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The candied taro was a great success. Xiaoxiao ate half a bowl of it while standing on the stove. When the generals came back, she generously pushed the bowl to them: "Chirp, chirp!"
The generals were quite respectful of Xiaoxiao's recommendation. After taking a bite, they had different reactions. Lao Dao and Yun Zheng commented, "It tastes OK." Maybe the kids like the taste, but the rough guys like them don't like it very much.
Chonghua ate one bite after another: "Mm! Delicious! Du Heng, this is delicious, can you fry some more?"
Lao Dao and Yun Zheng looked at each other and realized that it was indeed something that children liked.
After a while, Chonghua and Xiaoxiao finished eating the two taro. Chonghua even rinsed the plate with hot water and drank the sugar water at the bottom of the plate.
Du Heng smiled and said, "If you like, I'll fry it for you later. I won't fry it today because I have something better to eat."
Hearing that there was something more delicious, Chonghua and the others were happy: "What is delicious?" Du Heng pointed at the wooden basin, and Chonghua scanned it with his spiritual sense: "Hey? Chicken? What kind of chicken is this?"
Du Heng put a few eggs into a large bowl. While beating the egg yolks, he said to Chonghua, "Fried chicken."
As expected, it was something he had never eaten before, so Chonghua decisively chose to stay on the platform.
Du Heng shook off the seasoning on the marinated chicken nuggets, then dipped the chicken nuggets into the egg liquid to coat them. Next to the egg liquid was a bowl of white powder. Yun Zheng looked at it for a while and asked, "Is this flour?"
Du Heng took the chicken nuggets out of the egg liquid and rolled them in the flour: "There is starch and flour in it, as well as a little salt and five-spice powder." Yun Zheng nodded thoughtfully: "Mr. Du is really particular about cooking."
Du Heng's hand trembled, and the chicken nugget almost fell to the ground. Yun Zheng's evaluation of him was too high, and he felt unworthy of it.
When frying chicken, Du Heng doesn’t like to coat it with a thick layer of flour. He only likes to coat it with one layer, so that the meat tastes fuller and the dough doesn’t absorb too much oil and the taste isn’t too greasy.
After the oil was hot, he threw the chicken pieces into the pot. Fine drops of oil immediately appeared around the pink and white chicken pieces, and a slight popping sound was heard.
The first frying took a cup of tea, and by the time Du Heng fished out the golden chicken nuggets, Xiaoxiao's mouth was already watering. The fragrance lingered in Yunzheng Cave, and even the drunk Jingnan was smoked out.
Jing Nan felt dizzy. He stretched out his slender index finger and rubbed his temples: "What are you doing? It smells so good?"
Du Heng often fries pork chops and lamb chops, but this is his first time frying chicken. It must be said that if chicken is fragrant, other meats will have no chance. For Jing Nan, who loves chicken, this taste is a crime.
The golden chicken nuggets were placed in the colander by Du Heng, giving off an amazing aroma and warmth. Jing Nan reached out to touch a piece and take a bite. Du Heng gently patted his paw and said, "It's not ready yet, don't worry."
Jing Nan retracted his claws: "Oh, then do it quickly."
The oil in the pot became hotter, and Du Heng put the chicken pieces into the pot again. This time, it took half a cup of tea to fry them again. This was mainly because the chicken pieces he used were relatively large. If the chicken pieces were smaller, the frying time would be shorter.
As Xiaoxiao drooled, the fried chicken came out of the pot! Without waiting for Du Heng to call, the generals who had been waiting around rushed over and took a piece each. The chicken nuggets were covered with a layer of crispy dough, which was oily and crispy. The dough had the taste of five-spice powder, and it was delicious even when eaten alone.
Under the thin batter is the perfectly fried chicken. After taking a bite, the tender white chicken is so juicy that it seems to be dripping. The chicken is also very flavorful. Du Heng was worried that the chicken would not be flavorful enough if it was not marinated long enough. Later, he fried the taro first, and the flavor of the marinade had already entered the chicken during the process of making the taro.
Jing Nan couldn't stop eating: "Why didn't you make it for me before, it's so delicious?" Du Heng was helpless: "Jing Daxian, please be reasonable. I wanted to make it for you at that time, have you forgotten? You had no appetite because of your molting, and Xiaoxiao couldn't eat because of the heat, so I didn't make it."
Jing Nan thought for a moment and said, "Oh...it seems to be true. I forgive you." Du Heng didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Thank you."
Jing Nan looked around: "Where's Xiaoyu? Why can't I see him? Did he get drunk last night?" Du Heng said: "He said that the Zhou brothers encountered some problems on the road, and he went to meet them. He said he would be back soon."
Jing Nan nodded thoughtfully: "Well, what could happen to the Zhou brothers? They have never been out of Dongji Mountain, could it be that they have acquaintances?"
Didn't he meet an acquaintance? In the afternoon, Xuan Yu came back with the Zhou brothers. There was a person following them, and Du Heng also knew this person, Jing Hong.
The last time he saw Jinghong, Du Heng was quite friendly to her. But after witnessing Xiaoxiao's suffering and Fenggui's collapse... Du Heng didn't know how to face her.
Jinghong was in a state of embarrassment, following the big Zhou brothers like a cowering quail. Fenggui said nothing when he saw Xuanyu, and Xuanyu calmly explained, "I saved her."
Jinghong bowed respectfully and reservedly: "Greetings to Lord Feng, and Lord Jing."
Jing Nan raised his hand and said, "Bucket, what's going on? Didn't they go to Shenxu Palace a long time ago in previous years? Why are they only going to Dongji Mountain now?" Jing Nan looked at the Zhou brothers and said, "Didn't they say they were going to meet the contact? Don't tell me that the person who is contacting the demon tribe on the human side has become Jinghong?"
Zhou Lianhua rubbed her hands in embarrassment: "We encountered Jinghong who was ambushed at the foot of Dongji Mountain. If we didn't save her, she would have died." Zhou Xiyue also said awkwardly: "Long Jun told us that keeping Jinghong would still be useful, so we rescued her."
Feng Gui looked at Jing Hong, who knelt on the ground obediently: "The demon world is in chaos."
Feng Gui nodded: "Well, what's the chaos?" Jing Hong's eyes were red: "They are all saying that the three demon gods died in the Saint Temple. Now the Feather Tribe, the Water Tribe, and the Beast Tribe are in turmoil. I had already arrived near the Shenxu Palace, but when I heard the rumor, I hurried back."
Feng Gui smiled and said, "Why did you rush back? To see if we are dead? Yes, you still have the curse I put on you. Are you afraid that if we die, there will be no one to help you renew your spiritual vein?"
Jinghong kowtowed to the ground with her head. She kowtowed three times so hard that her head was bruised. She knelt on the ground and choked up, "Subordinate... No, I didn't mean that. Seeing that the adults are safe and sound, Jinghong is relieved."
Jing Nan looked at Xuan Yu: "Who ambushed Jing Hong?"
Xuan Yu said, "They are two monks from the Tiger Clan." Hearing this, Jing Nan frowned slightly, "Why did the monks from the Tiger Clan ambush Jing Hong?"
Jinghong gritted his teeth and said, "They want to find out the whereabouts of the Chaos Pearl."
Jing Nan was stunned for a moment and then sneered: "Interesting. Maybe they think whoever finds the three beads in the chaos first can become the demon god? The demon cultivators of the tiger tribe are really brave. They even thought of ambush Jing Hong. When did they ambush you?"
Jinghong said, "Around the end of March, I found someone following me. I fought with them in Qingxi Town in mid-April, but I was lucky enough to escape. I hid for more than a month until I went to the territory of Shenxu Palace. I never thought that they would attack me in Dongji Mountain. If it weren't for the two generals who rescued me, I might be dead now."
Jing Nan calculated the time: "Well... they started tracking Jing Hong at the end of March. It seems that they have been deploying for a long time." Jing Nan looked at Feng Gui: "Feng Gui, what do you think about this?"
Feng Gui chuckled: "What can I do? I've brought the people back, so what else can I say? It's nothing more than being betrayed again."
Jinghong buried her head deeply in the ground. In her panic, she even forgot to change her name: "I dare not, and I will never do it again."
Feng Gui snorted, "Go back to Yunzheng Cave Mansion and don't come out and hang around if you have nothing to do!"
Jinghong obeyed the order, she lowered her head and humbly withdrew. Du Heng saw that the hem of her clothes was stained with blood, as if every time he saw Jinghong, she was so embarrassed.
The Zhou brothers rubbed their hands together and said, "Master Feng Junjing, we have already contacted the person who will pick us up there. As long as we leave Dongji Mountain, he will be able to help us sneak into Shenxu Palace smoothly."
Jing Nan nodded: "Thank you, generals. Did the cultivators say when they will come to pick us up?"
The Zhou brothers said, "On the day of Cold Dew, at the foot of Fire Phoenix Mountain on the west side of Dongji Mountain, he will come to look for us."
Feng Gui said: "Okay."
When I left the village, the dog days had not yet passed, but now it was already the cold dew? Du Heng was a little dazed. Did the days pass too fast? He didn't notice it because he was immersed in cooking and practicing every day. If there was a calendar, Du Heng would have torn up more than half of it.
With Jinghong at home, the atmosphere changed. Although Jinghong hid in her room and rarely came out, everyone felt that the previous ease and comfort seemed to be overshadowed. Du Heng had no energy to cook these two days and didn't want to cook fresh dishes at all.
One morning four or five days later, it started raining again in Dongji Mountain. Every autumn rain brings a chill. If Du Heng were an ordinary person, he would definitely start to put on more clothes at this moment. However, he was a cultivator, and the clothes in his box were still the ones Xuan Yu had bought for him at the beginning.
After waking up in the morning, Xuan Yu had already stood up. Du Heng touched his side, and the place where Xuan Yu lay was already cold. He didn't know how long he had been gone. Du Heng thought that Xuan Yu might have gone to the mountains to help him find something. In fact, the food in his storage bag was already very rich, and the vegetables he planted some time ago were also growing well under the watering of spiritual energy.
Listening to the drizzle of autumn rain outside the window, Du Heng yawned lazily, and he turned over and hugged Xiaoxiao in the bed. Xiaoxiao's snoring stopped for a while, and then continued snoring.
Just as Du Heng was about to get up, he heard Xuan Yu's voice. Xuan Yu brought in a bit of cold wind, and Du Heng felt Xuan Yu's hair falling on his face. He let go of Xiao Xiao and turned over, and when he opened his eyes he saw Xuan Yu's gentle face.
Du Heng reached out and touched Xuan Yu's long hair: "Where have you been?" Xuan Yu kissed Du Heng on the lips: "I brought you something."
Du Heng's oven was placed on the platform. Du Heng's eyes lit up when he saw it: "Hey?! Oven! Xuanyu, how did you do that?!"
Xuan Yu hugged Du Heng from behind: "Didn't you say you wanted to bake mooncakes? I went back and moved here." Du Heng was touched and worried: "I just mentioned it casually, why did you take the risk? What if the people in the demon world find you?"
Xuan Yu smiled: "It's okay, they can't find me." Du Heng asked: "How is the family?"
He only saw the fire in the direction of his home from the Sage Temple. The whole village was reduced to scorched earth. He knew what his home looked like without seeing it with his own eyes. But he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that his home would still be intact when he returned home.
Xuan Yu said slowly: "It's okay, don't worry, it's just that the spiritual fire came out and burned your fields, there's nothing left in the fields." Du Heng smiled: "It's okay, we can continue planting after we go back."
218
After the oven was ready, Du Heng prepared to make mooncakes. He and Xuan Yu searched through boxes and cabinets and found a lot of ingredients, and the platform returned to its usual bustle.
He prepared a lot of nuts, including peanuts, melon seeds, almonds, sesame seeds, walnuts, etc. After being roasted, the various nuts exuded a fragrance, and the colorful nuts piled in the wooden basin were delicious. However, in order to make the filling, there was still a little process missing.
In addition, there are red bean paste, salted egg yolks, fresh meat... Four large basins of raw materials lined up in a row, which is spectacular.
Jing Nan and the others strolled to the platform again. Looking at the chopping board full of stuffing, he suddenly felt depressed. "Hey? There's something delicious. It looks like we're having a feast today?"
Du Heng said without even raising his head: "There is no dinner, we are making snacks."
Jing Nan smiled: "There are so many stuffings here, and you tell me this is stuffing? What kind of snack needs so much stuffing?" As he said that, Jing Nan grabbed a handful of fried nuts and started eating.
Du Heng got a headache when he saw it: "I have already weighed the fillings in that bowl, don't take anything carelessly. There is some snacks next to it that I left for everyone, you can eat that one."
Du Heng pointed to a large bowl beside him, which was filled with roasted nuts. Jing Nan grabbed a handful and tasted it: "Isn't this the same taste?"
Du Heng said, "It tastes exactly the same, but I weighed it over there. If the weight is wrong, I'll have to recalculate the recipe, which is troublesome."
Jing Nan almost choked: "Is this all you have?"
Du Heng said calmly, "Yes, that's all I can do. We're having eel noodles for lunch today. I don't feel like cooking."
Jing Nan said calmly: "Okay, what is eel silk?"
Du Heng pointed to the wooden barrel next to him and said, "The kitten has caught a lot of eels for me during this period. If I don't eat eels anymore, I will become thin." Jing Nan leaned over to take a look and saw that there was indeed half a barrel of eels in the wooden barrel.
Xuan Yu was squatting beside the wooden barrel to help kill the eel. If an ordinary person killed the eel, it would be awkward. However, the person who killed the fish was Xuan Yu, and his movements were smooth and seamless. There was a layer of mucus on the surface of the eel, which would fall off when scalded with boiling water.
Xuan Yu took a dozen fat and large eels and put them in another wooden barrel. After pouring a basin of boiling water, it took only a few breaths for the eels to go from madly jumping around to being motionless in the boiling water. Xuan Yu fished out the eels and removed the slime from their bodies.
The eel only has one bone on its back, and both sides of the bone are full of meat. Xuan Yu cut down from the bone on one side of the back of the fish head with a knife, and the eel was cut into pieces of meat. After scraping off the internal organs neatly, Xuan Yu shaved the bone off the meat. At this time, you can see that the eel's bones are blue-gray, and there is no extra meat on them.
The eel bones were not wasted and Xuan Yu carefully collected them in the colander next to him.
Jing Nan gave Xuan Yu a thumbs up: "Xiao Yu, you can do it. I thought you only knew how to deal with things in the sea, but I didn't expect you could also deal with things in the ditch." Xuan Yu said calmly: "Du Heng taught me."
Jing Nan threw a nut into his mouth and chewed it: "Du Heng taught me well, I must reward Xiaoyu today."
Du Heng was overjoyed: "Xiaoyu went home this morning and brought me the oven."
Jing Nan was stunned. He angrily denounced Xuan Yu: "You went back?! Why didn't you tell me when you went back? If I had known you were going back, I would have asked you to bring me all the elixirs from my home!" A storage bag flew out of Xuan Yu's sleeve: "Here you go."
Jing Nan immediately smiled and praised her: "As expected of Xiaoyu, you are so reliable!"
Xuan Yu ignored Jing Nan. He made a few cuts and cuts on the eel slices, and the eel became eel shreds. The processed eel shreds looked very uniform, and if they were placed in a colander, people who didn't know what it was would not be able to recognize what it was.
Du Heng placed the eel bones in the pot next door, then added three tablespoons of water, added the three main ingredients for removing fishy smell and salt into the water, then turned on the high heat and started cooking.
Jing Nan was confused: "What are you doing?" Du Heng explained: "Adding the milky eel soup to the eel noodles will make it taste even more delicious."
Jing Nan nodded: "It's not a waste." Du Heng chuckled: "After cooking the eel bones, you can fish them out and fry them in oil. You can eat them as snacks." Jing Nan gave a thumbs up: "Great."
After being stewed over high heat for a stick of incense, the eel bones turned milky white, and after a little seasoning, they were fragrant. Du Heng fished out the eel bones and put the bone soup in a large bowl. He added half a pot of water to the pot where the eel bones were boiled, covered the pot and started to boil the water.
He poured hot oil into the pot again, and Du Heng scooped a spoonful of milky white lard into the soybean oil. After the lard melted, he poured minced garlic and shredded ginger into the oil. I don't know if it was because of the lard, but the fried garlic and ginger tasted particularly fragrant this time.
After smelling the aroma, Du Heng poured the eel shreds into the pot and stir-fried them. Every time I saw Du Heng stir-frying something, it was a pleasure. After adding the white wine, the flames in the pot ignited, and Du Heng skillfully stir-fried the eel shreds in the fire. Soon, the soft eel shreds were heated and curled up slightly.
He added soy sauce and sugar to the pot for seasoning. The eel strips, dyed with soy sauce, looked oily, like the stir-fried mushrooms Du Heng had made earlier. A salty and sweet aroma spread out, and Du Heng quickly poured the prepared thickening sauce into the pot.
A thin layer of starch was added to the eel shreds, which looked very delicious. After a little stir-frying, thick soup appeared between the eel shreds. Du Heng scooped up a little soup and tasted it. It was a little sweet. He added a little more salt to the pot, and after tasting it again, the taste was almost the same.
At this time, the ultimate killer of shredded eel is to be used. Shredded eel without pepper is soulless. Du Heng boldly sprinkled pepper in the pot, and a pungent smell spread. Jing Nan accidentally got too close and sneezed several times on the spot.
After stir-frying, the sauce was thickened over high heat, and the thin starch became rich. Before serving, Du Heng added a pinch of minced garlic and chopped green onion on top of the eel, and then he scooped a spoonful of lard and heated it in the pot. When white smoke came out of the lard, he poured the small spoonful of lard on the minced garlic and chopped green onion.
With a sizzling sound from the minced garlic and chopped green onions, a dish of fresh and delicious fried eel shreds is ready to come out of the pot!
Shredded eel should be eaten while hot. If it gets cold, the taste will be greatly reduced. Du Heng knows this very well.
At this time, the water in the big pot was already boiling. He generously threw half a pot of hand-rolled noodles into the pot, and soon the noodles floated on the water. At this time, sprinkle a handful of tender green vegetables that can squeeze out water, and the soup in the pot will be dyed green.
When the noodles were cooked, Du Heng used a colander to put the noodles and vegetables into large bowls. He poured bone broth into each bowl to cover the noodles. There was not much bone broth, so it was just enough to make ten bowls.
Looking at the big bowl at this time, I saw green and white noodles mixed with vegetables immersed in the delicious eel bone soup, which looked very light. However, when Du Heng poured a large spoonful of eel shreds into the bowl, the light noodles became unusually thick.
Du Heng shouted towards the cave: "Are you up? Time to eat! We're having eel noodles today, eat them while they're hot!"
As soon as the words fell, the generals in the cave rushed out. Chonghua couldn't help but drink a mouthful of soup first: "Ah, it reminds me of the dragon beard noodles on New Year's Eve~"
Du Heng smiled and said, "It's not dragon beard noodles, it's just ordinary hand-rolled noodles, and the soup is eel bone soup. Do you like it?"
Chonghua was already slurping the soup and slurping the noodles. He nodded as he ate: "Delicious, delicious." Yun Zheng looked at the wooden barrel and said: "So the eels in the ditch can taste like this. I'll catch more tomorrow."
Lao Dao said, "Now that the weather is cold, there are not many eels on the mountain. If you want to catch them, you can only go to the foot of the mountain." Yun Zheng nodded, "Yes, I know where I can find them. I saw Mr. Du's family catching eels there."
Du Heng said casually: "My cat is really good. Last time, he caught loaches for me. Loaches are delicious when cooked. They are especially plump and delicious."
Xiaoxiao didn't even raise his head, he couldn't stop eating. The chewy hand-rolled noodles were strong and springy in the mouth, and the bone soup was rich, and the noodles were covered with soup. That would be fine, the eel shreds on top were too delicious.
Xiaoxiao had seen eels in the village before. This fish looked like a snake, and Xiaoxiao usually avoided it with disdain. Now the eel shreds in his mouth were plump, tender, and delicious, with a slight sweetness in the salty and fresh taste, and they tasted oily and fragrant. He only regretted that Du Heng didn't give him more eel shreds. It was such a pleasure to eat a bowl of steaming eel shreds noodles in the slightly cool weather!
Feng Gui was very principled. Even though he knew that the eel noodles prepared by Du Heng were already delicious, he still added a layer of red chili oil. While slurping the noodles, he asked Du Heng: "Why don't you make more? I see there are still a lot of eels in the barrel."
Du Heng smiled and said, "We're going to bake mooncakes later. I'm afraid everyone will eat too much and won't be able to finish the mooncakes."
Hearing the words "baked mooncakes", Feng Gui noticed the oven on the platform. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Xuan Yu: "You're back to the village?"
Xuan Yu nodded: "Yes, I'm going back." Feng Gui made the same accusation as Jing Nan: "Why didn't you tell me? If I had known you were going back, I would have asked you to bring my collection back home for me."
Xuan Yu said seriously: "You have too many collections. I was afraid that if I made it too obvious, people would find out. But I brought Jing Nan's elixirs with me." Feng Gui snorted: "If someone broke into my house, they would have looted all the collections."
Xuan Yu said calmly: "It's okay, even if they take your things, you will make them spit them out intact." Feng Gui nodded in satisfaction: "Yeah, that makes sense."
Xiaoxiao was not satisfied with the bowl of noodles. He drank up all the bone soup and licked the plate that Du Heng had put the shredded eel on. Xiaoxiao, still unsatisfied, chirped at Du Heng twice. Du Heng rubbed Xiaoxiao and said, "How about I make you a fairy egg stew with the remaining eel?"
Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up: "Chirp!" Deal!
219
After breakfast, Du Heng and Xuan Yu started to work. Many people helped this time. Jing Nan, who made the most rounded mooncakes, was assigned the task of making the mooncakes rounder. Feng Gui, who could make dumplings with magic, was assigned the task of making mooncakes.
Lao Dao and Yun Zheng were strong, so they were in charge of guarding the oven. When the time was up, they would take out the baked mooncakes and put new ones in. The Zhou brothers stood on Du Heng's left and right, helping him knead the dough.
Du Heng had made water-oil skin and ghee before. When he made chicken pastries and egg tarts, Du Heng was lazy and used water-oil skin to wrap ghee. But for mooncakes this time, he needed to knead the water-oil skin and ghee separately and then overlap them and roll them.
He prepared a lot of stuffing, so he used a lot of flour. The Zhou brothers were not good at other things, but they were good at this kind of work that required strength. Du Heng divided the pastry and dough into two halves, and each of the Zhou brothers took a half and carefully kneaded, pressed and rolled it. If it was just Du Heng, he could spend a whole day just kneading the dough.
After the kneaded dough is cut into cylindrical dough, you can see layers of patterns from the side. Du Heng and his colleagues work together to knead the dough into balls and then press them into pancakes. Of course, the fillings that have been prepared in advance cannot be missing in the middle.
Du Heng had to keep an eye on the filling while wrapping the mooncakes. The sweet filling he made could be eaten directly. Jing Nan, Feng Gui, Xiao Xiao and the others were not polite at all. As long as he wasn't paying attention, they would immediately stuff a piece into his mouth.
In particular, the five-nut stuffing mixed with syrup and cooked flour was stolen the most. Du Heng took a closer look and found that a large bowl of stuffing was missing from the wooden basin without him noticing. When he saw the end, he also joined the ranks of those who ate the stuffing.
The five-nut filling doesn't need to be baked to be crispy and fragrant. It's full of real ingredients, and you can eat large nuts with just a bite. It's strange to say, I don't see people so enthusiastic about eating nuts at other times. During the Chinese New Year, nuts were placed on the table, and everyone except Xiaoxiao and Fenggui just paid attention to them. But this time, the five-nut filling was actually loved by Du Heng.
Soon, five-nut mooncakes of slightly different shapes appeared on the chopping board. At this time, Du Heng gave Xiaoxiao a task, which was to brush a layer of egg liquid on the surface of the mooncake. The yellow egg liquid was placed in a large bowl. Xiaoxiao held a small brush made of nine-tail hair in his paw. He brushed one for every one Du Heng and his friends made.
The egg liquid is not applied casually. For the five-nut filling, just apply a layer of egg liquid. For the red bean paste filling, sprinkle some black sesame seeds on it after brushing the egg liquid, and for the fresh meat and egg yolk filling, sprinkle white sesame seeds.
The egg liquid Du Heng prepared was not enough to brush all the mooncakes, so he also prepared a mold with words made from rouge fruit. Xiaoxiao was very careful, he only brushed the first fifty mooncakes with each filling, and for the rest with the same filling, he used the mold to print rouge fruit juice and then pressed the words on them.
Domineering or steady fonts appeared on the mooncake crust, saying "fresh meat and egg yolk", "five nuts" or "red bean paste".
Everyone was excited and worked together. When Chonghua put the first batch of mooncakes into the oven, everyone was eagerly looking forward to the finished product. After two incense sticks, a rich fragrance wafted out of the oven.
Lao Dao placed the first plate of mooncakes on the table: "Okay! Come and see!"
The mooncakes on the plate have changed from being soft and smooth to being crispy. The mooncakes look bigger than when they were first put down. Each palm-sized mooncake is either brushed with egg liquid or engraved with words, looking cute and plump.
The mooncakes with five-nut filling and red bean paste filling were not damaged, but the fresh meat one was slightly damaged. The rich gravy came out of the crust and piled up next to the mooncake, and then it was baked dry, leaving a brown mark on the outside of the crust.
Although the fresh meat mooncakes don’t look good, they are the most popular. According to Du Heng’s observation, the first thing people reach out for is the fresh meat mooncakes.
The fresh meat mooncake is wrapped with a whole salted egg yolk in the middle. Du Heng never skimps on ingredients when it comes to his family's food. The mooncakes he makes weigh two taels each. The warm crust falls apart when touched. Inside the crispy crust, the fresh meat is restlessly calling out to the people outside the crust. The smell is enough to make people salivate, not to mention eating it.
Du Heng carefully bit open the mooncake crust, and a crescent-shaped mark immediately appeared on the mooncake. The crust melted in his mouth, and the slightly salty crust was like osmanthus flowers scattered in his mouth in the autumn wind, and the tip of his tongue passed through the fragrant, soft and crispy powder.
The fresh meat inside tightly surrounds the egg yolk. The fresh meat is juicy and elastic when gently squeezed. The juice gathers outside the meat and rolls into the outer skin. When you take a bite, the fresh meat is mixed with the freshness of the egg yolk, which is completely different from the meat buns and three-diced buns you have eaten before.
Take a bite of the meat filling and the juice inside bursts out. If you need a word to describe the taste of this cake, it is only one word. Eat meat mooncakes while it is hot, just like eel noodles, it loses its soul when it is cold.
Mooncakes need to be held in the palm of your hand and eaten with great care. If you are not careful, the crust may fall to the ground before you even eat the mooncake.
Zhou Xiyue made such a mistake. He was afraid that he would break the mooncake if he grabbed it with one hand, so he pinched it with two fingers. Then the crust loosened and the whole mooncake fell to the ground, smashing the crust all over the ground and leaving the meatball in the middle.
Zhou Xiyue was so upset that he almost crawled on the ground to pick up the meatball. However, he failed. The kitten jumped out from the side and snatched the meatball away, and Nianniansuisui picked up the pie crust next to it. Zhou Xiyue only saw a little grease left on the ground. Ah, he was so angry.
The mooncakes with red bean paste filling are also remarkable. Usually Du Heng makes rice flour sponge cakes with red bean fillings, and everyone likes them. The red bean mooncakes baked today are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, sweet but not greasy. Xuan Yu, who loves sweets, ate two in a row. If he hadn't saved some space for the mooncakes with five-nut fillings, Xuan Yu could have eaten two more.
Five-nut mooncakes are probably Du Heng’s favorite besides meat mooncakes.
It's funny to say that when Du Heng was in his hometown, five-nut mooncakes were demonized by everyone. Everyone said that five-nut mooncakes should be kicked out of the mooncake world, but Du Heng loved to eat five-nut mooncakes. Carefully selected nuts are carefully baked, and a bite of them is full of sweetness. When you break it open, you can see the plump nuts. How can it not be delicious?
Later, Du Heng realized that the five-nut mooncakes that everyone ate were not the authentic five-nut mooncakes. Many of the five-nut mooncakes sold in his hometown were just shoddy products that merchants used to fill in the gaps. It was a pity that the real five-nut mooncakes were blamed.
Du Heng broke open a five-nut mooncake and saw whole almonds, cashews, large walnuts, melon seeds, peanuts, and black sesame seeds in the brown filling. Under the softness of sugar and cooked flour, they were united together and sweet.
Du Heng likes the feeling of chewing the fillings when biting the five-nut biscuits. The large nuts are mixed together and are sweet. When chewing carefully, you can taste the flavor of each ingredient. For example, the one Du Heng is eating now has oil seeping out as soon as you bite it. This is the taste of walnuts.
The three kinds of fillings satisfied most people's tastes. Even Feng Gui, a handsome man who loved spicy food, enjoyed the five-nut filling. Du Heng felt that his hard work for most of the day was worth it!
Xiaoxiao ate the most, and before he knew it, he had eaten nine mooncakes. When Du Heng thought he was going to eat the tenth mooncake, Xiaoxiao jumped off the chair and walked into the cave. Du Heng was curious about where Xiaoxiao was going, but Feng Gui said, "Let him go."
Du Heng quickly understood that Xiaoxiao went to deliver mooncakes to Jinghong!
Du Heng felt mixed emotions for a moment, and he didn't know what to say. Among this group of people, Xiaoxiao was the direct victim, and the calls for killing by others were actually nonsense. Only Xiaoxiao had the right to decide whether to forgive Jinghong. Xiaoxiao knew that Jinghong was the murderer who killed him, but she took the initiative to send her mooncakes...
Du Heng didn't know what Xiaoxiao was thinking, although he had once felt pity for Jinghong because of her pity. Now he only felt conflicted when he saw Jinghong.
Unexpectedly, it was Xiaoxiao who took that step first. Du Heng felt that his mind and tolerance were not even one-tenth of Xiaoxiao's.
After a while, Xiaoxiao came back strolling, flapping his wings and chirping a few times. Du Heng didn't understand, so Xuan Yu explained, "Xiaoxiao said that Jinghong cried when she saw Yuebing. He said that Jinghong was actually more pitiful than him. Although he didn't have spiritual roots, there were so many people around him who really cared about him. But Jinghong didn't have that, so she was more pitiful than Xiaoxiao."
Feng Gui looked at Xiao Xiao deeply and said, "Feng Lin, you must also remember that there must be something hateful about pitiful people."
Xiaoxiao shook her wings: "Chirp."
Du Heng looked at Xuan Yu, and Xuan Yu said, "Xiao Xiao said that he doesn't care."
The baked mooncakes should be put into the refrigerator while they are still hot. Du Heng counted them. After everyone had eaten them, he still had 121 meat mooncakes, 183 red bean paste mooncakes, and 166 five-nut mooncakes left. If they were distributed equally, each person would get 12 red bean paste mooncakes, 18 red bean paste mooncakes, and 16 five-nut mooncakes.
Du Heng evenly placed the mooncakes in the food box according to the number of people, and put the remaining mooncakes on the plate, which was full. Du Heng thought that he should eat these mooncakes, but the embarrassed face and desperate eyes of the shocked and desperate people kept appearing in his mind.
When Du Heng was staring at the plate in a daze, a hand reached out and took the plate away. Du Heng turned his head and looked into Xuan Yu's eyes: "Hmm? Xiaoyu, do you want to eat mooncakes?"
Xuan Yu said, "Send a few to Jing Hong." Du Heng didn't say anything. Xuan Yu said, "There is no regret medicine in the world. Jing Hong has done something wrong and can't turn back. It depends on what she chooses in the future."
Du Heng nodded silently: "Well, okay."
Xuan Yu patted Du Heng's shoulder and said, "This is a dispute between us and Jing Hong. You don't have to take it too seriously. After she recovers from her injuries, she will leave Yun Zheng's cave. Her future fate will depend on her luck."
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