If it weren't for the fact that the Chen family had hired so many employees, borrowed so much grain, and now that grain is about to become scarce again, they wouldn't have revealed this matter so quickly.
After settling the matter of food in the cave, Chen Kai began preparing to deal with another matter.
Chen Kai remembered Chen Nong telling him that there was a place with a large oak forest. Although it had experienced hail and rainstorms and there wouldn't be many acorns left, he figured he'd take whatever he could get, since there was never too much food.
Acorns were a staple food during the time of the Youchao clan and one of the most important early human foods. However, with the widespread cultivation of rice, wheat, and other grain crops, acorns gradually fell out of the category of staple foods.
Acorns, this ancient woody food, were used by farmers to stave off hunger in the past. During years of famine when food was scarce, farmers in mountainous areas would go to the mountains to collect acorns to fill their stomachs.
The kernel inside the acorn shell is rich in starch, with the starch content of acorns generally ranging from 50% to 60%, which is higher than that of many other nuts.
Since there is starch, it can be used to satisfy hunger, because starch is the best source of energy for us when we eat grains.
So Chen Kai immediately approached Chen Nong and led dozens of men to their destination to raid for acorns.
At the same time, Chen Kai also announced that he would buy acorns, as many as there were, and also buy various fruit trees.
Don't be fooled by how lively Anping Village is now; things are far from peaceful outside, and many people have starved to death.
Although the news of bracken root rice noodles has spread, it is not easy to make them peacefully. The government will definitely take care of any major troubles outside, but they can't handle minor ones. So, for villages like theirs without any alliances, survival is really difficult.
When the villagers heard that the Chen family had started packing up again, the village became lively once more.
The village chief came to the Chen family's house and asked, "Chen Dong, why is your family collecting so many things?"
Old Man Chen laughed and said, "Of course, it's for planning the village."
The village chief asked in confusion, "But there are some things that aren't in the plan."
The Chen family had explained their plans for the future of Anping Village to the villagers many times before, and he knew exactly what to plant and where.
However, some of the things the Chen family received this time were not included in the plan, and some of the trees weren't even that nice to look at.
Old Man Chen said, "It was added at the last minute. A few of the younger ones insisted on planting these kinds of trees."
The village chief looked at Old Man Chen speechlessly, rolled his eyes, and after chatting for a while, seeing that he couldn't get any more information, the village chief left.
Today, the Chen family's courtyard was filled with acorns, which made up almost half of the yard. Although it looked like a lot, it was the result of several days of labor by dozens of people. Clearly, the disaster had severely damaged the acorns.
Seeing that his father was staring at the acorns, Chen Kai knew that his father was not very at ease.
After all, they had never eaten such a thing before; they had only heard from others that acorns were bitter and inedible.
Chen Kai jogged over and said with a smile, "Dad, don't worry. If we follow the method I mentioned before, we can definitely turn the acorns into something edible."
"Have someone dry these acorns first, then we'll take our time. Although acorns can be eaten as food, they need to go through many processes before they're ready to eat."
Although Old Man Chen was still a little worried, he said, "Alright then!"
It takes a long time to process acorns into acorn flour.
Acorns taste bitter, like eating tree bark. The proper way to eat them is after processing. There are generally two methods: one is to roast them. This tastes good, but the aroma is slightly astringent and has a hint of chestnut flavor.
Another method is to process it into acorn flour, which can be used to make acorn tofu, acorn noodles, etc.
To make acorn flour, you need to dry the collected acorns. When the acorns crack, peel off the outer shell and then dry the pulp. If you wash the acorns directly without drying them, the acorn flour will not settle.
Soak the dried acorn kernels in water for 10-15 days, changing the water daily to extract the tannins and remove astringency. Continue soaking until the acorn kernels are fully softened. Then, remove the acorn kernels and grind them into powder.
Grind the acorn starch. At this point, the acorn starch is wet and needs to be stirred repeatedly in a container, allowed to settle, and filtered several times to remove the astringent taste. Generally, filtering once every three to five days is sufficient. Once the soaking water no longer has an astringent taste, remove the water on top of the starch sediment. Alternatively, wood ash can be used to absorb any remaining moisture on top.
Finally, remove the acorn starch, which will be in lumps at this point. Dry it in the sun, breaking it down into powder during the drying process. This will give us acorn flour.
Acorn flour is a finely ground powder made from acorns. It has medicinal properties, including treating diarrhea, boosting immunity, promoting cell metabolism, and preventing anemia. Acorn flour can also be made into health foods, which can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and have significant effects on skin care and beauty.
Acorn flour can also be made into acorn noodles, acorn tofu, etc. In addition, acorn flour can also be processed into acorn cake, acorn jam, acorn rice wine, etc.
After some time, the research on the watermill was finally successful. Today is the eighth time the watermill has been assembled and run. Although the first seven attempts failed, everyone was not discouraged and gathered by the river early this morning.
To install the watermill, they built a wooden hut by the river. Everyone was busy installing it, and the people of Anping Village watched hopefully from the sidelines. Although they had failed seven times before, they still firmly believed that the watermill could work successfully.
This huge machine is the result of their joint efforts. They all participated and did their best, so they firmly believe that the watermill will be able to operate successfully.
The workers hired by the people of Anping Village did not understand their ideas and thought they were being unrealistic.
After several failed installation attempts, I finally succeeded today.
To ensure the successful assembly of the watermill, the villagers of Anping temporarily blocked the upstream water supply. Now that the watermill is assembled, only one final step remains: releasing the upstream water.
The flowing river captivated the hearts of everyone on the bank; they all stared intently at the watermill, hoping for a successful outcome.
As the water passed through the watermill wheel, a series of sounds slowly began to emanate from it.
"Squeak, squeak..."
Hearing the sound, everyone couldn't help but smile; the sound indicated that the water mill had started operating.
That sound is so beautiful!
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