Chapter 36 Freshly peeled "chicken head" is glutinous and fragrant

Gorgon is also called "old chicken head" in the north, and "chicken head rice" after peeling.Gorgon seed grows in Haopu Huangze, and its leaves are large and round, flat against the water surface.The face is blue and the back is purple, and the flower stem has thorns. In summer, purple flowers bloom at the end of the stem, which looks like a chicken head, so it is called the old chicken head.There are many fruits in the head, and there are several layers of soft skin containing mucus. Therefore, the procedures for peeling chicken head rice are not only complicated, but also easy to be pricked by hard thorns if you are not careful.Except for Beiping, I have only eaten gorgon rice in Wuxi, Suzhou, and only dried gorgon rice is sold as medicine in other places. According to the "Fu of Lei Gong's Medicine Properties", gorgon has the effects of invigorating the spleen and dampness, and eliminating stagnation.

All kinds of food in Beiping are controlled by solar terms. Before the Anti-Japanese War, for example, there was no restaurant that dared to display the two big-character signs of "Grilled Shabu" without the beginning of autumn.Ever since the Japanese warlords captured the North China area, the group of bumpkins dared to eat boiled mutton, which was more delicious than their sukiyaki, and tasted barbecue, which was more fragrant and tender than their teppanyaki. Sweating on the neck, roasting or rinsing, you can eat it anyway.But those who sell old chicken heads don't have anything to do with the Japanese, they still don't pay Liqiu, and they never go to the street with picks.He sells old chicken heads. He just went to the river, and he always sells old chicken heads. In fact, the tenderest ones are light yellow in color after being boiled.After the real old chicken head is boiled, the color of the outer skin is blue-brown. You have to use a brick to break the outer skin and peel it off to eat. You must have teeth, and you like to eat real old chicken heads.Most of the people like to eat it that is not old and not tender. After cooking, the outer skin is dark and old. Old Beiping called it Ercubini.This kind of chicken head is best peeled and rinsed with clean water. It is boiled in fresh milk and sugar.The area around Suxi is the most particular about sweet snacks, but they are fragrant and fresh, even the Gorgon fruit from Dangkou Lingtang in Suzhou is not as good.At that time, Baifagu King Liu Baoquan paid attention to eating fresh milk and boiled chicken head rice. He said: "This kind of eating can not only nourish the middle and nourish Qi, but also make the voice far away, especially the old rice produced in the Hetang area of ​​Tianyitang, Haidian. Chicken heads are better, because the paddy fields in that area are irrigated by Yuquan mountain spring water, and the water chestnut chicken heads are certainly fresher and sweeter than those produced elsewhere. As soon as it goes on the market, he always asks his friends to go to Haidian Fu to order the old chicken head and come back to try something new.

When the author arrives in autumn, as soon as the old chicken heads are on the market, as long as the seller of the old chicken heads yells at the door, he buys twenty or thirty pieces every day, and immediately asks someone to pick the two cubes. When they are cooked, they smash and peel them and eat them If you are not one of them, you will not understand this sentiment, so you have to cook it with milk if you don't have time.After coming to Taiwan for more than 20 years, not only have I never heard of fresh old chicken heads, but also because I haven’t been to a Chinese medicine store in these years. I don’t know if there is any dried Gorgon rice in the medicine store!Friends who love to eat old chicken heads, have you heard that old chicken heads are not gluttonous?