Pei Yao washed her hands and handed the lychees in her hands to Yunniang: "Mother, have some fruit, these fruits are so sweet and delicious."
Then I went to the back to take a shower.
Yunniang took it and tried it. She was also amazed. The fruit was sweet, soft and juicy. She ate a few but couldn't bear to eat more. Such delicious fruit was probably rare for Xiaochen and Yao'er to pick. The children all love sweet fruit, so let's leave it for the children.
Chen Fang stopped eating after a few bites, just like Yunniang, who felt that she wanted to save the best food for the children.
The two continued preparing dinner. They were starting to cook dinner earlier these days, as the weather was getting better and orders for Deyun Restaurant were increasing. They wanted to finish dinner early because they had a lot of things to do.
Pei Yao took a quick shower. Her hair had been quite sparse due to malnutrition during her exile, and it hadn't fully recovered yet. After washing, it was hanging down behind her, which she gently gathered with a strip of cloth. With the sun shining, it would dry in no time.
Pei Yao, along with Pei Yichen and Pei Xuan, processed the wild fruits they had brought back.
The banana heart is used for stir-frying. She took it to Yunniang, who was busy in the kitchen. The method of stir-frying banana heart is very simple: just chop it up and stir-fry it with chili and oil.
Pei Yao tied the bunches of unripe bananas together with some palm leaves and hung them on the kitchen wall so they would ripen faster.
They went out and cut some dry thatch, laid it in a wooden basin, and then put the kiwis in. Since it was still a month before the kiwi season, the ones they found were probably early-ripening, so many of them were small and hard.
Pei Yao found a corner in the kitchen and placed it there. She figured that if she covered it with hay for a while, it would start to ripen gradually in a few days.
The rest were all lychees. Looking at so many lychees, Pei Yao pondered how to cook them to make them taste the best and preserve them for as long as possible.
She had tried many lychee-flavored drinks, but they didn't keep for very long, unlike fresh lychees which could be stored for longer.
Making them into canned goods would allow them to last longer, but there are no containers to hold them. These days, glass probably doesn't exist, and even if it did, it would likely be very expensive, only affordable to royalty and nobility.
Pei Yao stared at the small pile of lychees in deep thought, while Pei Yichen took the two lychee seedlings, found a sunny corner in the yard, dug a hole, planted them, and watered them with some well water.
Pei Yao was thinking when suddenly a thought struck her; she remembered the lychee and glutinous rice wine she used to drink...
Lychee glutinous rice wine has a low alcohol content, making it suitable for girls and those who can't hold their liquor. That's why Pei Yao often drank some at night, which effectively improved her sleep quality.
Because there were many adulterated liquors online at the time, Pei Yao was afraid that she would buy bad adulterated liquor, so she simply found a tutorial and learned how to make it herself.
It actually turned out well! The drink tastes refreshingly cool and sweet, with a rich lychee aroma.
Pei Yao thought she might as well try making some. She had just made some yeast a while ago, and it should be ready to use in the next couple of days.
Making lychees into wine allows them to be preserved for longer.
However, the plan to make lychee glutinous rice wine has to be postponed for now, because they don't have any glutinous rice at home, and they can only wait until tomorrow to buy some.
However, we can use the available materials to make some other drinks for now.
Without further ado, Pei Yichen and Pei Xuan washed their hands and helped peel the lychees, removing the pits as well, while Pei Yao went to pick a few lemons from the lemon tree in the yard.
When Chen Fang went to town a while ago, she bought some rock sugar for Pei Xuan to eat occasionally as a snack.
Pei Yao went and got some. At this time, the rock sugar was still in large chunks, and its color was slightly yellow, so it was called yellow sugar.
She plans to make a lychee lemon drink.
Pei Yichen and the others peeled half a jar of lychee flesh, and then soaked it in a little salt water as Pei Yao requested.
Lychee is a warming food, and eating too much can easily cause internal heat. Therefore, Pei Yao told them to soak the lychee in salt water, as this can reduce the heat and decrease the likelihood of getting internal heat.
Yunniang and the others were cooking in the kitchen using the large iron wok, while Pei Yao needed to use the small stove next to it.
Pei Yao first used a clean small earthenware pot to boil water over high heat to dissolve the rock sugar. Then she added the peeled lychees and mint leaves. After boiling the water twice, she took them out and let them cool.
After the lychee syrup has completely cooled, add a few slices of lemon and two mint leaves as a garnish.
The resulting lychee lemon drink is sweet and sour, with a rich lychee aroma.
It's a great summer drink, refreshing and helps cut through any greasiness.
The whole family gathered in the kitchen, all very curious about the lychee lemon drink that Pei Yao had made.
Pei Xuan, in particular, was very excited by the sweet and sour smell.
"Sister, is this sweet soup?" She had drunk Kyoto's sweet soup before and it was delicious, so sweet.
"Yao girl, I didn't expect you could make sweet soup." Chen Fang was also surprised; his little niece really could do everything.
"Yes, it's sugar water. We'll put it in the well water to chill it before drinking." Pei Yao carried the finished jar to the yard, found a wooden basin to fill with cool well water, and then placed the jar containing the lychee drink in the water. She covered the mouth of the jar slightly with banana leaves to prevent small flying insects from flying in because of the sweet smell.
This will cool it down quickly, and the well water will make the lychee drink even more icy cold.
Pei Yao recalled visiting her aunt's house in the village when she was a child. Their watermelons were also soaked in cold well water. Occasionally, when they were in a good mood, they would invite Pei Yao, who was passing by, to eat a small piece of watermelon. The watermelon flesh was icy cold, sweet, and delicious, and she could never get enough of it.
When she went to pick banana leaves, she noticed a bunch of bananas growing on the banana tree, which she estimated would grow big soon.
Pei Xuanye followed her older sister around chattering away, her enthusiasm rising at the thought of the delicious sweet soup she would be eating later.
For dinner, we ate porridge as the main dish. We had a lot of stir-fried pickled cabbage and minced meat from breakfast, and there was still more than half a bowl left over. We ate it again in the evening. We also cooked a pork lard and wild vegetable soup. The last dish was stir-fried banana hearts with chili peppers.
Pei Yao went to get the chilled lychee drinks, while Pei Yichen and Pei Xuan went to get bowls for everyone to drink from. They didn't have cups at home, so they always used bowls to drink water, which was cheap and convenient.
After a busy day, the whole family finally had time to sit down and eat in the courtyard. Pei Yao poured everyone a cup of lychee drink: "Auntie, Mother, please try it and see how it tastes?"
The two quickly took the drink and tried a sip. Pei Yichen and Pei Xuan watched them drink, their eyes filled with anticipation.
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