Chapter 249: Complicated Process

The iron sheet is placed on a clean basin. After the sweet potatoes are ground into crumbs, they naturally fall into the basin and become white sweet potato residues. These sweet potato residues contain a lot of starch. Sweet potato flour is made by extracting starch from these sweet potato residues.

While Xi Nainai and He Xiuman were grinding sweet potato residue, Gao Mingcheng went into the house and took out some clean white cotton cloth. He first washed the cotton cloth and then waited for use.

A little water needs to be added to the ground sweet potato residue, and after mixing evenly, it is put into white cotton cloth to filter the residue, and then a starch-containing aqueous solution is obtained.

After the aqueous solution is precipitated, it becomes white sweet potato starch.

The sweet potato starch can be mixed with water to form a paste, which can be used to make sweet potato flour. The sweet potato starch can also be dried and stored.

Dried sweet potato starch can be mixed into a paste to make sweet potato flour at any time, and can also be used in cooking. It can act as a tenderizer to make the meat tender and smooth, and can also be used to thicken sauce, and can also be fried directly.

Mix the sweet potato starch with water, pour it into a pan with oil, keep stirring, and it will become a paste. After seasoning, continue stirring until the paste is mature and becomes a jelly-like sticky substance, then you can serve it on a plate and eat it.

This is also an emergency recipe in winter when fresh vegetables are scarce.

When Gao Mingcheng and his colleagues get fresh starch, they will make it into sweet potato flour, so there is no need to dry it in the sun. They will dry it after making the sweet potato flour.

Gao Mingcheng went outside the house to get some wood, and then used the wood to build a simple shelf with triangular wooden stakes on both sides and a wooden pole as thick as a wrist placed horizontally in the middle. He then took out pots of various sizes from home and placed them under the wooden pole.

After making preparations, he pinched the four corners of the white cotton cloth with his hands and said to Gao Zhuang, "Bring a basin of sweet potato residue."

"Why."

Gao Zhuang responded, picked up a basin of sweet potato residue and poured it onto the white cotton cloth. The water seeped through the white cotton cloth and dripped directly into the basin below, while the sweet potato residue remained in the white cotton cloth.

As Gao Zhuang moved, the cotton cloth became heavier, but Gao Mingcheng's wrist was steady and did not shake. After one basin of sweet potato residue was poured, he pinched the cloth-wrapped sweet potato residue with his hands, squeezed out all the water inside, and then asked Gao Zhuang to pour another basin of sweet potato residue.

After pouring two basins, there were too many sweet potato residues wrapped in the cloth and it could not be contained anymore.

So Gao Mingcheng tied the four corners of the cloth to the horizontal wooden pole, and relied on gravity to let the remaining water drip into the basin.

At this time, the water in the basin is white and turbid. After standing and settling for a period of time, the starch sinks and the clear water floats, and the sweet potato starch is successfully separated.

If the color of the sweet potato starch is brown instead of white, you can also add some clean water after pouring out the water and stir it to re-precipitate it.

Some dirt will float in the water, and then after it settles, you can just pour out the water.

The work is not complicated, but each item takes time.

It took the four of them two hours to grind all the sweet potatoes into sweet potato residue. Although it was four people, He Xiuman, as a pregnant woman, did the least work, so Gao Mingcheng and Gao Zhuang were the ones who did the most.

In the evening, Xuanyuemei came back from her second sister's house. As soon as she entered the yard, she saw a group of people working busily.

Seeing her come back, Xi Nainai asked her how Xuanyu was doing and how the child was doing.

Xuanyuemei naturally agreed and briefly explained the production process of the jade. He Xiuman pricked up her ears and listened with a serious expression.

In a few months, He Xiuman will also give birth to a child, so she is naturally particularly concerned about topics related to this.

Xuanyuemei went to the kitchen to cook, and Xi Nainai and He Xiuman were also preparing to go home.

Gao Mingcheng invited them to have dinner here, but was politely declined.

Gao Mingcheng did not force them to stay, but said: "Grandma Xi, the sweet potato starch only needs to settle overnight, then you can come over tomorrow morning to make sweet potato flour!"

"Okay, I'll bring the tools for making sweet potato flour tomorrow." Grandma Xi agreed with a smile, and then she and He Xiuman went back to the old village first, leaving Gao Zhuang here to finish the work.

Gao Zhuang poured the last bit of sweet potato residue into one of the cloth bags, and then helped Gao Mingcheng clean up the basins, buckets and other things that he had taken out.

"Brother Mingcheng, let's come again tomorrow morning." Gao Zhuang waved to Gao Mingcheng and left with a smile.

A lot of water was used in the process of washing sweet potatoes and grinding sweet potato residue, but Gao Mingcheng’s well was really good. Even after drawing so many buckets of water, there was no sign of the well running low.

The water used to wash sweet potatoes will not be wasted, but will be poured into the corner where some flowers and trees are planted.

After everyone left, it was dark. Gao Mingcheng checked the tools placed under the eaves. A total of three large bags of sweet potato residue were made. On the wooden rack, there were three simple bags made of white cotton cloth in a row, filled with sweet potato residue, and the basin underneath was also filled with aqueous solution.

The aqueous solution is still turbid and needs time to change.

"Mingcheng, it's time for dinner." In the kitchen, Xuanmei shouted loudly.

At the dinner table, the two of them ate and chatted.

"My second sister's family has a lot of sweet potatoes, but they are afraid that they will go bad, so they cut them into pieces and dried them a long time ago, saying that they will be used to make porridge in winter." Xuanyuemei said.

Her family didn't have a cellar. Her father was in poor health in his last few years, and there were only four daughters in the family, so they didn't dig their own cellar.

Later, after Xuanyu and Zhang Chengyuan got married, Zhang Chengyuan wanted to find a place to dig a cellar, but he was ostracized and not allowed to do so. So until now, there is still no cellar in their home.

After the sweet potatoes are dug out, if they are not placed in the cellar, they will easily go bad and be wasted.

They are all grown with great effort, so who would be willing to waste them? There is no water, so they cannot be made into sweet potato flour for preservation, so they are just dried directly.

Dried sweet potatoes can be stored until winter and cooked into porridge.

Gao Mingcheng said, "His family doesn't have time to make sweet potato noodles this year. How about this, you ask your brother if he still wants to dig a cellar? If he wants to dig, he can dig next to our cellar. If he digs here, no one will dare to say anything."

"Okay." Xuanyuemei responded, and then started talking about interesting stories about newborns with a smile.

But Gao Mingcheng listened lazily. In his previous life, Xuanyimei had taken good care of this nephew. Whenever there was a stutterer in the family, she was willing to share her money with him. Later, when the family had money, she even covered the nephew's tuition. This nephew was a seed of learning. He passed the exams and was admitted to the capital. Finally, he worked and bought a house in the capital. He might not come back once a year. Even if he came back, he was not very nice to Xuanyimei, his aunt.

Many people talked about this later and felt aggrieved, but Gao Mingcheng never said anything. After all... he also paid for the tuition of his nephews and nieces, and they would get rewards if they did well in the exams.

And his nephews and nieces didn't treat him very well after they grew up.

So in this matter, he and Xuanyuemei are the same.

Now seeing that Xuanyimei is interested in his nephew again, Gao Mingcheng thinks that it’s time to move forward with the plan of having a baby!

When many beauties have their own children, their love will naturally transfer.

In this life, he will raise his own children with many beautiful women and experience the joy and hard work of being a father.

As for other people’s children, if they are good, he will praise them, but if they are not... that’s none of his business!

Each parent should take care of their own child!

(End of this chapter)