Stalls

Stalls

　　Stalls

　　　　Stalls are one of the foods people love to eat, especially suitable for the elderly and children. However, because they are troublesome and time-consuming to make, they are rarely consumed under normal circumstances. But on the second day of the second lunar month each year, every household must make and eat them. Legend has it that this day is when the dragon raises its head, and making stalls is commonly known as "pulling the dragon’s skin." The act symbolizes taming the Dragon King, so that in the new year, he will obediently serve the people—ensuring favorable weather and a bountiful harvest.

　　　　Although making stalls is time-consuming and labor-intensive, the process is not complicated. Depending on your taste, you can use wheat flour, bean flour (a mixture of wheat flour with mung beans, cowpeas, red beans, etc.), mixed grain flour (made from corn, sorghum, soybeans, etc.), sorghum flour, or fine cornmeal. Add an appropriate amount of salt, minced scallions, ground Sichuan peppercorn, Chinese chives, eggs, and pepper. Mix these ingredients with cold water to form a thin porridge-like batter. Use a "T"-shaped scraper made from a sorghum tassel to spread the batter. Heat a flat griddle, lightly grease it, and pour a spoonful of the batter onto it. Use the T-shaped scraper to spread it into a round pancake about 20–30 cm in diameter and 2–3 mm thick (the thinner, the better). Once slightly set, flip it with a small spatula and cook the other side. This completes one stall. Repeat the process, lifting and cooking one after another, until all the batter is used or you have enough to eat. For extra flavor, you can roll the stall around blanched mung bean sprouts or a mixture of scallions and pickled vegetables. Usually, eating stalls goes well with a bowl of stewed mixed grain porridge. Stewed mixed grain porridge is similar to eight-treasure porridge—it’s made by boiling a mix of grains such as millet, wheat, cowpeas, soybeans, and corn, along with some dried turnip cubes, until it becomes a thick, hearty porridge. Eating a rolled stall with some pickled vegetables, paired with a bowl of this porridge, offers a truly unique and satisfying taste.