Chapter 49: Growing Winter Vegetables and Pickling Salted Vegetables

Hang Jingshu returned to his family compound in the dark. When he entered the house, the Yan family had just finished dinner.

Yu Lihong was cleaning up the dishes and saw Hang Jingshu and said happily, "Xiao Hang is back!"

Gu Zhengguo and Yan Chengan were sitting on the sofa. When they saw Hang Jingshu coming back, they asked, "You're back. When will you enroll?"

Hang Jingshu changed his shoes after entering the house, and then walked into the living room before speaking: "Tomorrow is Friday, Teacher Cai will go to adjust the student's registration, and then I will go to school on Monday."

We still have a one-day-off system, so we still have to go to school on Saturdays.

And the holidays are real holidays, there is no such thing as adjusted leave.

Thinking of the two-week long autumn holiday during the autumn harvest every year, Hang Jingshu sighed. If he told others about this, many people who had taken the holiday would be jealous.

Seeing that everything was on track, Gu Zhengguo felt very regretful: "When Xiaohang goes to school in the future, we will have one less delicious meal~"

Yan Chengan didn't say anything, but Hang Jingshu was amused by Gu Zhengguo and laughed out loud: "Then I'll make more delicious food for you in the next two days!"

He did what he said. The next day, Hang Jingshu got up early and went to the farmers' market to buy vegetables.

I came at a good time today, as there were actually two shops selling crabs.

Grandma Yan likes to eat big crabs, which are hard to find here. The rice field crabs we got today are quite good, not big but plump and heavy to the touch.

"Girl, give me some crabs. I caught them from my own fields. The male and female crabs are absolutely delicious!"

This agricultural and trade market is located near the compound, and there are other vocational colleges around it, so there are many fresh ingredients for sale.

"Rice crabs from my own fields! 70 cents a pound! First come, first served!"

After this shout, several more people suddenly appeared beside the stall.

"I want two pounds!"

"I want six pounds!"

Seeing that the crabs in the bamboo basket were getting fewer and fewer, Hang Jingshu made a quick decision: "I want six pounds!"

"Okay!" The stall owner smiled and started to catch crabs for Hang Jingshu. After weighing them, he tied them up with straw ropes and handed them to Hang Jingshu: "Here, sister, it's six pounds!"

Hang Jingshu found 4.2 yuan and handed it over. The rice field crab was still alive and kicking after being tied up. There were other vegetables in the shopping basket, so Hang Jingshu could only tie them up and put them outside the basket.

There were some spare ribs at home, so he made the sweet and sour ribs that Grandma Yan liked. Finally, he bought tofu and cabbage, and then Hang Jingshu went home to prepare dinner.

First, use a clay pot to simmer the bone-in pork elbow, then stir-fry the fish-flavored pork shreds, mu shu pork, and flavored eggplant, stew cabbage with tofu, and sweet and sour spare ribs. The cold dish is a big mixed vegetable, paired with steamed rice field crab, and then have some seaweed egg drop soup to complete the meal.

It’s a pity that winter bamboo shoots are not available for sale now, otherwise we could make pickled bamboo shoots.

The staple food is still two kinds, two-grain rice and big steamed buns.

After breakfast, Hang Jingshu was busy in the kitchen alone. He started stewing the pork elbow and then cutting vegetables, which did not delay his work.

The main reason is that Yan’s kitchen is big enough, and it doesn’t feel crowded even if three pots are used at the same time.

If he had an oven, Hang Jingshu could also make some Western desserts.

Now the relationship between Hang Jingshu and Yu Lihong is getting better and better, and it is Yu Lihong who helps to make rice for lunch.

We are all working together, whether happy or unhappy, it is a day.

Of course, except for those inappropriate colleagues.

It's good enough not to scold them.

When lunch was served, everyone in the Yan family exclaimed in surprise.

They are all homely and easy-to-eat dishes, and the dishes are naturally clean in the end.

Yu Lihong likes the flavored eggplant the most, which is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Nowadays, people eat less oil, so the fried eggplant tastes naturally delicious.

Yu Lihong is also an invisible foodie. The two of them chatted while eating in the kitchen: "Xiaohang, your seasoning is really good. The sour, sweet and spicy flavors are just right."

"Hey, as long as everyone likes it."

Although it was lively for everyone to eat together, it was also a bit uncomfortable. Hang Jingshu and Yu Lihong still preferred to eat in the kitchen.

Today is Friday. After taking the exam yesterday, Hang Jingshu felt his mind was empty, so he simply stopped reading in the afternoon and went to the backyard with Grandpa Yan to plant winter vegetables.

The weather in October is good enough to plant some vegetables, such as spinach and green onions. You can still eat them before the temperature drops below zero.

If you plant them at this time, they will sprout early in the spring, so you will still have vegetables to eat when there is a shortage of food.

Grandpa Yan is still strong as ever. He turns the soil with a hoe without any sign of fatigue. After turning the soil over and making it loose, he can sow the seeds.

At the same time, there was still half a bed of mustard greens left in the field, and Hang Jingshu pulled them all out when he had time.

The mustard roots are used to pickle red mustard, and the leaves are blanched in water at night to make mustard and crucian carp soup.

Nowadays, every household has a jar of pickles and a large jar of sauce, so they can make whatever they want to eat.

Here we are used to making sauce with soybeans, which is slightly different from the way the sauce is made in the Northeast. The taste is similar to a certain brand of soybean sauce nowadays.

The sauce made in spring can be eaten until the next spring.

This kind of sauce can be used to pickle red cabbage dumplings.

Customs and cooking methods vary from place to place, but in the end shepherd's purse is always eaten as a salted vegetable.

Hang Jingshu thought of this question only after he had finished collecting the mustard greens: "Grandpa Yan, where is our soy sauce jar?"

I didn't expect Hang Jingshu to ask this question. Grandpa Yan was stunned for a moment. After thinking carefully, he said, "It seems not."

Before, Grandpa Yan had to travel everywhere and sleep in the open air. He ate whatever was available in the cafeteria, and there were times when he had to eat frozen potatoes.

Grandma Yan is from Haicheng and doesn’t know how to make pickled vegetables.

We have only moved here for over a year. In the previous winters, Aunt Zhou liked to cook cabbage stew or greasy stewed meat. Last winter, the couple lost several pounds.

Hang Jingshu followed Wang Silan in pickling salted vegetables and making paste since he was a child.

Making sauces in early spring and pickling vegetables in early winter are memories that are almost engraved in our bones.

no?

Hang Jingshu was still holding the mustard cabbage in his hand, and now he and Grandpa Yan were both confused.

I plant a lot of vegetables every year. Apart from the ones I eat, I give some away, and the ones I can’t finish are thrown away. I never thought that I could pickle vegetables at home.

Even though they knew it was possible to pickle the vegetables, the old couple didn't know how to do it, so Aunt Zhou naturally didn't want to bother them.

Hang Jingshu thought there were other ways to cook it: "If we don't have a pickle jar, how are we going to eat mustard greens?"

Grandpa Yan: ...

Do you believe me when I say I am just growing fresh produce?

Finally, the task of buying the tank was given to Yan Chengan and Gu Zhengguo.

After all, Hang Jingshu himself couldn't move or pull back several of the large vats.

The next day, Yan Chengan and Gu Zhengguo drove to the nearby farmers' market.

I successfully bought the jar described by Hang Jingshu, which is a little shorter than the waist (based on Hang Jingshu's height) and has a mouth width similar to that of a washbasin.

Remove the head, tail and skin of the mustard greens, wash them dry and cut them in half if they are too big.

Because there was no sauce at home, Hang Jingshu went to the farmers' market to buy some.

First marinate with salt, then dry in the sun to remove excess moisture from the surface before adding sauce and spices and continuing to marinate.

During the pickling process, you have to occasionally take them out and expose them to the sun before continuing to pickle them. This way, the mustard greens will be red and tasty.

Every afternoon, Hang Jingshu would go back to the gate of the compound and wait for Wang Silan to come and see her.

When I went out today, I happened to run into Wang Silan who was anxiously waiting at the gate. When she saw me, she rushed over and grabbed my hand: "Ni, I went to deliver goods to Miss Liu this time, and I found that several stalls were selling those ornaments. What should we do?!"