waste. Every year after the spring flood, they drifted on the water, going out in the wind and waves for ten and a half months, and their life was extremely difficult.In addition to doing housework and farming, their women always think about their men in their hearts.Every day, a woman thinks about bringing some homemade food for her man to eat on the road.On the days when the row was released, the men wandered for a long time, the wooden raft was humid, the weather was hot, and the food was easy to rot.The boatman's wife came up with a brilliant way to cut the lean meat into thin slices, marinate it with salt and rice wine, and hang it on the side of the boat in a bamboo basket to dry. appetite.The boatman drifted for a day and wanted to replenish his food. He took a piece from the basket and cut it into shredded meat. It could be fried with chili and served with rice. It tasted delicious, sweet and delicious.

Whenever a man goes out to play or punting, the woman chases after him, reluctantly, and finally breaks up, hand the man a basket full of sun-dried orchid meat, and keep telling the husband to eat more meat, so that he can have more strength. Tell the man to go home as soon as possible, don't forget her.In order to reassure his wife, the man hangs the basket on the side of the boat, which can dry the meat strips in the sun, and also remind the man to think about his wife when he sees the things, so that he can go to the destination and stop being nostalgic for the colorful world.The meat is eaten less and less, and the thoughts in the basket are getting more and more. At the destination, there are only empty baskets and full thoughts left.The man felt that drying the basket was too rustic, so he changed it to drying the orchid, and gave the nickname to his woman.

Chenzhou is surrounded by beautiful peaks, emerald green and blue, and vanilla mountain flowers, which can be picked up at your fingertips.The hilltops of Guanzhuang are one after another, and the loaded women are wandering among the mountains. The button flowers embroidered on the chest and trousers are the love flowers produced under the oil lamp of the missing man.Looking south from the north bank, there are continuous mountain peaks beside the river, and the peaks are lined up, the smoke and clouds are changing, and the emerald piles are blue.The boats in the river are swaying, the rafts are raised to stimulate the water, and the boats are racing.

The scenery of Liulincha is extremely beautiful, and there is only a mountain path stepped by a widow on the cliff. Her piety for twenty years has not influenced the monk's practice. A small path was opened on the hanging rock near the river, and an iron chain was built.Later, the boatmen who went upstream discovered this path, and often climbed the iron chains to carry the fiber. Thirty miles downhill from Yuanling, the Yuanshui River is turbulent, with continuous dangerous beaches, including Bairong Beach, Jiuxi Beach, Hengshi Beach, Qinglang Beach, etc. Among them, Qinglang Beach is the longest, has the most stones, and the most violent water flow.It takes 20 minutes to go downstream for forty miles, and a whole day to go up.How many boats and rafts were smashed at Qinglang Beach, and how many Xiangxi men were buried here.The boatman's wife hopes that the man will return safely, and has been raising Daheping black mountain pigs for a long time.At the end of the year, after slaughtering the New Year’s pigs, the woman boils the fat into oil, cuts the lean meat into thin slices, soaks them in salt and spices, and hangs them in bamboo baskets on the boat canopy to dry.

Sun Lan takes the hind leg meat of Daheping black mountain pig, removes the skin, scrapes off the fat, removes the bones, removes the tendons, spreads it evenly with homemade rice wine, sugar, salt, pepper, and nitrate, marinates it in a ceramic jar for three For four hours, take it out and smoke it with smokeless charcoal. The meat slices are completely dry, upright and not bent, and brownish red, that is, raw sun-dried orchids.Put it in a frying pan and deep-fry until golden brown, it is ripe sun-dried orchid.The woman cuts the hind legs into slices, which requires carefulness and knife skills. The meat slices are no longer than half a centimeter and are even and flat.Whose women are virtuous and capable, they are taller than the sun orchids of other families, and become a symbol of women's housework.

Sun-dried orchids can be eaten after being cooked, or cut into thin strips, and served with garlic and shallots. The taste is sweet, salty and spicy.It tastes salty and sweet, delicious and delicious.Stir-fried sun-dried orchids with wild celery are fragrant and more characteristic of Yuanling. They taste sweet, chewy and have a unique flavor.