Chapter 36 Pancakes Pancakes are made soft and thin, and when you bite into them,...
Lin Shu took a breath of the fragrance, moving the spatula in her hand non-stop, with the corners of her mouth raised high.
It would be even more delicious if chili peppers and shredded ginger were stir-fried together, but there were no chili peppers at that time, and ginger was not cheap. Poor people would save money wherever they could, and there was no need to use so many fancy techniques in cooking. Just cook it.
People often talk about firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. But in reality, in impoverished places like Tianshui Village, oil, soy sauce, and vinegar are rarely purchased. Don't underestimate them; buying these condiments can cost dozens or even hundreds of wen at a time—a sum poor people wouldn't be willing to part with. Salt is a necessity, and according to my mother, a pound of it costs dozens of wen.
Lin Shu cooked all the loaches that Zhou Ye caught. She poured half a pot of stir-fried loaches directly into a bowl and served it on the table.
Snails are difficult to eat, so I didn’t eat too many this time and only fried one plate.
He Guixiang had already cooked some porridge. It was still too luxurious to have several meals of dry rice in a row, not to mention that she had also eaten snacks today.
Lin Shu, however, felt that it wasn't enough. What good was that little snack? In the past, the porridge was served with pickles and a few flatbreads. They didn't make many, so A-niang and Xiao-pu would share one, A-die would share one, and Zhou Ye would share two. But today, A-niang had even omitted the flatbreads.
"Mother, let me make some pancakes."
My mother always cooks to make it filling. She uses leavened dough, which is easy to flatten and then cooked in a pan. While filling, the taste isn't great. These raw dough flatbreads aren't as filling as flatbreads, but they use less flour, are easier to make, and taste delicious.
He Guixiang nodded without thinking, "Okay."
But how do you make the pancakes?
Lin Shu called out, "Xiao Pu, go get two eggs."
Lin Xiaopu immediately ran into the kitchen like a thief after receiving the order.
Last time, He Guixiang exchanged the eggs she saved for fine rice, and the house only saved the eggs laid in the past few days, a total of only two.
The hens at home have been raised for two years, and this is the third year. They lay far fewer eggs than in the previous two years. Sometimes they only lay one egg every four or five days.
He Guixiang opened her mouth and sighed slightly.
Lin Shu looked at him with a smile, "Didn't mother say that I can eat whatever I want? Mother, are you reluctant to let me eat it?"
He Guixiang thought back to the luxurious life she had lived for the past sixteen years. Now she just wanted to eat a few eggs, and she wasn't eating them alone, so why would she be reluctant to give them up?
"Mother is just feeling guilty. We're poor and can't give Ah Shu a good life. It's just a few eggs. From now on, we won't save the eggs our hens lay. We'll leave them all for Ah Shu to eat."
"Mother, I won't eat alone. Let's share."
He Guixiang looked at her smiling eyes and couldn't help but smile too.
Ever since A Yao left Tianshui Village, she hasn't felt so relaxed and happy for a long time.
God must have seen that she had a very hard life in her previous life, so after A Yao left, he sent A Shu to her side.
Lin Xiaopu also laughed, moved a wooden block from the firewood pile in the yard, and waited by the stove, not even feeling hot.
Lin Shu pinched an egg in each hand and moved both hands at the same time, knocking and flicking the edge of the bowl again and again, and beat the egg liquid into the bowl containing noodles. At the end, she shook it twice to ensure that not a drop of egg liquid was wasted.
Add water and eggs in batches and stir the flour together until the flour becomes a thin batter that is as smooth and can be stretched into threads as yogurt. If you encounter small lumps of flour that have not been stirred, crush them with your hands.
After the batter is ready, add some chopped wild onions and mix well.
Put some oil in the pan, not too much, just enough for her to spread the oil evenly on the iron pan.
Because she didn't have a suitable oil brush, Lin Shu cut off a small piece of clean steaming cloth, squeezed the steaming cloth into a ball, dipped it in the cold oil in the pot, and smeared it on the wall of the pot.
He Guixiang was horrified and quickly took it from her hand, "Be careful not to burn your hands. Just tell me how to do it and I'll do it."
Ah Shu has delicate skin and tender flesh, and it would not be beautiful if she got burned and left scars.
"It's okay, mother. The oil isn't hot yet. It won't burn your hands."
The iron pan was large, and when the oil on the wall of the pan was almost hot, Lin Shu scooped two large spoonfuls of thin batter in. After the batter entered the pan, she immediately used the wooden spoon to scrape it onto the sides of the pan, spreading it thinly and evenly.
The round-bottomed iron pan is not as good as a frying pan. You have to scrape it around constantly to ensure that the pancake is evenly thick. Of course, it is impossible to be completely even. No matter how you scrape the pancake, the middle of the pancake will be thicker than the edges.
Lower the heat and fry slowly. When it is almost done, turn the pancake over.
Flipping the pancake is a skillful job, especially since the pancakes this time were made to be thin. Lin Shu held the edge of the pancake with bamboo chopsticks in one hand and slowly scraped it with a wooden spatula in the other. Once the bottom of the pancake was completely scraped through, she supported the bottom of the pancake and quickly flipped it over.
The pancake that had just been turned over had been fried to a slightly golden brown color, and the chopped wild onions mixed in it were already mixed in, and the fragrance of the wild onions could be smelled.
When the other side is fried, use a wooden spatula to scoop the whole thing onto the chopping board.
He Guixiang had already learned it after watching it once, and took the wooden spatula from her hand, "The rest will be done by mother."
"In our area, there are more paddy fields than dry fields, and more rice than noodles, so we don't eat much noodles here. The flatbreads that mother made before were learned from your grandmother. Although your grandmother is partial, she knows a lot. Mother also learned to make steamed cakes from your grandmother, but I'm not very good at making them, and steamed cakes are not as delicious as flatbreads, so I don't make them often. Do you like steamed cakes, Shu? If you like, mother will make some tomorrow." He Guixiang chatted with her daughter while spreading pancakes.
As dry food, flatbread is easy to carry. He Guixiang would only make some flatbread when someone in the family was going out. Otherwise, if they ate flatbread like this every day, the flour stored at home would soon be eaten up.
The steamed cakes that He Guixiang mentioned are actually steamed buns. She thinks that flatbreads are easier to make and more delicious than steamed buns, but Lin Shu thinks the opposite is true.
When putting the pancake into the pot, you need to turn it over from time to time to prevent it from getting burnt, but when you cut the steamed bun, you just need to steam it in the pot.
As long as the dough is well fermented, the taste of the steamed buns will be good, and they are definitely the best choice for filling your stomach!
My mother can’t make steamed buns well, probably because the dough hasn’t risen enough or hasn’t been kneaded evenly.
"Mother, we've sold wild boar meat these days, so it's okay to be a little extravagant, but we can't eat flatbreads and steamed buns every day. We have several mouths to feed at home, and we can't afford to eat like that. In the future, you can make these pancakes from time to time. They're delicious and easy to make, and they don't use a lot of flour. They just take some time to spread."
While Lin Shu was speaking, she had already taken out a kitchen knife, folded the pancake she had just made, and then cut it into sections. When she unfolded it, it became long strips.
She took a pancake and handed it to Lin Xiaopu who was watching. "Come on, open your mouth and feed my lovely little sister the first bite."
"Sister is the best!" Lin Xiaopu quickly opened his mouth and bit into it, his cheeks bulging with food.
It’s delicious. The pancake is soft and thin. When you take a bite, your mouth is filled with the fragrance of wild onions!
After Lin Shu finished feeding Xiao Pu, she started feeding A Niang. He Guixiang couldn't push her away.
The mother, daughter and three children tasted the hot food in advance.
A large bowl of thin batter was used to make only three pancakes. However, although the pancakes were thin, they were large. One pancake could be cut into strips to form a plate, and three of them would make a large plate full of pancakes!
Lin Shu smiled and said, "If there are some home-cooked side dishes, the pancakes can be made smaller. Instead of cutting them up, just put some side dishes in them and roll them up. No meat is needed, just shred the vegetables, like shredded radish or cucumber, and add some stir-fried bean sprouts and wrap them in. It's also very delicious that way."
He Guixiang looked at her with a smile, thinking about her kind words, and liked her more and more.
Who doesn’t want to eat dry rice and steamed buns every day? Ah Shu must also want to, but she is careful and sensible, and always thinks about her family.
The family really couldn't afford to provide dry rice and flatbread for every meal, but eating them two or three times in ten days was not a problem.
She didn't want to let Ah Shu down.
Before the last pancake was finished, Lin Dashan appeared outside the yard carrying a hoe.
"Dad is back! Mom, I'm going to the back of the house to call Brother Aye."
Lin Xiaopu was about to follow, but he thought of something and smiled slyly, and this time he didn't follow.
When Lin Shuxun went to the back of the house, Zhou Ye had already washed his hands and face with mountain spring water. His angular face was tanned with a hint of red, and water droplets on his face were flowing down his chin to his neck and even chest.
Lin Shu glanced at the fish pond behind him and couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow!"
"This...this is already finished? How are you so amazing!?"
Even if she had been extremely strong in her previous life, it would have been impossible for her to dig out such a large fish pond and lay out sand, gravel and pebbles in such a short time, and even dig the drainage outlet next to it.
As expected of a tough guy with a height of nearly 1.9 meters and solid muscles, this infinite force would take him several steps further!
Zhou Ye glanced at Lin Shu's eyes, which were becoming brighter and more watery due to excitement. For some reason, his ears felt a little hot.
He said truthfully, "It's not finished yet. There's still some cobblestones to be put in the corners here and there. But it should be almost done by tomorrow morning."
Lin Shu smiled with her eyes curved as she looked at him and praised him, "Brother Aye, you're amazing! This family wouldn't be possible without you! Let's go, it's time for dinner. Did you smell the aroma of rice while you were working here? I made stir-fried loach, stir-fried snails, and pancakes..."
Zhou Ye followed her with a shovel in his hand, responding from time to time, but his mind was a little wandering.
This was not the first person to praise him in person. Country people were straightforward and simple, saying whatever they thought, but he did not expect that the daughter of a wealthy family who had returned from the Marquis' Mansion would be so direct in praising others, even more... and he actually enjoyed it very much.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
