頭伏蘿卜

潘江濤

金華有兩個(gè)蘿卜，一大一小。大者，產(chǎn)自盤前——婺城北山之頂，塊頭粗的，五六斤重;小的出自蘭溪，一個(gè)不足半兩，乃天生的腌貨。

蘿卜品質(zhì)，無關(guān)塊頭大小。在農(nóng)人眼里，只有經(jīng)霜之后，蘿卜才迎來一生中最美的年華。

時(shí)令就是這么神奇。蘿卜雖無早韭、晚菘這般任性，亦有自己的稟賦特性，始終不渝地循時(shí)而長。

農(nóng)諺“頭伏蘿卜二伏菜”，說的就是蘿卜生長規(guī)律——水稻割畢，冬播小麥、移栽油菜尚早，水稻田閑著也是閑著，倒不如翻耕起畦，搗碎泥巴，順手撒些蘿卜籽——發(fā)芽，出苗，長成蘿卜。

蘿卜高產(chǎn)，一小塊田地，幾板車都拉不完。但物以稀為貴，產(chǎn)量一高，身價(jià)便低。偌大一個(gè)菜場，蘿卜與青菜就像患難夫妻，相濡以沫。只是，青菜價(jià)格始終比蘿卜堅(jiān)挺——青菜2元，蘿卜1元;青菜漲到4元，蘿卜只要1.5元。

青菜不耐儲(chǔ)，最好日買日清;蘿卜買回家，隨便丟在廚房角落，即便三兩天后想起，亦絕不會(huì)“糠心”難吃。

當(dāng)然，凡事皆有例外，倘若碰上“糠心”，亦應(yīng)感到慶幸。因?yàn)檫@樣的蘿卜，大多是催生的——化肥下得猛，個(gè)頭長得快，不吃也罷。

蘿卜耐煮。洗凈切片，剜一勺脂油在熱鍋中化開，下蘿卜片炒一炒。加清水，沒過蘿卜，猛火燒開，文火燉煮。待湯水一緊，倒一小勺醬油和一丁點(diǎn)料酒，拌勻燜一會(huì)兒，蔥花點(diǎn)綴。

脂油，乃熟豬油的俗稱。紅燒蘿卜，甜鮮軟爛，下飯過酒俱佳。倘以素油換下脂油，謂之“素炒”——蘿卜切絲，用鹽淺漬，濾去汁水，即可下鍋清炒。

蘿卜清炒，清新爽口，是單位食堂常備的早點(diǎn)小菜。蘭溪鄉(xiāng)賢李漁亦說：“生蘿卜切絲作小菜，伴以醋及他物，用之下粥最宜?！?/p>

無論紅燒還是素炒，蘿卜均要煮透，難點(diǎn)在于燉煮時(shí)間的掌控和咸淡的拿捏，而秘訣無非那句老話：熟能生巧。

蘿卜味淡，宜與葷料為伍。蘿卜瑤柱湯是蔡瀾的拿手菜。他說：“取七八顆大瑤柱，浸水后放進(jìn)燉鍋。蘿卜切成大塊鋪在瑤柱上，再放一小塊過水的豬肉腱，燉個(gè)兩三小時(shí)，做出來的湯鮮美無比?！?/p>

瑤柱，俗稱干貝，價(jià)追鮑魚，偶爾為之，尚能承受。要說家常，還數(shù)蘿卜燉牛腩。

蘿卜的清新加上牛腩的鮮腴，光憑想象，就吊人胃口。而且，牛腩性熱，吃多了生瘡;蘿卜性寒，兩者混燉，恰好寒熱中和，多吃也不用擔(dān)心身體難受。

“蘿卜配牛腩，天生是一對。”尤其是寒冷的冬日，那一碗牛腩蘿卜湯溫心暖胃。

大鍋飯，小鍋菜。要想菜肴可口，食材最為關(guān)鍵。但亦少不了廚師的用心用情。

供職的單位食堂可供一二千人同時(shí)用餐。規(guī)模一大，烹者食者皆有“敷衍”心理。就說上柜的菜肴吧，大盆小碟，琳瑯滿目，但選擇余地不大——除了紅燒肉和大排，似乎乏善可陳。相對而言，被人下手頻率稍高的，還是蘿卜絲炒蟶肉、蘿卜絲燉帶魚等，即便蟶肉很瘦、帶魚細(xì)小。想來，蘿卜居功至偉。

蘿卜“可生可熟，可菹可醬，可豉可醋，可糖可臘可飯，乃蔬中之最有利益者。”（李時(shí)珍·《本草綱目》）只是，該如何解讀這“可”那“可”中的“可臘”？

“臘”者，“風(fēng)干”也——既有鹽腌之后風(fēng)干的，如臘肉臘雞;也有風(fēng)干之后鹽腌的，如蕭山蘿卜干（條）等等。而農(nóng)家蘿卜鈿（絲），則為直接風(fēng)干。

秋陽似火，最宜風(fēng)干。蘿卜洗凈刨片（細(xì)絲），竹箅攤鋪，日曬夜收，燥干存儲(chǔ)。何時(shí)想吃，取一小撮溫水泡發(fā)，以豬油烀一烀，蘿卜干香持久熱烈，格外黏人。喜歡肉食的，剁一大塊臘肉，用沙鍋燉煮，咕嘟咕嘟的聲音悅耳動(dòng)聽，常常引得口水直流。

兒時(shí)的記憶潛伏在味蕾深處，一經(jīng)撩拔，便滿血復(fù)活。最讓游子們垂涎的，除了臘肉蘿卜煲，還有那一鍋鮮鮮香香的汁湯蘿卜塊。

汁湯，是比高湯還要濃稠的湯水。汁湯蘿卜，大多是謝年的副產(chǎn)品。除夕，家中灶膛從早到晚燒得旺旺，一口四尺大鑊燉著豬頭、豬腿和糯米腸。時(shí)辰一到，爸爸撈出肉食，媽媽則將汁湯舀一半留一半，再將十幾個(gè)蘿卜切成大塊，噗嗵噗嗵地丟進(jìn)鑊里。添柴燒開汁湯，再喊一聲“吃飯了”，一家人便圍桌而食——大碗喝酒大塊吃肉。其間，膛火慢慢熄滅，而炭火余溫會(huì)把鑊里的蘿卜塊燜得軟爛。

菜蔬吃剩，最忌下頓回鍋。但汁湯蘿卜有些另類，回鍋后更加香鮮軟糯，入口即化。

過年時(shí)節(jié)，鄉(xiāng)村灶頭不乏雞鴨魚肉，但不管哪一餐，最先見底的總是那一碗汁湯蘿卜塊——不是肉食，勝似肉食。

“秋吃蘿卜勝良藥”。據(jù)說，生飲蘿卜汁，醒酒清熱止咳，降血壓;手足生凍瘡，可將蘿卜切片在炭火上烤熱擦拭患部。這些民間驗(yàn)方是否靈驗(yàn)，不曾嘗試。但我知道，蘿卜健脾、消積食，有“小人參”美稱。

讀汪曾祺先生《五味集》，記住一則趣事：有人排便不暢，用了各種藥物都不見療效，后來僅僅生吃幾個(gè)白蘿卜，便通體舒泰。

（由視覺中國供圖）

Turnips in Cuisine of Jinhua

By Pan Jiangtao

Jinhua， the central city in central Zhejiang Province， produces two kinds of turnips： big turnip roots produced in North Hill of Jinhua weigh up to 2 to 3 kilograms apiece whereas small ones grown in Lanxi are only about 25 grams apiece， good to be sliced and then pickled only.

In Jinhua， turnips are planted after the rice is harvested in hot summer days. The time is too early for planting of winter wheat or canola. Rice paddies are idle. So it would be convenient to plow the land and throw in some turnip seeds. Turnip output is always abundant and thats why they are cheap in farmers markets across Jinhua.

Turnip roots are easy to cook. In Jinhua， there are many popular recipes. In one recipe， fat bulbous roots can be sliced and then cooked with lard. Add water and let the slices stew for a while. Add some seasoning such as soy sauce and rice wine and stew the slices a bit more. Then add some green union. Its ready to enjoy.

Turnips can also be cut into chops and braised with soy sauce. The cubes are tasteful and taste. People love braised turnip chops because they go well with a bowl of rice or a cup of rice wine. Turnips can also be shredded and pickled in salt for a while; water is squeezed off before the shreds are cooked in lard. Shredded turnips are popular for breakfast in workplace canteens. Even Li Yu （1610-1680）， a native of Jinhua and author of novels and plays and informal essays and gastronomical writings， states in an essay that shredded turnips seasoned with vinegar are the best companion for congee.

No matter whether turnips are cooked with or without soy sauce， they must be cooked thoroughly. The challenging is to make turnips well-done and not too salty or inadequately salty. The secret for cooking a perfect turnip dish is in cooking itself. Practice makes perfect， as the adage suggests.

Chopped turnips are perfect to be cooked with beef and dried scallop while shredded turnips can be cooked perfectly with clam meat and ribbon fish.

Turnips can be shredded and dried and stored for a long time. Dried turnip shreds must be submerged in water for a while before they can be stewed with ham. In the 1970s and the 1980s， the stew of rehydrated turnip shreds and ham was very popular in rural areas of Zhejiang.

Turnips can also be cooked with pork. In my personal memory， turnip chops were also part of the huge pork dish we had at the dinner on the eve of the Spring Festival. Turnip chops were thrown into the big wok in which pork and sausages were cooked. After pork and sausage dishes were consumed， we turned to turnip chops which were extremely soft and melt once they were inside the mouth.

In traditional Chinese medicine， turnips are fine medicine if taken in autumn. It is said that a cup of fresh turnip juice can alleviate intoxication， remove excessive heat， stop coughing， and lower blood pressure. The turnip is an ingredient in some herbal prescriptions.

In an essay by Wang Zengqi （1920-1997）， a gourmet and essayist and storywriter， the author records a short anecdote about a certain man who was afflicted with constipation. The man tried many treatments in vain. Then someone suggested eating raw turnips. Pretty soon the patient had miraculously smooth bowl movements and all was okay. Wang said the patient was a certain leader， but didnt specify whether the leader learned a lesson or two from the turnip experience about life or his career.