"Mr. Tian, I haven't paid attention to this. Tell me about it?" Jiang Yaqi smiled weirdly.

"Xiao Jiang, you gold medal tour guide said that you didn't pay attention to the origin of the oil tea soup, no one will believe it, especially people like me, they won't believe it. Tian Limai said while drinking oil tea soup.

"Mr. Tian, about the origin of Camellia Oleifera soup, there are different sayings in various places, I just want to know which one Mr. Tian knows. Jiang Yaqi also replied to Tian Limai while drinking oil tea soup.

"Xiao Jiang, okay then, I'll tell you what I know about the origin and legend of the oil tea soup, and see what the difference is from what you know!"

So, Tian Limai started talking while drinking.

Camellia oil soup is a traditional delicacy unique to the Tujia people in Wuling Mountain, also known as Tujia oil tea soup. It is very popular with the locals, among which the camellia soup in the mountainous areas on the border of Hubei, Chongqing and Hunan is the most famous. The locals have a saying: no oil tea soup in the morning, panic all day long.

The production method of Tujia oil tea soup is relatively complicated. Camellia oil soup, first of all, of course, is indispensable for tea, first fry an appropriate amount of tea with edible oil until it is sallow, scoop the tea leaves into a bowl, add ginger, green onions, garlic, pepper and other natural condiments, and add fried (or fried) fried (or fried) fried rice, shade corn, tofu fruit, walnut kernels, peanuts, glutinous rice grains, soybeans and other "pickled goods", and then the boiling soup in the pot is mixed into the bowl to eat.

The key to the production of Camellia oleifera soup is the quality of the tea leaves and the heat of the fried tea leaves, and the selection of condiments and "pickled goods" can be according to the taste of the guests. Some also add two poached eggs to the guests.

The Tujia people make oil tea soup called oil tea soup, and every authentic Tujia family has prepared a small iron pot specially used to make oil tea soup. Every time after making oil tea soup, they simply wash the pot with cold water, so that the purpose of washing the pot is to make the surface of the pot always have a layer of oil soup, they think that only the oil tea soup made with such a pot can really mellow and flavorful.

This special small iron pot is usually hung on the wooden wall of the fire pit house when not in use.

The production of "soakled goods" is more complicated, so many people make them and put them away in their free time, ready to eat them at any time.

The simplest "pickled goods" is peanuts, heat the iron pot with a strong fire, add vegetable oil, and fry the peanuts until golden brown, then scoop them up and put them on a plate.

The production of fried rice is very complicated, after steaming the glutinous rice is steamed and put in the dustpan to bask in the sun for a day, then each grain of glutinous rice is flattened in the nest, and then dried to become shade rice, when eating, then use the prepared river sand to burst the shade rice into fried rice. This leads to fried rice.

The production of dried tofu is also complicated, using soybeans to grind into soy milk, boiling the soy milk and cooling it to the temperature of warm hands, and using gypsum to point the soy milk into tofu. After the tofu is pressed into a square with a box, it is cut into thin slices and dried, that is, it becomes dried tofu.

Dried tofu needs to be fried when it is put into the oil tea soup, and the heat should be mastered when the dried tofu is fried, and it cannot be fried. After frying, a burnt smell will ruin the whole bowl of oil tea soup.

The production of small glutinous glutinous rice dumplings is the same as that of the Tujia people during the Chinese New Year. After the glutinous rice is steamed, it is put into the nest to dissolve into a pulp glutinous ball, and then twisted into round glutinous rice dumplings of different sizes, but the glutinous rice cakes used as oil tea soup should be twisted a little thinner. After twisting it into glutinous glutinous rice cakes, the kitchen knife cuts them into particles the size of the tip of the little finger and the tip of the thumb, and dries them to become the "pickled" raw material for the oil tea soup.

Shade corn, also known as "gray bud millet". It is to boil the bud grain particles with boiling water, wrap them with a wrap and bury them in the wood ash in the fire pit, and take them out after the wood ash absorbs the water of the bud grain particles, and the natural shade is dry.

Relatively speaking, walnut kernels, peanuts and fried soybeans are much simpler, so I won't introduce them here.

The production of each kind of "pickled goods" of camellia soup is very complicated, so the Tujia people do not use camellia soup to entertain guests casually, and only after the extremely distinguished guests come, they will serve the camellia soup.

It is worth noting that MSG cannot be put in Camellia oleifera soup, because MSG will change the original taste of the soup, and spicy seeds are generally not put in the soup, because it is easy to choke people when drinking soup.

Wuling Mountain has a good ecological environment, rich natural products, and the Tujia, Miao and Han people live in harmony, and in the process of long-term fishing, hunting, farming, war and migration, a unique national food culture has been bred.

Camellia soup is indispensable for the Tujia people every day. It is called "Tujia coffee", just like a kind of tea soup snack snacks, fragrant, crispy, smooth, fresh, delicious and palatable, refreshing and thirst-quenching, and is the traditional very favorite flavor food of Tujia people.

There are more than ten kinds of camellia soup "bubbles" that are the most elaborate in camellia soup. However, there are only a few kinds of foods that are commonly eaten by ordinary people: fried rice, pot rice, peanuts, walnut kernels, sunflower seeds, and so on. However, the Tujia people's daily oil tea soup is not too particular, and the "pickled goods" in it are much simpler, often only two or three.

The oil tea soup is also particular about drinking, and there is also knowledge in drinking tea soup.

There is a saying among the Tujia people: "Oil tea is not angry, and Ba (note: that is, hot) is bad and stupid son-in-law". Because the oil tea soup is generally made with lard, after it is done, the lard will float on the surface, and the temperature is extremely high, but it is not like boiling water, which will emit heat, and the temperature cannot be seen. The silly sons-in-law were treated by the mother-in-law's oil tea soup, and in order to express their support, they poured it down in a big mouthful, and the light ones burned off a layer of skin on their tongues, and the heavy ones burned their mouths full of blisters. Although everyone knows this sentence, there are still many people who are fooled, and the reason is because the oil tea soup made by it is too fragrant.

The authentic and traditional way of drinking oil tea soup is not to use a spoon or chopsticks, hold the bowl and drink it in a circle, pay attention to drinking the soup and accessories at the same time, or take a chopstick and insert it in the bowl to slowly draw a circle, and drink the soup at the same time. It takes a bit of skill to drink both the soup and the soup at the same time, and in the Tujia parlance, "the tongue has to have a hook and a hook".

In Tujia cottage, some old people do not need to touch the bowl when they drink oil tea soup, but only suck it skillfully over the edge of the bowl, and the things in the bowl will enter the mouth, which is interesting and wonderful.

So, how did camellia soup rise?

Since the Tujia people only have language and no writing, there are different opinions about the oil tea soup that has been handed down. It is rumored that the camellia soup was invented by the Tujia herding cow babies in the tea mountain. They picked up a handful of camellia seeds on the mountain, fried the tea oil in a clay pot, and then picked the tea leaves and fried them in oil, mixed them with mountain spring water, and added the fried bud valley they brought with them, and the more they ate, the more flavorful they became.

After tasting this homemade delicacy, the cattle herders often make this most primitive "oil tea soup" in the mountains.

Later, this matter spread to the adults, and the adults tried to improve this practice with iron pots, tea oil, tea leaves, etc., and over time they made the oil tea soup that is often drunk in the Tujia area, and the oil tea soup has been handed down in the Tujia area.

Another theory is that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Tangya Tusi was besieged by the Ming Dynasty, and the city of Tusi was broken, and Qin Yuxian led her "daughter soldiers" to break out of the siege and escape to the west. When they arrived at the "daughter village" at the junction of Hubei and Chongqing, they were surrounded by officers and soldiers. On the day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, there was no food in the army, and only some coarse tea leaves, tea oil, corn, and garlic seedlings remained, so they had to use these things to burn a pot of "oil tea soup" for the New Year, and this custom has been followed to this day.

There is also a theory that Camellia oleifera soup originated in the Han Dynasty. Legend has it that the general of Han Fubo stationed in Wuling that year, because the Wuling mountain is large, the forest is covered, lush, and the rainfall is sufficient, resulting in the miasma in the forest, so that the health of the soldiers is threatened, the general will use the tea leaves, dogwood, sesame seeds, etc. to grind into the end, and then add salt to make soup, for the soldiers to drink to prevent miasma.

Later, the local people followed suit, and gradually became a custom, and because it was difficult to find tea leaves, dogwood, and sesame seeds and the yield of sesame seeds was low, they replaced it with tea, and over time it evolved into today's "oil tea soup".

As early as the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there are records about camellia soup in the county annals compiled and repaired in many counties of Wuling Mountain: "There are so-called camellia people, take soybeans, bud grains, sesame, rice flowers, dried tofu, dried pine ru, bacon dumplings, fry them with fat and oil cannons, stir them up; ”

"Oil tea soup" is delicious and can be used as a food to satisfy hunger and as a drink to refresh yourself. There is a ballad of the Tujia family that says: "The children of the Tujia family love to sing, just because they have burned the oil tea soup and drank ......."

There are also moving legends about the efficacy of camellia soup.

Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese crown invaded Haiyi, and the imperial court ordered the Tang Cliff Tusi City to transfer 3,000 earth soldiers to the east to resist the Japanese Dynasty, when the rainy season came, there were many warm epidemics, diseases prevailed, and other soldiers were extremely unsuitable, but the Tang Cliff Tu soldiers were surprised, and they won many battles. Marshal Qi of the three armies studied the cause in detail, and knew that in order to prevent disease and dampness, the Tang Ya native soldiers used the tea they brought to cook with local dried fish, dried beans, and dried shrimp to make a soup for breakfast every day.

On the way to Sichuan Province, Huang Tingjian, a painter and poet of the Northern Song Dynasty, stayed overnight at Gaole Station, a territory of Tangya, and pointed out that he wanted to drink Tujia oil tea.

After Tian Limai finished speaking, Jiang Yaqi smiled and said, "Mr. Tian, what you said is similar to what I know. In the past, when I was in the Black Hole Scenic Area, when someone asked me about the story of Tujia oil tea soup, I also told me this. As for how much of this is real, the devil knows. ”

"Xiao Jiang, if someone goes to verify the true composition of this now, I dare to say that the person was caught in the door last night. Tian Limai said.

Seeing that Tian Limai and Jiang Yaqi were chatting happily, Wang Pingying, a distant aunt, said to Tian Limai: "Tian Limai, this Jiang girl loves to laugh just like Jiang Wenwen. ”

A sentence from distant aunt Tian Pingying evoked Tian Limai's nostalgia for Jiang Wenwen again: Yes, Wenwen is often smiling.

Tian Limai thought about Jiang Wenwen, so he forgot to drink oil tea soup.

Jiang Yaqi saw it and asked softly, "Mr. Tian, did you think of her again?!"

"Hmm. Tian Limai didn't hide it, and looked up at Jiang Yaqi.

Tian Limai's look made him feel that Jiang Yaqi's face looked like Jiang Wenwen in many places.

Jiang Yaqi's face is round, with double eyelids, large and dark eyes, a slight hook on the tip of the nose, a small mouth, thin lips, and a moderately round chin, especially the earlobe with a thick little finger.

Although Jiang Yaqi's height is not as tall as Jiang Wenwen, her figure is very even, her chest is abrupt, she looks young and energetic, and she feels very beautiful.

Jiang Yaqi saw Tian Limai looking at him stunned, and said softly with a slight smile: "Mr. Tian, your uncle and aunt are watching!"

"You're not Jiang Yaqi, it's my Wenwen!" Tian Limai said suddenly.

Tian Limai hallucinated, and his mind was in chaos......

"Mr. Tian, what are you talking about?" Jiang Yaqi was a little unhappy.

Uncle Qin Jintian saw the clue, and hurriedly walked over and said loudly: "Mr. Tian, don't think too much, drink the oil tea soup back to the company, you have a lot of things!"

Uncle Qin Jintian's voice made Tian Limai return to reality from his hallucination, he was stunned, and said embarrassedly: "What's wrong with me?"

Tian Limai drank the oil tea soup in the bowl in a few sips.

"Wheat, have you finished eating? Maybe the people in the company are waiting for us to have breakfast!" Tian Limai asked Jiang Yaqi.

Jiang Yaqi glanced at Tian Limai and did not answer Tian Limai, it seemed that Jiang Yaqi was very dissatisfied with Tian Limai's performance just now. However, Jiang Yaqi's oil tea soup has already been drunk.

Tian Limai took out a hundred yuan from his body and stuffed it to his uncle Qin Jintian: "Uncle, this is our oil tea soup money!"

Tian Limai's actions made his uncle Qin Jintian very angry, he picked up the money and threw it at Tian Limai fiercely: "Mr. Tian, you are watching people through the cracks in the door, and you have flattened your uncle, I told you so much before, why do you still look at your aunt and aunt with the same eyes as before?"

Uncle Qin Jintian was angry, and his voice trembled a little.

Aunt Tian Pingying also came over to blame Tian Limai: "Tian Limai, in the past, your aunt and aunt were poor, and they were open-minded when they saw money, and they didn't do things right, but now your aunt and aunt are no longer in the past, and we will resolutely not accept this money!"

Although Tian Limai had listened to his uncle Qin Jintian's words before, he was still afraid that his uncle Qin Jintian and his aunt had set up some routine, so he decided to use money to test it.

Tian Limai saw that her aunt Tian Pingying and her aunt Qin Jintian didn't charge money, and she was afraid that they were too little, so she took out another hundred yuan and handed it to her aunt Tian Pingying: "Auntie, don't be too little, I haven't been here for a long time, you and your aunt will buy some to eat!"

"Tian Limai, if you come to hand over money during the New Year's festival and the full day of growth, we will accept it, but we will not accept it in peacetime today. You put it away, Tian Limai, you and Miss Jiang have to go quickly, we won't keep you, you all have something to do. "Aunt Tian Pingying resolutely does not accept money.

Tian Limai had no choice but to put away the two hundred yuan, and with Jiang Yaqi, he said goodbye to his aunt Qin Jintian and aunt Tian Pingying, and left.

As soon as Tian Limai and Jiang Yaqi walked out of the courtyard of their distant aunt Tian Pingying, Yang Cuo called and asked Tian Limai where he was?