What kind of rice was Mao Zedong's "Gold and Silver Yuanbao Rice"?

This is Mao Zedong talking to the peasants in Yangjialing, Yan'an, asking about their production and living conditions

From: WeChat public number "Dongfang Hongla"

Another round of the Zodiac, eating Chinese New Year's Eve meal is the most important moment of the year for family reunions, how did Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other leaders eat Chinese New Year's Eve meal? What are their Chinese New Year's Eve dishes on the table? "Oriental Hongla" (id: dongfanghongla) has launched a special edition of Chinese New Year's Eve Rice, taking you to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, exploring the stories of leaders and Chinese New Year's Eve rice.

In February 1946, Mao Zedong lived in Wangjiaping, Yan'an. One day, the windows of the cave where Mao Zedong lived broke, and the management section sent an old carpenter in his 60s, and when the windows were repaired, it was time for lunch. Mao Zedong insisted on staying with the old carpenter to eat together. Mao Zedong said happily to the old carpenter: "Old man, don't go, I want you to enjoy the blessings today, and eat a meal of gold and silver yuan treasure at my place." The old carpenter listened, felt strange, did not know what kind of rice this "gold and silver dollar treasure rice" was, so that he no longer prevaricated and stayed.

After a while, the "Gold and Silver Dollar Treasure Rice" was served. It turns out that the "gold and silver yuanbao rice" is millet mixed with a little rice, and a few pieces of sweet potatoes. The old carpenter looked at this meal, and then at Mao Zedong, and couldn't help but laugh.

Mao Zedong also smiled happily, and while filling the old carpenter with rice in a bowl, he said, "My gold and silver yuan treasure rice is real." Millet is gold, rice is silver, and this piece of sweet potato is the yuan treasure. Pack you taste good, eat, four seasons to get rich! The old carpenter listened to Mao Zedong's words, became more and more happy, and ate unrestrainedly.

Most of the time, Mao Zedong only ate "two rice". The so-called "two rice" is a combination of two varieties, these varieties include: rice, millet, corn, red beans, mung beans, sweet potatoes, taro, lilies... If it is a combination of millet and rice, one yellow and one white, it is "gold and silver rice". The meal that Mao Zedong used to entertain the old carpenter was "three rice." "Three rice" is more nutritious than "two rice".

During Mao Zedong's northern Shaanxi period, the staple foods he ate were money and rice, and two rice. Northern Shaanxi does not produce rice, white noodles are also very small, and the staple food of the people is millet. Qianqian rice is a rice cooked by mixing millet with slices of black bean mill (known locally as qianqian). This was the staple food that Mao Zedong ate most often when he was in Yan'an. The second rice was made with a mixture of rice and millet, which remained the staple food of Mao Zedong's table after liberation. At that time, the side food was mainly vegetables, and meat was rarely seen, and there was not much oil.

Mao Zedong liked to eat coarse grains, a habit he had developed during the war years. During the Jinggangshan period, red rice and pumpkin soup were eaten; during the Long March, dry food, belts and wild vegetables were eaten; in northern Shaanxi, brown rice, black beans, millet, and taro were eaten. When the whole country was liberated and life became better, coarse grain was rarely given to him, and Mao Zedong was not satisfied, and often demanded some coarse grain.

One day in the autumn of 1958, Mao Zedong said to zhang Guoxing, his life administrator: "Don't always make refined rice for me to eat, I want to eat some coarse rice." Mao Zedong had already made such a request several times, and had previously mentioned it to health doctors.

At that time, Zhang Guoxing thought: How can I let the chairman eat coarse rice? That's what most people don't like to eat. Besides, it should make sense that the supply station is supplying polished rice. So Mao Zedong proposed several times to eat coarse rice. The staff didn't do what he said.

This time Mao Zedong said the reason: "The number of times the coarse rice is milled is small, the germ is not ground, and the nutritional value is high; the number of times the refined rice is milled, the nutritional value is reduced, and the rice is not delicious." Long-term eating refined rice white noodles, people will have a loss of appetite, limb weakness, and in severe cases, they will have beriberi. ”

Mao Zedong grew up in the countryside and read a lot of books, and he knew the nutritional value of rice. Zhang Guoxing felt very reasonable when he heard it. So I went to the farmer's house in the suburbs and used the stone mortar to make some of them.

Zhang Guoxing took the scooped rice back to the kitchen, and while he was eating, the steaming coarse rice was served to Mao Zedong's table. Mao Zedong ate a few bites in a row and said, "Well, it's delicious, delicious, and I'll make this rice for me to eat later." ”

Source: Wu Liandeng, editor-in-chief. Mao Zedong's Dietary Talk[M]. Beijing:Central Literature Publishing House, 2012.04.

Image source: People's Daily News

Editor-in-charge: Song Ying

Editor: Song Ying

Producer: Fang Danmin