Chapter 157: Fear of Death
The next step is to grind the lumpy konjac into fine particles. Sang Yu thought about it and called Sang Xinghao to ask him to go to the millstone in the center of the village to see if there was anyone queuing up to grind anything.
That big millstone is simply the best grinding tool. Konjac itself is poisonous and needs to be carefully cleaned after grinding.
If someone else was using it, she would wait until after dinner to go.
Sang Xinghao ran out like a gust of wind, and then ran back in a hurry, his hands supporting his knees and panting heavily: "Shh...shh...Sister, there's no one over there."
Seeing him like this, Sang Yu looked like he was being chased by a dog. She smiled and shook her head: "Why are you running so fast? Take a break."
The konjac soaked in water was quite heavy. She tried to hold it and was able to carry it with ease, but if she added the difficulty of walking downhill, it would be difficult.
But there were still two laborers in the yard, so she called out, "Dad, help me carry it."
Sang Yongjing over there immediately put down the hoe in his hand and ran into the kitchen to help with a smile.
Sang Yu took two buckets and a scoop, planning to go to the stream to fetch a bucket of water to clean the millstone.
Seeing this, Sang Xingjia hurriedly followed and said, "Little sister, I'll do the physical work, you just scoop the water."
“…”
Sang Yu was a little confused. Why were they all so enthusiastic? Were they afraid that she would cook the food and not let them eat it?
It was a good thing to have someone to help her, so she went to the millstone with light luggage and an empty basin and a scoop of water.
Sang Xingjia, who had just fetched some water, quickly caught up with Sang Yongjing, who was carrying a full basin of water and walking slowly. The two of them gathered together and discussed in a low voice.
"Jiaer, your little sister is fine, right? Why does she have to eat something poisonous?"
"I don't think so. Besides, this thing looks white and tender. Maybe it can be eaten if it's cooked."
"Then when you get back later, remember to tell your grandmother and your mother not to touch this thing yet. We'll test the poison first before letting them eat it."
"Or Dad, you don't have to eat either. I'll eat it myself."
"No, I can't let you put yourself in danger."
…
If Sang Yu was there, she would instantly understand why the father and son were so proactive and enthusiastic today. That was not enthusiasm at all, it was fear of death.
Even though they knew in their hearts that Sang Yu would not harm them, in their eyes, the knowledge she had learned was all from books.
Who knows if the person who wrote the book is reliable? Maybe he doesn't understand this thing so he just wrote it blindly.
Regardless of what they were thinking, Sang Yu came to the millstone and was relieved to see that there was indeed no one queuing nearby waiting to use it.
The last person who used the millstone was probably to husk rice, and there were still a lot of rice husks remaining on the surface of the millstone and the stone mill.
She picked up a small broom made of straw and swept away the rice husks.
When the cleanup was almost done, Sang Yongjing and Sang Xingjia also arrived.
After flushing the feed port with clean water, Sang Yu asked the two of them to pull the stone mill together to turn it, and placed the empty basin at the discharge port, while he added small pieces of konjac and water into the feed port from time to time.
The large stone mill is used to grind konjac very quickly. In order to ensure that the konjac paste is fine enough, it is ground again after the initial grinding.
They waited at the outlet for the last bit of konjac paste to flow into the basin, then moved the basin full of konjac paste aside. The three of them worked together to clean up the remaining konjac paste on the stone mill.
It would be fine if other things were not cleaned properly, but konjac is a poisonous thing, and a grinding wheel is a tool that comes in close contact with food, so it must not be left unattended.
After carefully scrubbing the large millstone, Sang Yu tried to scoop some water into it from the feed inlet. Seeing that the water appearing on the surface of the millstone was clear and transparent, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Clean up, let's go home."
Pour a large bowl of konjac paste into the pot, add water and boil over high heat. Stir continuously during the process to prevent sedimentation, stratification and stickiness.
This step is to use high temperature to remove the toxicity of the konjac itself. The time must not be too short, otherwise it will taste astringent, which is not good. It will be poisoning if you are not careful.
Cook like this for about thirty to forty minutes, then switch to low heat and slowly pour in the prepared alkaline water and lime water, stirring quickly until the milky white slurry gradually thickens and the color deepens.
At this time, you can take out the solidified konjac paste, pour it into a container and let it cool until it is completely set.
Of course, it is best not to eat the shaped konjac directly. Boil it again to remove the remaining alkaline taste, then soak it in cold water to remove the alkaline taste. You can take it whenever you want to eat it.
A large plate of gray-brown konjac was placed in the basin, with spots on the surface, looking like something that had gone bad.
Sang Xinghao, who was in charge of lighting the fire behind the stove, stuck his head out to take a look, then quickly looked away, fearing that Sang Yu would ask him to taste it to see how it tasted.
...Is it really that scary? Sang Yu ignored him, opened the cellar door, and placed the pot of konjac in the cellar to speed up the cooling.
While waiting for the konjac to cool down, she picked up a kitchen knife and chopped bamboo with Sang Xingjia to make bamboo sticks.
The bamboo skewers do not need to be made particularly thin, but they cannot be too thick either. They must be controlled at an appropriate width to make them easier to grip and thread.
What they are doing now is just the first step, splitting the bamboo to make the prototype of the bamboo sticks. Later they will have to remove the burrs on the bamboo and sharpen the tips of some of the bamboo sticks to make it easier to pierce the meat.
After the two large bundles of bamboo were chopped into pieces and piled aside, Sang Yu estimated that it was about time and started to boil water to prepare to kill the ducks.
Eat some tonight and keep some to braise. Then put them on skewers and you’ll have another dish.
She didn't make braised wild duck again, not because she was tired of it, but because she wanted a change of taste.
When she went to the market to buy vegetables yesterday, she bought a jar of rice wine. It was just right that she would make rice wine duck today by referring to the recipe of beer duck.
He killed the duck, plucked the feathers, chopped it into pieces, removed the bones and blanched it in water all in one go, as skillfully as a vendor selling live ducks in the vegetable market.
While the duck was stewing in the pot, she went to the cellar to check on the condition of the konjac.
The temperature in the deepest part of the cellar was only about ten degrees. The konjac cooled quickly and solidified into a darker color than before.
It will bounce back when touched lightly, and its surface has a certain toughness, which is a bit similar to jelly.
She brought out a whole pot of konjac, cut it into thumb-wide slices, boiled water in a pot, added cold water and boiled it over high heat for fifteen minutes, then changed the water and repeated the process.
This step can remove the alkaline taste in konjac as much as possible, otherwise the alkaline taste will be too strong and it will taste bitter and astringent and difficult to eat.
The two pots were filled up again in an instant, and Sang Yu could only sit on a stool beside them to prepare the vegetables.
She planned to strike while the iron was hot and prepare all the vegetables first, and then put them into the pot to cook directly after skewering them.
After a night like this, the marinade should be able to completely absorb the flavor into the vegetables. Tomorrow morning, I will try to sell some at the market to see how business goes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com