Chapter 86 No Favors
Finally, I was able to temporarily get away to deal with the task of dealing with the 45 fresh cucumbers weighing dozens of pounds that were piled up in front of me waiting to be cleaned and processed.
After changing the water and rinsing it repeatedly, Zhao Chunhua carefully took out the chopping board and knife.
She gently put it aside, and after making sure everything was ready, she began to cut the green cucumbers while watching the children who were playing quietly.
Each cucumber broke into four pieces in her hands.
The middle part is the most tender, and the part containing the seed core is carefully placed aside.
This part can be eaten raw or mixed with an appropriate amount of sugar to make a sweet and delicious snack, which is very suitable.
Most of the remaining ones were not peeled, only the core was removed, and she selectively cut them into small pieces about four to five centimeters long and about one centimeter wide.
After doing this, you can take it out of the jar and eat it immediately, avoiding the trouble and inconvenience of secondary processing.
Every time she finishes cutting a pot of vegetables, Zhao Chunhua will immediately sprinkle an appropriate amount of coarse salt evenly for preliminary pickling. This step will last at least an hour.
The purpose is to release excess water inside the cucumber, thus preparing it for more refined processing in the next step.
During this time, in order to keep her hands from stopping, and also because she was afraid that depression would easily creep up on her if she had no time to work, she would choose to sit down and slowly peel the remaining parts that had not been processed.
Being busy with trivial daily life has become her normal state. Even in the original modern fast-paced life environment, she is always trying to do something new to enrich herself; not to mention that she has traveled through time and space, and she cannot let herself fall into the predicament of doing nothing.
The best thing to do is to take advantage of the good weather and process these fresh eggplants that have just been picked from the fields as quickly as possible.
Because of this, not long after, Zhang Sanbao brought a chopping board and various necessary tools from home, and together with Zhao Chunhua, he devoted himself to this seemingly simple yet fun job.
"Then let's get all these eggplants today."
He said.
The sunny and bright weather is indeed very suitable for making dried vegetable products.
The two of them quickly entered a state of tacit cooperation without much talk: first, they carefully washed away every trace of mud and sand on the skin, and then sat down steadily, concentrating their attention and carefully cutting each large eggplant into pieces one by one.
After a busy morning, Zhao Chunhua finally finished cutting two large basins of exquisite cucumber shreds.
Zhang Sanbao carefully cut the eggplant into thin slices and spread them carefully on the drying rack.
Dry on mat.
The drying mat is specially made of bamboo, similar to the common bamboo mat, but wider.
The sun-drying mat not only has a large area, but also allows you to choose the appropriate length and width according to different usage requirements.
This drying mat is carefully woven from long and slightly thin bamboo strips, and reinforced on both sides with thicker bamboo strips or sturdy bamboo tubes.
In this way, when the food is not needed to be dried, it can be conveniently rolled up and stored; when it needs to be dried, it can be gently spread out and it can be used immediately.
Because the weather here is changeable, if grains and other food are spread directly on the ground to dry, they are very likely to be contaminated by dust or impurities on the ground.
In addition, once it rains suddenly, there is often no time to quickly collect and clean up the things to be dried, so people invented this easy-to-carry and practical drying mat.
After a simple lunch, they just boiled some boiling water.
Goudan's staple food is rice flour brewed with boiling water.
This kind of rice noodles need to be made with a little cold water first, and then slowly and evenly sprinkle the dry rice powder into the bowl. Never pour it all into the bowl at once.
Then use a spoon to stir quickly and continuously, making sure all the rice paste is fully mixed with the warm water to form a thick but still smooth state before you can prepare a simple lunch.
As for Zhao Chunhua and Zhang Sanbao, they just ate a few pieces of dry dough (i.e. steamed buns) and accompanied them with a portion of cold cucumber core with spicy sauce as their dish.
Normally, desserts pickled with sugar are also very delicious and tempting, but considering that they are to be eaten together with the tasteless staple food steamed buns, a slightly spicy taste would be more appetizing.
After removing the aging outer skin of dozens of kilograms of fresh cucumbers, there are still quite a lot of core parts left, so Zhao Chunhua asked Zhang Sanbao to pick out some high-quality cucumber hearts and take them back home to enjoy.
Because she thought that since she had borrowed many items and performed related work here, even if she didn't prepare meals here, she should at least do something within her ability to repay the host's kindness.
In her opinion, she is unwilling to owe any favor as long as it can be repaid in kind or in money.
After lunch, the salted cucumbers that had been prepared in advance were also processed.
At this time, they are lying quietly in the clear running water to be washed to remove excess salty substances and moisture, then taken out to squeeze out the drops of water remaining in the cracks, and finally placed in the sun to further dry in order to extend their shelf life.
If the weather is bad, you can also put the cucumber strips into a cloth bag, place a screen at the bottom of the bag, and press heavy stones or other weights on it to help further dehydrate.
This method is simple and easy. Even on rainy days, it can effectively remove moisture from the cucumber strips and make the pickling process go smoothly.
While waiting for the cucumber strips to completely dehydrate, you can use them to prepare the sauce.
Making sauce is a complex and fun process. Every step requires careful operation to achieve the best final taste.
At this time, Zhang Sanbao was also watching with interest as Zhao Chunhua skillfully demonstrated the entire production process.
She cherished this learning opportunity very much and watched Zhao Chunhua's every move almost all the time, trying to imprint every detail deeply in her mind.
Zhao Chunhua was also happy to share her skills with others. Not only did she not stop her from observing, but she also explained to her in more detail the significance of each step.
As a result, when Zhang Sanbao saw the large doses of seasonings used by Zhao Chunhua, she was so surprised that she was speechless - that was really beyond her imagination.
On the table was a bowl full of soy sauce, a small bowl of clear and transparent vinegar, half a bowl of finely crushed brown sugar, and a whole bowl of snow-white and delicate white sugar. In addition, there was even half a bowl of high-proof liquor added in!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
