Along the way, I saw bundles of sesame stalks everywhere in the autumn field, which supported each other in twos and threes. This is really a veritable white sesame base.
In my hometown, Pingyu County, such scenery is everywhere in autumn, and many white sesame seeds are planted here. Seeing the blooming Gesang flowers and newly planted ginkgo trees on both sides of this country road, I knew that this should be the sesame town we were looking for.
We drove on, and sure enough, the words "Sesame Town" appeared above the road. The newly built asphalt road is next to the houses of ordinary people, but the walls near the road are painted with uniform colors, 24 filial piety pictures or Harvest figure.
In a clearing, I saw an antique landscape, such as the old house and the old courtyard where I lived when I was a child. A low thatched cottage built of adobe, with a stone mill and a well in front, and a bronze statue of the owner in the yard, sprinkled with food to feed the chickens.
Stop, push open Chai Men's yard, touch the thatched roof, gently knock on the closed wooden door, of course, there is no owner to open the door. Push out several stone mills in the yard. This is a stone mill for grinding sesame oil. I think I smell sesame oil.
Say goodbye to the "owner" who feeds chickens in the yard, and we get on the bus and continue to look for the charm of Sesame Town.
After another 200 meters, I saw two small round adobe buildings in another clearing. On the wall of this adobe building, there is still a pot cover made of sorghum stalks and dried crops, which is really antique.
I guess this adobe circular building should be a warehouse for storing sesame seeds in the past. In the courtyard of Tulou, there are bronze figures working with bamboo baskets on their shoulders. There is an old lady sweeping the fallen leaves next to her. This picture goes through ancient and modern times, which is amazing!
Not far away, there are bronze statues of people plowing land in the fields. After seeing it, my parents-in-law lamented that the bronze statues of people working in the fields and cows were really lifelike. They must remember that when they were young, they saw adults plowing in the fields. The old cow pulled the heavy plow and bowed its head and pushed it forward. The plowman drives the cow with a plow in one hand and a whip in the other, urging the cow to use more force.
Now agriculture is mostly mechanized production, and farmers have saved a lot of effort. However, sesame is a special crop. There is no advanced machine for harvesting sesame seeds. First, cut off the sesame stems that have been cooked for a long time with a sickle, and tie them into bundles with straw or plastic rope. Two or three bundles of sesame seeds support each other and bask in the sun in the fields. After the sesame shell cracked, the farmer spread a large piece of cloth in the field, picked up a sesame bundle and patted the sesame bundle gently on the top of the cloth with a sickle. The vibration made sesame seeds fall like rain in Mao Mao. At this time, farmers will squat down, pinch a few sesame seeds and put them in their mouths to chew. They have white foam in their mouths and the sweetness of sesame seeds in their mouths. They forgot the hard work of farming and were full of the joy of harvest.
Knock it two or three times to harvest sesame seeds, and the particles can be returned to the warehouse.
The harvested sesame seeds also need to be stripped of dead leaves, dried in the sun and then stored.
Farmers will make sesame food during the sesame harvest season.
Just put the white sesame seeds into the pot and stir-fry them with low fire. When you hear the crackling sound in the pot and see the sesame jumping in the pot and the sesame turning yellow, it means that the sesame is ripe.
Put the fried sesame seeds on the chopping board, mix some salt, crush them bit by bit with a clean bottle or rolling pin, and then put them in a bowl. Salty, delicious and nutritious sesame salt is ready. Take a piece of steamed bread and dip it in sesame salt. It is really delicious.
If you eat noodles, add some sesame salt to the noodle bowl and the taste will be upgraded immediately.
For farmers who need to work in the fields immediately after eating during the busy farming season, sesame salt is fragrant and salty, which is very delicious. Sesame salt can be eaten for several days at a time, and it is also very convenient to eat. For rural children studying in the city, when they go back to school every weekend, parents will inevitably fry some sesame salt and let the baby take it to school to eat slowly.
We also harvest soybeans, rape and peanuts in the countryside here. These can be used to extract oil like sesame, but the oil extracted from sesame is particularly fragrant, so it is also called sesame oil. Mix cold dishes, noodles or vegetable soup with sesame oil, and drop a few drops of sesame oil before cooking, which will add a lot of flavor.
To squeeze sesame oil, you need to wash sesame seeds first, and then fry them in a large pot. When I was a child, I saw a workshop making sesame oil in the village. Stir-frying sesame seeds is a technical activity. It is necessary to master the heat and stir-fry slowly with slow fire. If the oil is not fried well, it will be very bitter. It takes a lot of arm strength to stir-fry sesame seeds, because the whole process needs constant frying.
Stir-fried sesame seeds are put into the round hole in the stone mill, and the little donkey pulls the stone mill around, and the stone mill squeezes white sesame seeds into sesame paste, which smells fragrant. Sesame is put into the mill, and less grinding is more. The finer the grinding, the more oil you can get. Put the ground sesame paste into an iron pot and mix it with water heavier than oil, so that the oil can be pushed out with water, and the water will fall out.
Then use a long gourd to press down slightly on the sesame paste, and the sesame oil will come out.
Then skim off the sesame oil with a spoon. This repeated skimming, sesame oil skimmed off, leaving sesame residue. Control the water to dry, add some sesame oil and stir, which is a nutritious and delicious sesame sauce.
Stone mill sesame oil is particularly popular because there is no high temperature in the production process of stone mill sesame oil to destroy the original flavor of sesame oil. The sesame oil we make here is still made of stone mill, just frying sesame seeds, grinding oil and rubbing oil with oil gourd. These processes are all electric, saving manpower, and the taste of sesame oil is still so fragrant. Stone mill sesame oil has become our specialty. White sesame has become the business card of my hometown, and many large domestic and foreign manufacturers have visited it on the spot.
White sesame seeds are full of treasures. Besides sesame, sesame leaves can be used as food; Sesame shell can be used as medicine; Sesame flower can be used as sesame scented tea.
My hometown is famous because of white sesame, and this sesame town has gradually become a rural tourist attraction because of white sesame. Today, let's take a look at the beautiful scenery here.
We stopped in the wide parking lot opposite the town government. Next to this parking lot is a garden with chrysanthemums, Gesang flowers and some flowers I can't name. At this time, the daughter pointed to a flower under the tree and asked, "Mom, what flowers are there at this time?" As soon as I saw it, I estimated that this flower is unique to this Sesame Town Park, and it is a dog's tail flower that I often saw in the fields when I was a child. It is so ordinary, but it is also blooming its own beauty.
Because we had to go to the toilet, we went to the town government building, which was magnificent in appearance, like an eagle spreading its wings. As soon as I entered the hall, I saw the big word "Sesame blossoms, fragrance floats in the world".
Eye-catching signs help us find the bathroom quickly. Wow, it's as clean as the bathroom in a five-star hotel, and even has a paper tube. There is also hand sanitizer and toilet paper next to the sink.
Out of curiosity, we visited the township government building and found a reading room next to the bathroom, where two children were reading. When I walked into the reading room, there were many books, newspapers and magazines. The daughter picked up an unsolved mystery in history, and her mother-in-law turned over the newspaper. This township reading room is really rich in books. I was attracted by a book called My Town, My Home, and was about to pick it up when my husband called. Let's get out of here.
Walking out of the township government building, I heard that the beautiful scenery is still ahead, so we move on. Along the way, we saw many cars parked on the roadside. It seems that this sesame town is really attractive.
We came to a corridor decorated with colorful windmills. The breeze blows and the windmill rotates, which is very beautiful. At the corner of the windmill corridor, we saw the corridor decorated with floral umbrellas, where many people took pictures.
In the large fields on the left and right sides of the promenade, rows of vines climbed neatly on the shelves. It is estimated that grapes will be produced next year.
Walking through the paper umbrella corridor, we came to a newly built asphalt road. There is a river by the road. Walking through the arched wooden bridge, we came to an open field. It is more like a market, with many local snacks, such as baked gluten, Chinese hamburger, candied haws and so on. Next to the snack street is an amusement park that children like. Many children slide, swing and ride wooden horses in it. This is really a beautiful and vibrant place.
It's getting late, and our interest in playing has not diminished. We returned to the quaint thatched cottage and pushed the stone mill. The daughter also exchanged views with the bronze statue chicken. I went to the back of the hut and found some ducks swimming leisurely in the water. I wish time could be slower. Let me rediscover my childhood life in this sesame town.
Goodbye, Sesame Town. I heard that there are also White Sesame Museum and White Sesame Demonstration Park. I will come back to feel your charm next time. I know that Sesame Town is under construction. I believe it will be more beautiful next time.
May sesame blossom in my hometown and the world be fragrant!