Chapter 183

The weather is hot in the summer, and doing kitchen work is very hard. Even if a large electric fan is installed, it cannot blow away the heat caused by the strong fire.

So Su Hui would cook a big pot of mung bean soup every day for the store employees to drink to cool down.

Su Miao likes to drink it iced, which is refreshing and thirst-quenching. One sip can make all the summer heat go away. But after drinking too much mung bean soup, she wants to eat some other desserts.

Seeing the small millstone that had been idle in the utility room for a long time, she had an idea: why not make locust flower powder?

Sophora japonica powder is a special summer dessert snack in their area. It is a kind of dessert that is smooth and tender when eaten.

"Compendium of Materia Medica" says: Sophora japonica flowers are bitter and slightly cold, and have the effects of cooling blood, stopping bleeding, clearing the liver and purging fire.

Sophora japonica flowers have a pleasant fragrance, and when they bloom, the scent spreads for miles. Make some Sophora japonica flower powder and put it in a cup. Drink it all in one gulp, and the fragrance will cool your heart and linger in your mouth.

Su Miao first soaked the rice in water, then went to the herbal medicine shop to buy some dried locust flowers. There was new honey in the store, which was said to be wild honey that the villagers had found in the mountains.

A large beehive was hung directly on the shelf, and most of the honey had been put into jars. The boss used a knife to gently scrape the somewhat dry surface of the beehive, and honey began to flow down slowly again.

There are still a few bees that are reluctant to leave the hive and are circling around there.

The plump white bee pupae were picked out one by one with tongs. They are a popular good thing. Many people buy them to make wine, and the price is higher than honey.

Su Miao asked: "Boss, was this beehive picked from the mountain?"

"Yes, yes, I took it off early this morning."

A middle-aged man who was squatting under the counter slurping noodles stood up and said, Su Miao was shocked when he looked over. There were several big bites on his face, which was red and swollen, and he was applying green ointment.

The boss shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands to silently indicate to Su Miao, "Look, I picked the beehive with my bare hands, and my record is verifiable."

Su Miao bought a small jar of honey and saw the semi-finished products for making black jelly, so she bought some as well.

Because the rice needs to be soaked for several hours, Su Miao made the black jelly first after returning home.

Because it is a refined semi-finished product, the method is very simple. First, use two bowls of cold water to stir the jelly into a seedless paste.

Then take six bowls of water and bring them to a boil. Pour the diluted powder into the boiling water and stir constantly. Once the water boils again, remove from heat.

In order to ensure a delicate taste, Su Miao also sieved it again.

The freshly cooked black jelly was hot. Su Miao lifted the iron basin and knocked it to make it flatter, and then let it cool down slowly.

In the afternoon, Su Miao woke up from his nap and started making locust flower powder.

She soaked the dried locust flowers in water for a while. In the meantime, she asked Brother Yu to help her move the small stone mill out, clean it with clean water and assemble it.

Grind the soaked locust flowers and rice into rice paste. Su Yu originally wanted to help her grind it, but after trying it, she found that the small millstone was not too heavy and she could do it herself.

After making the rice slurry, add appropriate amount of water and cook it. Be sure to stir it constantly during cooking to prevent it from sticking to the pot.

The longer the Sophora japonica flower powder is cooked, the yellower it becomes. By the time it becomes a paste, it is already bright yellow.

Su Miao found a colander and poured the paste onto it while it was still hot. There was a large basin of boiled water underneath.

The paste drips into the basin through the small holes in the colander, cools down instantly, and takes shape directly.

Su Miao collected the locust flower powder, put it in an enamel basin with a lid, added some water, and put it in the refrigerator.

The black jelly has cooled completely and solidified into large, elastic black blocks. Put it in the refrigerator as usual. It will be more refreshing after being chilled.

Black jelly and locust flower powder themselves only have the fragrance of plants and no sweetness. They are usually eaten with sugar water.

She had just gotten a jar of honey, so she made some honey water directly, then greedily added black jelly and locust flower powder to the bowl.

The black jelly is cut into regular small black blocks, which is very different from the free-flowing locust flower powder.

Each piece of locust flower pollen looks like a small yellow croaker with a long tail, swimming in the water, and each small fish looks slightly different.

In the past in Ning County, when school was over in the summer, small vendors would come with carts selling locust flower powder. It was five cents a bowl. You would stand in front of the cart and eat it, and then return the bowl after you were done.

Although it is not iced, it is enough to give students a taste of sweetness in the bitter ocean of learning.

At seven o'clock, the store closed and Su Miao brought out the chilled black jelly and locust flower powder.

She also made brown sugar water and honey water, and everyone can add it according to their preference.

After a busy day, everyone felt relaxed after eating dessert.

Su Yuanzheng said, "Tomorrow is Sunday, so we should rest as usual. The weather is hot now, and turning around like this every day is unbearable. Everyone should rest well."

Su Hui brought out boiled chicken and many other delicious dishes from the kitchen.

Before the weekend every week, Su Yuanzheng would allocate special funds to prepare a table of delicious food to reward everyone. In the past, there were only a few people in his family, but now there are more and more people and the food is becoming more and more sumptuous.

The highlight of the meal today was the lotus leaf duck. Except for Su Miao and Su Yuanzheng, no one else had ever eaten it.

Su Yu said, "Ahui, why is this duck wrapped in lotus leaves?"

"This is what Miaomiao made. It's called Lotus Leaf Duck. It smells really good when it's cooked. I've never tasted it before."

"Miao Miao, is this your idea?"

"No, this is what I ate when my father and I went to Guigui last time. It's a local specialty. When I went to buy locust flower powder today, I saw dried lotus leaves and remembered it. I came back and tried to make it."

Everyone tried the lotus leaf duck out of curiosity, and the taste was truly eye-opening.

"It smells so good, it feels like there are so many different scents, but I can't put my finger on them."

Su Miao smiled proudly and used a spoon to cut open the duck's belly, revealing the rich filling inside.

"Of course it smells good! There are so many ingredients in it!"

Jiang Fengyi looked at it in amazement and said excitedly, "Miaomiao, can you teach me how to make this lotus leaf duck? If I make this dish during the Chinese New Year, my uncle and the others will definitely be shocked."

Su Miao told him the method in detail: "Of course, this is actually not difficult. First, fry the duck in oil until the surface is golden brown, then stuff the fillings into the duck's belly, and then wrap it with lotus leaves, and steam it in a steamer over high heat for forty minutes.

The ingredients inside include diced bamboo shoots, diced bacon, fried diced lychees, dried shrimp, etc. You can add other ingredients of your choice. Before putting it into the duck stomach, just stir-fry it and season it with salt and soy sauce.

Seeing that this dish is so popular, Su Miao thought that he could make it often in the future, and he could also make the stuffed snails and beer fish that he had eaten before.

Oh no! Come to think of it, I've only traveled once in the two years since I came back. I really need to find opportunities to go out more often and try some different foods.