Window 2, Seventh Canteen

After breakfast, Jiang Wei and Han Zilu strolled along the street.

Jiang Wei is from the north and has never been to such a southward place. What's more, Yunnan is a place inhabited by ethnic minorities, and the customs and culture are very different from those in the Central Plains. For him, everything here is full of novelty.

There are some unique shops along the road, such as traditional handmade silver ornaments, ethnic costumes, and rough earthenware pots...

Jiang Wei stopped by the fruit stand, bought some oranges, and then pointed to a basket of strange-looking fruits and asked Han Zilu, "What is this? It looks like a soybean pod."

Han Zilu picked up one and handed it to Jiang Wei, "Do you want to try it?"

Jiang Wei thought about it, asked the price and bought a few, then gave one to Han Zilu, and broke one by himself.

The fruit in this soybean pod looks a bit like dried longan. When you smell it, it has a very special sour smell, as if you have smelled it somewhere.

Jiang Wei took a bite, and it was really sour. He felt a lot of saliva in his mouth when he took the first bite.

Han Zilu: "Can you guess it?"

Jiang Wei nodded and spat out the seeds, "Is this... tamarind?"

"Yes, the scientific name is tamarind. The tamarind juice you drank before was made from this."

"Interesting, is this thing just a snack?"

"Almost, there are tamarind candy, tamarind slices, and tamarind cake. You can try them all when you see them later."

Jiang Wei took out an orange, "Come on, it's okay, why do I eat so much sour." Peeled the orange and divided Han Zilu in half.

The two continued to walk, and when they passed a small shop, Jiang Wei stopped again, pointing to the basket at the door of the small shop, "Avocado?"

Han Zilu, "Yes, yes."

"Oh, I'll go, the living standards of the people in Yunnan are good, such a foreign-style fruit."

Han Zilu picked up one and squeezed it, "The climate here is very suitable for avocados. These should be grown in the surrounding area. Would you like to have one?"

"How come? Isn't this mixed with salad?"

Han Zilu smiled, picked up another one, and walked to the shop window.

Jiang Wei followed, Han Zilu put the fruit on the table, and saw the girl in the store skillfully cut the fruit lengthwise with a knife, then twisted her hands, split the fruit in half, and then picked out the fruit with the tip of the knife core.

Jiang Wei has eaten avocado salad and seen avocados sold in supermarkets, but he has never opened it by himself. This is the first time he has seen it. "The core is so big, can I grow it?"

The girl replied: "You can plant it, what do you want?"

"Can you give it to me?"

The girl smiled and handed the fruit core to Jiang Wei, "Here, take it back and bury it, and wait patiently for it to germinate."

Jiang Wei thanked him for taking it, and stuffed it into the bag.

The girl also cut open the second fruit, and also left the core to Jiang Wei.

She then removed the pulp with a spoon, put it in a juicer, added water and started blending.

With the sound of the machine, a very fresh fragrance wafted out, and the girl asked, "Drink it here or take it away?"

Jiang Wei looked at the large rough pottery cups and disposable paper cups on the table, and asked, "Do you use pottery cups for eating here?"

The girl nodded, and Jiang Wei asked again: "Then can I take the pottery cup with me?"

The girl smiled, "Alright, the cups cost five yuan each."

Jiang Wei chose the pottery cup resolutely, intending to take it away as a souvenir after eating. As soon as he took out his wallet, Han Zilu gave the money first, "You treat me to tamarind, it's a courtesy."

Jiang Wei didn't stop him, but said that next time he won't allow it. After all, I've troubled you all the way, so I should give me a chance to invite you back a few times.

The girl handed over the two cups, and then took out a small jar of granulated sugar, "Add the sugar yourself."

Han Zilu added a spoonful, and Jiang Wei also added another spoonful, then plugged in a straw and tried it, but it didn't seem enough, so he added another spoonful.

The two held the cups while walking and drinking. Jiang Wei only sighed that it was delicious, so he didn't bother to talk, and savored his avocado milkshake carefully.

With the last bite in his mouth, he chewed the sporadic sugar granules and sighed, "It's so delicious! Why does this taste like a milkshake when you add some water? Hey, do you think I should buy another cup?" ?”

Han Zilu handed him his cup, "Either way? There's still half left."

"That's so embarrassing." Jiang Wei said so, but still took the cup with a satisfied face.

After drinking, he put the cup away, "I'll help you fill the cup first, so what, what else is delicious? Let's go digging and digging?"

Han Zilu: "This way."

The two wandered into an alley, and as soon as they entered, they felt that the surroundings became quiet.

The ground of the alley is paved with large and small stone slabs, and there are distinctive local houses on both sides. The weather is half sunny and half cloudy. Occasionally, a beam of sunlight will shine on the road through the clouds, reflecting two long shadows.

Indescribably comfortable.

Jiang Wei stretched, but the bag hooked on the wall and made a hole, and the orange rolled all over the floor.

Jiang Wei: "It's a good thing the cup didn't drop."

Han Zilu helped pick up the oranges together, and when there was the last one left, the two faced each other and stretched out their hands, Han Zilu's movements abruptly stopped halfway, Jiang Wei didn't pay attention, picked up the oranges, broke them in half, and handed them to Han Zilu.

The bag was torn and there was nowhere to put the oranges. Jiang Wei asked Han Zilu to put them in his hood, eat them as he walked, and actively reduce the weight.

Take out every orange, break half of it and give it to Han Zilu, Han Zilu didn't say anything, just took it and ate it silently.

When the oranges are finished, the alley is about to end.

Jiang Wei shrugged his nose, "It smells like milk."

Turn right and walk more than ten meters. It is a small family workshop. There is a straw shed at the entrance of the workshop, and two cows are tied. Behind the cows is a spacious yard. Through the low wall, you can see the tall bamboo poles.

Although he didn't know what it was delicious, Jiang Wei had already started to swallow his saliva. According to his experience, Han Zilu brought him food that would not taste bad.

Han Zilu explained: "This family makes breast fans. All of them are from the Bai nationality. This is a place where the Hui people live here. There are relatively few Bai people. This is the only family that makes breast fans."

As he spoke, he entered the yard, where there were still several cows and goats, and a large pot was supported under the eaves, and the pot was full of milk.

Han Zilu stepped forward to say hello, and the eldest sister who was boiling milk stood up, "Oh, Xiao Han, you are here, when will you be here?"

"Just arrived last night." Pointing to Jiang Wei, "This is my friend. It's his first time in Yunnan. I'll take him out for a walk."

The eldest sister was full of enthusiasm, went into the room and got two big bowls, took out a big plastic bottle from the refrigerator, and poured a bowl for each of them, "Come here, I just squeezed this morning." I gave up my seat on a small stool.

Jiang Wei is not thirsty at all right now, but the fresh milk is still very appetizing when he thinks about it, and he drank it after a few sips. Seeing that he loves to drink, Jiang Wei hurriedly waved his hand to stop him, "One bowl That's enough, one bowl is enough, sister, what are you doing?"

"Hey, I'm heating milk now." She said as she entered the room and took out a piece of finished breast fan, "I just want to make this, you can break it up and taste it, this one is raw, and I'll fry it for you after a while eat."

Jiang Wei thanked her repeatedly and took it. The breast fan looked a bit like oily bean curd, rolled into a thin roll, buttery in color and shiny.

He asked Han Zilu, "Eat it raw?"

"Well, it smells like milk."

Jiang Wei broke off a small piece, the taste of the fresh milk fan was hard, with a little fat, chewed it carefully, it was indeed the taste of milk, it was fragrant and special, but not very delicious.

Jiang Wei looked at Han Zilu after eating, Han Zilu smiled at him, and then pointed to the stool.

The two sat down together and watched the elder sister boil the milk.

When the cooking was almost done, what did the elder sister add to the pot, Jiang Wei asked Han Zilu, and Han Zilu explained to him that it was a kind of edible acid used as a coagulant.

Sure enough, the milk has changed. Although Jiang Wei has never seen it, he still has some common sense. Now the whey has been separated, and the remaining milk has begun to coagulate.

The eldest sister stirred with a spoon, waited for a while, skimmed out the whey spoonful by spoonful, and continued to heat and stir the remaining semi-curdled milk.

After a while, the milk rolled into a ball at the bottom of the pot like batter, exuding a tempting smell. Although he knew it was just a lump of milk, Jiang Wei was still greedy.

Such white and soft milk dumplings are enough to arouse people's appetite just by their appearance.

The eldest sister seemed to have noticed Jiang Wei's gaze, and grabbed a piece from the pot for him, and handed it over with her bare hands, and Jiang Wei took it with her bare hands.

"It's hot!"

Jiang Wei tossed the milk cube up and down.

Han Zilu had already handed over the bowl left over from drinking the milk just now, and asked Jiang Wei to put the milk in it.

The eldest sister said embarrassingly: "Oh, I'm sorry, our hands are thick, and we don't feel it when we are used to it."

Jiang Wei hurriedly said it was all right, blew the milk paste to cool, and was about to share half with Han Zilu, when she saw that the elder sister had already grabbed another small piece for him.

Jiang Wei had no choice but to eat his own. It tasted as expected, but the taste was smooth and special.

The eldest sister put away the finished milk dumplings, called Jiang Wei and the others to enter the house, and took out the milk cakes from the refrigerator. Han Zilu explained that the milk cakes are made of goat's milk and have a little smell, and they are usually cooked after frying. eat.

The eldest sister wanted to give them deep-fried breast fan milk cakes, Jiang Weiyi looked forward to it, but Han Zilu declined, saying that he would go to Uncle Huang's to help.

The two chatted for a few more words, Han Zilu bought a bag full of breast fans, and took the breast cakes from his elder sister, and the two returned the same way together.

This time, it was more than ten meters away from the gate of Uncle's house, and Jiang Wei smelled a strong smell of meat.

"Huh?" Jiang Wei nudged Han Zilu with his elbow, "Isn't it made of dried beef? Why does it smell like boiled beef?"

Han Zilu: "Do you still remember why you came to Yunnan?"

"Why? Eat beef noodles... Ah yes! So we can have it in a while?"

Han Zilu: "It won't work for a while, it will be at night, and now the bone soup is being boiled inside, and the soup will be fragrant enough until the evening."

When Jiang Wei thought about it casually, he felt that he was about to be drowned in saliva, and he didn't care about anything else, so he took Han Zilu's hand and ran all the way into the yard.

During the process, Han Zilu blushed for a while, but Jiang Wei didn't see it.

Running into the yard, I found that there was an extra shed in the yard. Under the shed, there was a huge pot in Jiang Wei's view, or more like a big bucket, nearly one meter high.

There is boiling soup inside.

Han Zilu told him that all the bones, minced meat, and some internal organs left over from the slaughter of the cattle in the morning are now in the pot, boiled with ham, and after seven or eight hours, filter and discard the debris, and only put the soup Leave.

Jiang Wei looked at Guozi and nodded again and again. Rather than being greedy, he felt more shocked now.

A large pot of thick soup is full, the tumbling heat, and the overwhelming aroma.

These have gone beyond his understanding of food.

Here, what he feels is something very fresh and full of vitality, a very original food culture.

Jiang Wei looked at Han Zilu's profile and was very grateful.

There are many people in the yard, some are standing and chatting, some are sitting on small stools, all of them are neighbors who live nearby.

Han Zilu explained that the place here is small, and many neighbors are related to each other, and whoever kills cattle and sheep always invites everyone to come and have fun.

Jiang Wei understood in an instant that these people, like him, came here to eat and drink, and he didn't feel embarrassed seeing such like-minded people.

Under the eaves, Uncle Huang and his two sons are still busy. There is a large piece of beef on the table, and there are several seasoning jars next to it. Uncle is kneading the beef while adding seasoning to it. A muscular arm.

It doesn't look like it's cooking, it looks like it's practicing some kind of kung fu.

Jiang Wei looked at it for a while, then asked Han Zilu, "What ingredients did you put in? Is it a secret recipe?"

"The main ingredient is salt, and only a small amount of other spices, so that the aroma of the beef itself can be preserved after marinating. To make a good dry meat, the quality of the beef is naturally the key, but the master's craftsmanship is even more essential. Uncle's craftsmanship is the best."

Jiang Wei began to swallow her saliva, "This is so dry, I must not be able to eat today, right?"

"Of course, it will take a few months to dry."

"But your beef noodles, don't you want to use dried meat?"

"Don't worry, I don't use much. Uncle here has leftovers from the previous preparations, and dry oil is mainly used for making noodles."

"Oh... Then when the dried meat is ready, do you want to come and get it?"

"No, Zhiyong and the others will deliver it for me."

"Oh, then, can I find you for a meal?"

Han Zilu was smiling at first, then his smile narrowed a little, and finally he raised his mouth slightly, "A few months later...it depends."

"Then it's settled!" Jiang Weiyi looked excited, "Oh, right, do we have to make noodles later? Who will do it? Are you going to do it?"

"Well, I'll make noodles and sauced beef. The locals are responsible for making rice noodles. They have both at night, but most of them still eat rice noodles. What about you?"

"Of course I... have to taste each of them. Do you want me to help?"

"I'm about to start getting busy. If you don't feel bored, just come with me."

"Okay! Even if I'm not qualified to be your assistant, I can at least tell jokes to Chef Han, hahaha, let's go and cook!"

Han Zilu stopped, turned around, and touched Jiang Wei's head.