Old Nanjing Xiaoxue custom street corner pickle busy.

There is a saying in China called "light snow pickles, heavy snow pickles". In the past, when living conditions were not so good, some areas in China didn't eat much vegetables in winter, and the cold winter tables were mainly pickled pickles. In order to ensure that there are enough pickles for families to eat in cold winter, all localities should pickle vegetables in advance. Then let Lao Huangli introduce you to the old Nanjing Xiaoxue custom: pickles.

In the light snow season, there was an unruly custom in old Nanjing. Every household is busy pickling vegetables, and the saying "light snow pickles, heavy snow pickles" has been answered. In the past, when life was not rich and it was freezing, pickles and mustard seeds were the main dishes on people's dinner tables.

To pickle pickles for a winter, the amount is usually quite large. Some people eat a lot (people who eat) and buy two or three hundred kilograms of tall cabbage for twenty cents a catty. The family took the rope, tied it with a pole and carried it home, and some people pulled it back and pushed it home with a scooter.

Pickles are actually very particular. Large vegetables should be spread out to dry first. On the ground, on the eaves, bamboo poles are hung to dry clothes, and rows of green and white in the small yard have become a landscape. Some people have no place to bask in the sun, so they put them upright on their windowsill. Big green vegetables with fat heads and long stems are like little bodhisattvas.

The big vegetables softened in the sun and tottered, so they began to be washed with water. Adults and children work together, and the pots and pans are served together. Strange to say, the big green vegetables were soft just now, but they were so hard after washing and soaking in water.

Put the washed vegetables neatly on a long bench and drain. When the water stops, put it in a vat prepared in advance, put a layer of vegetables, sprinkle a handful of big seed salt and pile it up layer by layer. Finally, press some big bricks (stones) and cover them. In a few days, I saw the brine of pickled vegetables in the jar, and a week later I could smell the smell of vegetables washing my nose.

The big green vegetables can be eaten after a month of pickling, and the mouth is crispy. Sauerkraut heart, cut into pieces, mixed with sesame oil, eaten as a side dish at breakfast, is really a meal. Kimchi petals are white and tender as jade, and tofu soup is delicious. Sauté ed edamame with potherb mustard is another delicious dish.

Now that life is good, there are fewer kimchi people. The pots and pans used to pickle vegetables have long been replaced by modern household necessities. Now people who want to eat pickles will go directly to the market to buy some ready-made sparerib soup, or buy a handful of fried pork with potherb mustard, and their appetite will suddenly open.