Su Qingluan was certainly not hard of hearing; she was just up to no good. Originally, Su Qingluan hadn't found a suitable opportunity to "retaliate" against Mu Xingzhi's bowls of "Coptis chinensis," but after hearing what the vendor said, she had an idea: "Is it really like someone is handing me a pillow just when I'm sleepy?"
Isn’t this a ready-made opportunity?
Su Qingluan was making some calculations in her mind, but her hands did not slow down as she kneaded the dough.
Because soup dumplings will release a lot of soup during the heating process, they cannot be made with leavened dough like ordinary dumplings. Otherwise, the soup will seep into the outside of the dough, making it soft and losing its fluffy texture.
The dough of the soup dumplings is slightly transparent and chewy, and most importantly, it prevents the soup from seeping out.
This kind of dough requires half cold water and half hot water, and a little salt and sugar should be added to the dough.
Of course, adding salt and sugar at this time is not for seasoning, but to increase the flexibility of the dough and help the dough to rise.
Because it does not need to be made into a leavened dough, the proofing process does not need to be too long. Even though the weather is relatively cool now, it is enough to proof it in a steamer with warm water for 15 minutes.
While the dough was rising, Su Qingluan cut the pork belly she bought yesterday into small cubes, minced it into minced meat, and added various seasonings and diced water chestnuts to enhance the taste.
When beating the meat filling today, Su Qingluan did not add too much water. Instead, she used some of yesterday's meat jelly, melted it in warm water, and directly added it to the meat filling.
As for the remaining jelly, Su Qingluan found that although it was slightly softer than this morning, fortunately there were only a few signs of melting on the surface, and most of the jelly was still solid.
But this also means that the soup jelly in front of you cannot withstand any more heating, otherwise it will melt faster and more severely.
In order to ensure that the soup jelly was a complete solid before being put into the pot, Su Qingluan had to constantly place her hands outside a large jar filled with well water while making the soup dumplings, relying on the low temperature of the well water to prevent the temperature of her fingertips from being too high.
By the time most of the soup dumplings were made today, Su Qingluan felt her fingertips were numb from the cold.
Fortunately, the results were gratifying. The soup dumplings were crystal clear after being taken out of the pot. After carefully taking them off the steamer cloth, you could see the soup swaying faintly through the dough.
However, in order to prevent the dough from being damaged too much, Su Qingluan simply brought the entire steamer to the table. This not only ensures that the soup dumplings can maintain their temperature for a longer time, but also allows everyone to take out the soup dumplings in one go without having to go through the trouble a second time.
Today's vegetables are relatively simple, all of which are "Chinese salads" - various wild vegetables dipped in soybean paste.
But the meat is really rich.
In addition to the tender and chewy pork filling in the soup dumplings, Su Qingluan lightly roasted yesterday's chicken pieces and pork skin in a frying pan and sprinkled in salt, dogwood and cumin, the magic weapons of barbecue.
After being stir-fried with spices and boiled together with pickled bacon, the pork skin and chicken pieces are already completely soft and tasty. After being air-dried overnight, the surface has a crispy and chewy texture.
This evaporates the surface moisture, and the slightly dried meat becomes more chewy after roasting. With the addition of seasonings to stimulate the aroma, it becomes a delicious food that is chewy on the outside while still tender and juicy on the inside.
When Su Qingluan brought out the roasted pork skin and chicken pieces, Su Xuanhe and Su Xueyan were whispering to each other over the small bowl of mustard sauce on the table.
"Mother, what is this?" The little girl looked up at Yang.
"This is called mustard sauce." Yang explained with a smile while touching her little daughter's bud.
"Mustard? What is mustard?"
"It should be made of mustard cabbage." Su Xuanhe said seriously.
This question really stumped Yang. She actually knew that mustard sprouts and mustard were related, but she had never paid close attention to the specific relationship, so she didn't know how to explain it.
However, Su Qingluan happened to know about it, so she said, "This is fermented mustard seeds, and mustard also grows from mustard seeds."
I thought this sentence finally explained it clearly, but children always ask questions in an endless stream. Su Xueyan blinked and said, "Sister, what is fermentation?"
Su Qingluan suddenly thought of a sentence: If the action of microorganisms is beneficial to the human body, it is called fermentation; if it is harmful, it is called corruption.
However, if I answer this way, I'll probably be asked what microorganisms are. The scope of that answer will definitely exceed the scope of understanding in this era...
So Su Qingluan could only start playing dumb.
Fortunately, the two little guys were quickly attracted by the special smell of mustard.
Children are curious, and when they smelled the spicy mustard sauce, they curiously leaned in to smell it. Su Xuanhe sneezed several times, and Su Xueyan was even more exaggerated, crying from the spiciness.
Although she felt sorry for her brother and sister, Su Qingluan thought when she saw this scene: The vendor was right, this yellow mustard sauce is really effective!
The combination of mustard and aged vinegar can cleverly neutralize the greasy taste of soup dumplings and roasted pork skin and chicken, and can also bring out the aroma of meat.
At first, the two little guys refused to add mustard sauce because of their previous "bitter lesson." Su Qingluan neutralized the pungent taste with aged vinegar, dipped the mustard sauce in the food, and let them try it. She promised, "If it doesn't taste good, just leave it there and I'll eat it for you." Only then did they cautiously try it.
Then it smells really good.
Today’s soup dumplings were so delicious and juicy that even though the two little ones were scalded several times, their lips were red and their mouths were shiny, they were reluctant to put down their chopsticks.
In the end, the two people had eaten too much and could only slump in their seats and not move. When they were able to move a little, Yang ordered them to walk around in the yard to digest the food.
However, Su Qingluan felt that it was no wonder that her younger brothers and sisters liked to eat these soup dumplings so much. The dough was proofed just right today and was very chewy, and the taste of the broth was salty, fresh and delicate. She found it very difficult.
But now Su Qingluan's attention is not on the soup dumplings - from the moment the soup jelly was completed, Su Qingluan already knew that her soup dumplings were destined to be popular.
She is now studying how the bowl of mustard sauce in front of her can become a weapon to help her "fight back."
The reason why mustard sauce has a strong volatile smell is because it contains mustard enzyme. Even though Su Qingluan is not very clear about the specific physical and chemical properties of this thing, she can know from the junior high school level of physics and chemistry knowledge: whether it is a biological enzyme or a volatile substance, it will evaporate or decompose after heating.
So how does she make a mustard-based dish without heating it?
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