Yao Niang and Li Qing even imitated Pan Jinhua's actions, washing and drying all the duck eggs before putting them into the mud to coat them.
After covering the eggs with mud, they were rolled in a thin layer of dry straw ash before being carefully placed in a wooden jar and arranged neatly.
After sealing the wooden vat, Yao Niang moved it to a cool, well-ventilated place.
Pan Jinhua led the two men to make salted duck eggs, and they made more than two hundred in a row.
Once everything is in place, it's considered finished.
I sat there for the whole afternoon.
However, things have definitely become much easier since Yao Niang came along.
Moreover, Yao Niang never asked many questions, only focused on doing her work, and had no extra curiosity. Pan Jinhua was increasingly satisfied with her.
"Let's just leave it alone and come back to check on it in twenty days."
"We have to wait so many days!"
Good things are always worth the wait.
Even her grandmother said it was a good thing, so it must be delicious. The Mid-Autumn Festival wasn't even here yet, but Li Qing was already looking forward to it.
We've been waiting and waiting, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner.
With about a week to go until the Mid-Autumn Festival, Pan Jinhua took out the salted duck eggs.
The duck eggs have been pickled for more than 20 days. Because of the hot weather, the pickling time needs to be shortened.
The yellow mud on the duck eggs had turned yellowish-brown, and the dry grass on them was grayish-black. It was hard and firm to the touch, clinging tightly to the eggshell.
Crack open the yellow mud. The duck egg inside is revealed, the shell still intact, and a salty, fishy smell hits you at first glance.
Pan Jinhua asked Yao Niang to bring some salted duck eggs to wash off the yellow mud on her face.
She and Li Qingjing went to prepare the ingredients for making mooncakes, but they didn't need to prepare them, as there was a cook in the house now.
The cook had prepared the ingredients a few days ago as instructed by Pan Jinhua, and now she was simply laying them out.
Then the cook began to knead and let the dough rest, following Pan Jinhua's instructions.
During this time, Yao Niang also washed the duck eggs and brought them over.
To make salted egg yolk mooncakes, you need to take out the salted egg yolks and soak them in wine for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to remove the fishy smell.
When you crack open a duck egg, the first thing you see is a translucent egg white, followed by a bright orange-red yolk.
Pour the egg whites into a bowl and save them for later when cooking the vegetables. Squeeze the egg yolks into the wine.
By this time, Li Qingzhang had also finished firing the earthen kiln for a while.
The soaked egg yolks are placed in a plate and baked in the earthen oven for a while. The time doesn't need to be too long, about 15 minutes, before they are taken out.
The filling she prepared was lotus seed paste, and lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes are a common type of mooncake in her world.
Take a small ball of lotus seed paste, wrap the baked salted egg yolk inside, and pinch the opening closed.
Divide the proofed dough into several equal portions. Take a small dough ball, flatten it in your palm, put the salted egg yolk and lotus seed paste filling inside, gently seal the opening with your thumb and forefinger, and roll it into a round shape.
That's it.
Next comes the mooncake molds. There are all sorts of mooncake molds on the market, but the molds at home were made by Li Xujiang.
Besides the exquisite patterns, there is also the character "Li" engraved on it, indicating that it is a mooncake from the Li family.
Sprinkle some cooked glutinous rice flour into the mooncake mold to prevent sticking.
Place the wrapped mooncake dough into the mold and press gently to shape it.
It's not cooked yet, but I already want to eat it.
The shaped mooncakes are placed in an earthen kiln for baking.
Before long, an irresistible fragrance filled the air.
Inside the earthen kiln, the crust of the pastry begins to turn golden and crispy, with the aroma of wheat blending with the fragrance of lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk.
I don't know how long the aroma lingered, but the mooncakes were finally ready. Wisps of steam rose as the cook began preparing to bake the next batch.
Meanwhile, Pan Jinhua and Li Qing had already begun staring at the baked mooncakes.
Once the heat dissipated, Li Qing couldn't wait to pick up a mooncake.
The first bite reveals the crispness and delicacy of the crust; with a gentle bite, the crust crumbles, releasing a rich wheat flavor.
Next comes the sweetness of lotus seed paste. In this delicate sweetness, the sandy and salty aroma of salted egg yolk bursts out. With one bite, oil even seeps out from between the egg yolks!
"This is so delicious!"
Li Qing, who had never eaten lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes before, suddenly fell in love with these somewhat strange-looking mooncakes.
"Actually, after making salted egg yolk mooncakes, it's best to let them sit for a while to allow the oil to seep back into the dough; this will make them taste even better."
Pan Jinhua also took a mooncake to taste; this flavor was something she hadn't experienced in a long time.
"After you've eaten, pack it up quickly and set aside some for the magistrate's family and the Cao County Magistrate's family."
Li Xuming had already given them a list of clients, and they needed to prepare more than twenty gifts to send out.
The gift box was ordered long ago, and its pattern is exactly the same as that of the mooncakes.
Four egg yolk mooncakes for one family – quality over quantity, since making them is quite a hassle.
"There are only 200 salted duck eggs in total. Some will be given away as gifts, and the other families will not be provided with them. We still need to eat them ourselves."
"Okay, we'll definitely finish it in no time."
They talk a big game, but once you eat a couple, you'll get tired of it.
Pan Jinhua thought about it, smiled, and didn't say anything.
Pan Jinhua gave two more to the cook and two more to Yao Niang, because those who do the work should at least have a taste.
The two of them carefully accepted the gift, but neither of them ate it. They wrapped it up and put it in their pockets, intending to share it with their families that evening.
Pan Jinhua didn't care; she had already given it to them anyway.
Next, Pan Jinhua will make snow skin mooncakes.
A box contains eight mooncakes: four lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes, and four snow skin mooncakes. It's both novel and delicious.
Compared to lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes, the snow skin mooncake is much simpler to make.
There's no need for baking. Once the snow skin is made, the filling is wrapped inside, and then it's pressed with a mold, and the mooncake is done.
The key to making snow skin is the skin itself, which requires three types of flour.
Glutinous rice flour, rice flour, wheat starch.
Glutinous rice flour doesn't refer to the kind of rice flour that's very sticky; rather, it's a type of rice flour that doesn't stick to your hands.
Mix milk and honey water, then pour in the three types of rice flour and stir to combine. When the batter is almost ready, let it sit for about an incense stick's time before steaming the rice flour.
The next steps are similar to those for making pastries.
The filling is made from cooked red bean paste, which has a slightly purplish-pink color.
The resulting snow skin mooncakes are very beautiful, and when you bite into them, they are soft and chewy.
The red bean paste has a smooth and sweet flavor.
Although it is not much different from the red bean paste pastries on the market now, the snow skin is really unique. The outer skin is crystal clear, but it is soft and glutinous without sticking to your hands.
We made a lot of snow skin mooncakes. We prepared all the gifts to be given away before we started making the ones for our own family. Even the other branches of the family received quite a few snow skin mooncakes.
This is something you eat just for the novelty.
With only a few days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, all kinds of mooncakes are appearing on the market, and pastry shops are putting a lot of effort into the designs and fillings.
But, I don't know what's going on lately?
Many wealthy families sent people to inquire whether they had lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes or snow skin mooncakes.
This left many pastry shop owners scratching their heads. After inquiring, they learned that, well, Li's Tofu had entered the pastry industry again.
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