Chapter 51: Delicious mountain food. The cornmeal pancake in my hand...

Sun Dalang gathered with several young men of average age. Each of them held a thick cornmeal pancake in his hand, which was baked for them by their families in an iron pan before they left. This kind of cornmeal pancake is easy to store and is very filling, making it very convenient to carry when going out.

In addition to the pancakes, there was a small jar filled with homemade pickles at everyone's feet.

After being out for so long, the cornmeal pancakes were a bit cooler, but still soft. Tear the golden brown tortillas in half and stuff them with pickles. The aroma of the cornmeal and the savory flavor of the pickles blended together, creating a delicious feast.

They chewed with big mouthfuls and looked at Zhao Mingsheng as if they were laughing at a joke.

Zhao Mingsheng got up and went into the woods, while the experienced Uncle Cao stayed where he was and soon built a stove with stones.

The group of young people watched for a while, and finally one of them couldn't help but sneer in a low voice, "Uncle Cao is really getting old. He still has to carry a pot when he goes out. He doesn't even feel tired!"

"Haha, that's right. Besides, what's the point of having a pot? There's no rice, no noodles, no salt, no oil, not even any decent vegetables in this desolate mountain area. What delicious food can she make?"

"Haha, maybe he's cooking a pot of wild vegetable soup!" One of them guessed. After all, wild vegetables are the most abundant in this mountain.

The person who spoke first placed a piece of pickled vegetables on the pancake with his chopsticks, opened his mouth and took a big bite. While chewing, he mumbled, "This pancake with pickled vegetables is still the best. It's both filling and delicious!"

Sun Dalang ate the pancake in his hand carelessly, but his eyes were always paying attention to Uncle Cao's actions. He thought their behavior was very ridiculous.

They had eaten half of the pancake when Uncle Cao finally started the fire. This was based on his experience. If someone else started the fire, they might not be as quick as he was.

The fire was lit, and Zhao Mingsheng came back with a basket of ingredients.

The vegetables in the mountains are generally called wild vegetables, but these wild vegetables are also divided into varieties. There are more than a hundred kinds of wild vegetables on the land under her feet, and there are seven or eight kinds in Zhao Mingsheng's basket.

In addition to a few bamboo shoots and wild yam, a handful of mushrooms and some green wild vegetables that cannot be called, there is also a small handful of wild onions, which fills the basket to the top.

One of the sharp-eyed young men took a look at what was in Zhao Mingsheng's basket and saw that it was just some ordinary wild vegetables as they expected. He couldn't help but sneer, "See, they are indeed wild vegetables. I don't believe she can make wild vegetables taste better than the Eight Immortals Restaurant's Eight Fresh Vegetables."

"Okay, don't worry about them. Let's eat our food and then have a good rest. We still have a long way to go in the afternoon." Sun Dalang sneered and made arrangements.

In his opinion, it was not worth it to work so hard for a bowl of wild vegetable soup!

When going out, the small knife that Meng gave to Zhao Mingsheng for self-defense came in handy. She peeled and washed the wild bamboo shoots, then cut them into thin strips with a knife. She also cut the wild onions into sections.

Cooking without oil and salt is indeed a big problem, but this does not pose a problem for Zhao Mingsheng.

She also brought a jar of pickles. Unlike those people who pickled pickles with soy sauce or salt, she pickled them with red oil and was very generous with the oil and ingredients.

As soon as the earthenware jar was opened, the fragrance inside came out immediately.

"Damn, what smells so good?" The person who first said the corn tortillas were delicious smelled the fragrance and couldn't help swallowing.

As soon as he finished speaking, others also smelled it. They followed the fragrance and finally found that it was the pickles that Miss Zhao brought from home!

Their eyes widened as they watched, but they were too embarrassed to ask for it, so they could only watch and swallow their saliva.

"Okay, forget about them. Let's eat our food and then have a good rest. We still have a long way to go in the afternoon." Sun Dalang couldn't stand their useless looks, sneered, and made arrangements.

It was just that the pickles were a little more fragrant. In his opinion, it was not worth it to work so hard for a lunch!

Zhao Mingsheng poured some of the red oil from the clay pot into the boiling pot, making a sizzling sound. After a moment, she immediately added the chopped scallions to the pot and stir-fried them for a few seconds. The scallions immediately gave off a strong onion aroma from the frying in the hot oil.

Uncle Cao was attracted by the aroma for some reason and squatted over the pot to watch. Just smelling the aroma made him salivate. He thought that was fragrant enough, but then he thought Zhao Mingsheng took out another earthenware jar.

This time the clay pot is filled with bright red chopped pepper sauce.

Zhao Mingsheng hesitated as he scooped up the chopped peppers, then looked up and asked, "Grandpa Cao, can you handle spicy food?"

"Yes!" Of course not. He loves spicy food. The chopped peppers are bright in color and look delicious. They have aroused the appetite in his stomach.

Only then did Zhao Mingsheng feel at ease and scooped two spoonfuls of chopped pepper into the pot, then poured the bamboo shoots into the pot while it was still hot. After stir-frying them for a few times, the red oil and chopped pepper evenly wrapped each bamboo shoot.

A dish of bamboo shoots cooked in red oil quickly emerged from the pot, and the air was filled with a fragrant and spicy aroma, attracting everyone's attention.

"Damn it! Why is it getting more and more fragrant!" The young man sitting next to Sun Dalang couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and started complaining. The tortilla in his hand suddenly didn't smell any better.

He was about to move closer to smell it, but finally sat back down unwillingly under Sun Dalang's gaze, "Why don't we take the blame next time?"

Someone replied to him quietly, "You have to be able to recite it, though."

Even if you can recite it, can you make it as delicious as Miss Zhao?

However, he just thought about this in his heart. It would be too hurtful to say it out loud, as they are all from the same village.

After making the red oil bamboo shoots, Zhao Mingsheng poured water from the stream into the pot. After the water boiled, he put the washed wild vegetables into the pot and blanched them. After taking them out of the pot, the surface color of the wild vegetables became more fresh and green.

Add some red oil and mix it together! It is a cold vegetable dish.

Uncle Cao actually brought some dry food with him. He took out some pancakes and shared them with Zhao Mingsheng and Aunt Wang. "You can also try the pancakes baked by our old lady."

Zhao Mingsheng broke off a small piece. The whole grain pancake tasted very fragrant when chewed, and had a different flavor from the pancakes she usually ate.

The three of them ate two dishes with pancakes, and ate with big mouthfuls. The delicious taste made the people around them look at them with envy.

However, although this whole grain pancake tasted delicious, it was still a bit dry. Uncle Cao ate it a little too quickly and accidentally choked.

Zhao Mingsheng saw this, thought for a moment, put down her chopsticks, and lit the fire again.

"Ahem...what else do you want to do, little girl from the Zhao family? These two dishes are enough." Uncle Cao asked in confusion.

"You guys eat first, I'll make some soup."

After hearing this, Uncle Cao suddenly realized that he did this on purpose because he saw that he was choking.

He felt relieved, but was still afraid of bothering the little girl, so he quickly refused, "Ahem, no, I just need some water."

"It's okay, it will be fine soon." Zhao Mingsheng comforted.

It wasn't her modesty, but it was really fast. After the water boiled, she sprinkled a handful of washed mushrooms. After it boiled again, she took out a paper bag from her sleeve and sprinkled fine white powder into the pot. After cooking for a while, a bowl of delicious mushroom soup was soon cooked.

After taking a sip of the mushroom soup, Uncle Cao felt that the choking feeling in his chest immediately dissipated a lot. It turned out that when people get older, they need to drink something hot.

Aunt Wang lowered her head and took a sip. The mushroom soup tasted delicious with a hint of saltiness, but after drinking it, she was a little confused. Why did she taste saltiness?

Because she knew that Zhao Mingsheng didn't bring any salt with him when he went out this time. The salt in the red oil bamboo shoots and cold wild vegetables could be said to come from the pickles and chopped peppers, but where did the salt in the mushroom soup come from?

In addition, if you cook soup normally without salt, you won’t be able to remove the earthy smell of the mushrooms, and it will be impossible to cook such a delicious mushroom soup.

Aunt Wang was surprised and asked, "Girl, where did this salt come from?"

Zhao Mingsheng pulled out a paper package from his sleeve and opened it to show Aunt Wang. "This is what I scraped off the surface of a saltbush tree."

The wood salt tree is a tree with a very high salt content. During the hottest period of summer, this tree will sweat like humans. The sweat will dry up in the places where it flows, leaving a thin layer of white crystals. The taste is not much different from the salt we usually eat. She learned all this from the strange books.

This kind of tree is very rare, and Zhao Mingsheng didn't expect to encounter it here. It just happened to solve her urgent need.

Aunt Wang had never heard of this strange tree, but after she took some and tasted it, she quickly believed it because it tasted exactly like salt.

"Can this tree produce a lot of salt?" Her eyes gleamed. After all, salt is not cheap. If the crystals of this wood salt tree can be used instead, the family can save a lot of expenses.

Zhao Mingsheng immediately realized what Aunt Wang meant. She thought about it carefully, then shook her head. This tree species is too rare, and it only produces this kind of crystal in July and August each year. It can't even meet the daily needs of a family.

Aunt Wang had no choice but to look away with some disappointment.

However, Aunt Wang's idea gave her some hints. If this kind of salt tree could be planted in large quantities, could more salt be produced?

Just as I was thinking about it, there was suddenly some slight movement in the bushes on the left.

Not only Zhao Mingsheng noticed it, but Uncle Cao also noticed it. He stared at that direction vigilantly, grabbed a wooden stick beside him as a weapon, and held it tightly in his palm.

Perhaps the aroma of the food had attracted some animals? He speculated. Right now, he just hoped it was some gentle creature, not a bird of prey. But judging by the noise just now, it was probably quite large.

Uncle Cao didn't dare to underestimate it and quickly prepared to call others to come, but before he could remind everyone to pay attention, the bushes made even louder noises.

Then, out of the bushes stepped... a person?

This was quite a commotion, and everyone saw it without Uncle Cao reminding them. This sudden appearance of someone scared everyone.

Uncle Cao breathed a sigh of relief, but then he became alert. The sudden appearance of a person in this desolate mountain was really suspicious. For everyone's safety, he was about to ask when he heard the little girl beside him say in surprise:

"Yan Zhuo?"