The original article @ Inari Bureau is published in the Middle Reading App
In the past, there was no refrigerator in the countryside, and in order to eat as fresh as possible and not too busy, the 278th day of the Waxing Moon was a concentrated day for the slaughter of pigs. Every year, the mother has to catch two or three piglets to feed, three meals a day, rice bran, rice soup, sweet potato vines, pumpkins, wild vegetables mixed and fed, no feed, a few pigs a year still grow fat and strong, thanks to the mother's diligent care. Late each night, we all went to bed, and my mother was still chopping tomorrow's pig grass under the stove with a dim oil lamp.
The fattest of the several pigs was usually left as a new year pig, and the others were sold to the pig dealers in the lower village to collect pigs. A young pig is said to have less than three hundred pounds, a single new year to eat is not so much to eat, our custom is that three or five people eat separately, both lively, not wasteful, this is invited before killing the pig, are usually close, good relations of several families.
"Domestic Lingling Paint" Zhou Xingchi played the pig killer
The butcher is the busiest when he is in the new year, because marrying relatives and marrying women is also concentrated in these few days at the end of the month, how can the big red celebration be less than the butcher? And there are only two butchers in a village in Nuoda, one is a Feng butcher, thin and tall, white and pure, how can this be a butcher, it is simply a white-faced bookish student who comes down from the yellowed pages, but he is a butcher who is accustomed to bloodshed, white knives into red knives every day, and is a famous knife in ten miles and eight townships. The other is Zhang Butcher, Zhang Tu is full of beard, a large piece of black hair like grass on his chest, and one of his eyes is white-eyed, blind, saying that he suffered from eye diseases when he was a child and did not cure him, and the whole person was born with a kind of evil appearance. He was a bare stick, and his wife died in childbirth, leaving a small child, fed fat and strong, thinking that it was full of oil and water for many years. Everyone calls him The Hairy Ghost Butcher, usually the children are crying and crying and disobedient, the adults just need to say that I ask the hairy ghosts to take you away, the children will stop their mouths, quickly burrow into the arms of the adults, and stop crying. Two butchers set up a case to sell meat under the old camphor tree at the mouth of the village on weekdays, one selling on a single day, and the other selling on a double day, thinking that it was agreed upon for many years and did not interfere with each other.
There were not enough butchers at the time of the year, even if they were counting the apprentices who had not yet left the house, there were only four or five, so they had to make an appointment before January. To kill a pig is to ask a butcher to come to the door to kill. Before killing pigs, the family unloaded a wooden door, brushed it for use as a board, prepared two wide stools for pig slaughter, and a large wooden basin for receiving pig blood.
On this day, the person who invited our family to kill the Pig was a knife to seal the throat of the Feng butcher, the time was set at five o'clock in the morning, the mother got up early in the middle of the night, a large piece of chopped wood into the stove pond, the fire burned fiercely, only a quarter of an hour to burn the full pot of water to the boiling, the stove house was full of heat. A light rain fell outside, mixed with snowdrops, and the cold was tight, and my mother started a charcoal fire again.
Those who came to help catch pigs also came one after another, all of them were strong men with strength. Catching pigs can not be taken lightly, and pigs raised in the countryside are very wild. But it is not the same as in the pig farm now, in order to grow more meat, the pigs are locked in a narrow iron cage, and they can't turn around, and the pigs they raise can't run if they don't like to move. The pigs in the countryside are grazed most of the time, running east and west all over the village all day long, and they are accustomed to wilding, and it takes a lot of effort to catch it.
Everyone smoked cigarettes and roasted around the brazier, the barking of dogs outside the courtyard suddenly became one, a burst of kicking and kicking rain boots sounded, and Feng Butcher entered the courtyard with a cold breath, and put down the waist-shaped butcher basket, which contained all kinds of cold and shining butchers. After saying hello, asking if the water was boiling, the people arrived at Qi, and when they heard it, they were ready, and said that they would do it.
A full set of tools for the butcher
The pig is still sleeping in the pen, and the space in it is limited, and it must be driven out to catch it, but it must not be frightened, and the mother must come. The mother took the flashlight and carried a small half bucket of rice porridge with white flowers, and called the pig up. The sky was still dark, at first the pig was a little hesitant, lying still, the mother stepped forward and kicked it a corner, it reluctantly propped up its front feet and slowly stood up, did not move, stared around for a circle, only to see the mother carry the rice porridge to call it, so it stepped out of the railing door straight to the porridge basin, buried its head and ate.
A few pig catchers hid in the shadows, saw the pigs bow their heads to eat and let down their vigilance, and roared in unison: Up! Dragging the pig's tail, grabbing the pig's ears, grabbing the pig's ears, and fishing for the feet, suddenly flipped the pig to the ground. The pig opened its mouth wide in fear, struggled to let out a roar of resistance, and arched its head violently upwards. A toe, the pig's ears were arched by the pig, the foot did not stand steady, a loose slippery hand, the pig took the opportunity to slam its head, plucked its body, and fought forward, dragging the pig's tail over. The pig rushed into the darkness of the night. Everyone splashed muddy water and complained a few words. Feng Butcher had seen such things a lot, and said to catch up and not let it run away. A few pig catchers picked up flat shoulders or bar, chased and blocked on all sides, and the pigs rushed from east to west, rushing out of the encirclement circle several times. The ground had just rained and snowed, slippery and wet, muddy, and the chaser slipped and fell off without any care.
The pigs ran breathlessly, their eyes were on fire, their pace slowed down, and the people were sweating hot and sweaty. The pig was finally forced into a triangular corner, unable to walk, and his feet were trembling slightly. Feng Butcher saw the opportunity and said to a few pig catchers, go up and pounce on it. The pig's strength subsided, hummed a few times, and could only wait to be captured on the spot. Bound with ropes, tied with two thick wooden sticks, several people worked together to carry the pigs to a stool.
When the mother lit a few sticks of incense and inserted them into the ground, she let go of a string of firecrackers, which was considered to be a tribute to the gods. Only to see Feng Butcher holding the pig's head in one hand, and clutching the ruler with the other hand to the long frost and snow shining butcher knife, saying that it was too late, then fast, the butcher knife was inserted obliquely from under the throat of the pig, only to turn, a stream of pig blood with hot gas instantly spurted out, and it fell down the large wooden basin. The pig dragged its long tail and howled twice, hummed a few more times, and then did not move. After receiving a large basin full of pig blood, the bottom salt was placed in the basin in advance, and the mother used long chopsticks to draw it well, and soon a basin of pig blood coagulated.
Turn the pig over on the door panel, and take advantage of the fact that the pig's body is not cold to shave the pig's hair. Two buckets of boiling water early on the side, Feng Butcher put the boiling water spoon by spoon with a scoop finely poured on the pig, pig ear side, pig feet, crotch several times, drenched over one side over the other side, the pig body drenched, pores open, at this time the hair removal is the most convenient. Feng Butcher squeezed the planer with both hands, and with three strokes and five halves of two and a half cigarettes, he shaved the pig white and clean. On the large beam of the hanging building of the house, two thick iron chains with hooks were wrapped around, and the two hind feet of the pig poked a hole with scissors, and several people struggled to lift the pig's body, and the chain hook passed through the hole and hung the pig upside down.
Feng Butcher first used a sharp knife to gently cut a hole in the middle of the pig's abdomen, and then quickly pulled out a straight line, and the steaming intestines and intestines and intestines came out in an instant. Feng butcher used a knife at the same time, ripped open the connecting paste film, the same methodically taken out, the large intestine, small intestine, pig belly these fishy smell is strong, more filth, have to mention the front of the river cleaning, pig liver pig heart pig lung pork loin plucked directly into the basket. After taking the water, Feng Butcher used a machete to split the pig in half along the back of his back, and unloaded it into bone pieces on the supported door panel. Following the smell of meat, several earth dogs from the village also came, wagging their tails at the edge of the board, and licking the minced meat and bones that fell to the ground. The mother asked Feng Butcher to cut a page of pork liver, cut off a large piece of knife head meat, asked for a piece of tenderloin, and asked for a section of washed pig intestines, and then cooked and killed pig rice.
The other few who came to divide the pork also came one after another, and their father gave them a cigarette, and everyone smoked a cigarette around the door panel to watch Feng Butcher cut the pork, and saw that the pork skin was thin and thick, the fat was moderate, the fat was full of fat, and the thin color was fresh and tender, and they all praised it very much. Meat is also a big skill, the so-called crowd is difficult to adjust, there are like fat, some like thin, some want pig liver without large intestine, some want pig ears do not pig feet, and so on, Feng Butcher killed decades of pigs, has long been familiar with the road, naturally one by one flat, ended up with great joy.
Divide the meat, the kitchen wafts with the aroma of food, and the slaughtered pig rice is ready. The big round table was full of dishes, a large pot of bone broth spinach and pork blood, a plate of sauerkraut red pepper stir-fried pork intestines, a plate of green garlic pepper stir-fried meat, a plate of pickled pepper stewed pork liver, a plate of lettuce fried tenderloin, a plate of celery stalks stir-fried waist flowers, a bowl of oily rice steamed pickled vegetable button meat, a jar of charcoal stewed barrel bone radish soup, and finally a plate of freshly fried crispy meat, a tin pot of hot yellow wine. Everyone sat down to drink wine and eat meat, red-faced and hot wine, full of food, and told some interesting stories about the harvest and neighbors. Butcher Feng said that you are slow to use, I still have to rush to the next house, so I will get up and leave the table first. The mother let Feng Butcher mention four or five pounds of meat, and Feng Butcher did not resign, this was the reward for his hard work, and at that time, there was no wage for killing pigs. Feng Butcher packed up the guys, lifted the basket, and after a sound of kicking and kicking rain boots, he left the courtyard door.