Summer is one of the twenty-four solar terms of the lunar calendar, and the sun is located in the yellow meridian 120. In the hot summer, China people have the custom of drinking tea, drying ginger, burning incense and drinking mutton soup.
"Twenty-four solar terms" said: "Summer is in the middle of June. Summer, summer, size, small at the beginning of the month, big in the month, and still hot today. " Its climatic characteristics are: "Dou refers to C as a great summer heat, and the weather in Sri Lanka is much fiercer than a small summer heat, so it is called a great summer heat." The summer solar term is just around the Mid-Autumn Festival in the dog days, which is the hottest period of the year, with the highest temperature and the fastest growth of crops. At the same time, various meteorological disasters such as drought, waterlogging and wind disasters are also the most frequent in many areas.
Dividing the sky into four steps, the most bitter thing is steaming.
The summer heat is the twelfth of the twenty-four solar terms, and it is also the hottest time of the year. There are three periods of great summer heat: "First, rotten grass becomes fireflies;" Second, wait for the soil to moisten and cool off the heat; It will rain three times. "
Teacher Wen, a painter in Fenyang City, paints for the summer solar terms.
In addition to watermelon and cold drinks, Fenyang people also have a court snack, mung bean cake, which was handed down from the Ming Dynasty.
Fenyang mung bean cake belongs to intangible cultural heritage, which is made by hand through unique technology and is a good summer product.
Fenyang Cuisine-Mung Bean Cake
Every summer, in the streets of Fenyang City, you can often hear the shouts of "Fenzhou time-honored brand, fresh mung bean cake". When the shouts with a strong Fenyang accent sounded, people could not help but swallow saliva. The cry came from a tricycle. A small arbor was set up behind the tricycle, and the green cloth was printed with "fresh mung bean cake" in white. There is a piece of white cloth under the pavilion, and there is a 2-foot-square board with shiny iron sheets. There are green cakes neatly on it, and there is a layer of crystal sugar on it, which reminds people of the green wheat fields under the snowy Yuan Ye. This is the delicious Fenyang mung bean cake.
The origin of mung bean cake
According to legend, in ancient China, during the Dragon Boat Festival, people not only ate zongzi, but also drank realgar wine, mung bean cake and salted duck eggs to avoid diseases caused by summer heat. Now, mung bean cake has become an indispensable summer food for people.
Nutritional value of mung bean cake
The main component of mung bean cake is mung bean. Mung beans, also known as adzuki beans, have been cultivated in China for more than 2,000 years. Traditional Chinese medicine research believes that mung beans are flat, sweet and cold, enter the heart and stomach, and have the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials, relieving summer heat and diuresis. In Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen also called mung beans "a good valley that really helps the world". Mung beans are rich in inorganic salts and vitamins, such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins (B 1, B2), carotene, folic acid and minerals (calcium, phosphorus and iron). These ingredients have a very effective effect on improving human immunity, preventing diseases and promoting human health. Compendium of Materia Medica also records: "Mung beans are ground into flour, filtered to get powder, and used as bait to stew cakes, which have the functions of clearing away heat and benefiting qi, regulating five internal organs, calming the heart and strengthening the stomach." Therefore, people with dyspepsia of gastrointestinal function are more suitable to eat mung bean cake, which can play the role of relieving summer heat, clearing away heat and dryness, detoxifying and conditioning the five internal organs. Eating it is very beneficial to the human body and has many wonderful uses.
Characteristics of mung bean cake
Mung bean cake is deeply loved by people because of its sweet, soft and delicious taste, sweet but not greasy, rich nutrition and suitability for all ages.
The size of a mung bean cake is only three centimeters square. Below is a green cake with a uniform layer of sugar, which makes people drool. Put a piece in your mouth, only feel soft but not loose, delicate and not greasy. It melts in your mouth, and then it overflows with My Sweetie and delicious feeling. The more you eat, the more you want to eat, especially in summer, when the sun is shining and you feel refreshed immediately. This is a kind of summer food suitable for all ages, and it is a unique "patented" product in Fenyang. It is said that Fenyang people are good at food, which can be seen from this small mung bean cake.
Making method of mung bean cake:
There are three or four mung bean cake workshops in Fenyang, with slightly different tastes and similar techniques. The main ingredients of mung bean cake are pure mung bean powder and sugar, and the auxiliary materials are honey and osmanthus sauce. The production of mung bean cake probably goes through more than a dozen processes from grinding to finished product, and the ingredients and temperature are extremely particular, so it can't be sloppy.
Production technology of mung bean cake;
(1) Mix mung bean powder, sugar, honey, osmanthus sauce, water, etc. Mix evenly according to a certain proportion. Steam the mixed noodles on a steamer. Note: (the timing of steaming is very important, which is an important factor in the success or failure of mung bean cake making)
(2) After the steamed noodles are cooled for a few minutes, they are put into a special wooden trough and compacted. (Note: Mastering the cooling time is also the key)
(3) After the cake is compacted, evenly sprinkle a layer of white sugar on it, and then press the white sugar evenly with a shovel after demoulding.
(4) When the cake body is cut for the wedding and birthday celebration, when it is necessary to customize the special mung bean cake, it needs to be stamped with a special mold.
People who are not suitable for eating too much sugar can also enjoy delicious mung bean cake, Fenzhou mung bean cake and low sugar!
Packaging of mung bean cake:
The packaging of Fenyang mung bean cake is very simple and environmentally friendly. A piece of wrapping paper, a square, iconic red trademark and a kraft paper rope are the "coat" of Fenyang mung bean cake.
Fenyang people present mung bean cakes to relatives and friends and entertain guests. Enthusiastic Fenyang people like to present mung bean cakes to relatives and friends and entertain visiting guests. More exquisite people, before the wedding banquet, offer a plate of sweet and delicious Fenyang mung bean cake, which can not only reflect the characteristics of Fenyang, but also reflect the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness of the banquet, which will add a lot of color to the wedding banquet!
Fenyang mung bean cake, like Fenyang moon cake, is deeply loved by people, especially overseas travelers, who often miss their hometown mung bean cake and are most homesick. Many Fenyang clients at home and abroad bring mung bean cakes not far from Wan Li, on the one hand, because Fenyang's mung bean cakes are delicious; On the other hand, it is because only this genuine Fenyang mung bean cake is the taste of hometown.
Taboos for eating mung bean cake:
Fenyang mung bean cake is delicious, but it is not suitable for everyone. Pregnant women, patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, patients with orthopedic diseases, patients with nervous system diseases, and those with physical deficiency and cold should not eat more or eat for a long time. People with diarrhea due to deficiency of spleen and stomach should be careful.
The scorching sun is like fire, cicadas are singing in bursts, and the hot summer days are quietly coming to us. The cry of "Fenyang Time-honored Fresh Mung Bean Cake" began to reverberate in the streets again. The simple local accent echoed in my ears, and the sweet aroma touched the taste buds. When the refreshing sweetness like a stream spreads from the mouth to the whole body, it is Fenyang mung bean cake that gives you the coolest comfort in hot summer!