Everyone should be familiar with Mochou Lake and Xuanwu Lake, but I really don't know if this sandbar is old Nanjing!
Shazhouwei is located in the east of Hexi River, Xinglong, Shazhou and Shuangzha Street. In the past, the terrain was low and the floodplain was densely covered. Nanjing ancestors built polder fields here, forming a number of polder fields, collectively known as Shazhouwei.
However, due to building houses and filling land, there are many high-rise buildings at the end of the sandbar today, without flocks of egrets and rich aquatic products. Even some young people don't know what the famous "Water Eight Immortals" at the end of Shazhou are!
In Nanjing, Zizania latifolia, Zizania latifolia, lotus root, Oenanthe javanica, Euryale ferox, Sagittarius, horseshoe and Hong Ling are called "Eight Immortals of Water".
Although the eight kinds of vegetables in "Water Eight Immortals" are listed in different seasons, they are most concentrated in late summer and early autumn, so eating "Water Eight Immortals" in Mid-Autumn Festival is also one of the traditional customs of Nanjing people.
1 zizhong
The ancients called "Zizania latifolia" Zizania latifolia. At first, it was planted as grain, and people ate its seeds as food. "Zhou Li" also records that "Zizania latifolia ranks as six valleys with millet, wheat, rice and Zizania latifolia".
Later, it was found that some wild oats were infected with smut and did not head, but their stems kept expanding to form spindle-shaped fleshy stems.
After everyone tasted it, they found that its taste was crisp, fresh, refreshing, tender and smooth, which made the water bamboo, which should have been used as food, be eaten like the water bamboo now.
2 Chinese sauerkraut
Structurally, Zizania latifolia is similar to bamboo shoots, wrapped in layers; But in terms of taste, it is much more tender than bamboo shoots. It is precisely because its meat is tender and easily broken that people compare it to a delicate baby and call it "Joule food".
In Nanjing, many people have tasted the delicious water bamboo, but many people don't know that water bamboo and water bamboo are close relatives.
They are actually the same vegetable, only in two seasons. It is fresh and tender vegetables in April and May every year, and it becomes refreshing vegetables in August and September.
3 lotus root
Lotus root in "Water Eight Immortals" refers to Hualien, which is unique to Nanjing. The fragrant lotus root culture in Nanjing has a long history, which took root and sprouted in Nanjing as early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty. But do you know why the lotus root is called "Hualien"?
According to the Ming Dynasty's "Jiangning County Records", "There are two kinds of white flowers, white flowers are the best. When flowering, the lotus root is very tender, which is called "lotus root under the flower". In addition, the lotus root itself has a faint fragrance, leaving fragrance in the mouth, so the world calls it "fragrant lotus root".
In autumn, when fragrant lotus root comes on the market, it is especially suitable for glutinous rice lotus root or lotus root belly lung soup!
4 cress
There is a saying in The Book of Songs Truffle Pan Shui: "Think of music and Pan Shui, but choose Qin". It is said that if a scholar becomes a scholar, when he goes to the Confucius Temple to worship, he should pick some cress from the pot pool next to Dachengmen and put it on his hat, and this custom also adds a bit of nobility to cress.
Oenanthe javanica is listed from late autumn to spring every year. Because of its fragrance and green color, it is very popular with the public.
Different from celery with thick fiber, Oenanthe javanica has thin stems and smooth taste. As long as you try, it will be out of control!
5. Strong
Euryale ferox is a famous nourishing product since ancient times, and it can be said that it is the most precious of the eight immortals. However, due to the high requirements for soil, environment and water quality, the planting amount of Euryale ferox has been greatly reduced, so it is difficult to see it in the market now.