On the morning of December 17th, the first China Noodle Festival opened in Juehui Village, Jiexing Town, Zhongjiang County, and nearly 1,000 tourists went to Juehui Village, which is known as "Noodle Village", to participate in the activities, and many tourists experienced the production of Zhongjiang noodles. More than 3 meters long noodles, as thin as hair, hanging poles, connected into thousands of "noodle walls", villagers introduced, the Spring Festival is approaching, many Sichuan people are preparing New Year goods, these noodles are prepared for the Spring Festival.
90% of the noodle villages make noodles
Juehui Village, Jiexing Town, on the edge of the county, is a famous local noodle village, with more than 40 households in the village, 90% of which are noodle households. The residential style of Juehui Village is very different from other places, with a "hui" shaped courtyard pattern, the roof is connected to form a wide platform, clean, transparent and open, which is the best place to dry and hang noodles. The noodles can be hung up to 5 meters long when drying, and the thinnest noodles can pass through the eye of the needle. After fermentation, the noodles produce a large number of yeast and honeycomb-like bubbles, so that the noodles made are covered with micropores, and the holes are connected to have a "hollow" effect, so the Zhongjiang noodles are also called "Zhongjiang hollow noodles".
"I only know that Zhongjiang noodles are delicious, and I don't know that there are so many processes to make noodles." Mr. Lin, a tourist from Chengdu, sighed while experiencing the making of noodles.
In the eyes of the villagers, whether the noodles are well done or not, in addition to craftsmanship, the quality of the flour, the water used for the noodles, and the day when the noodles are dried are the most important. Water must be from underground wells in the village, and flour is made of high-quality winter wheat. From October to May, it is the best time to make noodles. Whenever the sun shines, the roof in front of each house will hang a rack of noodles like a veil, and the villagers who work will swing among the noodles as light as running water to dry the noodles, and even the air is filled with the fragrance of noodles.
The 52-year-old Luo Dajie's family is a famous noodle household in the village. Sister Luo's husband Chen Yuanjin is the apprentice of the late old noodle maker Liu Guangchu in the village, And Sister Luo laughed and said that when she married into the impoverished Chen family, she fell in love with Chen Yuanjin's craft, and now their whole family is a noodle smith.
Zhong Qiaolin, who is in his 50s, is the inheritor of Zhongjiang's handmade noodles. Zhong Qiaolin has five sisters, originally it was a tradition of passing on men and not women, but the older brother changed his career halfway through the school, and the younger brothers felt that it was hard to make faces, and his father Zhong Dingkang said that Qiaolin had aura, so he passed on the craft to her. Zhong Qiaolin lived up to his father's high expectations, mastered the entire production process of Zhong's handmade noodles, and won the title of "Chinese Time-honored Brand Handmade Noodles" in 2006.
18 crafts to achieve Zhongjiang noodles
In today's ubiquitous machine production, many traditional handicrafts are gradually in decline. However, Zhongjiang noodles have always adhered to pure handmade, how to let this traditional industry be passed down and let more people taste authentic Zhongjiang noodles, becoming the wish of generations of noodle sellers such as Zhong Qiaolin.
In 2010, the production process of Zhongjiang noodles was included in the provincial intangible cultural heritage list. In 2008, the certification trademark of "Origin of Handmade Noodles" was registered, and in 2011, Zhongjiang Noodles was approved as a "National Geographical Indication Protection Product".
"At present, the annual output of noodles in our village has reached more than 500,000 jin, and the output value is about 5 million, combined with the rural revitalization strategy proposed by the spirit of the Nineteenth National Congress, a number of enterprises engaged in tourism reception have been introduced, and for the next step, the professional cooperatives of noodles and the combination of tourism are deeply integrated, so that the noodle households in my village can really get benefits." Li Ze, chairman of the Zhongjiang County Juehui Handmade Noodle Cooperative, introduced.
Zhongjiang noodles are a traditional local snack in Sichuan Province. With a history of more than 1,000 years, it is a well-known Specialty Food at home and abroad, with noodles as thin as hair, white hollow, smooth and flexible, and unique flavor. Popular with eaters.
The local noodle master said that the process of making Zhongjiang noodles is cumbersome, and it takes 18 traditional manual processes and 70 small processes to complete the noodles, such as noodles, open strips, wire strips, fermentation, large noodles, small strips, bamboo, puff powder, and dry noodles, and it generally takes 18-24 hours to complete the package from water and noodles to cut noodles.
"Making noodles is a hard job, and when you encounter a good day, you have to stay up and keep vigil to do it." Sister Luo said that every time you make noodles, from noodles, waking noodles, pulling strips, and bamboo to laying noodles, splitting noodles, drying noodles, and cutting noodles, the whole production process has 18 processes. The middle section of the dried noodles is thin and straight, and the noodle makers are usually reluctant to eat themselves, cutting the noodles into about 20 centimeters long and packaging them and selling them, while the "scraps" at both ends are left for themselves to eat. Boil a pot of chicken soup, cook the handmade noodles in white water, pour chicken soup, blanch a pinch of pea tips, fry an egg, and a bowl of Zhongjiang noodles will come out.
Chengdu Business Daily client reporter Wang Mingping
Edited by Pan Li