The large vat that Pei Yao bought today had already been washed clean by Yunniang, who also scalded it with boiling water.
It's best to scald the container used for fermented foods with boiling water. This not only cleans it thoroughly but also kills many harmful bacteria, ensuring that only the bacteria from the starter culture survive.
Pei Yao could finish the rest by herself, so the others went to do other things.
Chen Fang was making cold seaweed salad in the courtyard, which would be delivered to Deyun Restaurant the next day, while Yunniang was preparing dinner.
Pei Yao poured out the glutinous rice mixed with lychee pulp, broke it up while it was still hot, and then let it cool for a while.
While it was cooling down, she took a few more koji and crushed them in cooled boiled water to dissolve them.
Then, once the glutinous rice has cooled to a warm temperature, you can put it into the prepared large vat, and then pour in the freshly dissolved yeast water and stir well.
While stirring, crush the rice grains inside to ensure that each grain is evenly coated with the broth.
After mixing, smooth out all the rice grains and make a dimple the size of a fist in the center.
Then cover the mouth of the cylinder with an oilcloth and seal it with rope several times.
After doing all this, it's almost time to wait for the koji mold inside to ferment. Because of the weight of the large vat, Pei Yao placed it in a spot she had chosen beforehand, a dark but warm place in the kitchen.
Temperature is very important when making rice wine. Fortunately, the temperature in Lingnan is quite high, which is very suitable for the fermentation of the starter culture. It can be fermented in about one or two days.
After finishing, Pei Yao collapsed onto the stool, exhausted.
Pei Yao glanced at the crabs she had caught in the yard yesterday; they all looked listless and almost dead.
Looks like we'll have to eat them today, otherwise they'll probably all die if we leave them out another night.
When Pei Yao went to town today, she specially bought some wine, planning to make raw marinated crab when she got back. Because raw marinated crab needs to be marinated for a while in advance to be flavorful and delicious, but she completely forgot about it when she was busy just now.
Pei Yao glanced at the sky; there was definitely no time to cook now, so she simply washed them all and made a spicy crab dish.
The method for making spicy crab is the same as for the previous spicy shrimp.
When it was time for dinner that evening, the whole family kept praising how delicious the spicy crab was.
Pei Yichen, in particular, had a small pile of crab shells in front of him, all of which were his achievements.
I've only ever found one or two soft-shell crabs each time before, which is too few, so it's not easy to make a spicy version.
We caught so many this time, we can just stir-fry them.
The family thoroughly enjoyed their dinner.
After dinner, everyone planned to go beachcombing during low tide.
Although we've dried a lot of seaweed at home, with the increasing number of orders from Deyun Restaurant, we still need to dry more seaweed to have on hand.
After the family arrived at the beach, Chen Fang, Yun Niang, and Pei Yichen headed straight for the Black Bay, while Pei Yao stayed in the rocky area. The crabs they had collected yesterday were all made into spicy crab today.
The crabs here are plump and delicious, and Pei Yao always thought it would be amazing if they could be made into raw marinated crabs.
Pei Yao really missed that taste terribly.
So he plans to catch some more crabs today and cook them tomorrow.
Fortunately, not many people in the village eat crabs, so Pei Yao soon returned with a full load, just like yesterday.
After finishing her business, Pei Yao went to Black Bay to help Yun Niang and the others harvest seaweed. As before, they picked the seaweed during low tide and placed it on the open ground on the shore.
Once the tide comes in, you can dry them directly. Dry them now and let the sea breeze blow all night, then dry them for another day tomorrow, and you can come and collect them in the evening.
Working together makes things faster, and the task was completed quickly. Pei Yao felt that three ropes were still a bit too few.
For example, right now, Pei Yao is looking at a small pile of seaweed on the ground that can't be dried.
It seems I'll have to keep twisting hemp ropes when I have some free time these next few days, so I can dry even more of them later.
Now they can only take the clothes that can't be dried in the sun back home and put them in the yard to dry.
......
Every day at dawn, the Pei family's courtyard is the busiest in the entire village, with people washing snails, preparing seasonings, and cooking.
Pei Yao was making breakfast because Chen Fang had to leave early to deliver goods. If she didn't eat at home beforehand or take the food with her on the way, she wouldn't have time to eat breakfast when she arrived in town.
Pei Yao made a simple breakfast today. She cooked kudzu root porridge, stir-fried some dried purslane, and also made some oyster pancakes so that those who didn't want to eat kudzu root porridge could eat the pancakes instead.
After finishing their meal, Chen Fang took the oxcart to town to deliver goods, Yunniang washed the dishes and cleaned the house, and Xiao Xuan'er and Pei Yichen went out to cut grass for the rabbits and chicks after breakfast.
When grain prices are as high as oil, it's not cost-effective for chicks to eat only grain.
So Pei Yao bought some rice bran and mixed it with some wild vegetables for them to eat.
Sometimes Pei Yichen would catch some insects or dig up earthworms to feed the chicks. Compared to rice bran mixed with wild vegetables, the chicks clearly preferred to eat these high-protein insects.
Pei Yao tidied up the stove a little and then went to check on the soybeans that had been soaked yesterday. After soaking overnight, each soybean was now round and plump, like a little golden bean.
Pei Yao poured out the soybeans, washed them several times with well water, and then steamed them until cooked.
Yunniang had just finished washing the dishes and was carrying the basin in. She was planning to wash clothes at the stream at the village entrance later, but when she saw Pei Yao busy at the stove, she asked, "Yao'er, do you need any help?"
Pei Yao shook her head: "No need, Mother. You go ahead and do your thing. I can do it myself."
"Alright, just say so if you need help. I'm going to the river to wash clothes now." Yunniang said as she put the bowls in the basin into the cupboard.
Upon hearing "riverside," Pei Yao recalled that when she went to pick wild celery before, if she remembered correctly, she found many small shrimps and snails in that stream, and maybe even small river crabs if she turned them over.
I never caught it before because I didn't bring the right tools.
Having grown up in a small inland mountain village in her previous life, Pei Yao often went to streams or rivers to catch crabs and shrimp when she was young.
Tiny crabs coated in flour, deep-fried, and then stir-fried with chili peppers—the taste is simply amazing.
Pei Yaoguang swallowed hard as she thought about it.
Yunniang gathered all the dirty clothes from home and then took them to the river to wash them with Qiaohui.
It's hot in Lingnan. You'll break out in a sweat with the slightest movement, and even if you don't move, you'll still sweat a little. You have to shower and change clothes every day.
The family changes out of many clothes every day, so Yunniang was carrying a large pile of clothes at this moment.
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