Chapter 56, The 56th Inn, Mooncakes
Remove the outer lotus skin and lotus heart from the soaked lotus seed paste. If you don't remove the lotus skin, you can make red lotus seed paste filling. However, Yunyin is going to make white lotus seed paste filling this time, so the lotus skin needs to be completely removed.
By gently rubbing with her hands, the soaked lotus skins were removed. Yunyin then rinsed the lotus seeds with clean water and took them out to continue processing the lotus hearts.
The lotus heart is very bitter. If it is not removed, the lotus seed paste filling will also be bitter. After removing the lotus heart, dry it in the sun. You can use it to make tea later. Although it tastes bitter, it is very good for reducing internal heat.
Remove all the lotus leaves and hearts, put them in a pot and boil them. After the lotus seeds are cooked, grind them into a paste in a stone mill, then pour them into the pot for frying. Since an iron pot cannot be used for frying and Yunyin does not have a copper pot, a pot can be used instead. Although it can be used, the frying time will be longer.
Slowly stir-fry the lotus seed paste over low heat, adding soybean oil. Once the oil is absorbed, stir-fry a few more times, adding more soybean oil each time. This process needs to be repeated several times. Finally, add sugar and maltose, and continue to stir-fry over low heat until the lotus seed paste clumps together.
Fu Wang came out of the side room and smelled a sweet aroma. He followed the scent into the kitchen and saw the fillings that Yun Yin had prepared. He asked, "Is this the mooncake filling you prepared? It looks delicious. It's completely different from the pastry fillings I've had before."
Yunyin handed him a little of the stir-fried lotus seed paste, saying, "Try it and see if you like it."
Fu Wang ate the filling; it was delicate and sweet, with a hint of lotus seed fragrance. He asked in surprise, "Was this made with the lotus seeds you bought before?"
Yunyin nodded and said, "Not bad, the taste is alright. You even make red bean paste filling, but lotus seed paste is not bad either. You probably haven't tried this flavor before."
Fu Wang ate a little more lotus seed paste and nodded, saying, "I've never tasted this kind of filling before. It's delicious and will definitely be very popular."
Yunyin naturally knew that lotus seed paste was an essential filling for making mooncakes, and of course, classic fillings like red bean paste were also indispensable. After finishing the lotus seed paste filling, she continued to cook the red bean paste filling.
She made the red bean paste filling the same way as before. She made a lot of red bean paste and lotus seed paste filling in one afternoon. In addition to these two fillings, she also made candied fruit peel, which is an essential ingredient in making five-nut mooncakes.
She still remembers eating mooncakes when she was a child. She hated the candied fruit peel and the hard rock sugar inside, but that mooncake was the only one she could eat when she was a child, so she remembered it for many years. Later, when she had other choices, she never ate five-nut mooncakes again.
One year, she made five-nut mooncakes herself and found that the filling was actually quite fragrant, especially the various nuts, which tasted very rich and mellow. The candied fruit peel wasn't as bad as she had imagined.
Legend has it that the original Qinghongsi (a type of candied fruit) was made from green plum and rose petals. She did have green plums, but no roses, so she could only use orange peel, which is now commonly used, to make it.
After washing and shredding the orange peel, soak it in alkaline water to remove the bitterness. Then dye it red with red yeast rice powder, add sugar and boil it. After drying, you will get red shreds. As for green shreds, use candied green plums. She bought a lot of these at the dried fruit store and used them directly after shredding and drying.
After making these two fillings, you can start preparing the mooncake crust.
This time she made Suzhou-style mooncakes, with a flaky crust that crumbles easily with each bite. She ate this type of mooncake when she was a child, and she plans to make it again today.
The most important steps in making Suzhou-style mooncakes are making the water-oil dough and the oil-based dough. Adding lard and water to flour and kneading it into a dough creates the water-oil dough. Adding only lard without water creates the oil-based dough.
Then wrap the oil-based dough with the water-oil dough, roll it out into a strip again, divide it into small portions, and the Suzhou-style mooncake dough is ready. Then wrap the prepared filling inside, place the dough into the mold and press it down.
Yunyin looked at the lotus seed paste mooncakes with lotus flower patterns, and then made red bean paste mooncakes with Chinese characters. As for the five-nut filling, she would make it separately.
The five kinds of nuts in Five-Nut Mooncakes are all different. The traditional recipe uses walnuts, almonds, olives, melon seeds, and sesame seeds. In fact, many Five-Nut Mooncakes on the market do not use these five kinds of nuts. Some use peanuts, and some use other nuts. The flaky Five-Nut Mooncakes that Yunyin ate when she was a child used peanuts.
But Da Zhao didn't have peanuts or olive kernels, so she substituted pine nuts, and they tasted just as good.
After roasting the nuts until fragrant, peel and crush them, then mix them with sugar, oil, and cooked flour. Add candied fruit and green onions, knead into a dough, and the five-nut filling is ready.
Wrap the filling in the dough, press it into the mold, and place the finished mooncakes on a corner of the table. They look white and tender and look very appetizing.
When Fu Wang brought in the finished Chang'e Flying to the Moon cake, he saw the neatly arranged pastries and asked, "Miss Yun, is this the mooncake you mentioned? I thought it was just an ordinary pastry when you mentioned it before. So this is what mooncakes are called. Is it a specialty of your hometown?"
Yunyin nodded and said, "Yes, we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in my hometown. It symbolizes family reunion and is a beautiful wish."
She knew that Da Zhao did not have the custom of eating mooncakes, nor did they have grand celebrations for the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, they would appreciate the moon and enjoy music and dance. Therefore, holding events before the opening of Yunyin could attract people to come and celebrate.
Yunyin put the finished mooncakes into the oven and waited for a while until they were baked. After they cooled completely, she took out the mooncakes and picked one of the five-nut mooncakes to taste. It was crispy and crumbly, and the crust crumbled when she bit into it. It was indeed the taste of her childhood.
She offered one to Fu Wang and the others, saying, "You should have one too."
Fu Wang took the small mooncake, which had the words "Five Kernels" printed on it. He didn't understand what it meant before, but now that he saw the mooncake, he realized that it referred to the filling of the mooncake.
He put the small mooncake in his mouth, and the crunchy nuts collided with the granules of rock sugar. Some kind of candied fruit was incorporated into it, which relieved the greasiness of the nuts. The flaky crust crumbled into layers of crumbs with each bite, making it truly unique.
Fu Wang thought the pastry was delicious, so he took another mooncake and put it in his mouth. The sweet taste lingered for a long time, making him addicted to it.
Besides the five-nut mooncake, the lotus seed paste mooncake was also delicious. He tried all the mooncakes and praised them highly, saying, "This pastry will definitely sell well; it's really delicious."
Zhang Lin nodded repeatedly, saying, "That's right, it's really delicious. Lady Yun, there will definitely be a lot of people scrambling to buy it."
Zheng Guilan agreed. Fang He, who was eating, had food all over her mouth. Zheng Guilan quickly helped her wipe it off and said to Yun Yin, "Yun Niangzi, I think we should prepare more, otherwise we won't have enough to sell."
Yunyin nodded and said, "To celebrate the opening of the inn, I plan to hold an event where everyone who comes can receive a mooncake. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, we will mainly sell these mooncakes."
"How many should we send?" Zhang Lin asked reluctantly. "Sending them all would be too much."
Yunyin smiled and said, "Of course, I won't give away all mooncakes. I only plan to give away red bean paste mooncakes. If you want other fillings, you can guess the riddles. If you guess correctly, you can get mooncakes with other fillings. Of course, you can also buy them if you don't want to guess the riddles. I will prepare mooncakes with other fillings, not just these few."
Fu Wang nodded and said, "This is a good event. We can invite students from surrounding county schools to participate. Isn't Ayin also interested in doing business with them? This is a good opportunity."
Yunyin: "That's right, so we need to get busy. Thank you for your hard work these past two days. Please make more mooncakes."
Zheng Guilan and Zhang Lin said in unison, "No problem, Lady Yun, don't worry."
The next morning, Yunyin began preparing to make mooncakes. In addition to making lotus seed paste, red bean paste, and five-nut mooncakes, she also planned to make egg yolk mooncakes and ham mooncakes.
These two types of mooncake fillings are also her favorites: salted egg yolk with lotus seed paste or salted egg yolk with red bean paste. The flavors are completely different from simple lotus seed paste and red bean paste. The salty salted egg yolk neutralizes the sweetness of the lotus seed paste and red bean paste, and the sandy texture fills her mouth. She really likes the texture of salted egg yolk.
Ham mooncakes are completely different from egg yolk mooncakes, offering a different flavor. The savory aroma of the meat is accompanied by a hint of sweetness, creating a rich texture that is sweet but not cloying. The ham is chewy, and Yunyin also adds matsutake mushrooms to enhance the umami flavor, giving the mooncake a unique character.
The finished mooncakes were arranged in winnowing baskets, each basket filled to the brim with mooncakes, making one feel that the festival was approaching. Yunyin selected some mooncakes from each basket, packed them in a box, wrote invitations, and asked Zhang Lin to make a trip to the county town to deliver these invitations to them.
Of course, Luo Man's side can't be left out either; if she's free, she can also participate in the event.
After finishing all that, Yunyin had to prepare the large mooncakes for the final celebration. Considering that not everyone likes the five-nut filling, she made the classic red bean paste filling instead.
The baked mooncakes were printed with images of Chang'e flying to the moon. Although there were only a few strokes, the paintings were lifelike. Yunyin couldn't help but say to Fu Wang, "The paintings from the Song Dynasty were really good. Even when printed on mooncakes, they are still so expressive."
Fu Wang nodded and said, "That's right. Because he was considering that it would be engraved, he couldn't draw it too complicated. In the end, it was already very beautiful when I carved it. I didn't expect the mooncakes I made to be so beautiful as well."
Looking at the large mooncake, Yunyin praised, "It seems I should thank him properly. He refused to give me money, so I'll make him something delicious instead."
Fu Wang looked at Yun Yin and asked, "What about me?"
Yunyin patted his arm and said, "Of course you won't be shortchanged, don't worry."
Three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yunyin's activities began. Early in the morning, the villagers of Linjiang Village came to her inn. Yunyin placed the largest mooncake in the courtyard, while the other mooncakes to be given away were placed by the roadside, where she had previously set up her food stall. She arranged for Zhang Lin to guard the stall there.
"If anyone comes, you can give each of them a mooncake. Be careful, don't let anyone snatch them." Yunyin looked at him with some concern and called Luotian over, saying, "You can also help keep an eye on things and make sure they line up to get them."
The mooncakes Yunyin made as gifts were quite small; they were gone in two bites. The real mooncakes for gifting had already been sent over in advance. These mooncakes were just for them to try; if they liked them, they could buy one.
The red bean paste mooncakes sold at Yunyin are not expensive, the same price as the previous green rice dumplings, two coins each. Of course, people who can't afford them can come to Yunyin to get a small mooncake to taste, which means they've eaten mooncakes.
After settling things in, Yunyin headed towards the inn. By then, many riddles had been hung on both sides of the road, extending all the way to the inn's entrance. She had hung two red lanterns at the entrance, their bright red color dancing in the sunlight, making the plaque above look even more festive.
Above the eaves, she also hung a sign with the character for "rice" written on it and a picture drawn below it. Of course, Song Shi helped her write this as well.
Yunyin looked at the flag fluttering in the wind and nodded in satisfaction.
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