Beginning of Summer Paste

Overview

In the area of Shouning, Fujian, there is a tradition of eating Beginning of Summer paste when the Beginning of Summer arrives. It is well known among the locals that eating Beginning of Summer paste means you will be happy with your belly. Beginning of Summer Paste is a special delicacy that Shouning people have grown up with. Almost every household will make it on Beginning of Summer. Neighbors share the Beginning of Summer paste they made with each other. You give me a bowl, and I give you a bowl. Each household uses different ingredients and has different tastes. The ingredients of Beginning of Summer paste are numerous and miscellaneous, and there are dozens or twenty of them at a time. The more common ones include diced pork, minced bacon, diced mushrooms, minced bamboo shoots, minced fungus, peas (commonly known as wheat beans), etc. Others chop up dried mackerel and dried squid and add them. Peanuts, soybeans, dried day lily, dried bracken, etc. are also indispensable.

Tags

• snacks
• home cooking
• summer recipes
• beginning of summer
• chicken essence
• dried bamboo shoots
• dried clams
• dried cuttlefish
• dried mushrooms
• dried squid
• edible oil
• lean meat
• onions
• peanuts
• rice noodles
• sauerkraut
• shrimp
• salt

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Prepare ingredients. Soak the dry food in advance, dice all the ingredients, and cut them into smaller pieces as possible for a better taste. Heat oil in a pan, sauté green onion until fragrant, add diced pork, squid and other ingredients and stir-fry until fragrant, sprinkle with chopped green onion, season with salt and chicken essence, stir-fry and set aside. The materials for Beginning of Summer paste are not limited to the ones I used, it all depends on personal preference. You can also add pea kernels, dried mussels, fungus, day lily, bracken, soybeans, carrots, etc.

   

2. 2 Fry the peanuts until cooked and remove the outer skin. A little burnt, but more fragrant.

   

3. 3 Add rice flour and water and mix well. The authentic method is to grind rice into rice paste. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to find a place to grind rice paste, so rice flour is used.

   

4. 4 Add water gradually and stir to form rice milk.

   

5. 5 Pour the rice milk into a large pot, heat over high heat, and cook slowly until it becomes a paste. Pay attention to the heat and stir constantly with a spatula. Do not burn it, which will affect the taste.

   

6. 6 Add boiling water once halfway through and stir again.

   

7. 7 Just stir it into this state. I don’t know if it’s because of the rice flour used, but it looks grainy.

   

8. 8 Pour in the fried vegetables and peanuts and stir evenly.

   

9. 9 This state is fine. You can taste it. If it is too bland, add more salt.

   

10. 10 Boil it and put it in a basin.

    

11. 11 Finished product. The delicious Beginning of Summer paste is ready. It will taste better when eaten after it cools down a bit. Although it doesn't look very pretty, it tastes really good. The ingredients are rich and you can taste various ingredients in one bite.