Chapter 364 You reap what you sow
Just as Princess Lejia said, this performance was more exciting than any other performance at the palace banquet.
Perhaps to celebrate the New Year, the show started with a lively dance.
The dancers were dressed in red skirts, with their long sleeves fluttering in the air, looking beautiful and graceful in the festive atmosphere.
After the opening dance, performances of various musical instruments followed.
Some musical instruments are not visible to the general public unless they are performed in the palace during the New Year holidays.
Shen Huazheng was eating hotpot while watching the performance and chatting with her family from time to time.
The mouth and eyes were never idle throughout the whole process.
Prince An's family also enjoyed the meal very much. They had no interest in the singing and dancing performances at all and at most they just watched for fun.
The pot in front of me was bubbling with white steam.
When delicious food is in front of you, nothing else has any appeal.
All that singing, dancing, music and other things become boring after watching them for a while.
It won’t cost you any more meat if you look at it for a second, it’s still more delicious and substantial.
Xiao Jingran now has some experience in eating hotpot and knows what kind of sauce goes best with which hotpot.
The dipping sauce in front of him was made by him himself, using fermented bean curd, some soy sauce, and some kumquat juice.
This was what Shen Huazheng taught him last time when they had dinner together.
Xiao Jingran looked at the rabbit meat in the bowl and picked up the chopsticks.
After being dipped in the boiling hot pot, the rabbit meat changes from its original red color to a beautiful light pink, just like the reflection of the sunset.
He picked up a piece of rabbit meat from the bowl with chopsticks and dipped it into the prepared sauce until the rabbit meat was covered with a thin layer of sauce, then he put it into his mouth.
The rabbit meat has a firm and crispy texture, and is delicate and tender.
As you chew it, the delicious aroma from the pot bottom, the richness of the sauce and the tender and juicy texture of the rabbit meat burst in your mouth at the same time, and every bite is full of endless deliciousness.
Xiao Jingran chewed the rabbit meat with great enjoyment, and found it extremely satisfying.
He suddenly saw the lettuce in the bowl, and an idea came to him. He picked up a piece of rabbit meat and dipped it in the sauce.
Then I wrapped the rabbit meat with lettuce and took a bite.
Although the lettuce has been boiled, it still retains its fresh and tender texture and tastes crispy.
When you take a bite, you first feel the crisp texture of the lettuce, then the tenderness of the rabbit meat, and the salty and fresh taste of the sauce.
As you chew it, the unique flavor of rabbit meat mixed with the sweetness of lettuce and the salty fragrance of the sauce burst in your mouth.
The presence of lettuce makes the whole taste more refreshing, and the fusion of the three is unexpectedly harmonious, it is simply a perfect match.
Xiao Jingran felt the refreshing sweetness and fragrance in his mouth, and looked at the lettuce on the table.
I heard that these vegetables were all grown by Sister Zheng. Sister Zheng is really amazing.
Suddenly, Xiao Jingran seemed to have thought of something, and his dark eyeballs rolled around.
By the way, they say you reap what you sow.
That kind of sugar... I should be able to get sugar too.
My father said that as long as you are a good child, all the wishes you make during the New Year will come true.
In that case, if he plants lollipops during the New Year, he should get lollipops.
The more Xiao Jingran thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. He was so well-behaved and sensible, the wish he made would definitely come true.
Xiao Jingran laughed happily at the thought of being able to harvest a tree of lollipops soon.
Prince An and Princess An exchanged glances calmly, and both saw a hint of solemnity and helplessness in each other's eyes.
They knew their naughty son all too well.
Usually when Xiao Jingran showed this expression, he must be harboring something bad in his heart.
It's New Year's Day, and I don't know what this brat is up to.
I just hope that this year the palace won’t be in chaos like last year.
Emperor Jingning seemed to be in a good mood and during the banquet he presented several dishes to the residences of royal family members and some meritorious officials.
The Shen family was also given two dishes and some beef slaughtered during the royal sacrifice.
Inside the Zhaoyang Palace, there was an endless supply of delicious food and fine wine, as well as various singing and dancing performances to liven up the atmosphere.
The emperor and his ministers enjoyed themselves together, with laughter and joy going on constantly.
During the banquet, everyone drank and toasted each other in great joy.
Everyone ate heartily and their faces were flushed.
Only Ye Hong was worried, and the other members of the Ye family were not in a much better mood either.
Ye Linghuai hardly ate anything, he just kept drinking.
He also glanced in the direction of Shen Huazheng from time to time.
Chen Huazheng was so busy watching the show and eating that she didn't even glance at him.
Instead, the Shen brothers stared at Ye Linghuai with unfriendly eyes for a while, and scared him so much that he shrank his head back.
As the night deepened, the New Year's Eve palace banquet finally came to an end, and the court officials and their wives all stood up and walked towards the outside of the palace.
At this time of year in previous years, everyone would complain that the road from Zhaoyang Palace to the palace gate was too long.
After all, being cold and hungry, and having to walk such a long distance was simply torture.
But today, everyone touched their slightly bulging stomachs in unison and felt that the journey was not that long.
Just think of it as a walk to help digestion.
Princess Lejia drank a few more glasses and kept shouting that she wanted to go home with Shen Huazheng, and almost got on the Shen family's carriage.
Shen Huazheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry, no matter how she tried to persuade him, it was useless.
In the end, Jiang Xi stepped forward and dragged her away.
It was already late at night when Shen Huazheng and his group returned to the Shen Mansion.
They stayed up together, and after midnight, they went back to their rooms to sleep.
Maybe because she was having so much fun, Shen Huazheng fell into a sweet dream as soon as she got into bed.
It was also Chinese New Year in her dream, and her grandparents were with her.
*
On the morning of the first day of the new year, the weather was nice and the sun was shining brightly.
It makes people's mood improve for no reason.
Shen Huazheng first went to check on the wolfberries she raised, and then went to the kitchen.
Today is the first day of the new year, and she had already agreed with her family to eat dumplings together.
The Shen family all likes to eat shrimp dumplings, so we also made shrimp dumplings this time.
When making shrimp dumplings, besides fresh fillings, the most important thing is the shrimp dumpling skin.
Shen Huazheng's main purpose of going to the kitchen this time was to make crystal shrimp dumpling skins.
Qingzhi took what Shen Huazheng wanted and placed it in front of her: “County Master, this is the wheat starch and corn starch that were made earlier.”
Shen Huazheng hummed softly and looked at the two jars in front of her.
If you want to make transparent and chewy shrimp dumpling skin, wheat starch and corn starch are indispensable.
Fortunately, wheat starch and corn starch are prepared in advance, and everything needed is available.
Wheat starch is relatively simple to make, and can be summed up in two words - wash face.
Just ask someone to knead the ordinary flour into a dough, then find a large basin, pour half a basin of water into it, and throw the kneaded dough in.
The next step is to wash the flour like washing clothes, and then pour the flour water into a larger vat.
Repeat this process until the flour water in the large basin becomes clear, and washing your face is complete.
After washing your face, you cannot get wheat starch immediately. There is one last step - waiting.
After a night of sedimentation, the flour and water in the large vat formed layers. The clear water on top was poured out, and what remained at the bottom of the vat was wheat starch.
Chen Huazheng asked the servants to find a bamboo mat, scoop out all the wheat starch at the bottom of the jar, and spread it flat on the bamboo mat to dry.
The bamboo mat can not only drain away excess moisture from the starch, but is also flat enough and easy to move, making it perfect for drying things.
After the wheat starch was dried, Shen Huazheng had it put into a large jar and sealed for later use.
Corn starch is a little more complicated to make.
You need to use a stone mill to grind the corn and water into corn pulp.
The ground corn slurry is filtered several times with gauze, and the filtered corn water is poured into another large vat to settle overnight. The clear water is poured out, and the corn starch is obtained by scooping it out and drying it.
Like wheat starch, corn starch was also stored in jars by Shen Huazheng.
Shen Huazheng opened the lid, scooped out an appropriate amount of wheat starch and corn starch with a clean spoon and poured them into a large bowl, then added a large spoonful of white sugar.
Then have someone use a small rolling pin to mix them well.
Wheat starch and corn starch are needed in the preparation of many delicious foods, so she always asks people to make more in case there is not enough when needed.
In addition to making shrimp dumpling skins, the amount of starch in this jar can be used to make many delicious things.
After the starch and sugar in the basin were fully mixed, Shen Huazheng poured boiling water into the basin and asked someone to continue stirring until there was no white powdery dough in the basin.
Due to being scalded by boiling water, the starch in the basin becomes a translucent dough.
The hot dough was placed in a bowl to cool for about a quarter of an hour. The cook followed the instructions, grabbed a handful of corn starch and sprinkled it on the chopping board, then placed the cooled dough on it.
Then sprinkle two handfuls of corn starch on the dough and knead it repeatedly.
The dough became smooth and soft under the kneading of the cook.
Shen Huazheng took an oil brush, smeared cooking oil on the kneaded dough, and then asked the cook to continue kneading.
The main purpose of this step is to increase the elasticity and smoothness of the dough.
The dough kneaded in this way is not only smooth and soft, but also elastic.
Just like gummy candy, it won't break easily even if it is pulled for a long time.
The shrimp dumpling skin made with this dough is not only crystal clear, but also has a chewy texture, which is perfect.
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