Because there were many things to buy, it would probably take a while to wait, so Mrs. Ye was not idle either. She asked Lin Yumei to help her find the glutinous rice, wash it and soak it, and then she took Mrs. Ye San and Lin Yumei to start picking chrysanthemums.
Then wash the selected chrysanthemum petals with warm water, spread them on a bamboo plate, and place them in a ventilated place outside to dry.
At this time, the glutinous rice is almost soaked. After steaming it, take it out and spread it out in a wooden basin to dry. When the temperature is not hot, mix the chrysanthemum petals and wine yeast in, put it in a large wooden basin, press it down, then poke a hole in the middle and cover it with a clean cloth.
Lin Yumei was busy all the time.
Later, another person came over quietly and started to help.
Seeing that she was silent, Lin Yumei introduced her to Mrs. Ye, "Mrs. You, her name is Feng Yueying. She's not very talkative and a bit of a taciturn person, but she's definitely a good worker, especially with a knife."
"Okay, I understand." Mrs. Ye was in a good mood because she was able to pull the two people to her side so quickly.
The other three people who had been gossiping were huddled in the corner of the room, whispering to each other and casting contemptuous glances at this side from time to time.
Mrs. Ye had enough manpower, so she ignored them.
After making the chrysanthemum wine, I set it aside to wait for fermentation. By this time, more than an hour had passed.
The people in charge of purchasing finally came back at this time, and several people came to the kitchen carrying a lot of things.
The ingredients needed to make the broth alone include several chickens, a duck, pig trotters, ham, pig stomach, and even pig blood.
There is a saying about hanging soup stock: no chicken, no freshness; no duck, no fragrance; no belly, no whiteness; no hoof, no richness; no leg, no mellowness.
When making chrysanthemum hotpot, the most important word is freshness.
Not only the soup needs to be fresh, but the ingredients for hot pot also need to be fresh, so that it tastes good.
After all the ingredients were placed on the table, the three people in the corner began to whisper to each other again.
"Who needs so many ingredients to make soup stock?"
"As a small family, I've never seen the market before. I finally have this opportunity, so why not buy all the good things I like?"
"I used to work as a kitchen helper in a wealthy family in Beijing, and I've never seen anyone use so many things to make soup stock."
Mrs. Ye turned a deaf ear to their words, but this time she did not continue to indulge them. Instead, she directly ordered: "You three come here and clean up the chickens and ducks."
The three people couldn't believe their ears when they heard this. How dare this country woman order them around?
But Qiu Wei was standing next to Sister Ye, and even looked over and asked, "Mrs. You is calling you, didn't you hear it?"
The three of them had no choice but to come over.
Mrs. Ye assigned the tasks as soon as she opened her mouth.
"There are five chickens and one duck, two for each of you, take them down and clean them up!
"Yumei, please take care of this pig stomach.
"Sister-in-law, go clean up this pig's trotter."
After easily slicing the ham, Sister Ye asked Qiu Wei beside her, "Can you give me a separate room with a stove? Preferably one that can be locked."
Qiu Wei was stunned when she heard this, as if she didn't expect Mrs. Ye to make such a request.
But when he thought about the expressions of the three kitchen helpers, he felt that Mrs. Ye's request was not excessive.
What's more, they might have some exclusive secret recipe that they don't want others to know.
Moreover, the master had originally instructed her to meet the requirements raised by Mrs. Ye.
So Qiu Wei nodded and said, "Of course, do you want the main room or the east wing?
"The main house is spacious, and the east wing is also well decorated. I'll take you there to have a look."
The main house was indeed spacious, but Mrs. Ye felt that it was a bit wasteful to use it, so she followed Qiu Wei to the east wing.
As soon as she entered the house, she took a fancy to this place.
There are two rooms in the east wing. There are two large water vats in the outer room and a row of long tables in the inner room.
There are three stoves stacked side by side against the east wall of the inner room. The iron pots on them are shiny and it is obvious that they are well maintained.
There is also a separate stove on the north side. There is no pot on it, but it is covered with a stove ring, which is just big enough to hold a large pot for broth.
Mrs. Ye took a liking to it and said, "I'll be right here!"
"Okay, then I'll go find a lock and give you the key. You can have it all to yourself."
After getting the lock and key, the first thing Mrs. Ye did was to call Mrs. Ye San to help her move the wooden basin containing chrysanthemum rice wine over.
“You usually help me here, so I can teach you.
"If there's anything, just let Yumei pass the message back and forth, so you don't have to listen to those people's sour words and have to read their faces."
"Sister-in-law, you're really thoughtful." Third Sister-in-law Ye lowered her voice and said, "Reading their faces and hearing their sour words are no big deal. I'm just worried about their inner thoughts and whether they'll do something bad to us behind our backs."
"Who said it wasn't!" Mrs. Ye checked the doors and windows of the east wing and found that the windows could be locked from the inside. She decided to lock the doors and windows before leaving in the next few days to avoid accidents.
The ingredients for the broth were quickly prepared, and Lin Yumei and Feng Yueying brought them over.
Mrs. Ye chopped the chicken and duck into pieces, took out some chicken legs and chicken breasts separately, and handed them to the two of them, saying, "You two go and peel and bone the chicken legs and chicken breasts and chop them into a paste."
"Okay." The two of them didn't ask any more questions and went back to deal with the things.
Mrs. Ye started to blanch the ingredients, then put them into the pot and started to make the broth.
After the soup was cooked, Mrs. Ye asked Mrs. Ye San to watch the fire and make sure it didn't go out.
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