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Introduction Lei Cha Chapter 20

Introduction Lei Cha Chapter 20

Wuling Leicha has a long history in the Dongting Lake area. According to legend, more than 2,000 years ago, Ma Yuan led an army to march south and stationed in Sima Cuocheng (now Changmaoling Township, Dingcheng District). There was a plague in the military camp. Immortals offered test prescriptions. “Sesame, mung bean, ginger, tea leaves, fried rice, put it in a beating bowl, pound it into a paste with catalpa and ginger, and brew it with boiling water.” After taking it, the disease was cured, and it was introduced to the people since then.

Lei tea has the functions of promoting body fluid and quenching thirst, clearing heat and detoxifying, and reducing inflammation and disease. When drinking, it is accompanied by fried noodles with rich local characteristics and specially made jars of vegetables, which is called “taking tea”. There are as few as a dozen kinds of tea, as many as forty-eight kinds, and it is very interesting to eat and drink.

Jar Zi Cai is an ancient Chinese traditional method of making pickles, popular in Zhejiang, Hunan, Sichuan and other places. Pickles marinated in jars are crisp, salty, spicy, sour, sweet, rich in nutrients and easy to stimulate appetite. The jar of vegetables originated in ancient times, and the fresh vegetables were sealed in clay pots for emergency use.

After thousands of years of oral and heart-to-heart teaching and innovation, jars have developed into a local specialty with unique flavor and variety. The jar dish is different from pickles such as kimchi and pickles. It is the jar that stands out. The older the jar, the more fragrant the dish. Newly built jars can only be used after strict technical treatment. Not only can all vegetables be made into jars, but also in a variety of ways. Take radish as an example, there are wine soaked radish, bean curd radish, salted radish, sweet and sour radish, up to dozens of categories. Each category has different flavors, but it is a good product for porridge, bibimbap, and wine.

In a broad sense, jar dishes do not refer to a certain dish in a specific region. Jarzi dishes generally refer to various vegetables that have been marinated in ceramic (and glass) jars. Generally speaking, jars are more popular in the south to teach the north. For example, dried plums (mold and dried vegetables) in Jiangsu and Zhejiang can also be classified into such a category. In some places, it is called differently, for example, Xiangxi is called grandma’s dish. But anyway, jars of vegetables should undergo a process of pickling (or storage) in the jars.

According to the state of the vegetables stored in the jar, jar vegetables can be divided into two different categories. One is the dry jar and the other is the wet jar. The so-called dry jar dishes, as the name suggests, the state of the vegetables stored in the jars is dry – the humidity inside at that time may be very different for different types of vegetables. Dried prunes can be classified into this category. For another category, the pickled cabbage that we are familiar with is the wet jar of cabbage. Pickled radishes sold on the street also fall into this category.

There is a very important point in making jars of vegetables to ensure that all the water will not evaporate in the small grooves on the edge of the jars. Because the water in the small groove on the edge acts as a seal, it can prevent the vegetables inside from rotting prematurely. Therefore, it is often necessary to add water to the small trough to ensure the quality of the dishes inside.

Characteristics of jars: sour and refreshing, aids digestion, appetizers, cool down, can be fried alone or used as a side dish. The representative dishes are: fried pork with radish, fried beef with bamboo shoots, fried chicken with pickled peppers, and hot and sour fish rolls. Soak cucumbers and bamboo shoots, and put them in the first day and eat them the next day.

Lei tea, popular in Shanwei and Jieyang as well as parts of Guangxi and western Hunan, was one of the grand and economical ways to receive guests in the old days. Its production method is as follows: first, put the tea leaves into a tooth bowl (a special pottery with a sawtooth pattern on the inner wall), and after wetting, use hardwoods such as pomegranate wood or lychee wood to make a 3-foot-long hammer (wooden pestle) back and forth. Stir and mash, then put cooked peanuts, sesame seeds, nine-story tower (also called Jinbuhuan), etc. into the toothbowl one after another to make a paste, add an appropriate amount of salt, and pour the boiling water into it, so it is also called Leicha. .

Then the host puts the fried rice, etc. into a bowl filled with salty tea, and brings it to the guests steamingly. Everyone sat around in the living room, drinking and chewing, chatting about family affairs, or talking about current affairs, while the host diligently added salty tea, fried rice, etc. to persuade them to drink.