Chapter 57 Jiao Di Dumplings
Although the method is similar to that of pan-fried buns, since they are called dumplings, Jiang Zhi still plans to start by making dumplings.
She first sent Zuo Tianyuan, who was curiously looking around, out with the copper coins she gave him. He went out and bought some pork belly with a 3:7 ratio of fat to lean meat.
Zuo Tianyuan had long been suffering from being confined to his room to do his homework by his mother. Now that he heard he could go out, he didn't care whether the task was good or bad and happily accepted it all.
Of course, although the little boy wasn't even up to Jiang Zhi's chest yet, he had already started secretly making plans when he took on the job.
He knew Uncle Sun at the butcher shop, so he begged for a discount and then he could save some money to buy candied chestnuts.
Jiang Zhi glanced down and immediately saw the little boy's smug expression. However, she only raised an eyebrow, though with just that one glance she naturally saw through the little boy's intentions.
However, since the children have been asked to do chores, it's perfectly acceptable to give them a reward.
Even so, after the little brat had gone far away, she secretly opened a window outside the kitchen, nodded towards the woman lazily tidying up by the window, and asked her with her eyes.
You know the truth, don't you?
Yan Mo was certainly aware of the situation.
In fact, the two adults standing there could understand the little brat's excited mood with just a glance.
However, one is too lazy to talk about, and the other...
I plan to punish the child when he comes home with a mouthful of candy.
Wouldn't that be better?
*
While the two wicked adults were busy scheming against a certain mischievous little brat, the little brat had no idea that he was passionately haggling with Uncle Sun.
"50 coins per catty," Zuo Tianyuan said, looking at Uncle Sun with disbelief as he carefully approached the price sign and read it aloud.
Is it that expensive?
Uncle Sun was naturally familiar with Zuo Tianyuan. Back when Yan Mo moved to this place, he was unfamiliar with the area and often had to take on various purchasing jobs. As a result, he had no choice but to hold the little cub in one hand and push the extremely heavy cart in the other, buying things all over the market.
Out of consideration for the adorable child, the vendors in the market were willing to offer discounts to the mother and child if they had money, so that they could save a little money. Even those who didn't have much money, like Uncle Sun, were willing to give her an extra penny of meat so she could take it home and feed her child better.
Therefore, although Zuo Tianyuan was not particularly familiar with this butcher shop owner surnamed Sun, the owner was quite familiar with him.
Seeing this little kid I've watched grow up now carrying a small bundle and dangling a small purse, swaying as he comes to buy meat, I can't help but feel a little amused and amused.
With a wave of his hand, he casually picked up a cloth, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then took a rag from the side and wiped the oil off his hands.
Then, while waving the small red cloth strip to scare away the flies trying to land on the meat, he shouted at the little brat:
"Little brat, are you here to buy some pork belly?"
"How many people are you planning to make? Do you want your uncle to help you choose?"
Zuo Tianyuan frowned and pondered for a while, then confirmed that Sister Jiang hadn't taught him about this earlier. So, should he ask this uncle to help him choose?
*
While people were busily buying meat here, Jiang Zhi was also getting ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work as well.
Although it is already autumn and the wind is a bit chilly, it is still a little cold if you are only wearing a single layer of clothing.
However, Jiang Zhi made some special preparations for the house: she pasted several layers of oil paper on the inside of the wall facing the wind, and then bought some lime plaster and brushed it on. Although this wasn't particularly sturdy, it would be enough to last for about ten days. After the banquet was over, Jiang Zhi planned to hire some craftsmen from the street to ram the walls with rammed earth, which would make them more soundproof, moisture-proof, and have better load-bearing capacity.
Moreover, Jiang Zhi had a fairly clear understanding of her sensitivity to cold. In addition to making some temporary repairs on the wall, she also prepared a hand warmer for herself.
She found a small ceramic pot, the kind with a lid that doesn't leak. She wrapped it with several layers of thick cotton cloth, then sewed on a layer of wool, and filled it with hot water. It felt both comfortable and warm to the touch.
However, it's not that time yet, so Jiang Zhi just put this thing next to her quilt, waiting for the day when the temperature drops so she can use it.
Why make such thorough preparations? Because although Jiang Zhi hasn't experienced winter in ancient times, she has in modern times! Those days when the temperature suddenly drops by ten degrees or more are simply unbearable…
There's no way around it; the weather in the south is always like a disobedient child, the kind that's left unattended. It can suddenly and violently drop in temperature, like a flash freeze. Then, just as suddenly the sun comes out, and the temperature instantly rises by three or four degrees.
It can catch you completely off guard. You need to wear a thick cotton-padded coat in the morning, but can wear short sleeves at noon.
It's never too late to make some preparations in advance.
The current temperature is so low that it's quite chilly if you take off your clothes, but a bit hot if you put them on. However, since she'll be kneading dough and rolling out wrappers later, she'd better roll up her sleeves to avoid getting them dirty and to prevent sweating.
*
Jiang Zhi has made dough at least two or three times since she transmigrated here. She has never had any dietary restrictions and loves to eat things like noodles and rice.
Therefore, kneading dough has long been a routine activity.
Mix warm water with a little salt, knead and press the dough with both hands until it becomes a smooth, round ball. Then you can prepare to let it rise.
The time spent waiting for the dough to rise could have been used to chop the filling and season it, but the meat, the main ingredient, hasn't arrived yet, so I can only finish the rest first.
As usual, Jiang Zhi held the knife with both hands, and with each stroke of the knife, the scallions, ginger, and garlic were chopped in half, in thirds, and so on. Countless small pieces of the spices stuck to the knife, while others fell onto the cutting board due to inertia.
In no time, only small pieces of chopped food remained on the cutting board. Although the sizes were still a bit inconsistent, it didn't matter. From now on, there was no need for sharp chopping; just keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board and press the end of the knife down gently, and that would be enough to chop them into small pieces.
After finishing chopping, Jiang Zhi used a knife to scrape the chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic from the cutting board into a bowl. She then added sesame oil, soy sauce, and a little Sichuan peppercorn powder, and used chopsticks to mix it well. This is the seasoning that will be mixed into the minced meat later.
At this moment, Zuo Tianyuan finally brought back the meat. He held his head high and proudly handed the meat to Jiang Zhi.
Jiang Zhi glanced at him once, then looked at Zuo Tianyuan with some shock and said.
"Wow, Xiao Tianyuan picked some great meat! It's three layers of pork belly, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and it looks fresh and shiny. It'll definitely taste delicious as filling!"
Zuo Tianyuan was almost beaming with joy at the praise. He was about to say something, but then he seemed to remember something and subconsciously touched the spot where Uncle Sun had picked him up and shaved him with his beard. It still hurt a little, and he closed his mouth again.
Jiang Zhi certainly didn't miss this little trick. After glancing at the child's micro-expressions, Jiang Zhi could basically confirm that the kid had probably had his face rubbed with that big beard by some uncle. When Jiang Zhi was a child, her family members were often done this to her by their elders when Yu Xue was pretty, which forced Jiang Zhi to develop a cold expression.
But that doesn't stop the elders from enjoying being so close.
Perhaps slightly reminiscing about the past, Jiang Zhi's eyes glazed over for a moment, her thoughts drifting. In that brief instant, Zuo Tianyuan, who didn't want to talk about this topic, quietly slipped out to the left while Jiang Zhi wasn't looking.
Hehe, he wouldn't tell Sister Jiang that although he did buy enough meat this time and didn't leave any extra money, the uncle with the big beard who rubbed against him had stuffed his favorite candied chestnuts into his pocket.
That's why he reluctantly let the older man rub against him.
Zuo Tianyuan strode confidently home, pondering whether doing his homework one more time would allow him to come over and freeload some delicious food.
He hadn't noticed that behind the threshold in front of him, a figure was already looking at him with a forced smile.
"Zuo Tianyuan, can you explain to me what kind of gold and silver treasures are in that bulging pocket of yours?"
Upon hearing the sound, Zuo Tianyuan instinctively shuddered, then snapped out of his reverie. His left hand unconsciously touched the pocket, and he found that it was indeed an irrefutable proof of a bulging drum.
Then I saw my mother, who had a half-smile on her face.
She shuddered as if recalling some unpleasant memories.
...
*
Ever since Jiang Zhi bought the meat, she pretended not to see the little brat's rumpled pockets.
There was no way around it; as a mature adult, even though the child was excitedly helping her buy groceries and even sacrificed herself to pick out the best meat, well—
Both she and Yan Mo knew just how serious Zuo Tianyuan's gluttony was. If they left that bag full of candy unattended, this little brat would probably finish it in two days. And since he didn't like brushing his teeth, he probably wouldn't be able to keep them.
But since she minded that the person was buying groceries for her, Jiang Zhi didn't say anything and could only...
Let a child experience the mother's wrath!
Thinking about it this way, Jiang Zhi became happy again, and even felt a little smug and wanted to go out and watch the fun.
But unfortunately, the meat in her hands hadn't been cut or chopped yet, nor had it been mixed into a sauce or wrapped into pan-fried buns. If Jiang Zhi hadn't wanted to have this meal, which was like both afternoon tea and dinner, after closing up shop, she wouldn't have been able to go out and watch various shows.
Thinking of this, she sighed again, feeling a little unhappy, and chopped the meat faster with her two knives.
Even Jiang Zhi thought the meat was good, so it must be a good piece of meat. The fat and lean meat were evenly distributed, so the owner probably knew that Jiang Zhi was going to use it for stuffing, so he deliberately didn't choose a particularly fatty cut, nor a particularly lean one.
Jiang Zhi only needs to kick off the pig skin on top before she can start chopping.
Still using two knives, still chopping repeatedly from multiple angles, Jiang Zhi's skills were truly honed through chopping meat. After all, the older generation of chefs firmly believed that minced meat chopped by hand was infinitely more delicious than that minced by a meat grinder. So, if you want to become a chef, it's best to master your knife skills first.
Jiang Zhi's knife skills were naturally excellent. In no time, the meat was chopped into red and white minced meat. Jiang Zhi picked up a little with her finger, pressed it down, and after confirming that the minced meat was about right, she scraped it with the knife, spread it on the edge of the bowl, and put it into the previously mixed chopped green onion and ginger, as well as various seasonings.
All that's left is to knead the meat filling repeatedly until it becomes sticky and elastic.
By this time, the dough over there had almost risen. Jiang Zhi divided the risen dough into small portions, and then used a wooden stick to roll them out into thin sheets that were thicker in the middle and thinner on the outside.
After rolling out all the dough, stuff the filling into the dough piece by piece, pinching it to create pleats.
This step is now complete.
*
However, it's easier said than done.
Making dumplings is really not a skill-based activity; it's just pure repetition. Pressing the dough is repetitive, stuffing it with filling is repetitive, wetting the dumpling wrappers is repetitive… The only thing that can be changed is the shape of the dumplings. To pass the time, Jiang Zhi made every shape she knew: regular pleated shapes, ingot-shaped dumplings, triangles…
In short, before Jiang Zhi's back ached and she wished she could give up, the dumplings were finally finished.
Next comes the part about frying the skin until it's crispy, which is where the crispy skin of this dumpling comes from.
Jiang Zhi didn't add oil first. Instead, she lit a fire underneath to heat the iron pot. When she could feel the heat when she put her hand over the pot, she used a spatula to scoop up a spoonful of lard and slid it into the pot. While doing so, she kept shaking the pot to make sure every part of it was coated with the lard.
At this moment, take the opportunity to put the dumplings in, and instantly the oil sizzles. The heat of the pot is transferred to the oil rolling in the pot, and then to the dumplings placed on top.
The iron wok that Jiang Zhi specifically chose wasn't as round as a regular wok; it was rather flat-bottomed. Therefore, the oil was spread very evenly, and the heat was very even.
Once the bottom of the dumplings had turned golden brown, Jiang Zhi carefully poured a small half-bowl of white water onto the edge. This water, made from starch she had specially found at home, was slowly poured onto the bottom of the dumplings. This would make it easier for the top layer of the dumplings to be steamed, and it would also make the bottom layer crispier and more crunchy.
Once these steps were completed, Jiang Zhi immediately placed the lid on the side and quickly put it on. She then adjusted the heat underneath, making sure the fire wasn't as high as before, so that the filling inside the dumplings could be cooked evenly without the water that had just been poured in evaporating all at once and causing the bottom to burn completely.
Just then, Jiang Zhi poured some rice wine outside, put it in a small pot, added some beaten eggs, and as soon as it heated up, a fragrant aroma instantly filled the room.
This is Jiang Zhi's favorite egg drop rice wine, a pure drink that doesn't make you drunk. She and Yan Mo will each have a cup later, which is just right.
Speak of the devil, and he appears. Over there, Yan Mo, having finished disciplining his own son, finally couldn't resist his son's plea. He rummaged through his house and found some pickled kumquat and radish strips that the child's father had somehow gotten his hands on. Jiang Zhi saw that it was just right to have with rice.
And so, a fairly simple afternoon tea began.
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Author's note: I've finished writing! (Roaring to the sky)
Sorry for the wait, everyone.
November 11th Update: I'm posting this at 1 AM tonight, mainly to try and get on the rankings, although I don't know if anyone will even be looking at the rankings at 1 AM? There will be another update before midnight on Wednesday, I definitely won't delay.
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