我的家乡位于河南省信阳光山县，腊肉炖黄鳝这道菜之所以成为当地四大名菜，不光是它的美味，同时也是历史名菜。
光山县北枕淮河水，南依大别山，一向有春水贵如油的说法，特别是到新县连康山一带，绝大多数都是蓄水留着春季插秧的久水田。
北宋时某一年，光山知县司马池（北宋文学家司马光的父亲）骑马来南部山区视察，了解农民春耕的准备情况，他发现很多条用来灌溉农田的水都很少，走访了几家农户询问情况，农户告诉他当地蛇特别多，不管山上有蛇，田里也全都有。一位农户将司马池引到田间，指着田里一个个的圆洞说：“洞里都是蛇，田埂都被挖空了，当天补，第二天又被挖，田里怎么装得了水呢？”说话间，田里游出几条黄黄的“蛇”。司马池问农户，“这蛇会咬人吗？”农户回答：“咬倒是没见着咬，只是‘蛇’太多没人敢抓！”司马池便令随身的衙役抓了几条，中午来到吃饭的朝奉家（宋朝富豪的称呼，也叫乡绅），当地山民招待客人都会用过年腌制后挂在屋檐下风干的猪肉（就是现代的腊肉），由于腊肉特别干，需要用小火炖，司马池让衙役将抓来的几条“蛇”放进炖着腊肉的汤里。不一会儿，汤里的肉散发出浓浓的香味，司马池尝了几口，美味至极，一连吃了几大碗，对食物的美味赞不绝口，吃完后让村民再抓几筐“蛇”带回府里。当地村民听说县衙司马池对将这种食物当作山珍海味，遍争先恐后的去田里抓“蛇”。由于这种“蛇”喜欢在田里游动，光山人称之为田鳗。几百年后的今天，人们才统一称田鳗为黄鳝。当地人的开始大量捕食，官绅富豪们对这道菜美味的馋帘，使之成为当地名菜，漏水的田埂也随之被治好了。
My hometown is located in Xinyangshan County, Henan Province. The reason why bacon stewed rice eel has become the four famous local dishes is not only its deliciousness, but also a historical dish.
The Huaihe River in Guangshan County lies in the north and Dabie Mountain in the south. It has always been said that spring water is as expensive as oil. Especially in the Liankang Mountain area of Xinxian County, most of them are long paddy fields that hold water for spring seedling planting.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Simachi, Guangshan Prefecture( Northern Song author Sima Guang‘s father) rode horseto the southern mountainous area to inspect and learn about the peasants’ preparations for spring ploughing. He found that many of the water used to irrigate farmland were scarce, so he visited several The farmer asked about the situation, and the farmer told him that there were a lot of snakes in the local area. No matter there were snakes on the mountain, there were all the snakes in the fields. A farmer led Simachi to the field, pointed to the round holes in the field and said: "The caves were full of snakes, and the ridges were hollowed out. They were patched on the same day, and then dug again the next day. How could the fields be filled with water?" While talking, a few yellow "snakes" swam out of the field. Simachi asked the farmer, "Will this snake bite?" The farmer replied: "It's not a bite. It's just that there are too many'snakes' no one dares to catch!" Simachi ordered the Yamen runner to catch a few, noon. When they came to Chaofeng’s home for dinner (the name of the rich in the Song Dynasty, also called the squire), the local mountain people would use the pork (modern bacon) that was marinated and hung under the eaves after the Chinese New Year. The fire stewed, and Sima Chi asked the Yamen runner to put the few "snakes" caught in the broth stewed with bacon. After a while, the meat in the soup exudes a strong fragrance. Simachi tasted a few mouthfuls. It was extremely delicious. He ate several large bowls in a row and was full of praise for the delicious food. After eating, the villagers were asked to grab a few more baskets of "snakes." "Bring it back to the XianYa house. The local villagers heard that Sima Chi, the county government, regarded this food as delicacies from land and sea, and they were scrambling to catch "snakes" in the fields. Because this "snake" likes to swim in the field, Guangshan people call it Field eel. Today, hundreds of years later, people collectively call the Field eel the Rice field eel. The locals began to prey in large numbers, and the rich and official officials were greedy for the delicacy of this dish, making it a famous local dish, and the leaking ridge was also cured.