We spent so much time catching cicada monkeys, so naturally everyone’s labor was not wasted at noon.
The peanut oil squeezed by the oil press in the village smells particularly fragrant. Put three spoons of oil in the pot and heat it to 70% hot. Pour the cleaned cicada monkeys into it, and it will make a sizzling sound. The children standing by the pot watching will start to drool just by looking at it.
"It smells so good, grandma."
"Mmm, it smells so good, it looks so delicious!"
In order to fry the cicada monkeys deliciously and crispy, the oil temperature and time must be controlled very well. Aunt Shen, Lin Junqi, has traveled all over the country with Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen since she was a child, and has been to Mountain Province, where fried cicada monkeys are a specialty. She has seen how the locals made them there, but there was less oil at that time, so it was more like roasting them in an iron pan at high temperature than frying them.
I kept turning the cicada monkeys in the pot with the chopsticks in my hand. After about five minutes, I scooped them all up with a colander. After controlling the oil, I added salt and cumin powder while the temperature was high. I also added some chili powder to the adults' portion.
"Hey, don't crowd here. Go sit outside. Grandma brought this out. It's fresh out of the pot and still hot. Don't crowd here, or you'll get burned."
Afraid that the children could not wait any longer, Lin Junqi used chopsticks to stir the food several times to cool it down.
After receiving the instruction from grandma that they could eat, the children didn't even ask for chopsticks and started eating directly. Little Peanut and Little Melon Seed were still uneducated, and the concept of "insects cannot be eaten" simply didn't exist in the minds of the two little guys.
"Mmm, it's delicious and fragrant, isn't it, brother?"
"Yeah, it's good, delicious, and crunchy. It's a pity that mom, dad, and uncle are not here, so they can't eat it. Let's eat more for them, little melon seeds."
"good."
Pinch one with two fingers, and the cooled cicada monkey will become even more crispy, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. You can't stop eating it at all.
Although Qin Shutong was interested in catching cicada monkeys, she was still very conflicted about eating them. When she returned to China at the age of fourteen, she was already six or seven years old. She had never eaten anything so special, let alone cicada monkeys, abroad. The food she had eaten in Beijing over the years was also normal, and the most she had eaten was spicy rabbit head.
Looking at the "bug" in his hand, and then at the young ladies and brothers who were eating with great relish beside him, Qin Shutong prepared himself mentally for several minutes, dipped it in some chili powder, and then stuffed the golden cicada monkey into his mouth.
After chewing it twice, it tasted pretty good because of the cumin powder and chili powder.
"It's okay, sister. I still remember when I was five or six years old, my aunt and uncle and I. It was also hot at this time. We caught cicada monkeys and got oil from home with a group of friends. We gathered together at Xiaoxue's house and fried them. Grandma Xiaoxue made them delicious." Shen Zixi shared stories with her good sisters without slowing down her movements. These younger brothers were all gluttons. If they slowed down, they might have nothing to eat.
"Yeah, it's my first time eating it, and it feels pretty good. I should say it another way, fried food, as long as the ingredients are not bad, will taste good."
Eight children, two plates of cicada monkeys, a few of them finished them as a small snack before dinner, and the peanuts and melon seeds were even more reluctant to eat more, it was because their stomachs were small and their mouths were slow to move, otherwise they would definitely be full.
After lunch at home, a group of children gathered in the Shen family's courtyard again. Mother Shen saw that the sun was strong and restrained the children from going out. "Cool down in the house with the electric fan. There's no rush to go out. Wait until later when the sun is not so hot, then go out and play. Erbao, didn't you bring a lot of comic books? Take your brothers and sisters to read for a while. If you feel sleepy, take a nap on the kang. Grandma will cut melons and wash grapes for you."
Although the boys were naughty, they were obedient. About ten boys, big and small, sat on the kang, chatting and reading comic books. They were a group of people who had just known each other for a day, and the atmosphere was particularly good.
It was a little after three o'clock, and the sun was a little weaker. The villagers also wore straw hats and went out to work. The children who had been detained for several hours finally went out.
"Let's go to the mountain to play today. There are many fruit trees planted by the villagers on the mountain. We can't pick them casually because we have to sell them. But there is a large area of wild fruits in the back mountain. We can go there to find some fruits to eat."
"Yeah, it would be better if you came after the autumn harvest. The mountains will be full of delicious food then, hazelnuts, hawthorns, pine nuts, so many, so much to eat. You can't eat them all, absolutely."
Although my family receives dried fruits and vegetables carefully selected by fellow villagers every year, the feeling is different. The ones picked by ourselves are always more delicious.
The areas where weeds grew on the back mountain have been developed. The fruit trees planted in the village for several years have started to bear fruit in the past two years. The quality of the fruits produced last year, the first year, were not very good, so they were all made into dried fruits and canned food. This year is the second year, and they can be officially put on the market for sale. The children in the village all know that these will be sold by the village collective for money, so they usually don’t touch them.
We often go up the mountain, and the children know where the wild fruit trees and dried goods trees on the back mountain are. With them leading the way, the journey was very smooth.
"There are few wild fruits at the foot of the mountain. These blueberries and lantern fruit have only been available in the past few years. They must have grown from seeds that floated down a few years ago. Let's pick some here to eat on the way. We still have to climb up later, and the more we have, the more we will have to reach the mountainside."
Cao Siheng and Shen Zixuan were not interested in the wild fruits on the mountain. The two little guys were very smart. It was impossible for them, two dwarfs, to pick the fruits growing on the trees. They just followed their brothers to join in the fun. They heard from several brothers in the village that there were not many wild fruit seedlings of these dwarf fruits.
The two little guys took the small basket they brought from home and started picking the fruits excitedly. The fruits were not sprayed with pesticides and were very clean. They picked and ate them at the same time, and their mouths turned red and black.
When Chen Anyan brought his wife over, what he saw were two little kids happily picking fruits and older children waiting on the side.
"What's wrong? Aren't we going up the mountain? Why are you all waiting here?"
Chen Ziyi was extremely helpless. "Dad, my brothers said we have to fill the baskets." The key point was that the two little guys insisted on doing it themselves and didn't want the ones others picked for them. We can't just leave them here, right? For the first time, Erbao felt the helplessness of taking care of his younger brothers.
Chen Anyan immediately picked up the two children and said, "Okay, uncle is here, and we can also pick fruits from the trees on the mountain."
"Let's go, lead the way!"
Although he is engaged in scientific research, Shen Anyan is physically strong. It is not difficult for him to climb the mountain while holding two children. Although he is tired, he can persist.
Precisely because of the word "face", Little Peanut and Little Melon Seed did not feel sorry for him. They had a great time on the mountain for the whole afternoon. After all, there were people holding him while climbing the mountain, and people giving him a ride on their necks while picking fruits. At the end of the whole trip, the most tired person was Chen Anyan.
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