Chapter 37 Mission: Wild Vegetable Feast
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"Sister, this porridge is so delicious!" After returning home, She Ning went to Xiahe Elementary School to pick up She Ni.
Holding a large porcelain bowl, She Ni followed behind She Ning like a little shadow. After taking a sip of porridge, she tilted her head back and said in a soft, sweet voice.
She Ning was preparing lightly salted water in the kitchen when she encountered a vendor selling razor clams and perch on her way back. Seeing that the razor clams were all incredibly plump, She Ning bought all the razor clams from the stall and also bought a perch to make garlic-baked fish for dinner.
"Eat as much as you like, I bought it especially for you." She Ning turned around and looked down, her slightly curved eyes filled with laughter as she looked at the little one who had gained a lot of weight. She wiped the water droplets off her hands, gently pinched She Ni's little cheek, and said softly.
She remembered that She Ni liked this kind of soft and flavorful porridge. She also drank several bowls more of the pork offal porridge and preserved egg porridge she cooked before than she usually drank plain porridge.
"Mmm, thank you, sister, I'll eat it all." She scooped up a full spoonful, then ate it in one big bite. She then waved the empty spoon at She Ning, smiling at her as if asking for a reward.
"Great job!" She Ning gave her a thumbs up, then turned back to the stove. As she spoke, she placed the razor clams from the bag into a basin filled with lightly salted water. "Go have some porridge first. I'll go out and pick some wild vegetables with you after I'm done with these seafood."
It had been a long time since she had gone out with her sister. Upon hearing this, She Ni's eyes lit up. Holding her bowl, she ate heartily, making gurgling sounds as she swallowed.
She Ning glanced at her chubby cheeks, which looked like a little piglet, and shook her head indulgently. Afraid that she might choke if she ate too fast, she said, "Eat slowly, wait for you."
"Mmm." She Ni nodded, slowing down a bit, but the porridge in the bowl still visibly decreased.
She Ning placed the basin containing razor clams in the corner of the kitchen, gutted the sea bass, cleaned its internal organs, then cut along both sides of the spine from the belly without cutting through the skin, made diagonal cuts on the fish, and finally placed the fish flat in a stainless steel basin.
Wipe the fish dry, coat it with various seasonings, add scallions, ginger, and garlic, and set it aside to marinate.
Besides the quality of the fish itself, the garlic sauce is also a crucial element in making garlic-baked fish.
After marinating the fish, She Ning rinsed the chopped garlic several times with water and drained it. She then poured 180-degree hot oil over half of the garlic to make silver garlic. Next, she heated the pan with cold oil and slowly stir-fried the other half of the garlic until it turned golden brown. Finally, she poured the golden garlic into the silver garlic, added salt, sugar and other seasonings and mixed them thoroughly.
She Ning likes spicy food, so she added bird's eye chili to a portion of it.
Once everything is prepared, set it aside and cover it up, then come back in the evening to get started.
Carrying a bamboo basket and a sickle, She Ning led She Ni to the west room. Inside, Chen Yuzhen was still awake, leaning against the headboard, sewing clothes with needle and thread.
Her hands trembled slightly, and she often missed the mark when she held the needle. When she saw the two sisters, She Ning and She, come in, she put down her needle and thread, glanced at them, and asked, "Are you going out?"
"Yes, Grandma, when I came back just now, I saw that the wild vegetables on the riverbank were growing well, and I was going to pick some with Nini," She Ning replied, while stepping forward to help her put away her needle and thread.
"Grandma, should we put the needle and thread away first? I'll sew the clothes for you when I get back."
Chen Yuzhen waved her hand, indicating that it wasn't necessary.
"Keep an eye on Xiaoni and don't let her go into the water. I'm using the needle and thread to practice my dexterity; it's fine for sewing clothes."
After Dr. Zheng tested her hand abilities at the hospital, he suggested that she do more fine motor skills in her upper limbs or hands, such as buttoning buttons and tightening screws. She thought that she could also sew clothes with a needle, so she practiced it.
"Okay, let's go out then." After saying that, She Ning took She Ni's hand and went out.
Chen Yuzhen watched their figures disappear outside the door, then lowered her head again and picked up her needle and thread.
At this time of day, everyone has just returned from working in the fields and is staying home to eat. When She Ning brought She Ni out, there were few people around in the village, and occasionally you could hear adults scolding children for not eating.
The place where they were going to pick wild vegetables was outside the village. After walking for more than ten minutes, they finally reached the riverbank. She Ning took off the bamboo basket from her back and put it on the ground.
In early May in the south, the midday temperature was slightly high, but there were several large trees nearby, allowing She Ni to dig for wild vegetables in the shade, while She Ning went to the reeds nearby.
She remembered there were wild duck nests here, so she pulled up her long-sleeved jacket, put on her straw hat, and went into the reeds. After searching for a while, she found a nest of wild duck eggs in the corner at the very edge.
"Sister!" She Ni, who was digging for wild vegetables nearby and keeping a close eye on She Ning's movements, spotted her the moment She Ning emerged from the reeds.
Seeing what She Ning was holding, she blushed with excitement, dropped her small shovel, grabbed a shepherd's purse, and ran like a phoenix to She Ning's side.
She tiptoed closer, carefully examining the wild duck eggs on her straw hat, then praised She Ning with a happy expression.
Wow, sister, you're amazing!
"One, two, three, four, five..."
Wow, there are nine!
"Sister, you're amazing!!" With her praise-obsessed nature in full swing, She Ni hugged She Ning's arm and launched into a barrage of compliments.
"elder sister……"
She Ning was so embarrassed by her praise that she almost wanted to run away. Her ears turned slightly red, and she quickly changed the subject, "You're great too. You dug the shepherd's purse very well. It's whole, tender and green. It looks delicious."
"Here you go, sister. I'll go dig up some more." Upon hearing this, She Ni happily stuffed the shepherd's purse in her hand into She Ning's hand, turned around and ran back to her original spot, squatting on the ground and carefully selecting the wild vegetables she wanted to dig.
"This one's good, this one's fine too..." he muttered to himself as he swung the shovel.
Standing still, She Ning looked at the shepherd's purse in her hand, then at She Ni who was very focused not far away. She couldn't suppress the smile on her lips, and her eyes narrowed with laughter.
Carrying the wild duck eggs to the bamboo basket, she lined the bottom with some dry grass, then cut some leaves from a banana tree on the side and placed them on top before putting the wild duck eggs inside.
At this time of year, wild vegetables are thriving. A few days ago, there were several rain showers, and the wild vegetables along the riverbank are growing vigorously as if they've been injected with chicken blood. Shepherd's purse, lamb's quarters, horsetail, dandelion, and other wild vegetables can be seen everywhere.
She Ning picked up a small shovel, found a spot where the wild vegetables were tender and plentiful, and squatted down to work.
"Lambsquarters soup, plantain stew with meat, shepherd's purse dumplings, horsetail salad..." She Ning muttered to herself as she dug.
"Ding, system task: Complete a wild vegetable feast with ten dishes. Task completed. Reward: One blind box draw." The system, which had not appeared since the last treasure mystery was completed, suddenly popped up.
Staring at the task announcement in the upper right corner of the system interface, She Ning stroked her chin. Ten dishes, she counted in her mind, and then lowered her head to start digging wild vegetables.
Shepherd's purse, lamb's quarters, purslane, dandelion, thistle, wild garlic, plantain, and, um, toon from the mountains.
Eight kinds of wild vegetables, ten dishes—I have to give the system a shout-out; it's practically a blind box giveaway.
She Ning thought to herself with a smug smile.
After filling the bamboo basket, She Ning held She Ni's little hand and they swayed as they went home together.
Along the way, on the ridges of the fields, She Ning also found several flowering mugwort plants. This plant is usually harvested in the spring and used to make mugwort rice cakes during the Qingming Festival.
Tian Ai He is a local specialty snack. The main ingredients include Tian Ai, sticky rice, and glutinous rice. Its production process is quite complicated, but it has a smooth and delicate taste, and it is a snack that She Ning likes.
She Ning dug up every last one of them, and then carefully searched along the paddy field ridges for a while. Sure enough, she found a few more that had escaped her net on a nearby ridge. After picking them all, she planned to take them home, wash them, and dry them.
Dried artemisia can also be used to make artemisia rice cakes.
When she got home and entered the courtyard, She Ning heard people talking in the west room. One voice was her grandmother's, and the other was a woman's voice that sounded unfamiliar.
She Ning didn't go in to disturb them. She took She Ni to the kitchen, took out the items from the bamboo basket one by one, and put the wild duck eggs in the wooden cabinet together with the chicken eggs.
After cleaning and sorting the wild vegetables, She Ning placed them in a bamboo basket on one side, while She Ni helped pick the vegetables.
The sea bass was marinated for about an hour and a half. She Ning shook off all the seasonings from its body. Since she didn't have an oven, she heated plenty of oil and fried the fish until both sides were slightly golden brown. Then she took it out and drained the oil.
Line the bottom of a rectangular iron plate with onions, potato slices, and some ginger slices. Place the fried sea bass on top, drizzle with garlic and garlic sauce, pour over the sauce, and place it in a small, unlit stove for later use.
After preparing the sea bass, She Ning took out the razor clams that had been soaked in salt water to expel the sand, cleaned them, removed their shells, and then steamed them.
The steam from the steamer made a clattering sound against the lid, and a delicious seafood aroma wafted from the side of the pot, a unique flavor of razor clams.
After steaming over high heat for ten minutes, She Ning opened the lid. On the steaming plate, razor clams about the thickness of a finger were neatly arranged in a circle. The tender white razor clam meat was covered with a layer of golden and silver garlic, and underneath was a layer of snow-white vermicelli. Before taking it out of the pot, She Ning sprinkled some chopped green onions on top.
Steamed razor clams with garlic and vermicelli are ready. She Hongmei hasn't arrived home yet, so She Ning covers them with a lid and sets them aside.
Remove the cooked rice from the pot and drain it. Also, ladle out the rice water at the bottom and set it aside.
She Ning began sorting through the wild vegetables she had picked earlier. Since she also had flour and pork at home, she decided to try making shepherd's purse and pork dumplings first.
Fresh plantain is lush and green, and quite tender. It just so happens that everyone seems to be a bit hot-tempered lately, so eating some cold plantain salad can help clear away the heat and reduce internal fire.
She Ning was kneading dough in the kitchen, while She Ni was tending the fire on one side.
"These are Aning and Xiaoni. They've both grown quite a bit." A person suddenly walked out from the west doorway and said, followed by Chen Yuzhen, who was leaning on a cane.
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