Stir-fried Bacon with Bulgogi Sour Where is it a specialty?

Bao Gu Sour is the name of the people in western Hunan Province, and in some areas of Longshan County, Xiangxi Prefecture, where the Tujia people live, it is also called "Mixed Chili".

My hometown is on the Baimian Mountain in Longshan County, Xiangxi Prefecture. Every year, after the fall harvest, the local people would make bao guan sour. Bao Gu Sour is particularly simple to make, but each has its own characteristics. When making it, first use a stone mill to grind the corn kernels into powder. Although every household now has a rice mill, people still think that corn ground by stone mill does not lose its original flavor. A little salt and chili pepper are added to the ground cornmeal and stirred, which completes the first stage of the process. Finally, the raw materials are put into the pre-cleaned clay pots and sealed with a lid and water, and a jar of bao guan acid begins to brew in time.

Every year, my mother would always make a jar or a few jars of bao guan acid at home, just because my brother and I grew up like to eat this local specialty. I remember when I was a child, before I left home, my family's daily necessity was the bao guan acid. Every time the mother in the fire pit when fried in the grain acid, looking at the golden particles, the two brothers have long been salivating. The two brothers love to use it to mix rice, the rich flavor overshadowed the bitterness of the vegetables. When you are hungry at lunchtime, bao gua acid is also a must-have delicacy. From the cupboard out of a bowl of bao guan sour, you take a bite and I take a bite, three times, two people look at the empty bowl, can not help but laugh.

And now, working outside, seldom return home, but the mother as always, do the baguette acid, just for the son returned to the outside can eat the favorite food. Last winter when I came home, my mother pulled another bowl of bao guan sour out of the jar, and then picked up a knife and said to me, "Today I'll give you something different, bao guan sour fried preserved pork leg." I chose a good piece of pork leg, washed it, cut it into slices, and put it into a frying pan and stir-fried it. After frying, put it in a bowl and put it aside for a while, then put the bak choi into the dry frying pan without oil, when the water in the bak choi was evaporated, pour the preserved pork leg into the pan, the strong smell of bacon mixed with the smell of bak choi teaches people to not be able to move half a step again. The flavor of memories added a new taste, this is the exclusive flavor of the mother.

After the short reunion, there was a parting, and before leaving, my mother put a big bag of fried bacon with pau d'arco in my luggage.

Written by Chen Xiong