Chapter 42 Wild Mushrooms
Clean the fresh kapok flowers, steam them in a pot until they change color slightly, then take them out to dry and make dried flowers for tea or soup.
Of course, they can also be eaten directly.
Remove the petals from the kapok tree, leaving the thick core in the middle, and then soak it in salt water.
Add some chili peppers, chopped green onions, and garlic shoots and stir-fry together. The result looks a bit like enoki mushrooms, and the texture is also crunchy, much like enoki mushrooms.
Su Yun also added chili peppers and garlic leaves to stir-fry together, making the dish crisp and refreshing with a hint of spiciness, somewhat reminiscent of spicy and sour enoki mushrooms.
However, Su Yun preferred soft and tender foods, while Ye Feng loved meat, so they never went to pick kapok flowers again. It's fine to eat some of these flowers occasionally to taste them, but their long-term taste is definitely not as good as cultivated vegetables.
After all, given the nature of Chinese people, they have tried to grow and cultivate almost all the delicious foods on a large scale, while the less delicious foods have simply grown naturally.
However, while riding his tricycle to Kapok Village to collect supplies, he unexpectedly found a few dried pea pods, which Su Yun casually placed on the windowsill.
As time went by.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and suddenly the clouds became thick and heavy, and several heavy rains began to fall.
The rain poured down the blue tiles, so heavy it sounded like someone in the sky had forgotten to turn off the tap.
It was another rainy day, a time when there was no work to do, and it was time to teach. However, this time Su Yun was struggling with several textbooks.
No matter how you look at it, books like "The Code of Wealth," "The Philosophy of Speaking," "The CEO's Sweet Little Wife," and "The Stone Gambling Storm" don't seem to fit contemporary ideological and educational concepts.
After careful consideration, Su Yun finally chose "The Legend of Jade Gambling," as the story was quite interesting for someone who was just starting to learn.
"Here we are, Night Breeze. We're here to read books today."
"A book?" The cat tilted its head.
"This is it." Su Yun pulled out the worn-out little notebook.
"Hmm? What do you think?"
"First, we need to learn to read. I'll teach you!" Su Yun patted his chest, full of confidence.
"Hmm?" The kitten obediently looked at the book.
The teacher was stumped. "Um...where should we start?" Su Yun flipped through the book for a while and decided to start with the cover.
"The Legend of Jade Gambling" refers to how someone made a fortune by gambling on stones!
Night Breeze: "Hmm? Get rich?"
"It means becoming rich and having a lot of treasure."
"Hmm? Treasure?"
"It means you can exchange it for lots of meat and lots of delicious food."
"Oh!" Night Wind understood this time, his eyes lit up, and he pricked up his ears with great interest.
The story mainly revolves around a young man who, with the ability to see through stones, discovers jade inside them...
Su Yun began to tell the story of the book and taught Ye Feng to recognize the characters slowly, because there were teachers at the base who had taught him, and the experimental staff had also taught him some characters for testing purposes.
Night Breeze can still recognize one or two characters, and whenever she sees a familiar word, she will point it out.
"This is the character for 'person,' I know that. And this is the character for 'one.'"
Su Yun would usually read a chapter of the story aloud first, and then guide Ye Feng to read it again and recognize the characters. She wasn't very good at teaching people, so she could only guide them to read and write on their own in a simple and crude way according to her own methods.
Fortunately, this book is very well written, making you want to keep reading to see how the story unfolds.
Ye Feng had a strong desire to learn to read and recognize characters. When it rained, he would basically be reading books. After reading the books, he learned many characters and his cultural level was effectively improved.
Of course, there are some minor side effects. In addition to collecting flowers and plants, Ye Feng has started collecting stones, all kinds of stones.
"Su Yun, do you think there might be jade inside this stone?"
Night Wind picked up another oval stone and moved it in front of her.
"Uh, maybe." Su Yun couldn't bear to interrupt the kitten's enthusiasm for learning, so she nodded perfunctorily.
"Then I'll put it away?"
"No need for that. The most dangerous place is the safest place. I think the yard is fine; you can see it all the time."
"Mmm!" Night Breeze obediently moved the stone into the yard.
Su Yun looked at the increasing number of stones in the yard and wondered if she should get the kitten a new book, but unfortunately there were too few choices.
From a storytelling perspective, she thought "The Domineering CEO's Sweet Little Wife" was pretty good. However, there was a lot of explicit content in it, and Su Yun suspected that it was just a romance novel disguised as a light novel. So, she removed the book from the textbook from the beginning.
But looking at the ever-growing pile of stones in the yard, Su Yun thought it best to find a pen another day and black out those indescribable parts of the domineering CEO. That way, it wouldn't be unwatchable. At worst, he could just study the philosophy of conversation. Su Yun pondered with a headache.
After several heavy rains, even the air was humid.
Taking advantage of the abundant rainfall, Su Yun quickly planted all the cabbages, tomatoes, and peas at once.
Then, before the weather got too hot, I took a basket and went up the mountain to look for mushrooms.
Actually, Su Yun didn't know many kinds of mushrooms; he only recognized a few common ones.
The most common mushroom in the pine forest is the matsutake mushroom, with a slightly yellowish cap that is round and very thick. They mostly grow on the roots of pine trees. You can find a large patch of them by simply brushing aside the fallen pine needles. This pine forest is very large, and Su Yun picked quite a few matsutake mushrooms.
There were also quite a few termite mushrooms, with torn caps and thick stems, which were very fragrant when stewed with chicken.
I didn't find any matsutake mushrooms; I guess it's not the season yet.
There were quite a few yellow and white mushrooms left, but unfortunately, Su Yun only recognized a limited number of them. Adhering to the principle of rather giving them all up than eating them indiscriminately, he gave them all up.
Because she was poisoned by eating wild mushrooms when she was a child, she was in a daze for a day and a night. In her delirium, she only saw a group of little people dancing and singing in front of her. So she is still afraid to eat wild mushrooms and dares not pick any she doesn't recognize.
On the contrary, Ye Feng, who let loose, reaped a bountiful harvest. He didn't care whether the mushrooms were edible or not. Seeing Su Yun picking mushrooms, he followed suit and picked them randomly. Moreover, adhering to the principle that good-looking = delicious, he specifically picked the brightly colored ones, red and yellow, the brighter the color, the better.
When he handed a bunch of brightly colored mushrooms to Su Yun, seeking praise.
Su Yun's pupils dilated instantly, her expression filled with terror. She seemed to see little figures beckoning to her, urging her to dance, play, and have fun!
Su Yun hurriedly waved her hand and refused, "No need, no need!"
Night Breeze tilted its head: "Hmm?"
"Oh, no, what I mean is, cough cough, Night Breeze, you'd better not pick them. Eating these mushrooms will cause serious trouble."
"What's the meaning?"
"Haven't you heard? Red umbrella, yellow pole, after eating, lie down on the plank. Lie down on the plank, sleep in the coffin, then bury the mountain together. Bury the mountain, cry and shout, the whole village comes to eat. Eat, there are umbrellas, the whole village lies down on the plank together. Lie down on the plank, no one buries the mountain, then dry it all in the sun." Su Yun recited, shaking his head.
This limerick is vivid and melodious, perfectly describing the joy of eating mushrooms.
Unfortunately, Ye Feng couldn't understand it. He only caught two words from the long conversation: "Umbrella?"
Then he handed the red mushroom to Su Yun, saying, "Here's an umbrella for you..."
"Thank you, but I don't want to bury Shanshan," Su Yun said tactfully. "These mushrooms are poisonous."
"poison?"
"Uh, it means you'll die right after eating it."
"No, you'll just see a lot of petty people."
Su Yun: ? ? ?
So this guy has eaten it before.
"Then why did you still pick it?!" Su Yun exclaimed in surprise.
"If we can't find anything to eat, this will keep us from getting hungry," Ye Feng added softly, head down.
Well, the apocalypse is indeed tough. Luckily, nothing bad happened after eating it. Perhaps the orcs have also increased their resistance to poison?
Su Yun looked suspiciously at the bright red mushroom covered with white spots. If she remembered correctly, this mushroom was called the fly agaric, named because it could directly poison flies, and it was said that eating it would cause hallucinations.
Su Yun thought of the dwarfs from the dwarf kingdom again, and couldn't help but shrink his neck and throw away the handful of mushrooms.
"We won't eat those now, we'll eat this!" Su Yun held up a basket full of mushrooms. "Eat this! There are no little people here..."
Night Breeze glanced at the bright red mushrooms on the ground with a hint of regret. Although she felt it was a pity, she still obediently agreed, "Okay, whatever you say."
Seeing Ye Feng's rather regretful expression, Su Yun decided to help him divert his attention.
So she pointed to a broken bamboo tube and said, "Hmm, could you take a look at this?"
There was a bamboo stalk on the ground that had been broken by a dead branch. Su Yun had found it while looking for mushrooms. After observing it for a while, she thought, "I think this should be a bamboo water pipe, but it probably broke because no one has cleaned it for too long. It looks like if we follow the bamboo tube, we should be able to reconnect it. That way, there will be water at the foot of the cliff, which will be convenient for watering vegetables, and we won't have to go home to fetch water."
"Okay! Leave this to me, I'll see if I can fix it." Ye Feng nodded and accepted the task. He then began sweeping away the dead branches and fallen leaves along the bamboo tube. He was used to navigating through forests and was very agile. Before long, he had disappeared along the broken bamboo tube.
Su Yun, carrying a basket, continued searching for mushrooms. Before the sun became too strong and the mushrooms grew too old, she planned to pick them and then fry them fresh to eat.
Su Yun walked through the forest, stopping frequently, and filled a basket to the brim with mushrooms. When the basket was almost overflowing, she reluctantly went home.
Because she picked too many at once and couldn't finish them all, Su Yun threw them onto a winnowing basket and laid them out in the sun to dry after returning home.
Then pick out some matsutake mushrooms, termite mushrooms, and straw mushrooms, wash them, and save them for lunch.
Freshly picked mushrooms are very delicate and require extra care when cleaning them. Su Yun only picked a type of white-backed leaf from the roadside and used the slightly bristly, abrasive back of the leaf to gently scrub the dust and dirt off the mushrooms.
Then, while feeding the chickens in the coop, he picked out two of the fattest pheasants, killed them, plucked their feathers, and chopped them into pieces.
Tonight we're having chicken stew with mushrooms.
Wash the authentic wild pheasant and put it in a clay pot with cold water. Bring it to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam. Then add chopped ginger and white wine to remove the fishy smell. Turn to low heat and simmer. When it is almost done, add fresh mushrooms and continue to simmer.
The chicken soup simmered in a clay pot over a low flame has a golden-yellow color with a layer of sesame oil floating on top. It tastes especially fragrant, and the addition of fresh mushrooms enhances the flavor, making the whole chicken soup mellow, sweet, and not greasy at all.
Su Yun stood by the stove, tasted a small bowl, and felt as if her soul had been elevated.
Chicken stew with mushrooms is forever a divine dish!
Su Yun screamed inwardly, one bowl was clearly not enough, and she wanted to drink another. But when she looked at Ye Feng, who was dragging a bamboo pole and huffing and puffing as he tried to repair the water pipe, she silently put the bowl down. She decided to wait until the two of them were together to eat.
Su Yun sliced all the remaining mushrooms, then heated a pan with some oil and slowly fried them over low heat until they were slightly golden brown. She then picked them up, placed them on a plate, and sprinkled them with a little salt.
The finest ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods.
This method of pan-frying preserves the mushrooms' freshness to the greatest extent. Su Yun tasted it and thought it was very good.
Su Yun diced the remaining straw mushrooms, stir-fried them with the remaining oil, and then soaked them in the homemade soy sauce.
Ta-da! The straw mushroom soy sauce is perfectly made. Su Yun took a bite and found it salty, savory, and delicious—not bad at all.
Su Yun ate a piece of chicken dipped in a little mushroom soy sauce. The tender chicken had a touch of umami flavor. She added some chopped chili peppers and exclaimed how delicious it was.
Finally, scoop out some chicken fat broth and blanch some mustard greens.
Two dishes and a soup, perfectly served.
Su Yun called out to Ye Feng, who was dragging a bamboo pole outside, "Stop! Eat first."
Ye Feng had been busy all day, sweeping away dead branches and reconnecting pipes, and was already starving. When he heard Su Yun call for dinner, he put down his bamboo pole, washed his hands and face, and came over.
Seeing the ordinary mushrooms on the table transformed into an incredibly delicious meal once again, Ye Feng exclaimed for the nth time, "Su Yun, you're amazing!"
Su Yun: "Hehehe, of course."
"This tastes better than the ones I picked before, and it doesn't make me dizzy," Ye Feng said, reminiscing about the past as he ate.
"Dizzy? Then why did you pick it?" Su Yun was shocked. Recalling the brightly colored mushroom, she was still shaken. "You should be in charge of fixing the water pipes. Leave mushroom picking to me!"
"Oh!" Ye Feng responded, indicating that there was no problem. He had been repairing the chicken coop recently, and Su Yun discovered that Ye Feng had a high talent for repair. He could quickly master the use of tools, and he was also strong and not afraid of being scratched. He was very good at repairing bamboo fences and bamboo water pipes, so now Su Yun could basically entrust the repair of items and the construction of things to him.
However, repairing the water pipes is a huge undertaking. The original pipes are probably no longer usable. We'll have to find thick bamboo poles, split them, and then build a new pipe along the original path, fix it in place, and divert the water so that the mountain spring water can flow down the bamboo pipes.
In addition, Su Yun wanted to rebuild a handwashing station so that she could wash off the dirt and pick the vegetable leaves while picking them...
With a preliminary idea in mind, and realizing it was a huge project, Su Yun said, "Ye Feng, let me help you set up the pipes later!"
Author's Note:
I remember when I was little, my aunt would take me to pick wild mushrooms after a rain.
It seems there's a lot of publicity about wild mushroom poisoning. I was taught from a young age that mushrooms are poisonous and shouldn't be picked casually. Back then, I was always worried when picking wild mushrooms, afraid of picking poisonous ones. Every time I picked one, I would constantly ask my aunt, "Is this one poisonous? Is that one poisonous?"
Finally, my aunt got annoyed by the questions and said that hers wasn't poisonous.
I remember it was a tiny mushroom that grew on sisal residue. Although I was worried that it might be poisonous, it tasted really delicious when used in soup with lean pork.
I ate quite a bit too, haha, all I can say is "So delicious!"
Although wild mushrooms are indeed delicious, it's best not to pick them easily, or you might end up with a serious injury!
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