餐桌上的一抹荷塘秀色

王珍

喜歡穿一件粉白的短褂、一條豆綠的綢裙，從城市的一個街角一閃而過，像一抹透明的清風(fēng)從田田蓮葉間悄悄地走過，風(fēng)說：“到了可以采蓮的季節(jié)！”

一群像蕓娘一樣的女子從《浮生六記》的字里行間走了出來，用小紗囊包裹著一小撮綠茶，找一池荷塘，選幾株含苞欲放的荷花，把綠茶輕輕地寄托于花心，任一晚的荷塘月色醞釀一樁風(fēng)花雪月的故事。第二天清晨，荷花綻放，取出那撮“寄生”荷花茶，煮泉水泡開。茶還是一樣的茶，喝一口，唇齒間早已氤氳著揮不去的裊裊荷香。于是，一個夏季，就戀上了這樣的荷花綠茶。

其實(shí)，像這樣喝茶的人不一定全都是有閑的小資一族，也并非只是故弄玄虛、玩情調(diào)、裝風(fēng)雅，杭州城里不少家有荷塘的農(nóng)家就是這么過日子的。因?yàn)榻?jīng)荷花、荷葉熏潤后的茶葉化解了部分苦澀，又增添了些許清新的荷香。更重要的是，荷花茶具有清心涼血、消暑解毒、生津止渴等功效，炎炎夏日怎么可以沒有它？

當(dāng)然，家有荷塘對于許多人而言，終究還是奢侈的事，于是就有了更簡便的方法——選一支含苞待放的荷花，用手指把花瓣輕輕撥開，把用紗布包好的茶葉放進(jìn)去，再順次把花瓣合攏。用保鮮袋封好，放到冰箱里冰凍。一兩天后拿出來，烘干、放涼，荷花茶就做好了。

水鄉(xiāng)的夏季和秋季，光是一片荷塘，就足以讓一日三餐天天有不重復(fù)的菜單。秋季，杭城的不少主題餐廳主打的菜品大多和荷香有染。其實(shí)有不少簡單而美麗的荷塘菜肴，我們自己在家中就可以搞定。比如，我們最最常見的那道荷塘小炒，以蓮藕為主，配上各色時令蔬果，諸如：山藥、蓮子、荷蘭豆、白果、蘆筍、馬蹄、胡蘿卜、黑木耳、鮮百合、香芹、西蘭花、紅椒、黃椒，總之，家里有什么都可以用上，變化靈活，豐儉由人。就那么簡單地用素油一炒，簡單到像筆者這樣連菜鳥級都不是的人也敢下廚操刀。

這道簡單的菜，卻可以有許多美麗的理由：首先，可以給它一個美麗的造型——取一張稍微焯過水的新鮮荷葉，鋪在盤子底部，將炒好的菜擺放于荷葉上，不僅吃起來荷香四溢，荷塘小炒的名字也就更貼切了。它看上去很美，聽起來悅耳，吃起來爽口，是一道愉悅身心的蔬菜。再則，蓮藕富含維生素C和粗纖維，既能幫助消化、防止便秘，又能供給人體所需的碳水化合物和微量元素，防止動脈硬化，改善血液循環(huán)；且可以排毒養(yǎng)顏、美容祛痘、保持臉部光澤，有益血生肌的功效，尤其適合減肥中的女孩子吃。

還有，以蓮藕、蓮子、菱角為食材炒出來的一盤菜，名字叫荷塘三寶；以菱角、黃瓜合炒的菜也有個美麗的名字——菱角青玉。

除了既可以直接當(dāng)水果吃又可以做菜的菱、藕之外，西湖莼菜和同樣是長在水中的茭白，也是餐桌上的明星。西晉時的吃貨們就把莼菜、菰菜（茭白）、松江鱸相提并論為江南三大名菜。宋代詩人陸游有“店家菰飯香初熟，市擔(dān)莼絲滑欲流”的詩句；蘇東坡也有“若問三吳勝事，不惟千里莼羹”的贊美。關(guān)于它們的詩句、傳說和故事有許多，愛下江南的乾隆皇帝，每到錢塘“必以莼羹為食”?？吹竭@些，筆者都會立馬跑去超市買回幾袋莼菜，用清水沖洗干凈，煮湯或涼拌，簡單又可口。茭白也不擺明星的架子，最適合讓不諳廚事的吃貨們得瑟，一青二白的茭白炒毛豆，甚至與米飯同煮、原汁原味的飯焐茭白，都是盤中佳肴。

清淡素食多日，想開葷了怎么辦？還是蓮藕盛裝出場！

用豆腐皮一圈圈纏繞于切成細(xì)長條的藕上，兩端露出蓮藕，像極了子排。在油鍋里炸至金黃色后撈出，澆上糖醋汁，撒少許白芝麻。糖醋“排骨”搞定了。如果出自大廚之手，甚至可以吃出“肉”味。

荷也是做甜品的好食材，比如美麗的荷花，不僅僅是用來看的，也是可以吃的——在荷花瓣上抹一層豆沙餡，卷起來將豆沙餡包在花瓣里。沾上蛋泡糊，逐個下鍋炸至呈淺黃或黃白色時撈出。瀝凈油后，入盤撒上白糖。美味荷花酥含有維生素以及人體所需的鈣、鋅、鐵等多種微量元素，食之可安神鎮(zhèn)心、益肝健脾、止血利耳目、除口臭，還可解熱清火。

給紅棗、花生、桂圓、蓮子做的燉盅用諧音取一個好聽的名字：“早生貴子”。如此美麗的祝福是不是已經(jīng)征服了你的心？蓮子與蘋果、銀耳、枸杞子、黃冰糖相遇，又會是一個甜美的故事。盛于骨瓷小碗中，溫?zé)峄蛘弑?zhèn)，細(xì)細(xì)地品味每一顆蓮子的粒圓、飽滿、色白、肉綿、味甘。慢慢地咽下去，把蓮子植入心田里，定有蓮花開放。

還有杭州每家餐館的菜單上必有的蜜汁糯米藕，一入口，除了甜、糯、軟、香之外，舌尖還會告訴你更多。藕粉，小小一瓷碗，剔透若瓊脂，晶瑩如玉石，幾點(diǎn)鮮黃的糖桂花撒在藕粉上，還沒吃，心已醉。

荷一和人類相遇就有了很好的口碑，人們愛它始終如初次相見，且越相知越覺得它全身都是寶，甚至連荷葉、蓮子心都可以泡茶，是很好的藥食同源飲品。利尿、消脂、清心火、解毒……種種好處，不由得讓人感慨：生命中，可以與荷相遇，幸福一定不會太遙遠(yuǎn)。

因?yàn)橛辛撕商?，夏日也不那么炎熱了；因?yàn)橛辛撕商?，吃吃喝喝，已然成了藝術(shù)行為。荷塘是那么神奇的一片世界，可畫可詩，是世外桃源中的世外桃源；荷塘小炒則是如此簡單、平常的一種菜肴，是百姓人家餐桌上最最樸素的人間煙火。

荷塘確實(shí)讓我們平常的生活變得簡單而有文藝范兒。所以，走在杭城的街頭，總能在不經(jīng)意間遇見幾個美若出水芙蓉的女孩，恰似那位被林語堂譽(yù)為“中國最可愛的女人”的蕓娘，穿過五百年的風(fēng)塵，依舊水靈、清純，無關(guān)歲月的風(fēng)霜——那是因?yàn)?，一方水土養(yǎng)一方人，吃什么補(bǔ)什么呵！

Lotus as Tea， Food in Summer

By Wang Zhen

In Six Chapters of a Floating Life， by Shen Fu of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）， the author describes a way to enjoy lotus tea： place a handful of tealeaves in a small gauze sachet and place it in a lotus flower not yet in full bloom. After the flower blossoms next day， get the tealeaves and make a cup of tea. The drink is full of the delicate aroma of the lotus flower.

Nowadays， sipping a cup of lotus flower tea is by no means a bourgeois way of life and available only to some people fastidious about the best of life. A small lotus pond is not something extremely rare in the rural suburbs of Hangzhou. And tea processed with lotus leaves or flowers is indeed available. It offers more than an enjoyable sipping. The herbal drink offers health benefits. For many people， it would not be very difficult to make lotus flower tea at home in the DIY manner. Find a lotus flower not yet in full bloom. Insert a small gauze sachet of tealeaves inside the flower. Seal the flower with a freezer bag and place it in a refrigerator for a day or two. Take it out. Dry the tealeaves in a baking oven and let the leaves cool. Then make a cup of lotus flower tea.

Lotus ponds across Hangzhou supply an adequate amount of food ingredients for restaurants in the city to offer a long menu of lotus dishes. The lotus root alone can be cooked separately with a wide range of food ingredients. A homemaker can easily make anything out of lotus root. The best known dish is the honey lotus root stuffed with sticky rice， available in restaurants all over Hangzhou. It is served with a sweet and refreshing osmanthus syrup as an appetizer.

Lotus root， wrapped up with the skin of soy-bean milk， deep-fried and doused with a mixture of sugar and vinegar， and sprinkled with white sesame， looks like pork ribs. It is a pure delight for those who practice veganism.

Lotus flower petals， coated with a layer of sweet bean paste and then coated with a watery mixture of egg and flour， deep-fried， and sprinkled with soft white sugar， can make gourmets forget themselves for a while.

And a lotus leaf， steeped in the boiled water for a while and taken out and dried， can be placed as a thin cushion on a plate and the food can be heaped upon the leaf and served directly.

Lotus seed， a key food ingredient， appears in quite a few dishes. It sounds auspicious in Chinese and is often prepared with peanut， red date， and longan as a soup which suggests being blessed with a son as soon as possible， a concept popular in old times. It can be also prepared with apple， Chinese wolfberry， white fungus， and sugar as a desert.

For many， a lotus pond in summer is a place of coolness. With a lotus pond， life becomes poetic and artistic. It inspires poetry and art. It serves as a window on Shangri-La. A lotus pond provides food ingredients which can morph into dishes that make home comfortable and life delicious. Some even go so far as to ascribe girls of striking beauty in Hangzhou to lotuses on the West Lake. They are beautiful simply because lotuses are a part of their upbringing and worldviews.