When he heard that it was rice flower fish, Old Suntou, who had never been very particular about eating, suddenly brightened up. He was talking to the people next to him. When he heard this, Old Suntou quickly looked at the plate in Sun Kui's hand, his eyes widening. Bright.
Yang Ruoqing also looked over curiously.
I saw a very simple black pottery plate filled with red fish pieces.
The fish pieces are not only topped with chili noodles, but also glutinous rice.
Yang Ruoqing often heard Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Sun talk about rice flower fish, and their words were full of memories and nostalgia for this unique mountain delicacy.
Every year when rice is transplanted in early summer, a batch of fish fry are put into the rice field.
The fry grow up together with the rice in the rice fields, relying on eating rice flowers and other aquatic insects to grow.
When the rice matures and is harvested in the fall, the fish grow up and are fattened. For adults and children in the mountains, this time is the most joyful and exciting time of the year, second only to the Chinese New Year.
In the memories of the sisters Da Sun and Mrs. Sun, the rice flower fish was the most brilliant light during their years of growing up in poverty.
In order to satisfy Sun's wish, Yang Huazhong once stocked fish in his family's rice fields.
As a result, the taste of the fish was far different from what Sun remembered.
Or maybe, this kind of rice flower fish is delicious because it is specially raised in terraced fields in the mountains!
Then use the glutinous rice grown in the terraced fields halfway up the mountain and the wild apple shreds with chili noodles to add flavor and pickle, which is the real mountain specialty.
So when he heard that Sun Kui was entertaining him with rice flower fish, could Old Suntou not be excited?
Immediately, he put a piece into his bowl, took a bite, and nodded repeatedly.
"Authentic, authentic, this is the taste!" the old man praised while eating.
Sun Kui narrowed his eyes with a smile, his face full of pride and pride.
Sun Kui came to greet Yang Ruoqing again: "Qing'er, you should try it too, I made it at home."
The rice flower fish is raised in the family's rice field. The glutinous rice, chili noodles, soju, and ginger are all grown by the family.
Except for the apples inside which are picked from the mountains, the rest are all homemade and original.
"OK!"
Yang Ruoqing responded and took a piece of rice fish and took a bite.
With this bite, Yang Ruoqing felt that the door to a new world had opened on her tongue!
She had heard her mother and aunt talk about this rice flower fish countless times before. In Yang Ruoqing's opinion, the taste should be similar to the salted fish or dried cured fish that was pickled during the New Year at home, right?
Apart from the salty and spicy taste, that's about it.
But when she tasted the authentic rice flower fish today, she realized that it was all her self-imagination and wishful thinking.
The rice flower fish raised in high-altitude terraced fields is different first of all from the meat quality of the fish.
The glutinous rice produced in the mountains, the taste of wild apples, shochu and other things are brewed together. After being marinated for half a year, the fish meat is very delicate and plump, neither woody nor dry, neither fishy nor salty. It is exceptionally delicious and leaves a fragrant mouthfeel.
Even the rice grains soaked in this soup go into the throat easily.
"Uncle Sun Kui, your rice flower fish tastes really good. I would like to ask, is this made by my aunt? Or is it made by some sister-in-law?"
Feeling nourished by the delicious food, Yang Ruoqing was particularly happy. After eating a bowl of rice, Yang Ruoqing wiped the corners of her mouth. While Lao Suntou and Uncle Sun Kui were drinking and having fun, she also asked.
Her question caused everyone around the table to pause their conversations and work.
Madam Sun Kui smiled honestly, looked at Yang Ruoqing, but hesitated to speak.
Sun Kui put down his chopsticks, pointed at his mother-in-law, and said, "We will be responsible for catching and killing fish, and she will do the rest!"
The sons also nodded, "Yes, our mother prepared it. Our mother prepares a jar of rice flower fish every autumn harvest."
She is usually reluctant to eat them, but only during the Chinese New Year and when distinguished guests come to the house, my mother will take out two or three pieces and cook a plate in the pot to serve the guests.
The last time I ate it was during the Chinese New Year.
The second time we had dinner, the eldest daughter-in-law’s parents came to visit.
This is the third time.
It is a great pride for Sun Kui's family that the rice flower fish can be praised by the general's wife.
Yang Ruoqing cast her admiring eyes on Sun Kui's wife, but she said to Sun Kui, the head of the family: "Auntie's craftsmanship is really good. If Uncle Sunkui and auntie are willing, they can put more fish in the rice fields when planting rice this year." .”
"When the autumn harvest comes, you make rice flower fish. When the heat is almost done, I harvest it all and put it in my restaurant to add a special dish. How about it?"
Sun Kui's family were all shocked by Yang Ruoqing's words!
Madam Sun Kui even looked confused and had not yet realized the meaning of Yang Ruoqing's words.
As the head of the family and the upright person in Sunjiagou, Sun Kui naturally thinks faster than the rest of the family.
He reacted immediately.
He was so excited that he almost stood up. His eyes shone with light. He suppressed his excitement and said loudly to Yang Ruoqing: "It's rare that you like our rice fish! How much do you want?"
Yang Ruoqing thought for a while: "Let's try to get a thousand pounds in the first year."
"If customers respond well, we will double the price next year!"
"Okay, okay!" Sun Kui didn't even need to think, he agreed directly.
The fry of the rice flower fish are easy to obtain. When the time comes, the father and his son will squat by the stream in the mountains for two or three days and they will be able to get it.
Usually a dozen kilograms of fry is enough, and by the time of the autumn harvest, they can grow into thousands of kilograms of fish.
Lao Suntou smiled and said to everyone: "We will talk about the business later. Let's go on to eat. The food will be cold later."
Yang Ruoqing was about to say that she was full and not eat anymore, but the empty bowl in front of her was snatched away by Mrs. Sun Kui, who took it to the kitchen and brought her a bowl of white rice.
For people living in the mountains, they eat multigrain rice, wild vegetable rice, sweet potato porridge all year round.
A pot of white rice cooked like today is already a very luxurious thing.
But Sun Kui was so happy today that he poured all the white rice originally reserved for his two grandchildren into Yang Ruoqing's bowl.
This made my daughter-in-law, who had been staying in the kitchen waiting on the stove, feel very uncomfortable when she saw this.
The daughter-in-law tried to stop her mother-in-law tactfully: "Mom, please leave a mouthful of white rice for the children..."
Mrs. Sun Kui said to her daughter-in-law in a low voice: "This is our family's God of Wealth!"
"If you're ready, our family will have white rice for every meal!"
"what does it mean?"
The daughter-in-law didn't know what was going on, and was very confused when she saw her mother-in-law running out of the kitchen carrying the rice bowl.
The son also followed the kitchen at this time. He came to help Lao Suntou scoop rice soup.
The son whispered a few words to his daughter-in-law.
When the daughter-in-law heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Dad, does this count? Can the rice fish in our rice fields be exchanged for money?"
