Jiang Bo was very careful in roasting the seeds. They didn't have a professional roasting machine, so they had to do it manually. Before that, the drying and shelling of the seeds had already been completed.
The purpose of roasting the seeds is to destroy the cell structure of the camellia seeds with high temperature, reduce the adsorption of protein on oil, and make oil separation easier.
The next step was grinding the flour. After their first failure, Jiang Bo and Hong Gui learned their lesson and instead of using a traditional millstone, they adopted a grinding platform and a stone mill.
The camellia seeds were placed on the millstone, and the horse pulled the millstone back and forth. The camellia seeds were repeatedly crushed by the stone mill and soon turned into powder.
Grinding the powder only requires two people. Wang Qin is responsible for adding camellia seeds and collecting the powder, while Xu Meng controls the horses.
This was, after all, a wild horse. Although it had been tamed, it was still not as obedient as a domestic horse. So Xu Meng personally took charge, leading the horse around in circles.
Girls raised on the grasslands are different; they have their own way of dealing with horses, and without them doing anything, the horses obediently listen to them.
The rice noodles, once cooked, needed to be steamed. They worked overtime to weave bamboo steamers, lined the bottom with leaves, and placed them on top of the pot to steam. This required two people. Jiang Yining and Tang Jiaqi were in charge of this task.
The task of wrapping the cakes was left to Ye Wen and Wang Bing. They poured the powder into the pre-made circular iron hoop, then pressed it down with logs.
This iron hoop also proves that Hong Gui's blacksmithing skills have greatly improved.
At first, things were a bit chaotic. The camellia seeds kept popping out when grinding the powder, the horses weren't cooperating, and the cake-making process was always messed up. But after getting used to it, everyone quickly got the hang of it.
"It must have been really difficult for people in ancient times to press oil; the preparation work alone was so complicated," Wang Bing said.
“Brother Wang, the final step of pressing the oil is where you really need skill and strength,” Jiang Bo said.
He was covered in sweat and kept a close eye on the fire.
"You've worked hard, warriors. I'm here to bring you some chicken soup."
Li Su'er brought over a large pot of chicken soup, and the overflowing aroma invigorated everyone.
"Chicken stew with mushrooms, and I even luxuriously used wild ginger. Li's secret recipe for a soul-soothing chicken soup."
Everyone put down their work and went to wash their hands to prepare for the chicken soup.
Li Su'er served everyone a bowl of chicken soup, with golden chicken fat floating on top, and the aroma of chicken and mushrooms mingling together.
Li Su'er's cooking skills are truly amazing. Even with many seasonings missing, she still managed to make an incredibly delicious chicken soup.
She happened to shoot a chicken today; it was a pity she couldn't capture it alive, but it was still good to be able to make chicken soup for everyone. The people who went out and the people on the island didn't have that kind of luck; one chicken was enough for everyone in the camp to have several pieces of meat.
After drinking chicken soup and resting for a while, everyone was back to work with renewed energy.
The sun moves slowly across the sky; time always flies when you're focused on your work.
The roasted camellia seeds are ground into powder on a millstone, then steamed for the required time in a steamer, and finally made into camellia cakes.
At 4:30 p.m., they finally made enough tea cakes.
The round tea cakes, wrapped in iron hoops and hay, already emitted the unique aroma of tea oil.
Place the camellia oil cakes one by one into the press trough carved from a single piece of wood, and then insert a wooden wedge on the right side of the trough to start pressing.
The most crucial and physically demanding part of oil extraction is about to begin.
Chen Yang, Wang Bing, Jiang Bo, Yun Shi, and Ye Wu all gathered in front of the suspended oil hammer.
The oil hammer is seven meters long and more than 20 centimeters in diameter, suspended from the beam of the oil pressing workshop.
This oil hammer was made from a fine locust tree. In order to suspend it, Jiang Yining spent a day braiding the rope, making the original rope thicker and stronger.
"Listen to me, everyone. It all comes down to two words: 'crash' and 'release.' We need to be consistent and rhythmic."
Chen Yang served as the most important commander and was also the person standing at the forefront of the oil hammer.
This position is the most important and also the most dangerous. Jiang Bo originally wanted to stand here, but Chen Yang persuaded him to go back.
Five men gripped the oil hammers simultaneously, their expressions all very serious.
"Collide!"
Chen Yang shouted, and then the group grabbed the oil hammers and rammed forward at the same time.
"put!"
As soon as Chen Yang finished speaking, the others released their grip almost simultaneously. However, Chen Yang was slightly later than the other four. At the last moment, he controlled the direction of the oil hammer to ensure that it struck the center of the wooden wedge.
A dull thud echoed through the oil pressing workshop, like the breaking of chaos, and everyone's heart leaped into their throats. Success or failure hinged on this moment.
"It's leaking oil!"
The girls nearby immediately cheered, even hugging each other and jumping around.
Heaven knows how hard it was to obtain this oil. Before finding the camellia seeds, they had been searching for plants that could be pressed for oil. Li Su'er and her group found the camellia seeds by chance, and the round trip took more than ten days. They were also tracked by a pack of wolves for a period of time.
Yun searched through numerous resources to design an oil press, while Jiang Bo and Hong Gui spent six or seven days making a millstone. Then, everyone worked together to set up an oil pressing workshop, and the girls also worked hard to weave steamers, filters, and other equipment.
The moment the oil seeped out of the fried dough, everyone could hardly contain their excitement.
Golden, translucent oil seeps from the tea cake, each drop exuding a captivating color and aroma.
"Keep going!" Chen Yang shouted, his passion ignited.
"Collide!"
The oil hammer was picked up again by the group, and with everyone's anticipation, it was thrown out.
"put!"
"Collide!"
"put!"
...
The repeated impacts applied immense pressure to the camellia oil cake, squeezing out the oil from the camellia seed powder and flowing into the oil trough. The room was filled with an intoxicating aroma of oil. The oil dripped onto the trough and flowed down into a pre-placed earthenware jar.
The pounding continued for an hour. The oil in the tea cake was very rich in oil, and it couldn't all be extracted at once. Guo Zifeng replaced Yun Shi, and after Yun Shi rested, another person took over. Several people took turns working, but Chen Yang stayed on. His position was hard to replace, as he controlled the frequency and direction of the oil hammer's impact.
The horses were startled by the sound of the impact. Xu Meng and Li Ye went to comfort them, while Li Su'er, Jiang Yining, and the others began to filter the oil.
Freshly pressed tea oil is golden in color, but appears somewhat dark when piled up in a bucket. Filtered tea oil is even cleaner and clearer.
"Wait here, I'll go stir-fry some pork for you." Li Su'er scooped up a small spoonful of tea oil and ran out excitedly.
The key to good stir-fried pork is the oil, so this is a good opportunity for them to test the quality of the tea oil.
After Li Su'er finished cooking, she gave everyone a bite to try.
"Delicious! I've finally tasted meat stir-fried in oil!" Ye Wu said, his face full of emotion.
"I think it's still a bit lacking. Our technology isn't mature enough, and the process isn't standardized," Guo Zifeng said. He had tasted truly good tea oil extracted using traditional methods, all of which were hand-pressed in oil pressing workshops with centuries-old traditions.
"That's not bad. You'll do even better once you get more practice," Chen Yang said.
The group, energized by the stir-fried pork, continued to extract as much as they could until nothing more could be extracted.
The camellia seeds that Li Su'er and her group brought back, after being shelled, sieved, and dried, could only yield about 30 jin of oil, which was more than enough for the current population of the micro-realm. However, the population of the micro-realm would definitely increase, so when Yun Hu and the others returned, they could press some more oil to store up.
Rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea—the seven necessities of life—and they've solved another one of them.
(End of this chapter)
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