With the Dragon Boat Festival just around the corner, He Yuhan still wanted to make some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) for her family, even though conditions in the countryside were not as good.
There are not many entertainment activities in the countryside in this era, and He Yuhan also wants to enrich life and let the children experience the joy of traditional festivals.
She hopes that the children's childhoods can be more fulfilling, so that they will have mostly happy memories in the future.
She and Han Yixian made an excuse to go to town and brought back a lot of ingredients. Then, they went to the riverbank where reeds grew and picked a lot of reed leaves. After returning home, they washed the reed leaves and set them aside.
He Yuhan plans to make several different flavors of zongzi this time, and will also send some to the Gao family.
This time, He Yuhan plans to make red date zongzi, red bean paste zongzi, salted egg yolk and pork zongzi, eight-treasure zongzi, and assorted zongzi.
Because there are relatively few egg yolks, the elderly also felt it was too extravagant, so He Yuhan planned to make only a dozen or so egg yolk and meat dumplings so that everyone could have a taste.
With a lot of ingredients like red dates and red beans, she plans to make more red date zongzi, red bean paste zongzi, and eight-treasure zongzi.
Red dates and red beans were always available at home, so He Yuhan made red bean paste first. She added some osmanthus flowers to the red bean paste she made herself, so it had the aroma of both red beans and osmanthus.
Once the red bean paste was ready, the children each ate more than half a bowl. If Wen Jinyu hadn't stopped them, they probably wouldn't have eaten any rice at all.
He Yuhan is going to wrap several kinds of beans, as well as red dates, raisins, etc. in the eight-treasure rice dumpling.
The assorted rice dumplings are also very rich in ingredients. He Yuhan prepared diced pheasant meat, diced cured wild boar meat, diced shiitake mushrooms, diced bamboo shoots, etc.
Salted egg yolk and pork rice dumplings are a combination of salted egg yolk and pork belly.
After soaking the glutinous rice and preparing all the ingredients, He Yuhan and her mother-in-law started wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) together at the dining table.
Looking at the abundant ingredients, Gu Qishen said, "Even though the zongzi isn't cooked yet, just looking at these ingredients makes my mouth water."
Han Yixian said, "Even when it's ripe, you can't eat too much. Don't forget that your stomach still needs to be rested."
Upon hearing that he couldn't eat to his heart's content, Gu Qishen said, "Really? I feel like my stomach is all better now. Yuhan, can I eat a few more zongzi?"
He Yuhan smiled and said, "Your stomach problem is almost cured, but you still need to be careful. However, eating a few zongzi is fine. You can try all kinds, but don't eat too many."
Gu Qishen knew he couldn't eat too much after He Yuhan spoke up. However, today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and He Yuhan is making more than just zongzi (sticky rice dumplings); there are other things she's going to make that he can eat now.
Han Yixian had learned to wrap zongzi from He Yuhan before. Although his zongzi didn't look very good, they were still shaped and at least the rice wouldn't leak out.
Because there were so many zongzi to wrap, Han Yixian personally joined in the wrapping this time.
Gu Qishen watched as Han Yi started making dumplings and felt it wasn't too difficult, so he washed his hands and offered to help wrap the dumplings.
Han Yixian waited to see the joke, saying, "Do you know how to wrap zongzi? You have to wrap them tightly, otherwise they'll either fall apart or leak rice. Don't end up with rice water after you cook them."
Gu Qishen said, "That's why I want to learn. Aunt Wen, please teach me. I can't let Yixian laugh at me."
Wen Jinyu smiled and said, "No problem, watch my movements and follow along. Wrapping these zongzi is easy, you'll get the hang of it after you wrap a few more."
However, to make a bag look good requires skill. Look at Yuhan's bags, they're so tight and beautiful, almost identical to each other.
After watching He Yuhan's movements for a while, Gu Qishen also tried wrapping a zongzi.
Whether it was his clumsy hands or something else, his hands seemed to have a mind of their own when he was wrapping zongzi. He could imagine it perfectly, but the actual zongzi he wrapped turned out crooked and with white glutinous rice showing through. This made Han Yi laugh for a long time.
However, Gu Qishen was not discouraged. He wrapped and unwrapped the rice dumplings repeatedly, and after several attempts, he was able to wrap one that wouldn't leak rice. Although the shape was a bit ugly, it was still a success.
With satisfactory results, Gu Qishen became even more enthusiastic, and his work only got better and better.
Gu Qishen held up his best-looking zongzi and compared it with Han Yixian's, saying, "Mine isn't any worse than yours. This is my first time making zongzi."
He Yuhan laughed and said, "Brother Gu learns quite quickly. When Brother Yi was learning to wrap zongzi from me, he couldn't wrap them this well."
Gu Qishen, pleased with He Yuhan's praise, glanced at Han Yixian and said, "Yixian, I'm wrapping up a better bag than you now. How about that, are you convinced?"
Han Yixian scoffed and said, "It's just that the zongzi are wrapped a little nicer. I can cook too, can you? I bet all you can do now is heat up some food."
I don't know who it was back then who couldn't even cook porridge, leaving Huayang starving and skin and bones.
Gu Qishen recalled the embarrassing situation he had in City C back then, and immediately said defiantly, "Aunt Wen, Yuhan, I'll have time in the future, and I want to learn cooking from you so that my son can eat my cooking in the future."
He Yuhan and Wen Jinyu were wrapping zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) when they listened to Gu Qishen and Han Yixian bickering, and they both laughed.
He Yuhan smiled and said, "Brother Gu, you're welcome to learn cooking anytime you want."
The group chatted and laughed as they wrapped two large basins of zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) of various flavors, and then put them into a large pot to cook.
As time passed, a delicate fragrance of bamboo leaves wafted out, gradually blending with a fresh aroma that made one's mouth water.
The children were drawn to the aroma and played in the yard, glancing towards the kitchen every now and then, eagerly anticipating the zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) being cooked.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
