Riding the wind of rebirth

Today is similar to Lunar New Year's Eve for the Han Chinese, but it is a very important day for Yi families.

However, just like the Han people in the city, the Yi people in the city do not attach as much importance to festivals as they do in the countryside. Therefore, Shama and Wu Renzhong felt that there was no "New Year's flavor" in the city. As soon as Zhou Zhi made an appointment, he immediately agreed to come to the grain station to celebrate the festival.

By evening, with all the preparations complete, Old Chi Ri began to preside over the "Nine Dragons" ceremony.

If we had to translate "九龙几" into Chinese, it would roughly be equivalent to "迎祖" (welcoming ancestors).

The Yi people believe that if their ancestors were craftsmen, heroes, or Bimo (priests of the Yi people) for many generations, they would become guardian deities who would bless people. If these deities were displeased, they would also cause trouble for the family members.

This thorough understanding can also be found in historical culture. In the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, there are a large number of inquiries about ancestral sacrifices, such as "If I sacrifice fifty Qiang people to a certain ancestor, will that ancestor be angry?" or "If I sacrifice one hundred Qiang people to a certain ancestor, will it rain?" There are countless such inquiries.

The various items hanging on the walls of Lao Chi Ri's room now have a meaning. These are all artifacts left by accomplished ancestors of the family. Today, they will all be brought out and placed around the "Madu," which is similar to a memorial tablet in Han Chinese culture. This represents the ancestors, who are also deities, returning to their rightful place, and then we will begin to ask the ancestors for blessings.

The ceremony was presided over by the male head of the family, which was of course Old Chi Ri. However, in the past, Old Chi Ri would quietly conduct such ceremonies with Aunt Gillie and A Zi, without Tu Liangzhi participating.

There were quite a few participants this year. Besides Tsuchiya Yoshitoshi standing solemnly next to Old Akari, there was a large group of spectators behind him.

The fire pit was filled with all sorts of food, which were offerings. First, Azi picked them up one by one and handed them to Tu Liangzhi, who then handed them to Lao Chiri. Lao Chiri chanted scriptures in a low voice, which sounded like a song, while placing the food in the bowls on the altar in front of "Madu".

Two years ago, the food offered to ancestors in Lianhe Township consisted mainly of chicken, eggs, and tofu. Now, it has become much more abundant, including beef, mutton, fried meatballs, crispy pork, whole chicken, pig's head, pig's tail, and square-cut pork, as well as the indispensable wine.

The fish still hasn't been seen. Although Zhouzhi has tried its best to bring the habit of eating fish to the countryside, it still can't be placed on the sacrificial table.

The offerings used in the sacrifices are all cooked food. During this season, even if the food is placed on the altar and taken out as needed, it can last for three to five days. This is considered as sharing with our ancestors.

However, even two years ago, the offerings on the altar couldn't last overnight because supplies were so scarce.

But today is different. The ancestral table is piled high with food, and so is everyone else's.

When the ceremony was completed, Old Chi Ri invited everyone to sit down at the table. His face was full of smiles, as if he had made a great impression on his ancestors.

Today, countless Yi parents in the village share this feeling.

Yi cuisine is relatively simple. The most traditional dishes are Tuotuo meat, pickled cabbage and potato chicken, buckwheat cakes, tofu pudding with dregs, and pork skin jelly, which are already considered top-class dishes.

Such a feast wouldn't even be served on the table. Instead, a few banana leaves would be cut and laid out around the fire pit, along with food and a jar of strong liquor, and everyone would squat down and eat. Now, not only is it served on the table, but many of the dishes have also changed. The "tuotuo rou" (a type of braised pork) is no longer made from piglets but from pork belly. The cooking method has changed from boiling and seasoning to marinating, grilling, and then coating with seasoning. The pieces of meat have changed from fist-sized to the size of mahjong tiles. The taste is much better than before, and it's less greasy. The unique seasoning, wood ginger, becomes even more fragrant after being soaked in oil.

Many Han Chinese are not used to the taste of Litsea cubeba, but this does not include the people of Jiachuan, because Litsea cubeba oil is an indispensable condiment that the people of Jiachuan learned from Yunnan and Guizhou and use when making grilled fish and eating tofu rice.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised and happy to taste this flavor again. However, the Lao Chi Ri family was even happier. Usually, it would be a great pleasure for the host if Han Chinese guests showed that they did not dislike the wood ginger oil. But today, the children genuinely enjoyed it, and everyone felt that they had found common ground in the way of food.

The traditional way to make pickled cabbage and potato chicken is to add pickled cabbage and potatoes to stewed chicken. This dish will present two completely different flavors depending on the method of making the pickled cabbage.

One type of pickled cabbage is made by soaking in sour soup, and the other is made by rubbing and pressing round-stemmed pickled cabbage with salt to remove water, then fermenting it slightly in a jar. Both types of pickled cabbage have their own merits; the former is suitable for cooking fish, while the latter is suitable for cooking chicken. However, because the Yi people used to lack salt, they mostly used the first type of pickled cabbage, and the second type, which is similar to sprouts, was less commonly used.

This time, Aunt Gillette added a second type of salted sauerkraut to the sauerkraut and potato chicken, making the traditional sauerkraut and potato chicken flavor much richer.

Zhou Zhi praised the dish highly: "This method of cooking, with the two types of pickled cabbage combined, is absolutely amazing. Restaurants in Hailai should learn from it; it could definitely become a famous dish!"

Buckwheat cakes are a type of steamed bread made from ground buckwheat. However, Aunt Jilie has now given this coarse grain a more refined twist. First, yeast is added to the batter to ferment it. Then, baking soda is added to adjust the acidity and create bubbles. Finally, lard, which the Yi people used to be reluctant to use, along with brown sugar, maltose, and honey, are added. This transforms the originally coarse and unpalatable buckwheat cakes into soft, sweet, and fragrant ones. The unique bitterness of buckwheat becomes subtle and becomes a distinctive flavor that girls especially love.

The changes in the production of tofu pudding with soybean residue began when the pig farm was established. In the past, the Yi people's tofu pudding was made without filtering the soybean residue, which made it less palatable. Now, the soybean residue is filtered out to feed the pigs, and people only eat the delicate tofu pudding made from fine soy milk and sauerkraut water, which is much more satisfying.

This tofu pudding, made with fresh, tender vegetable leaf bits and coagulated in sauerkraut brine, is quite unique. Combined with the seasoning recipe for Jiachuan tofu pudding brought from Zhou Zhi to the countryside, it has now become a specialty of the grain station.

Douhua (tofu pudding) is the lifeblood of people from Sichuan. This uniquely flavored douhua, full of the fresh aroma of vegetables, is a treat that everyone finds incredibly satisfying.

The only dish that hasn't undergone any special modifications is probably the meat jelly called "Hengdi" in the Yi language. This dish is made by simmering pig skin, pig trotters, and other ingredients rich in collagen over a low flame, adding seasonings such as salt, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns. Once the broth has thickened and solidified, it is cut into pieces, plated, and drizzled with condiments.

Tonight's banquet wouldn't be enough with just these traditional Yi dishes. Aunt Jilie had learned about 80-90% of the dishes that Zhouzhi often made in Lianhe Township, so there were also many traditional Han dishes on the table.

For example, there's the "pig-killing feast," the braised pork belly with bamboo shoots and garlic in oil, the traditional twice-cooked pork, and the stir-fried liver tips that are a must-have after slaughtering a pig...

There are also local Han Chinese dishes from the Liangshan region—preserved duck, wind-dried chicken, and braised pork…

Alcohol is also an indispensable part of Yi banquets. In the past, it was a bland buckwheat wine, then rice wine was added, and later, strong corn wine was added... (End of this chapter)