Chapter 53 Vermicelli
The village chief's question successfully stunned Ye Wangshu.
In her previous life, although she had devoted herself to studying medicine, she had the good fortune to learn how to process sweet potato starch. However, making the starch was simple, but processing it into vermicelli noodles was a problem for her.
In this day and age, there are no machines that can be used to make potato flour and sweet potato flour.
Seeing Ye Wangshu hesitate to speak, the village chief frowned slightly and asked curiously, "Is this the same as grinding wheat into flour and then making noodles?"
Ye Wangshu pursed his lips and shook his head, saying, "That's different. Village Chief, let me do this! I'll study it first and then come back to you."
"Oh good!"
With Ye Wangshu's assurance, the village chief's anxious heart relaxed a little.
But he still didn't dare to let his guard down and continued to run around looking for people to buy potatoes and sweet potatoes from the village.
As soon as he got home, Ye Wangshu went into the kitchen.
Peel the potatoes, wash them, grate them into shreds with a grater, and then chop them into smaller pieces.
Then Ye Wangshu found a clean steaming cloth to hold the chopped potato scraps, soaked them in a basin filled with clean water, and went to process the sweet potatoes.
The method for processing sweet potatoes is exactly the same as that for processing potatoes.
After waiting for nearly an hour, Ye Wangshu began to rub the potatoes through the steaming cloth.
Part of the potato starch is soaked in water, and then after vigorous kneading, the potato starch and clean water are mixed.
Ye Wangshu took out the steaming cloth only when the potatoes wrapped in it were reduced to scraps.
The next thing to do is to wait quietly for the potato starch to settle in the basin.
Ye Wangshu followed the same method and processed the sweet potatoes in the same way.
After a long time, all the starch sank into the basin. Ye Wangshu poured out the clean water and took them out to dry.
The sun is shining brightly now, so it's dry before nightfall.
Ye Wangshu struck while the iron was hot, took some potato starch and mixed it with water, then added boiling water and stirred it with chopsticks.
Ye Wangshu added more potato starch until it became a transparent paste.
When the potato starch turned milky white, Ye Wangshu added a little salt to season it.
Looking at the sticky potato flour paste, Ye Wangshu was stunned.
I don’t know whether what I did was right or wrong.
After boiling a pot of water, Ye Wangshu scooped out potato starch paste with a spoon in one hand and poured it into the colander in the other hand.
Watching the potato starch strips fall into the pot, Ye Wangshu raised the corners of his lips slightly, but his hands did not move.
After a long time, Ye Wangshu rubbed his sore wrist and lowered his eyes to look at the potato flour in the pot.
After all the potato flour floated up, Ye Wangshu poured it into cold water and let it settle.
Looking back at the sweet potato starch, Ye Wangshu didn't want to wait until tomorrow, so he called Zhou's mother over.
Although Zhou's mother didn't know what Ye Wangshu was doing, she didn't question it.
Ye Wangshu asked her to help and she did.
The two of them worked together, and Ye Wangshu no longer had to use a soup spoon in one hand and a colander in the other to make the food. The process was much faster and not as tiring as before.
"Wangshu! Is this noodles?" Zhou's mother frowned slightly, looking at the potato flour and sweet potato flour, very puzzled.
It looked like noodles, but she didn't think it was.
"Mom, this is potato flour and sweet potato flour. I promised the village chief to research it. Although it's a little different in thickness, it worked."
Ye Wangshu had an excited look on his face, and then he started to prepare the ingredients.
"Mom, let's keep it simple today and mix these up!"
Ye Wangshu was already very tired, and it was difficult for her to do anything else.
Fortunately, the amount of sweet potato flour and potato flour is sufficient and the taste is good.
"Should we call the village chief over?" Mother Zhou was very excited when she heard that Ye Wangshu was thinking of a solution for the village.
Just looking at Ye Wangshu's tired face, I couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
"This is just like preparing a cold dish, right?" Mother Zhou took the knife from Ye Wangshu's hand and said, "Take a break. Ask my younger sister to go to the village chief's house."
"That's about right. Just adjust it to your taste."
Ye Wangshu felt warm in his heart and went out to call Zhou Xiaohong.
Because of going to the city to learn hairdressing, Zhou Xiaohong had a very good impression of Ye Wangshu these days. As soon as Ye Wangshu finished speaking, Zhou Xiaohong left the house.
The village chief was eating when he saw Zhou Xiaohong coming to see him. He immediately dropped his bowl and went to Zhou's house.
Looking at the prepared potato flour and sweet potato flour, the village chief's eyes lit up.
"Is this the potato flour and sweet potato flour you mentioned? Have you succeeded?"
Ye Wangshu nodded, but frowned slightly. "The method I used is simple, and can only make enough for one or two meals. If you want to make more, you have to think of another way."
"It's better than nothing, Wangshu! I believe in you, you will definitely be able to figure it out."
The village chief patted Ye Wangshu's shoulder earnestly, then sat down as Ye Wangshu instructed.
When the potato flour and sweet potato flour entered his mouth, the village chief's eyes lit up, "This is so delicious!"
Both types of powder received positive reviews, and Ye Wangshu instantly became full of confidence.
"Wangshu, what do you think of a noodle machine? The one that makes noodles, it's fine for dough, but there's no reason why it wouldn't work for paste. Let's make the paste a little firmer, that should work, right?"
Seeing that Ye Wangshu was frowning, Zhou's mother reminded him.
“It’s hard to say, but you can try.”
Ye Wangshu was afraid that the batter would be too sticky, which would not only prevent vermicelli from coming out, but would also ruin the noodle making machine.
As expected, there was no way to press it down, but due to gravity, the vermicelli would fall down. It's okay to add more flour, but the ratio needs to be adjusted carefully.
Ye Wangshu instantly became alert and decided to take a two-pronged approach.
I asked someone to make a large colander to put on the pot to drain the sticky paste. Another one uses a pasta machine. Let's see which one everyone likes later.
After the potato flour was cooked, it was placed in cold water to cool. Then Ye Wangshu arranged them and took them out to dry.
The method was already found, and the village chief immediately called a meeting of the entire village.
Although everyone was full of doubts, with the village chief taking the lead and this year's harvest being really bad, many families were willing to give it a try.
At the beginning, no one dared to do too much.
It was not until the first household made the finished product and everyone tasted it and agreed that the potato flour and sweet potato flour were delicious that they began to study the production process.
The village chief was full of hope and decided to go to the city to submit his report.
After all, potato flour and sweet potato flour must have formal certificates before they can be sold.
But after the village chief submitted the application, the people above him didn't take the expressions of the people in a small village seriously at all.
Therefore, the village chief did not receive a reply to his application for a long time.
Ye Wangshu didn't want to be idle either. One day, she suddenly had an idea. She thought it was too difficult for the villagers to go to the city to buy pastries if they wanted to eat them, so she might as well resell them.
Although she can make some pastries, they are not as delicious as those in the city.
Ye Wangshu did what he said and went straight into the city.
But she encountered setbacks again and again, and no pastry shop was willing to contract the pastries from outside.
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