136
The puffer fish was not from the ingredients packed by Wan Zuofang, but was brought back by Jing Nan from outside the village. Jing Nan had gone out of the village two days ago, and when he came back in the evening, there was half a basket of puffer fish in his backpack.
He needed pufferfish toxin for medicine. The liver, ovaries, seminal vesicles, eyes and blood of pufferfish contain more venom. After Jing Nan took these things, the rest of the parts were piled in a mess on the ground.
Du Heng had just come out of Peizhulin after practicing at that time. When he saw the pile of discarded puffer fish, his eyes lit up.
Puffer fish stewed with golden cauliflower is a delicacy at Du's Private Restaurant every spring. The soup made by Du's father is as white as milk, and the puffer fish gelatin is boiled out. The fish skin is soft and sticky, and the fish meat is soft and tender. The dark green golden cauliflower dotted in the soup is both beautiful and delicious.
After Du Heng asked Jing Nan, he put the gutted puffer fish in the refrigerator. He cooked a braised puffer fish meal that night, and today he would use the remaining puffer fish to make soup.
The golden cauliflower picked in the morning is fresh and tender, and its leaves are particularly easy to identify among the weeds. Each of its leaves has three heart-shaped petals, which is particularly artistic. After Qingming Festival, it will bloom small golden flowers in the middle of the petiole and grow spiral seeds.
When Du Heng was a child, golden cauliflower was used to feed pigs and sheep. Occasionally, people would pick it and stir-fry it or make soup. However, Du Heng did not like the chewy texture. Later, when he was in school, he accidentally ate it once. For some reason, he suddenly liked it.
People's tastes change over time, and so does Du Heng's feelings towards golden cauliflower. From initially disdaining it to later loving it, it only took a meal.
Du Heng went to the peach forest in Nanshan to pick golden cauliflower whenever he had time. The golden cauliflower before Qingming Festival was plump and tender, and he could pick a large basket of them. He would store them in the refrigerator to keep the delicious taste longer.
He took the mugwort out of the pond and put the puffer fish from the refrigerator on top. Jing Nan didn't know where he got the puffer fish from, and each one was longer than a palm.
They were still able to move slightly when they were put into the refrigerator, but now that they have been taken out they are unable to move, but the meat is still tender.
All Du Heng had to do was to skin them, clean the fish lips and gills, as well as the internal organs that had not been cleaned out.
The puffer fish in my hometown are all artificially fed, so their toxicity is greatly reduced. When cooking puffer fish, the people in my hometown will deliberately leave the fattest puffer fish liver and fry it first. The fried cod liver oil is used to stew the puffer fish meat, which makes the puffer fish taste even better. In my hometown, the puffer fish skin is also preserved. After the puffer fish is cooked, the patient chef will cover each fish with a piece of fish skin.
Wild puffer fish are quite poisonous, so Du Heng didn't dare to gamble. After processing, only the snow-white, slightly transparent fish meat was left in his basket.
Zhou Xiyue stood behind Du Heng, and Du Heng always felt like there was a huge monster standing behind him. He looked back tremblingly, and saw Zhou Xiyue's eyes shining: "Mr. Du, you are so skillful! You cleaned such a small fish so quickly!"
Du Heng smiled and looked at Zhou Xiyue's hand. If the puffer fish before cleaning was bigger than Du Heng's hand, then the cleaned puffer fish meat might only be as long as one of Zhou Xiyue's fingers. For Zhou Xiyue, puffer fish might be about the same as catfish, right?
Zhou Xiyue put a lot of pressure on Du Heng, and he was a little uncomfortable with it. He looked at Xuan Yu for help, and Xuan Yu came over and patted Zhou Xiyue on the back: "Manager Zhou, please go and sit down. Du Heng doesn't like to be disturbed when he is cooking."
Zhou Xiyue sat on the chair next to the dining table like an obedient giant dog. The wide chair seemed several sizes smaller under him. Du Heng was afraid that Zhou Xiyue would break the chair by sitting on it.
It's no big deal if the chair is broken, but it's troublesome if Zhou Xiyue is injured.
Du Heng took out a piece of mountain jelly pork belly, cut it into even small pieces, and put it aside for later use. On the chopping board were ginger slices and green onion knots, which were indispensable for Du Heng to season meat dishes.
The oil in the pan was hot, and Du Heng added the pork belly and stir-fried it carefully. It is more fragrant to stew puffer fish with fried pork belly than to stew it directly with animal oil.
There was no need to fry the cod liver oil. After the pork belly slices were fried until slightly browned, Du Heng poured all the puffer fish into the pot. A puff of green smoke came out of the pot. After frying the fish for a while, the white wine was added.
The puffer fish soup of Lao Du's family is different from the ordinary ones. Other people's stewed puffer fish will add soy sauce to adjust the color, but the puffer fish soup of Du Heng's family is milky. In order to make the fish soup milky white, in addition to not adding soy sauce, it is also key to cook it over high heat after adding the soup.
Du Heng added two spoonfuls of boiling water to the pot, and the water started to boil. The bubbling water and the oil threatened the fish, and the deliciousness of the fish was forced into the soup.
Du Heng threw in the scallion knots and covered the pot. The stewing process took two incense sticks. During this time, he could prepare the stir-fried squid.
The squid in the sea had stopped moving when it reached Du Heng's hand, but it still looked very fresh. Du Heng took the squid out of the kitchen and placed it on the chopping board next to the sink. The squid was even bigger than his chopping board.
This is a whole squid. Compared with it, all the squids Du Heng bought before are nothing.
Du Heng grabbed the dividing line between the squid's head and tail, and pulled hard, and the squid's internal organs were brought out of its cylindrical body along with its squid legs. There was also a mass of ink sacs in the internal organs, and Du Heng carefully cut off the internal organs and put them in the trash can.
Du Heng cut the squid legs into three or four inch long pieces in a few seconds and placed them on the plate next to him. The next thing to do was to deal with the squid body. The squid's cylindrical body has a layer of red and greasy skin on it, which is fishy and needs to be removed when eating.
This did not bother Du Heng. He casually cut the squid's body with a knife, and the cylindrical squid suddenly became a flat piece. After it was unfolded, the squid's body was wider than his cutting board.
Du Heng placed the squid in a wooden basin in the pool, and added enough water to cover the squid. Then he added two spoons of vinegar to the water. After waiting for half a cup of tea, the squid skin would be quickly peeled off under the effect of the vinegar.
Half a cup of tea later, Du Heng fished out the squid, cut a cross on its back, and along the cross, he easily peeled off the dark red squid skin, leaving only the snow-white squid meat on the chopping board.
This was not the end. Du Heng picked up the knife and cut densely along the squid's body horizontally and vertically. The soft and flexible squid meat was soon cut into even pieces, and at this time, no pattern could be seen on it.
Du Heng piled the squid slices on the plate next to him. One squid filled up the entire plate, and the bracken became a supporting role compared to the squid. Even the onions that Du Heng used as a side dish were more than the bracken.
At this time, the puffer fish in the pot had been stewed for two cups of tea. Du Heng lifted the lid of the pot and saw a white mass of water in the pot. The broth boiling between the fish meat became thick. Du Heng sprinkled salt in it, tasted it, and threw two handfuls of golden cauliflower into the pot.
Golden flower cauliflower is also called rice seedling or grass head. When the old folks cook rice seedling, they will first boil it in water and then squeeze it dry and put it in the fish plate as a side dish. Du Heng doesn't like to do this. He likes the taste of golden flower cauliflower, so he directly throws the golden flower cauliflower into the soup to stew it, which makes the golden flower cauliflower more flavorful.
The color of the golden cauliflower changed after being blanched for a while. The dark green golden cauliflower hid in the soup next to the fish body, and the colors in the pot suddenly became clear.
Golden flower vegetables are not as delicate as other wild vegetables. Even if they are stewed for a long time, they will not become soft and will not lose their color. Du Heng opened the lid of the pot and let them stew in the fish soup without worry. After stewing for another cup of tea, the fish soup was ready.
The white porcelain plate was filled with a bowl of puffer fish with rice grass, and the milky white puffer fish soup was as rich as it was thickened with starch. The rice grass was not as reserved as it was in the pot. After being stewed, they became unrestrained, and many dark green leaves could be seen on the puffer fish meat.
If you pick up a puffer fish at this time, it will definitely bring out a few golden cauliflowers. When it is placed in the white porcelain bowl, everyone will eat the eye-catching golden cauliflower first. The golden cauliflower, which has absorbed the soup, has a strong puffer fish fragrance. Chew it carefully, and the original fragrance blooms between your teeth.
Du Heng didn't like golden cauliflower before, mainly because he didn't like its chewy texture. But later he fell in love with this dish because of its unique taste. Golden cauliflower is rich in fiber, and no matter how tender its stems and leaves are, it will not lose its original flavor no matter what dish it is stewed with.
This is a wild vegetable with great character. No matter how many flavors its surface is covered with, its taste remains the same.
After the golden flower dish is eaten, it is the turn of the puffer fish. Patient people will use chopsticks to poke into the fish body and bring out pieces of delicate fish meat. The fish meat is white and delicate, and it is still trembling when it is caught by the tip of the chopsticks. Take the opportunity to put it into your mouth. Thousands of words have lost their color, and only one word lingers in your mind: fresh.
The puffer fish cooked to perfection has no toxicity at all, only the delicious taste that makes you linger in your mouth. As the old saying goes: Eat puffer fish at the risk of your life. It is for this delicious taste.
People who are impatient, like Du Heng, would pick up a piece of fish and put it in their mouths. After taking a sip and sucking it, what comes out is a bare fish bone. The fish meat has already rolled into the stomach along with the delicious fish soup, and when he burps, all that comes out is the fresh taste of fish.
This way of eating fish was too heroic, as if he was not eating the precious pufferfish but the minnows that can be found everywhere in the river. If the literati and scholars in his hometown saw this, they would definitely laugh at Du Heng.
But in the village... everyone eats like this. Like Xiaoxiao, he can swallow three fish at the same time with one mouthful, and when he spits them out, there are three bones straight out.
Ever since Du Heng came to the village, the villagers had developed a problem: when Du Heng served a dish, they would eat it, and by the time Du Heng finished cooking and started eating, everyone was already half full.
Today's dishes are all quick dishes. While everyone was eating puffer fish, Du Heng poured soybean oil into the pot. After the soybean oil was hot, he poured shredded ginger and squid into the pot at the same time.
137
The frying pan made a sound, and the water in the squid was released. After a little stir-frying, more water was seen in the pan. However, the flame in the stove was very strong, and after a while of stir-frying, the water evaporated. At this time, Du Heng's densely packed chrysanthemum knife cuts on the squid's back officially greeted everyone.
The heated squid slices curled up, revealing even and fine cuts. When Du Heng poured white wine into the pot to remove the fishy smell, flames appeared in the pot again.
This time everyone was very calm, but Zhou Xiyue was startled: "Ouch, it's on fire!"
Xuan Yu said, "It's just the alcohol burning." Xuan Yu had completely forgotten that the first time he saw the flame burst out of the pot, he almost carried Du Heng away from the stove.
Du Heng poured onions into the pot and stir-fried the squid together. He also added salt and soy sauce, and of course, a little bit of sugar to enhance the flavor. After stir-frying for a while, the flame gradually went out, and Du Heng poured the green bracken into the pot and stir-fried them together.
In less than half a cup of tea, a plate of delicious and fragrant fried squid with bracken appeared on the table. Du Heng said with a smile: "Stir-fried squid, please enjoy~"
Xiaoxiao flapped his wings graciously, and he stretched his neck and took a bite of the squid. The squid also contained the radish he hated, and Xiaoxiao wanted to spit it out, but he was a chick who never wasted food.
He chewed the squid. To be honest, the squid had no taste, just crispy, all thanks to Du Heng's seasoning. The radish was delicious, sweet. The mouth was salty and sweet, but not unpalatable at all. Xiaoxiao even became addicted to it.
He chirped twice at Du Heng, giving a positive response.
Xuan Yu picked up a squid leg and put it into Du Heng's mouth: "It's very crispy, try it."
Du Heng took a bite. His dish didn't have the oyster sauce and MSG seasoning like his hometown. In terms of seasoning, it was definitely a little better. But his dish had good ingredients and plenty of flavor. Whether it was the taste or the original flavor of the ingredients, this stir-fried squid was delicious.
There are three crispy dishes on the plate. The crispness of the squid is different from the other two vegetarian dishes. The fresh squid is tender and sweet, and there is a unique seafood flavor when chewed carefully. Onions are originally spicy, but after stir-frying, its spiciness turns into just the right sweetness, and the juice bursts out when you bite it.
Xiaoxiao could say with a clear conscience that if Yucai did this, he would not only not hate it, but would also eat three bowls of rice.
The crispness of bracken is different from that of onions. Its texture is not as flexible as onions, its juice is not as rich, and it does not have a sweet taste. But it has its own fragrance, which makes people feel different from others with just one bite.
The three ingredients have different origins and properties, but they meet and blend together in one dish, leaving you with an endless aftertaste.
Du Heng said happily: "It's delicious. Wait a minute, I'll stir-fry some golden cauliflower and make some duck egg soup."
Stir-fried golden cauliflower is Du Heng's favorite wild vegetable. Pour a little white wine and a little salt into it, stir-fry it over high heat, cover the pot and simmer it for a while. A dark green wine herb head lies on the plate, tempting everyone: Come on, come on, eat me~
With this dish, Du Heng can eat two bowls of rice even without meat.
The aroma of wine and vanilla is a unique flavor of spring, and only those who have eaten it can experience its taste.
But people who don't like this dish will particularly dislike it, such as Feng Gui. Feng Gui picked up two pieces and tasted them, and his eyebrows were almost knotted: "This...isn't it the taste of wild grass?"
Seeing Feng Gui like this, Du Heng wanted to pinch his neck and describe the deliciousness of this dish to him crazily, but he gave up after thinking about it. Not to mention whether he could beat Feng Gui, what good would it be to have one more person snatching food from him?
There were seven large plates of food on the table, including meat, vegetables, spicy and salty dishes. Everyone started talking as they drank and chatted.
Du Heng found Zhou Xiyue very reserved. For some reason, Du Heng felt that he looked like a young wife holding the bowl. It was pitiful to see such a big man huddled in the corner. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hide his figure.
Du Heng was considerate of him. He called Zhou Xiyue, "Shopkeeper Zhou, is the simple meal at home not to your liking? If you like it, eat more."
Zhou Xiyue nodded repeatedly. He picked up a piece of bacon and said, "Delicious, delicious! Even better than what the chef at Yunyanlou made!"
Zhou Xiyue said admiringly: "Mr. Du has this skill. It would be great if he could open a restaurant in Lingxi Town. I guarantee that everyone will line up to wait for you to cook!"
As soon as he finished speaking, three more pieces of vegetables appeared in Zhou Xiyue's bowl. Jing Nan picked up a piece of sausage and put it down: "Manager Zhou is really enthusiastic, do you want to stay and help me make the elixir?"
Feng Gui picked up a piece of fish for him and said, "Eat, don't make trouble."
Xuan Yu picked up a squid leg and gave it to him: "Eat more."
Zhou Xiyue shuddered, and Du Heng felt that he was quite pitiful. Du Heng smiled and said, "I have no plans to open a shop in town for the time being. I need to practice cultivation recently."
Zhou Xiyue nodded repeatedly: "Good practice, good practice."
Du Heng inexplicably felt that Zhou Xiyue, who was holding the bowl, looked like a little quail. Wen Qiong couldn't bear it any longer, so she put a piece of golden flower in Du Heng's bowl with her chopsticks and said, "Disciple, before you have formed a pill, you'd better not leave the village, and before you have transformed into an infant, you'd better not go to the town."
Du Heng chewed some grass and said, "Oh."
He didn't have such plans. He was doing well in the village. With Xuan Yu and everyone, he had no worries about food and drink. Why would he go out? To realize the value of life? You must be kidding. With such little value, he was killed by a monster before he even left the village. Isn't it better to live an honest life?
After dinner, Xuan Yu helped to clean up the dishes. Du Heng listened to the sound of raindrops outside the house. He felt a little melancholy: "There is so much rain. I guess when the rain stops, the grass in my field will grow a new layer."
Wen Qiong was calm: "Don't worry, just take your time. Relax for half a day today and do whatever you want."
Du Heng blinked at Wen Qiong with a look of surprise on his face: "Master, are you serious?"
Wen Qiong nodded: "Why would I lie to you? Didn't you say that the bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest can be dug? If I don't give you a holiday, I'm afraid you won't have time to dig them."
Du Heng was deeply moved. His master was finally merciful. He wanted to go dig spring bamboo shoots right away! After a winter of dormancy, the winter bamboo shoots that could sprout had turned into spring bamboo shoots, and those that could not break through the soil could not see the sun.
After this period of time of sparring with Pei Zhu, Du Heng has almost mastered Pei Zhu's personality. Although he still can't avoid Pei Zhu's beating, he no longer thinks Pei Zhu is innocent as he did at the beginning.
After dinner, Zhou Xiyue packed up and went back. Du Heng looked at his burly figure walking on the muddy path and felt a little sorry for him: "He came here in such heavy rain and invited him to have dinner."
Xuan Yu said slowly: "Don't worry, he won't lose."
Not to mention the high deposit Xuan Yu gave, the lunch Zhou Xiyue had was enough for him to digest for a while. Thinking carefully, Zhou Xiyue made a fortune.
Du Heng and Xuan Yu walked towards Pei Bamboo Forest in the rain, carrying baskets on their backs. Du Heng hummed darkly, "I want to dig up all the bamboo shoots that can be dug."
God knows how he spent this time. He felt that every bamboo shoot in the bamboo forest had left a wound on his body. This was because Jing Nan's elixir worked, otherwise Du Heng would have become a pile of dried bones in the bamboo forest.
Xuan Yu looked at Du Heng with a half-smile: "Okay, I'll help you dig."
Du Heng thought about it and changed his mind: "We can't dig them all up. We have to leave some for new bamboo to grow. Otherwise, there will only be old bamboos in the bamboo forest, which will affect its growth."
Xuan Yu nodded: "Okay, whatever you say."
Big drops of rain gathered on the bamboo leaves. If you leaned against the bamboo pole, the bamboo would be hit by big raindrops. Fortunately, Xuan Yu drew a formation on Du Heng, so the rain didn't fall on him but created a hazy mist on his head. Du Heng in the mist was like a chick in an eggshell, well protected by Xuan Yu's spiritual energy.
Spring bamboo shoots are much larger than winter ones. Du Heng only dug out the ones that were about one foot above the ground. He kept the ones that were too high or too low for the time being. After digging through the moist soil, he found that the bamboo shoots, each wrapped in a black skin, were ten inches in diameter.
Du Heng weighed them and found that one bamboo shoot weighed five or six kilograms. After a winter of dormancy, the bamboo shoots were also working hard to grow.
With Xuan Yu around, Du Heng always felt relaxed. At first, he dug bamboo shoots with Xuan Yu, but later, Xuan Yu dug them and he just followed behind to pick them up. Raindrops dripped in the bamboo forest, and he and Xuan Yu talked and laughed. Through the hazy mist, Du Heng felt as if a bamboo shoot had grown in his heart.
Looking at Xuan Yu's back, Du Heng decided that he could not continue sleeping with him tonight.
Soon the two men returned to the yard carrying two baskets of bamboo shoots. Seeing so many bamboo shoots, Jing Nan was surprised: "So many bamboo shoots? Did you dig up all the bamboo shoots from Pei Bamboo Forest?"
Du Heng laughed and said, "How can that be possible? I only dug the most suitable spring bamboo shoots. There are still many more in the bamboo forest."
Jing Nan looked at Du Heng with a strange expression: "Damn it, Peizhu is really a cheap bone. In previous years, there were only a few bamboo shoots, but you came here to dig winter bamboo shoots and cut spring bamboo shoots. This year, there are so many more bamboo shoots than in previous years..."
Du Heng took a stool and sat under the eaves. He smiled and said, "I told you before, if you don't dig them up, they won't grow. Not all winter bamboo shoots can turn into spring bamboo shoots. If you don't remove too many winter bamboo shoots in time, the bamboo forest will waste unnecessary spiritual energy."
As he spoke, Du Heng quickly peeled off the bamboo shoots. Spring bamboo shoots were much larger than winter bamboo shoots. Under the heavy spring bamboo shoots grew purple-red roots, and Du Heng removed these short roots in a few seconds. Soon, yellowish spring bamboo shoots appeared in his backpack.
Spring bamboo shoots are a little thicker than winter bamboo shoots, but they are still delicious and are perfect for stewing soups, stir-frying, or making stuffing. Du Heng is going to use two spring bamboo shoots to make the stuffing for today's Qingtuan. Of course, meat and other ingredients must be added to it.
Spring bamboo shoots need to be blanched before they can be cut into fine dices for stuffing. This was originally a big project. If the previous Du Heng had done this, he would definitely have handed over the dicing to Xuan Yu. But now that Du Heng has started practicing, he has begun to deliberately cultivate his habit of using spiritual energy. When cutting bamboo shoots, his mind is empty. He can't feel the knife or resistance, but only feel the uniform spiritual energy flowing from the knife. The spiritual energy in his body is flushing his meridians.
Du Heng prepared two kinds of fillings, one of which was salty, using diced spring bamboo shoots, mountain meat, dried tofu, and seasonings such as onion, ginger, salt, and sugar. After beating the prepared filling, he had a bowl of salty filling in a short while.
There are two kinds of sweet fillings, one is candied red bean filling, and the other is peanut sesame filling.
The candied red beans were cooked beforehand and used to make the sponge cake. After making the sponge cake, there was still a small half pot left. The peanut sesame filling was freshly fried, and the person who fried the peanuts was Feng Gui.
When Du Heng and his friends went to dig bamboo shoots, Feng Daxianer was in the kitchen frying melon seeds and peanuts with red gilded sand. When Du Heng and his friends came back, the melon seed shells at Wen Qiong and his friends' feet were already all over the floor, and the decadent monks were sitting cross-legged on chairs, cracking melon seeds and chatting, not considering themselves as outsiders at all.
Peanut and sesame filling is easy to prepare. Just crush the peanuts and sesame and mix them with sugar. But... what should I use to crush the peanuts and sesame? Do I have to make a stone mortar from Du Heng's hometown?
Fortunately, Jing Nan helped solve the problem: "Smash it? I have a copper mortar and pestle, which is used for pounding medicine, but I haven't used it yet. Can you see if it can be used?"
138
The copper mortar and pestle is a cylindrical jar that doesn't look very big, only one foot high and less than ten inches in diameter. It is equipped with a copper pestle for pounding medicine, which looks like some kind of decoration.
There is a formation on it. Although it looks small, it can hold a lot of spiritual plants. When Jing Nan is refining pills, he needs to refine a lot of spiritual plants to get one or two drops of spiritual plant purification liquid. If the copper mortar and pestle is not big, he can't do other things. He can pound the medicine for eternity.
Seeing the copper mortar and pestle, Du Heng nodded hurriedly: "It can be used!"
Jing Nan waved his hand and said, "This is for you." Then he continued to crack melon seeds beside the nest.
Du Heng poured the peanut kernels into the copper mortar and pestle, and tried to pound it a few times. The seemingly light copper pestle was unexpectedly heavy. He soon realized that it was not because the copper pestle was heavy, but because his cultivation was insufficient. His spiritual energy was not enough to activate this magic weapon.
Although he failed, Du Heng was not discouraged. Sooner or later, he would become strong enough to skillfully use these magical instruments in the kitchen.
Xuan Yu took the copper pestle and easily smashed the peanuts into peanut kernels. If he continued to smash, he might be able to make peanut oil. Du Heng decisively stopped him. He poured the crushed peanuts into the wooden basin, and then poured the roasted sesame seeds into the copper pestle.
When pounding peanuts, the fragrance of the peanuts was so fragrant that it was hard to ignore. When it came to pounding sesame seeds, the fragrance was simply amazing. The demon cultivators stared at the copper mortar and pestle with eager eyes, wishing they could pour it out and take a few bites on the spot to be happy.
This was the only filling that looked loose, but it was the most tempting for the monks in the kitchen. The aroma of the freshly mixed peanuts and sesame seeds made Jing Nan unable to resist stealing a few bites with a spoon. Du Heng didn't watch carefully, and a bowl of filling was gone from the basin.
Du Heng only took the young shoots of mugwort, and put the fresh mugwort in a full basket. Just looking at its leaves, it looked a lot like the wild chrysanthemums that Du's mother planted. However, there was no white hair on the leaves of wild chrysanthemums, while mugwort had a layer of fine white hair.
The mugwort has been cleaned and it exudes a unique fragrance that smells a little bit refreshing.
Du Heng sprinkled a little bit of edible alkali into the pot, and then threw the mugwort into the pot to scald it. After the mugwort was put into the pot, the water in the pot suddenly turned green, and the mugwort also turned dark green. A fragrance spread in the yard. Jing Nan sniffed and felt that the smell was a bit like the mugwort juice he extracted when making pills, but it was more fragrant.
After blanching it for a while, Du Heng took out the mugwort and rinsed it with cold water. The juice of the mugwort dyed the cold water green, and when Du Heng pinched the mugwort slightly, the green juice dripped down through his fingers.
Next, you need to pound the mugwort into a uniform paste without any impurities. This will make the green rice dumpling have a uniform texture.
Xuan Yu was given the task of pounding the mugwort, and soon a large bowl of dark green mugwort juice filled the copper mortar. Du Heng stirred it with chopsticks, and the branches of the mugwort were all pounded. This state of mugwort juice was perfect for making green balls.
It was time to use Jingnan's Sky Fox Scale. Du Heng placed the mugwort juice and the bowl on the little fox's tail. The little fox licked the corner of his mouth and said crisply, "Six pounds~"
Du Heng calculated that he could use this much mugwort juice to dye twelve kilograms of glutinous rice flour. The ratio of glutinous rice flour to mugwort juice was about two to one.
In addition to glutinous rice flour, he also needs to prepare more than two kilograms of starch. The starch is slightly scalded with boiling water until the color becomes transparent and can be mixed with glutinous rice flour instead of wheat flour. The steamed green rice dumpling with wheat flour added has a more attractive color and a nice luster.
Fortunately, Jingnan's tupus were in the harvest season recently. After tearing open the skin of the tupus, the dry flesh flowed out. Du Heng dug out the flesh and put it in a wooden basin and added boiling water to blanch it. He got three pounds of sticky, slightly transparent flour.
Mixing glutinous rice flour is a big project. Mixing 12 kilograms of glutinous rice flour at a time, if it were in the past, Du Heng would have given up struggling and lay down. But this time, he felt unexpectedly relaxed when mixing the dough.
As the spiritual energy began to flow, the rice noodles, mugwort juice, and wheat flour in the large wooden basin moved with his hands as if they had their own consciousness. The only thing that was not pleasant was that Du Heng felt that his body was sweating while kneading the dough.
In order to avoid irritating everyone, Du Heng divided the spiritual energy into two parts, one part was evenly wrapped around his body with his skin, and the other part was operated with his hands. In this way, he didn't have to worry about the dirt released from his body when the spiritual energy was running and contaminating the food and irritating everyone.
Seeing Du Heng do this, the cultivators present actually showed surprise. Perhaps Du Heng did not realize that his control over spiritual energy was rapidly improving in a way that he himself did not expect.
Soon, a huge green glutinous rice ball appeared in the wooden basin. It looked like a ball of emerald green and was very beautiful.
Feng Gui was about to reach out and poke Tuanzi, but Du Heng reached out and patted the back of his hand: "You just cracked melon seeds, did you wash your hands?"
Feng Gui glared at Du Heng: "What qualifications do you have to look down on me? After all, I have become a pure body."
Du Heng hummed, "Even an Immaculate Body can't do that. You can't touch anything that is about to enter our mouths without washing your hands after eating."
Feng Gui retracted his claws awkwardly: "If you don't want to touch it, then don't touch it."
Seeing his uncle being humiliated, he laughed and rolled off the chair to the ground.
The next step is to make the dumplings together. After making sure everyone has washed their hands, Du Heng, as a teacher, carefully teaches everyone: "Just like that, press a hole and stuff the stuffing in."
Jing Nan muttered, "Isn't this the same as making shepherd's purse dumplings?"
Du Heng said: "It's the same."
Feng Gui was just despised by Du Heng. He snorted and a flash of light flashed in his hand. He said, "Just watch it."
The spiritual light flew to the wooden basin where the glutinous rice balls were placed, and more than 20 glutinous rice balls flew out of it. These balls turned into dough in front of Du Heng like a magic trick, and then wrapped various fillings. Then the spiritual energy turned again, and the green glutinous rice balls were neatly placed in front of Du Heng.
Feng Gui also directed the youth groups to circle Du Heng twice in a showy manner. He said arrogantly: "See? This is my power. Can you do it?"
Du Heng and Xiao Xiao rolled their eyes at Feng Gui. Du Heng said coldly, "If you show off again, your hot pot base and the following snacks will be cut in half."
Feng Gui immediately wilted. He picked up a glutinous rice dough and started kneading it properly: "I have wrapped it seriously. Can you add more base ingredients?"
Jing Nan burst out laughing: "You have come to this day too? You deserve it!"
Everyone makes their own Qingtuan (a traditional Chinese glutinous rice dumpling). Wen Qiong's Qingtuan is a bit flat, and looks like a pancake. After she kneaded it a few times, the Qingtuan looked a bit taller, but it still looked a bit weird.
Feng Gui’s dumplings have thick skin and small fillings. Their green dumplings are one size smaller than those made by Du Heng and his friends.
Jing Nan's dumplings were the roundest, probably because he had been making pills for a long time. The dumplings he made were almost spherical and perfect! Du Heng was reluctant to put them in the steamer.
The dumplings made by Du Heng and Xuan Yu looked like they were made by the same person. Not only did they look alike, but they were also about the same size. Jing Nan joked, "Our Xiaoyu got the real teachings from Du Heng. Look, if you don't know, you would think they were made by the same person."
Du Heng looked deeply at Xuan Yu, who was kneading the dumplings seriously with his eyes downcast. Du Heng felt that the bamboo shoot in his heart was soaked by the spring rain, itching and about to sprout.
He turned around in panic and looked at the steamer. Before he knew it, everyone had already put out a steamer full of qingtuan.
At this time, the water in the pot was already boiling. Du Heng was about to reach out to hold the steamer, but Xuan Yu had already placed the steamer on the stove. He followed Du Heng's example and wrapped a circle of wet gauze around the junction of the steamer and the pot. When he was about to cover the lid, he asked, "Does this need to be sprinkled with water?"
He memorized all the steps that Du Heng had taken to making dim sum. He remembered that Du Heng would sprinkle water on the buns before putting them in the steamer.
Hearing Xuan Yu's question, Du Heng quickly shook his head: "No, no, just steam two incense sticks."
While waiting for the qingtuan to mature, Du Heng was a little absent-minded. He held the qingtuan dough and asked Feng Gui, "Feng Gui, do you have a big bed over there?"
Feng Gui was stunned for a moment: "What?" What bed?
Du Heng said embarrassedly: "Do you still have the thousand-work bed that Xiaoxiao gave me?"
Xuan Yu's voice was a little low, and he asked: "What do you want the bed for?"
Du Heng didn't know why he felt a little sorry for Xuan Yu. He said awkwardly, "Isn't the weather getting warmer? I don't think Xuan Yu will be too cold. It's not good for you, two grown men, to sleep together."
Xuan Yu said seriously: "I think it's good. I said that my body is cool in the summer, so it's very comfortable to hold me while sleeping. Xiaoxiao likes to hold me while sleeping in the summer, Xiaoxiao, right?"
Xiaoxiao didn't get Du Heng's eye signal at all. He nodded frantically: "Chirp chirp~"
Du Heng was always embarrassed to tell Xuan Yu that he felt Xuan Yu was special, right? How could he say it? It was strange that Du Heng had no idea at all after sleeping with Xuan Yu for such a long time. Why did he feel so bad after digging spring bamboo shoots today?
Could it be that spring has arrived and the bamboo shoots in his sea of consciousness are about to sprout? But his natal spiritual plant is bamboo, not some gorgeous peach blossom, so this shouldn't be the case.
The author has something to say: The Yangcao puffer fish in my hometown is very delicious, and it is especially delicious when the peach blossoms are in bloom. I ate it once at a wedding banquet in the spring, and I still remember it to this day.
Du Heng: Let’s put the matter of the puffer fish aside. Xuan Yu and I are going to sleep separately.
Xuan Yu: I have tried so hard to get into bed, how could I give you the chance to
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
