Freezing up the Northeast

　Some people say that I seem to have been born in the wrong place, and that a person who likes to read Song lyrics in a cheongsam doesn't seem to be from the Northeast. I also admit that my heart is indeed intoxicated by the taste of Jiangnan. Spring time, holding the "smoke tree heavy fragrance letter apart, curtain outside the flowers can not fly" lines sniffing the faint sadness and softness; summer time, in the "a river of smoke and water shining clear arrows, the two banks of the home to the painted eaves" in the beauty of the search for that is not toxic hot warm sunshine; autumn When you close your eyes, your mind will come up with "the hidden water of the green hills is a long way, the grass has not withered in the south of the autumn" subtlety and warmth. However, a winter, especially to the time of the freezing cold, these are not worth mentioning, I took off the outer clothing of Jiangnan, the most "northeast" side of the bones revealed. Winter, only in the Northeast, to experience the complete and thorough.

　　Time back to many years ago, the winter in the Northeast in my childhood memories of the most profound is the ice sculpture. Ice sculpture is a kind of ice as the main material to carve the art form, it is extremely demanding on the selection of ice, there can be no cracks and bubbles, to the color and transparency, similar to the texture of crystal is the best, production placement and layout to be reasonable, pay attention to the balance and flow line direction. In our childhood, there were very few ways to entertain us, especially in the night of the ninth day, when it was 20 to 30 degrees below zero, besides watching black-and-white TV on a hot burning bed, what could attract us outside was the ice sculptures in the open space of the square were added with paint or hung with colored lights, and under the background of the transparent ice and the darkness of the night, the colors became more and more attractive to the children's eyes. Happier still, some ice sculptures are made into slides, and that really becomes a luxury that children are waiting in long lines to experience. With the development of technology, now the ice sculpture is not only in the winter, the material is not necessarily pure ice, high-tech will be in any season to create the temperature suitable for the preservation of ice sculpture, but also the use of any material carved like ice visual effects, I think the taste of that year has been very light.

　　In the age of material scarcity, few people can afford to use the refrigerator, but in the standard of living has improved to almost every household has a refrigerator today, the winter in the northeast also do not need you to use the refrigerator, the outside world is a natural cold storage, and, into this cold storage, definitely more interesting than at home to open the refrigerator. All kinds of ice cream is so directly on the street, northeastern people have the habit of eating ice cream in winter, many people can not understand, this is because the winter outside the northeast is too cold, the house will be heated as much as possible, the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is too big, just from the outside in a puff of warm air sometimes makes people feel sick to their stomachs, eat a bite of ice cream, instantly feel fresh and smooth; old-fashioned red hawthorn sugar gourd The old-fashioned red hawthorn candy canes led by the newly developed various fruit candy canes slanted in the glass car, green kiwi, purple grapes, yellow mangoes, white bananas, each with its own flavor, flowery and green dotted in the snow-covered streets; the most amazing is the natural freezing of pears, apples, persimmons in this natural climate, when eating first put in cold water to soak, after a while, these hard and unbearable, so you Feel simply can no longer eat the frozen fruit becomes soft and juicy, the texture and taste will turn them into another substance, completely overturned the way you have eaten before.

　　Cold is the most intuitive image of winter in the northeast, but in this cold season, you do not want to move a little, there is also the existence of warmth. That is the family sitting around the table, the hot pot or stew on the table constantly steaming. If you live in a bungalow, then congratulations, you are too lucky at this time, the same ingredients and ingredients, with a large iron pot and wood fire stew out of the northeast, with the building induction cooker or gas stove with the so-called non-stick stew out of the taste, that is absolutely different. The legendary sauerkraut invented by Nurhachi's wife is cut into strips and added with thinly sliced skinned pork and solidified pig's blood, stewing until the soup boils and the heat fills the whole kitchen; a whole cleaned fish is put into the pot to keep it intact, adding cubed tofu and wide or thin vermicelli, stewing until the fishy smell of the fish disappears completely and the tofu melts in the mouth; the farmhouse For this dish, experienced housewives judge whether the chicken is cooked by stabbing it with a chopstick, and by whether the chopstick can break the chicken, and how hard or soft it is during the stabbing process, to grasp whether it can be cooked, or how long it needs to be stewed. These three stewed dishes, is a must away from those MSG, chicken powder and other seasonings, only to taste their original flavor, but also must be in the winter in the Northeast, reflecting the cold outside to eat to feel more!

　　To feel the winter of the Northeast more extreme, then go to the nature away from the hustle and bustle to find those wild things! The vast lake was covered with thick ice, and one of the most experienced leaders, known as the head fisherman, led a group of faithful "followers". He was able to distinguish which piece of the net can be chiseled under the ice that the naked eye can not see to salvage the abundant fish, which is the legendary winter fishing. In the snow to the knees or even waist of the mountain forest, in addition to the leaves fallen trees and the north wind like a knife cut face, there are surprises that you did not expect. The pheasant runs and dives into the snow, never thinking that the body is still exposed, you can easily capture it; the crow is on the branch or your head chirping, seems to be waiting for you to catch it; roe deer meat and wild boar meat was also a winter delicacy in the Northeast. Although they are rarely seen now, and even if they are, they are no longer hunted due to ecological protection, but that time is still a permanent memory for the older generation.

　　So, in winter, even if it's a bone-chilling freeze, I'd rather be in the Northeast and have a real winter!