Chapter 249 Sour Cabbage and Kimchi

In the past, if you told them that the villagers spent money to buy food, they would never believe it even if you beat them to death.

At that time, Shen Qing felt it was unbelievable that he spent money to let them deliver wild vegetables and dried vegetables, but now when it was their turn, they found that earning wages was more profitable than growing vegetables!

Of course, it’s not that we don’t grow vegetables and have to buy them all. We just want to use more land to grow medicinal herbs, so the large amount of vegetables consumed in winter have to be bought and stockpiled.

More than ten trucks weighing several thousand kilograms of vegetables were brought back at once. This time, the people who stayed in the village were not shocked, but stunned.

They are a group of farmers, do they still need to buy vegetables?

Fang Ting and Ma Pandi were also washing herbs by the village river. After more than ten days of getting along, they were no longer as reserved as when they first met.

Hearing that their sister-in-law Liu Cuihua had returned, the two of them quickly wiped their hands on their aprons and ran over.

I was also stunned when I saw the cabbages that looked like small hills.

Seeing her two sisters-in-law, Liu Cuihua said with a loud laugh, "Second and third sisters! I didn't dare bring you too much. I only brought 20 or 30 cabbages each. Do you want any?"

If you don't want her, just take them all.

On the way back, she calculated that in the past, there was not enough food and vegetables, so the family actually ate frugally, with two meals a day. They would eat liquid food instead of dry food, and would never eat until they were 50% full. They thought that since they didn't have to work in the winter, it would be okay to eat less.

Who wants to eat liquid food when they can eat dry food? Who wants to go hungry when they can eat their fill?

If the second and third sons' families don't want the fifty or sixty heads of cabbage, they can still eat them themselves, so it's just right to collect them.

Fang Ting and Ma Pandi nodded hurriedly, "Yes! Sister-in-law, you also know that my family has enough sauerkraut every year."

"With these twenty or thirty cabbages to supplement our meals, it's much better than in previous years. Thank you sister-in-law for thinking of my family."

After they finished talking, they remembered to ask the price, "How much silver do you want for these cabbages, sister-in-law?"

I've never bought vegetables before, so I don't know what the prices are.

"Two cents per piece." Liu Cuihua reported casually.

Fang Ting and Ma Pandi opened their mouths, and their first reaction was to ask for two cents per pill. Then they remembered that they were doing the job of cleaning medicinal herbs, and the dividends would be about one hundred and sixty cents a day, which meant they could buy eighty pills.

More than 200 kilograms of cabbage were earned back in less than an hour?

It seems not very expensive?

Even more?

Buy a three-hour set and you won't have to worry about it for the entire winter and the beginning of spring...

"Shen Qing, why did you buy so many radishes? Don't we have some grown in our fields?" Grandma Qin looked at the radishes on the cart that looked like a small hill and there were two kinds of them, and she was a little puzzled.

Shen Qing pointed at the carrots and said, "Didn't I buy wild sheep a few days ago? I haven't finished eating it yet, so I can stew a big pot with carrots.

There's a bricklayer working at home, and we eat too much vegetables every day. So instead of eating the vegetables from our own garden, we can keep them for a while, and store them in the cellar when we're done, so we can eat them fresh in the winter."

Pointing to the white radish, he said, "This is mainly used to make kimchi. Also, make a batch of spicy dried radish side dishes. If they are fresh for a long time, they will become rotten even if they are not eaten up. Then the radish kimchi and dried radish can make up for it."

She has a storage cabinet, and whatever she puts in can be taken out in the same condition, without spoiling or deteriorating. It works better than a refrigerator, but the rest of the family cannot rely on the storage cabinet, and still have to learn how to live their daily lives.

Moreover, pickled vegetables and dried vegetables are not only used to preserve vegetables and store food, but also to make the taste of vegetables more varied and delicious.

It can be eaten alone or as a side dish for meat and other dishes, making simple meals varied and different.

Grandma Qin thought of the rotten radish. To be honest, it really didn’t taste good!

In other words, she really had nothing to eat and wanted to fill her stomach, but even if it was to fill her stomach, she still felt that the food was unpalatable.

Now she was willing to buy salt, and didn't have to be stingy with it like before. She also made more kimchi, pickled vegetables, and spicy dried radish, just like Shen Qing did. It sounded more appetizing than dried radish...

I bought some dried chilies at home, and there are several stone mortars in the village, which make it convenient to pound them. Then I need salt, it’s decided!

"Shen Qingna, let me go with you and take a look. Once we learn how to eat, we can go back and try some new dishes."

The other women saw that the eldest, Granny Qin, was learning how to cook from Shen Qing, and they also thought of the children who often enviously said that the food at Aunt Shen Qing's house was delicious, so they all said, "I'll go and see it too!"

In life, eating and drinking, defecating and urinating, the most important thing is eating and drinking!

In the past, I was poor and reluctant to spend money on anything. Even when pickling vegetables, I would complain that putting too much salt was a waste. Now that I can afford salt, it’s okay to make some pickles.

Liu Cuihua's three sisters-in-law were also invited to learn how to make sauerkraut.

When the women saw this, they realized that these sauerkraut and kimchi didn't require any salt at all.

Why did they use so much salt when pickling vegetables in the past?

"The main feature of this pickled cabbage is its sourness, not its saltiness, so of course it doesn't need too much salt.

But don't worry, even if there's not much salt, it's still delicious, especially when stewed with meat in winter, the flavor is just right! I guarantee you'll want to eat more after having it!" Liu Cuihua said with pride.

She didn't praise anything else, but she really had to praise the sauerkraut.

Fang Ting and Ma Pandi nodded and whispered, "We'll bring you some old water from the pickled mustard greens when we get back. Sprinkle half a ladle of water from a jar with the water. It won't grow white flowers easily, and you'll be able to eat it in ten days or so."

Shen Qing knew the principle of sauerkraut, which was to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.

He quickly said, "Okay, thank you for your help!"

Fang Ting and Ma Pandi smiled timidly.

Liu Cuihua also reminded some precautions: "Don't scald the cabbage too much. Just scald the tail for a while so it can be pressed down, and scald the leaves casually."

"It's best to air-dry the cabbage for a day or two after harvesting it to remove moisture. This will make it crisper and sweeter when cooked later."

"You don't need too much salt. Too much will make the food taste bad. If the flavor is not strong, you don't need to add it."

"Don't let it get greasy! If you're worried, rinse the jar or pot twice with boiling water."

"The water you pour in must be left to cool."

"When the weather is hot, it can be eaten in seven or eight days. When it's cold, it will take half a month. You can use your own feeling."

.....

Everyone listened very carefully, nodding and asking a few questions from time to time.

The sauerkraut was ready, and Shen Qing began to teach how to make it.

She bought 80 kilograms of white radishes and carrots, and saved 60 kilograms of carrots for stewing mutton. Together with the 200 kilograms of cabbage and wild boar meat, the bricklayer had enough food and didn't need to use the vegetables in the vegetable garden.

The remaining 20 kilograms of carrots were not suitable for making dried radishes, so they were all used to make kimchi. However, "There are two types of kimchi. One is 'bathed vegetables' that can be eaten immediately after soaking in kimchi water for a day or two. They are crisp and refreshing, and can be eaten with rice or porridge."