Although Sichuan red tangerines are the most native tangerines of western Sichuan, they are sour and can easily cause internal heat, so they are not easy to sell as fruit. However, they might sell well if they are made into canned tangerines.
Moreover, the Sichuan red tangerine has a treasure that is even more valuable than the tangerine pulp: dried tangerine peel made from its peel!
According to the "Tangye Bencao" (a traditional Chinese medicine text), orange peel that has been reddish for a long time is of the best quality, hence the names "red peel" and "aged peel." Aged peel is a traditional Chinese medicine that is both food and medicine, and it can regulate qi, strengthen the spleen, and resolve dampness and phlegm.
Dried tangerine peel is further divided into "Sichuan dried tangerine peel" and "Guangdong dried tangerine peel", among which the famous "Xinhui dried tangerine peel" is.
Xinhui tangerine peel is made from the dried peel of large red tangerines from Xinhui, Guangdong, and ranks first among the "Three Treasures of Guangdong" (tangerine peel, old ginger, and straw).
The most authentic "Sichuan Chenpi" is made from the peel of Sichuan red tangerines. Sichuan Chenpi made from the peel of other varieties of tangerines is just a shoddy product and does not have the same medicinal properties.
Another wonderful thing about dried tangerine peel is that it is not affected by time. On the contrary, dried tangerine peel must be aged for at least three years to exert its medicinal effects.
Many medicines, such as ginseng, lose their medicinal properties if stored for a long time.
As mentioned in Chapter 77 of "Dream of the Red Chamber," the ginseng that Grandmother Jia used had lost its medicinal properties and become rotten wood because it had been stored for more than a hundred years.
If you make high-quality Sichuan tangerine peel from Sichuan red tangerines now, and store it for a few years, you can make a lot of money from it later.
Actually, making dried tangerine peel is very simple. Take a fresh orange and cut it into three or four equal pieces. Then, carefully remove the peel from the orange, which has been cut into three or four segments, and place it in the sun to dry for two days.
Two days later, you can string the orange peels together or lay them flat on a bamboo tray to continue drying. At this point, you need to turn the peels inside out to dry, that is, turn them over so that the white side is exposed.
After being thoroughly dried, it can be sealed in a jar. Then, it should be taken out and dried every six months. After three years, it will transform from fruit peel into dried tangerine peel.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the longer dried tangerine peel is stored, the better its medicinal effects.
Almost instantly, Li Xiangdong decided to turn these large red tangerines in front of him into Sichuan-style dried tangerine peel. As for the pulp, it shouldn't be wasted either; making it into jam and canned goods would also generate income.
While Li Xiangdong was lost in thought, the others had already started picking oranges.
Li Ping and Zhang Huan picked fruit from the drooping branches, while Li Jiabao nimbly climbed the tree, specifically picking the large, red-skinned oranges.
Luo Yonggang wasn't interested in picking oranges; instead, he carefully examined the surrounding bushes for any signs of pheasants.
After searching for a long time, Luo Yonggang found a place where lush thatch grass grew. He took out a cornbread from his pocket, broke off a small piece, crushed it, and scattered it intermittently over a patch.
In just one morning, Li Xiangdong and his group picked four baskets of oranges. The bright red hills of oranges in the bamboo baskets looked particularly pleasing to the eye.
Li Xiangdong also cut down a branch of oranges and made Luo Yonggang carry it, saying he wanted to take it back to put in a vase as decoration.
"Great fortune and prosperity! What an auspicious sign!"
When the idea of flower arranging came up, Li Ping and Zhang Huan picked a lot of white, blue, and pink wildflowers from the surrounding area.
In that short time, Luo Yonggang had already captured two pheasants.
When they got home from the mountain, they were all laden with their loot.
After Luo Yonggang stuck the orange tree branches into the water vat in the yard, he tied the pheasant's feet together and threw it into the chicken coop.
Luo Hongkai broke open a large red tea leaf and ate it, his eyebrows and eyes scrunching together as he exclaimed, "It's too sour!"
Li Jin is intolerant of acidity, and he vomited after eating just one piece.
Zhao Sufang shook her head and laughed, "You've been busy all day, picking several baskets of oranges that are inedible. You guys really have nothing better to do!"
Li Jiabao, Li Ping, and Zhang Huan quickly lost interest in Da Hong Pao tea.
Sigh, it doesn't taste good either. We might as well go catch some pheasants. After all, Li Jiabao highly recommends the pheasant soup we had last time, and Li Ping and Zhang Huan also want to try it.
"Grandma, do you know what dried tangerine peel is?"
Li Xiangdong asked Liu Jiangsu.
Liu Jiangsu shook his head. "What is this?"
Li Xiangdong explained the details of Sichuan tangerine peel to everyone: "I plan to make all the Sichuan red tangerines from the mountain into Sichuan tangerine peel, and then make the pulp into canned goods and jam!"
"Sure! How do you make jam? Tell me, and I'll make it!"
Li Lan, who has a great love for food, immediately agreed and even offered to help research how to make orange jam.
Luo Hongkai picked up an orange peel, utterly incredulous. "This can be used as medicine, and it can even cure diseases?"
"Not now, but it will be possible in three years!"
Seeing Li Xiangdong's confident demeanor, everyone in the room expressed their support for his business of making Sichuan tangerine peel.
However, picking the oranges and transporting them back is not something that can be done overnight.
This matter still falls to Kong Dezhu. After Luo Yonggang's wedding, Li Xiangdong will pay the villagers to go up the mountain to pick oranges.
Now, Luo Yonggang's marriage is the most important thing.
That evening, Liu Jiangsu used the smaller oranges from the basket to make "candied oranges" for her children and grandchildren to try.
Candied oranges are a type of preserved fruit. After washing oranges thoroughly with the peel on, drying them, cutting them into dozens of slices, flattening them, sprinkling them with white sugar, and sun-drying them for two days, they become candied oranges.
The addition of white sugar makes the sourness of the Sichuan red mandarin orange just right, which perfectly balances the sweetness of the white sugar.
As soon as Liu Jiangsu finished cooking, he served everyone a plate of candied oranges as dessert.
Li Ping and Zhang Huan finally got to eat the wild pheasant chicks and soup they had been longing for.
Children have no idea how busy adults are. They spend their days eating and drinking, and then taking the black tiger and black leopard up the mountain to frolic.
Happy times are always short-lived, and soon it was the day before Luo Yonggang's wedding.
That afternoon, many busy people came to the Luo family to help steam rice and make dishes like steamed pork with rice flour and longan meat, which require a lot of time and effort. Then, they washed and chopped various vegetables such as bok choy, pea shoots, baby bok choy, white radish, and Chinese cabbage, and put them in a winnowing basket for later use.
These vegetables, harvested during autumn and winter and touched by frost and snow, taste sweet.
The next morning, when it was still dark, Luo Yonggang dressed in a brand new outfit and went to pick up his bride.
The Luo and Bai families live close by; it only takes about ten minutes to get there from the mountain.
Next came the wedding ceremony and the banquet, which was not much different from when I married Li Weijun.
It's not that there's no difference, but the biggest difference is the food served at the wedding banquet. When Li Weijun got married, the staple food was steamed buns, but now it's rice.
There was also the longan meat, which was a favorite of Li Jiabao and others. Thin slices of white meat wrapped around sweet red bean paste and steamed on top of sweet rice wine, made it even more delicious than eight-treasure rice.
Li Yan ate a few more spoonfuls of the sweet rice wine from the longan pulp and actually got drunk. Her face was flushed, and she slept soundly on the outer bed.
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