Soybean and Sesame Porridge

In a small city in northern Hunan, I come home from school on a winter day, my hands and feet numb with cold, and push open the door. My grandparents are gathered by the stove, where a pot of soybean and sesame tea is simmering. The soybeans are toasted until crisp, the white sesame seeds are roasted, and ginger is ground into a paste in a mortar. Boiling water is poured over them, and the salty, fragrant, spicy warmth soothes me from head to toe. My grandmother says the tea is called Yue Fei Tea. Back then, the soldiers of Yue Fei's army fell ill in the unfamiliar northern climate, so Yue Fei ordered this tea brewed, and the soldiers recovered after drinking it. Later, when Zuo Zongtang led his western campaign, he also made a point of bringing roasted soybeans and dried ginger paste to ward off the cold. Years after leaving home, I have tried Longjing and Pu'er, but the memory that will not fade is still this bowl of tea. Its brew is rough yet comforting. Every sip tastes of home, of my grandmother's smiling gaze, and of the warm red glow that never died in the stove.