Chapter 69 Highland barley fermented grains

In January 2008, I returned to Hunan from the west and stayed in Lanzhou for a day. I was alone and had nothing to do. I went to Dazhong Lane to visit the delicacies. I have been to Dazhong Lane many times, and I have eaten the mutton bubble film, Mazilu beef noodles, gray bean soup, hot winter fruit, and hot crystal cake there, which moved me very much.This time I went to Dazhong Lane, in addition to nostalgia, I also wanted to find some snacks that I hadn’t eaten before, so as to generate some new ideas. I have traveled to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau many times, and I often hear a nursery rhyme: sweet fermented grains are sweet, old people and children drool, one bowl or two can appetize, three bowls and four bowls are worth a meal.I don't know what sweet grains are.I talked with local farmers once and learned that sweet fermented grains are liqueurs, so I didn't have a deep understanding.My hometown, Xinhua, is the hometown of rice wine, and every household makes their own wine.The predecessor of rice wine is sweet wine, and it becomes rice wine after further alcoholization.

Sweet wine is called fermented glutinous rice in the west. I don't know why, and I can't explain sweet grains. When I went to Duji Desserts, I saw that there was barley sweet fermented grains in the recipe, so I ordered a portion. I wanted to try the highland barley sweet wine from Northwest China to feel its alcoholic strength.I know that people in Northwest China drink baijiu very well, but I don't know how sweet wine is in Northwest China, so I want to take advantage of this to solve the problem. Sweet fermented grains are traditional snacks in Lanzhou, Xining, and the agricultural areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The local name is wine grains.Most of the sweet fermented grains are home-brewed, both in winter and summer. In the streets and alleys of Lanzhou and Xining, many distiller's wine families push carts and set up stalls, or shout and sell them, and Northwesterners rush to buy them.

Most of the sweet grains are made of highland barley, naked oats and wheat.The method of making sweet grains is simple: select full-grained, peeled and clean highland barley or naked oats, and wheat, rub them again and again to remove the floating skin, and pound the highland barley and wheat to remove the fine skin.The raw materials are first soaked in water for a period of time, and then boiled in a pot until they are eighty mature. Take them out, disperse them and let them cool, add wine koji and mix well, put them in a porcelain jar, seal them and store them at a constant temperature. The temperature is about 15 degrees. , Fermented for three to five days, it can be eaten after smelling the aroma of alcohol.

Sweet fermented grains are characterized by mellow aroma, coolness and sweetness. In summer, they can refresh the mind and relieve tiredness; in winter, they can strengthen the body, warm the stomach and increase appetite.Northwesterners love it so much that they make it a gift for visiting relatives and friends. The sweet unstrained spirits I wanted came up quickly, served in a small bowl, which was somewhat different from the style of a big man in the west.The first thing that enters my nostrils is the aroma of wine, which is very mellow and slightly offensive.Looking at the bowl again, it is close to milky white transparent liquid, a little cloudy and semi-opaque.I thought it was like my hometown, when rich people drink rice wine at home, they have to remove the lees and drink only water.When I gently scooped it with a spoon, a sweet smell floated up, very mellow, but grains of red rice floated in the bowl.

I am very surprised, the southern rice wine, the rice turns red, indicating that the distiller's grains are sour, and the surrounding temperature is too high, which burns the fermented glutinous rice.I looked carefully, it was not rice, but like wheat.I remembered that this should be the highland barley, a specialty of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Although I have drank highland barley wine and eaten highland barley rice, I have never seen highland barley in a dark red shape soaked in water. I suddenly wanted to taste the highland barley fermented glutinous rice. I used a spoon to pick it up from the sweet fermented grains. The highland barley fermented glutinous rice is different from the southern glutinous rice fermented glutinous rice. The glutinous rice fermented glutinous rice often clumps together, and the rice grains stick to each other. The highland barley fermented glutinous rice is separated into individual grains and precipitated under the wine. .Scoop it up with a spoon and take a closer look. Unlike wheat, it is long and even, full and firm.Pale red with a touch of white.Shovel off a grain with a spoon, and milky white juice flows out in the middle.Put two pieces into your mouth, it feels very smooth on the outside, soft and squirming when you bite it, as if the juice inside is flowing, when you bite it open, the juice flows out, very sweet and moist, chewing like a long-soaked preserved fruit, full of fragrance, Hanging teeth.

Then drink water, sweet and sticky, like thick sugar water sticking to the mouth, and cold to the heart, giving me an unexpected chill.When the drink enters the stomach, the alcohol is immediately converted into heat, and the body begins to heat up.After taking a few sips, my head felt a little dizzy, no less than white wine. After drinking the sweet fermented grains, walking in the snowy streets and alleys of Lanzhou, my body was very warm without the slightest chill.