Chapter 7 Chapter 7粔籹.
Thanks to the thorough cleaning, the three sisters in the neighboring hut slept soundly that night.
Ji Xu woke up when she heard the cock crowing. She had slept with only her clothes on and her belly in her arms. Now, with the dim light from the window, she put on her straw sandals and tiptoed out the door.
I touched the blouse hanging on a hemp rope under the eaves to dry, and it was now completely dry.
She was wearing only linen clothes, but fortunately her two younger sisters had two sets of patched clothes to change into, which were made for them when Tian was still alive.
Yesterday, after washing the clothes of the three people in the bathroom, Ji Feng went to the front of the house to dry them. She hid in the house temporarily wearing a belly hugger and a pair of pants. The window of the jar was not covered, but it was dark at that time and there were no passers-by outside.
Now she tore off her clothes, carried them into the house and put them on.
After chewing the willow branches, she went to the kitchen to see the yeast in her bread.
Wash your hands carefully before lifting the linen cloth.
I saw the dough in the ceramic basin expanded, sticking to the edge of the basin without leaving any gaps. The surface was a little bumpy, and after tearing it open, there were some honeycomb-like pores inside.
"Sister, eh, no, this wet noodle has gone bad.
It smells sour and will give you dysentery if you eat it."
Ji Feng woke up early despite the crowing of other chickens. He rubbed his eyes and went to the kitchen. When he smelled the sour smell of the dough, he wrinkled his nose and said.
"If it smells sour, it means the bread has been fermented successfully. If it smells foul, it has gone bad."
This yeast can be used to make dough, which is what later generations often call old dough starter. Many people save old dough starter and use it to make pasta. Ji Xu's grandmother, a chef, loves to explore various ways of cooking, which is no exception. This has influenced Ji Xu to try to cook various delicacies since she was a child.
The Food Classic written by Cui Hao of the Northern Wei Dynasty records the method of using sour milk to make cakes:
"Decoct one liter of Physalis to obtain seven liters; add one liter of polished rice to the slurry and slowly reduce the heat, like making porridge."
However, even in the Northern Wei Dynasty, fermentation technology was only in the hands of a few nobles, and the fermentation technology was also unstable.
However, at that time in the Han Dynasty, fermentation technology had not yet appeared. Pasta such as steamed cakes and water-drawn cakes were all made with unleavened flour, which was difficult to digest. Excessive consumption could easily cause gastrointestinal diseases.
"Can I really eat this? Won't I get a stomach ache?"
Ji Feng couldn't believe it. In her opinion, sour food was caused by the hot weather and went bad.
"If it's edible, make it into steamed cakes. It's guaranteed to be soft and sweet."
Ji Xu started to work. She first separated half of the yeast and placed it in a dry bamboo tube.
Flour has been sprinkled inside in advance, so just leave half of the yeast inside and let it dry naturally. When you need it later, just soak it with warm water.
She will use the half in the basin to knead the dough.
Before kneading the dough, she shoveled some wood ash from the stove, added water to dissolve it in a bowl, filtered it with linen, and put it in another clean bowl for later use.
Ji Feng was puzzled. What were they going to do with the ash? It could only be used to make compost, but it couldn't be eaten.
But when I thought about the braised pork I had just eaten yesterday, which I had never seen before, my anticipation temporarily overshadowed my doubts.
She had to see how this sour, rotten urine dough, with a bowl of wood ash water, could be made into steamed buns, and still be soft and sweet?
"Sister, what can I do to help?"
Ji Feng was very smart, but she couldn't figure out Ji Xu's next move, so she asked.
"Help me light the fire in the stove. I need warm water to wash the noodles."
The wooden barrels at home are old and leak easily, and cannot hold water, so the water that needs to be kept overnight is directly stored in the ceramic pot. Now we can just make a fire.
Making a fire is simple, and Ji Feng did it skillfully.
The firelight illuminated her face, which was wrinkled as she smelled the sour smell, but also full of curiosity.
Ji Xu's arms were seen kneading the dough skillfully. The sour dough, which was originally full of pores, became smooth and white after she added flour.
The point is, after adding wood ash water, the sour taste disappeared?
Ji Feng sniffed the air several times in disbelief, and there was really no sour smell!
"Sister, this is really weird."
Ji Xu explained, "The wood ash water just balances the sour taste."
After thinking for a moment, she added, "These meals were taught to me by an old maid in the palace."
Ji Feng, who was adding firewood to the stove, said with emotion,
"That cook is such a kind person. When we hold the Laba Festival, I will definitely ask the cook to bless her with a prosperous stove and good fortune for her life."
"By the way, sister, what's her last name?"
I have to ask for the blessing of the grandmother to have a name, otherwise where will the good fortune go?
Ji Xu was silent for a moment, "Ji Yun."
This was the name of her grandmother in her previous life. She was an orphan and was adopted and raised by her grandmother. They were each other's only relative. After her grandmother's funeral, she was alone and was in a trance for a while. It was not until half a month after the funeral that she came here and was busy filling her stomach and staying alive.
However, the old lady died of natural causes without any illness or pain, which can be considered a perfect blessing.
"Same surname? What a great fate! We might have been from the same family five hundred years ago." Ji Feng repeated it several times and memorized it in his heart.
As he spoke, Ji Xu had already kneaded the dough into many fat pieces, placed them in two layers of bamboo steamer, and covered them for a second proofing.
Kneading the dough and removing the air is strenuous work. After finishing it, a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.
But it is easy to steam. Place the double-layer bamboo steamer on the ceramic pot, turn on the high fire underneath, and the steam will bring up the aroma of wheat.
At the right moment, the lid is opened, the hot mist dissipates, and the plump, white, round steamed buns appear.
"My aunt's mother...how can this be called a steamed bun?"
Ji Feng stared blankly. Aren’t steamed buns always bumpy and wrinkled?
"Try it," Ji Xu was provoked to smile, and took one while it was still hot and put it in the bowl for her, "Be careful of the heat."
At the same time, she continued to pick the remaining steamed cakes into the basket she had woven last night. There were not enough bamboo steamers, so she emptied the bamboo steamer to steam two more.
Ji Feng held the bowl, and was so curious that she didn't even use chopsticks. She just poked the plump steamed bun with her fingers.
“It’s so soft!”
She was not afraid of the heat. Her mouth was burned so much that she exhaled hot air, but her eyes lit up and softened!
It tastes sweet when you chew it slowly!
This is different from the solid steamed buns she had eaten before.
Ji Xu laughed, afraid that she would take another bite despite the scorching heat, so he said:
"Let it cool down. Go wake up Xiaozhu. We'll have steamed buns for breakfast."
Ji Feng immediately went to wake Ji Zhu up, and while quickly tying her hair, she said:
"Let me tell you, the steamed buns my sister makes are just like... just as smooth as fat.
Take a bite and it will soften your tongue."
Ji Zhu immediately focused his attention and no longer felt sleepy.
"Is it good like braised pork?"
Ji Feng was strong enough to tie her hair tightly against her scalp, so she didn't even care about the pain.
His head just kept shaking and he was grinning.
"That's different and delicious." In just a short while, Ji Feng had already savored it countless times.
For breakfast, the three of them sat around the pottery stove and ate steamed cakes. Next to them were two baskets covered with linen cloth filled with food to be sold.
"Sister, this steamed bun is even better than glutinous rice cake, it will definitely sell well!"
Unlike the bamboo steamer that made Ji Feng nervous yesterday, she felt from the bottom of her heart that this thing would be popular.
"Xiaozhu thinks so too!"
However, when I first arrived at the city, the situation was not optimistic.
Because making steamed cakes took a long time, Ji Xu came later than yesterday, so there was no room for individual traders on the roadside in the market.
This is not a big deal. Her two baskets of steamed buns are light and she can just carry them on her arms and sell them on the street.
Also walking around hawking his wares was the pickled vegetable vendor.
"Hey—the pickles are coming, gourd pickles, pickled cabbage..."
“Selling steamed cakes…”
But when they heard it was steamed buns, no one was willing to come forward to ask the price.
They all waved their hands and said, "No, no, what's so delicious about steamed buns?"
There is a woman selling rice cakes at a street stall, and her business is pretty good.
"Oh - glutinous rice cakes, sweet and crispy glutinous rice cakes!"
She was shouting enthusiastically while deftly kneading the sorghum flour dough into a thin layer as thin as straw, rolling and twisting it slightly.
Then put it into the bottom of the pot with a little lard and fry it. When it is fried until it is golden brown, the crispy aroma attracts many people to stop and buy it to satisfy their hunger.
"Sweet, right? My rice cakes are made with white honey from Tianshui, Longxi."
Ma boasted with a smile on her face that now whenever she added a little bit of honey to her food, she would say that it was white honey from Tianshui, Longxi, because the honey produced there was the most expensive.
But even ordinary honey is a rare thing.
Ma thought, the steamed buns don't have much sweet taste, and can only be eaten while hot right out of the steamer to fill the stomach. They become hard when cold. And every household can make them, so who would buy them?
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