Chapter 373 Duck Eggs
When Zhao Yeqing woke up, it was already bright. Mu Xi was no longer by his side, and bursts of fragrance wafted from the kitchen downstairs.
Seeing her come in, Mu Xi brought breakfast to her, and waited until Zhao Yeqing finished eating before mentioning to her:
"We have come a long way since we went down. If we come back tonight, it will take too long to go back and forth. You stay at home today. I will go by myself and stay in the woods for two days."
The house really couldn't be left alone for several days in a row, but Zhao Yeqing was worried about Mu Xi going alone.
"I'm taking three dogs with me, there will be no problem, don't worry."
Zhao Yeqing could only ask Mu Xi to be careful, "Then you go first, come back in a few days and I'll take over."
Since she had decided to find a gas station, she couldn't back down at this time. She was definitely worried, so she could only put enough food, ammunition and medicine in Mu Xi's backpack before sending him out.
After Mu Xi left, Zhao Yeqing felt a little empty standing in the yard.
Mu Xi took Xiao Hei, Xiao Huang and Xiao Hua away, saying that the dogs were young and strong and were perfect for going on the adventure. Zhao Yeqing knew that he was worried about her being alone at home, so he left the safest dog, Da Huang, to her.
Dahuang took the cattle and sheep out early in the morning, and now she was alone at home. After tidying up the yard for a while, she took out a stick from the two porcelain jars for brewing soy sauce.
The wooden stick was polished into a round shape, like a rolling pin, but it was much longer than an ordinary rolling pin.
Zhao Yeqing opened the lid of a porcelain jar, revealing the fermented and blackened soybeans inside.
The dark beans have become mostly soft and rotten, and the shape of the beans can still be vaguely seen, but most of them have turned into bean paste.
She poked the wooden stick into the jar and stirred it gently. The blackened beans on the surface were stirred into the bean paste, while the beans at the bottom remained dark brown. After stirring evenly, she covered the jar with the lid again and let them continue to dry in the sun.
It needs to be stirred every day so that it can ferment evenly.
While she was tidying the yard and stirring the beans, the ducks at home were already standing at the gate of the yard, quacking at the top of their lungs.
What he meant was that Zhao Yeqing should open the door for them, as it was time to go out and play in the water again.
Zhao Yeqing opened the gate of the courtyard, and ten ducks walked out of the door in a swaying line, and then jumped into the water one after another.
She is home alone now, and she closed the gate after the duck went out to avoid any sudden accidents.
Go to the backyard and pick up duck eggs in the newly built duck coop next to the chicken coop.
In terms of seasons, it is now the beginning of spring, and ducks reach their peak egg-laying period in spring and autumn every year.
I found seven duck eggs this week, and with the eight today, they are just right for making some preserved eggs.
Duck eggs taste no better than chicken eggs. Only salted duck eggs and preserved eggs are the most delicious.
But after all, there are only a few female ducks in the family, and so far they have only laid fifteen eggs.
Wild ducks are different from domestic ducks. Domestic ducks only lay one egg a day, but if they are fed well they can lay two eggs a day, and can lay more than a hundred eggs a year.
Wild ducks lay eggs twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn, each time laying about ten eggs.
She picked up seven last time and eight today. It is estimated that two female ducks have laid eggs, and the other one is still not moving.
Zhao Yeqing didn't plan to wait any longer. The duck eggs for making preserved eggs had better be fresh and no more than a week old. He could only make these dozen preserved eggs first, and then keep the other nest of eggs for incubation.
It is not difficult to make preserved eggs. As long as you have the ingredients and follow the proportions, it will rarely fail, unless it deteriorates due to the pickling environment.
The basic materials needed are sufficient at home, except for pure alkali.
It's not that there is no pure alkali. When collecting supplies at the foot of the mountain, we found two small bags of it, but the quantity is not large. It should be what the villagers usually use to make steamed buns.
It would be a bit of a waste to use precious resources to make preserved eggs, so Zhao Yeqing went out from the backyard and rode his bicycle to the intersection of the path down the mountain in two minutes.
After walking down for more than ten meters, I saw a camphor tree. I cut two branches with leaves on them and took them home.
When they got back to the door, Xiaohong was unwilling to go in. No matter how she was pulled, she just stood there motionless.
Zhao Yeqing discussed with it, "I was thinking of taking you out for a walk and grazing this afternoon. Can you come back with me now? I'm the only one at home, and it's not safe for you to be outside."
After trying to persuade it with no success, she gave up and let it eat grass on its own at the door.
The backyard door was not closed, and I planned to bring Xiaohong in in half an hour.
The cut elm branches are thrown into the bottom layer of the self-built oven and burned into ashes. Camphor tree has a fragrance and becomes a natural alkaline substance after burning.
This alone is not enough, you also need to add wood ash and quicklime.
The principle of making preserved eggs is to let potassium hydroxide react with duck eggs to denature the protein.
Zhao Yeqing took out the quicklime, poured a small amount of water on it, stirred it into lime water, and then added wood ash to turn it into a dark gray mud.
Wood ash is potassium carbonate, which reacts with calcium hydroxide formed by quicklime added with water to form potassium hydroxide.
Zhao Yeqing wiped the water off the washed duck eggs, put on gloves to prevent the skin from being irritated by the strong alkali, wrapped the duck eggs thickly with dark gray mud, and rolled them on the rice husks again, which meant that most of the work was done.
The next step is to wait for the egg white inside to solidify. Zhao Yeqing then follows the same method and wraps the egg version of the preserved egg with mud and sticks it with rice husks.
Take an earthenware blanket and place the eggs one by one in it, seal the jar and place it in a cool and dry place indoors.
You have to open it to let some air in after a few days and then seal it again.
He squatted beside the well, fetched some water, rinsed his muddy gloves and hung them on the pole, then walked to the back door to bring Xiaohong back.
Looking out the backyard door, the view is blocked by fast-growing bamboo. Originally there were only a few small trees, but after the weather turned cooler, their growth rate increased exponentially.
It looks like the bamboo grows mostly towards the south. The yard is located on the east side for bamboo. The two were worried that after planting the bamboo, it might grow into the yard in the future. They didn't expect that the bamboo had no intention of growing towards them at all.
When I walked out of the backyard, I saw bamboos growing in a row horizontally to the left. Xiaohong must have eaten enough, so she was hiding from the sun under the bamboo.
She didn't walk over, but blew a horse whistle at the door. After Xiaohong came over, she locked the gate, mounted her horse, and headed straight for the northwest woods where Mu Xi was.
Seeing the car parked outside the woods, Zhao Yeqing dismounted and touched Xiaohong's head, indicating that the dog was eating grass nearby.
He walked to the side of the car, looked at the quiet forest in front of him with only the chirping of insects and birds, supported the car body and sat on the front hood, took out the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
