Chapter 261 Making Rice Cakes
After killing the pig, it’s time to start making glutinous rice cakes.
After being soaked overnight, grandma poured the white glutinous rice into the steamer, and Gu Jiayue lit the fire very high.
The orange flames licked the bottom of the pot, and the water in the pot soon began to boil. Streams of hot steam rose from the center of the steamer, and soon the aroma of rice overflowed.
She has been in Taohua Village for almost a year. She is not very good at other things, but she has mastered the skill of making fire.
Grandma lifted the lid of the steamer and collected the water in a bowl. "Yuhe? Gu Yuhe!"
Because it was cold, they couldn't survive without a fire. But the Gu family was large, and it was unrealistic to have a fire in every room.
So Grandpa cleared out the room next to the kitchen, set up a table and chairs, and lit a fire. The whole family gathered around it. The men would weave bamboo baskets or pack up farm tools, the women would make clothes, shoes, and socks, and the children would hunch over the tables to do their homework.
Gu Yuhe, who was writing, heard his grandmother calling him, and quickly put down his pen and ran out.
No matter what his grandmother asked him to do, as long as it was not reading or writing, it would be fine.
"Grandma, what do you want me to do?"
Grandma motioned him over and wiped the water in the bowl to Gu Yuhe's mouth. "I'll tell you not to be greedy again in the future!"
A few days ago, a pig was slaughtered and Gu Yuhe ate too much meat. The next day, he started to get a sore throat and a red sore appeared at the corner of his mouth.
It hurts when touched.
Fortunately, farmers have ways to deal with this kind of sore.
When using the rice cooker, just wipe the water on the lid a few times and it will be fine.
Look, it’s only been a few days, and the only sore left on the corner of Gu Yuhe’s mouth is the most serious one.
Grandma hit him a little too hard, and Gu Yuhe grimaced in pain. "It hurts, grandma, please be gentler."
Grandma rolled her eyes at him and handed him the bowl. "Go away. Put it next to the charcoal brazier and rub it with some."
"Okay, okay." Gu Yuhe shrank his head. He felt that his grandmother had been very impatient lately and was particularly prone to anger. He should run away to avoid getting hurt.
Only Grandma Gu and Gu Jiayue were left in the kitchen.
"Jiayue." Grandma was sitting aside, a little hesitant, not knowing how to start.
Gu Jiayue looked up and looked at her grandmother with a smile.
After struggling for a while, grandma gritted her teeth and finally said what she wanted to say. "It's like this. A few days ago, your aunt, my eldest sister-in-law, came to see me. She wanted to ask if she could send her grandson to school after the New Year."
After she finished speaking, she was afraid that Gu Jiayue would misunderstand, so she quickly explained: "I'm not trying to embarrass you, I'm just asking for help. If it really doesn't work, that's fine. My uncle and aunt are both reasonable people, they will understand."
Gu Jiayue put down the fire hook, still smiling, "I know, grandma. Please find time to tell my aunt that after the 16th day of the first lunar month, you can bring your grandchildren to sign up."
"I originally planned to recruit some more students after the New Year. Anyone who wants to study can come."
Gu Jiayue briefly told Grandma Gu about her plans for next year. Grandma Gu, who had been nervous about causing trouble for Gu Jiayue, finally calmed down, and her eyes warmed. "Okay, I'll tell you about your aunt someday. You haven't met your uncle's grandchildren yet, have you? They're all pretty good kids, but our family is so poor, we can barely afford to eat, so we never thought about sending them to school."
"By the way, Jiayue, is the exemption from tuition for the first year of school only valid for Taohua Village? Or do children from other places also have to pay?"
"Well, it works for all children. As long as they are willing to come and study, there is no need to resign in the first year."
Gu Jiayue did some calculations. Kangzi has already opened five stores in Juzhou. After the Chinese New Year, she may even open branches in other states. Therefore, the current profits can support her to continue to let the children go to school for free.
This is her mission and the goal she strives for throughout her life.
While the grandfather and grandson were chatting, the glutinous rice in the steamer was cooked.
Grandma called out, and the eldest and second uncles came out carrying the tools for pounding glutinous rice cakes. It was a groove carved out of stone, with a pounding head made of wood.
Put the steamed rice into the groove, and the eldest uncle and the second uncle each hold a pestle, lift it high, and put it down heavily.
"Oh!"
"ha!"
The yard was filled with the groaning sounds of the uncles as they exerted themselves.
The children at home stood by and watched, eager to try it too.
Especially Gu Yuhe, he jumped up and down. "Uncle, uncle, let me pound it a few times."
The glutinous rice cake must be pounded while it is hot, otherwise it will not taste good. "Just your little arms, go play and wait for the food."
Gu Yuhe, who was rejected, was not angry, nor did he leave. He just squatted there and shouted "Come on!" "Uncle, why haven't we made glutinous rice cakes before?"
Hearing this, the uncle felt a little exhausted. He wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve. "Why? Because we're poor. Who would waste such fine rice to make glutinous rice cakes when we can't even get enough to eat?"
"That's right. The ten kilograms of glutinous rice your grandma steamed today can be exchanged for thirty kilograms of cornmeal." Second uncle also took over the conversation.
Gu Yuhe clenched his fists and looked determined after hearing this. "I must study hard and become a high-ranking official. Then I can make sure that my grandparents and my uncles can eat refined rice every day."
This sentence made everyone laugh.
When the glutinous rice cake was almost pounded, grandma returned to the kitchen. This time, she called all the girls in the family over. "Whether this glutinous rice cake is delicious or not depends on the filling."
There are many flavors of glutinous rice cakes in the southwest, some are filled with sugar, some are filled with crispy and sesame, and some are filled with beans.
The villagers in Taohua Village generally like stuffed beans because other foods are expensive.
However, this year the Gu family slaughtered a pig, and grandma chopped a large bowl of oil residue and mixed it with the cooked cowpeas.
While she was stir-frying, she told me how much ginger, garlic, and seasonings to add.
Gu Jiayue and her two sisters listened very carefully. They knew that this was their grandmother teaching them the craft.
People like girls who are skillful and capable, so as long as there are girls in the family, the elders in the family will cultivate them in their words, deeds and abilities.
I hope they will have less trouble when they get married in the future.
"Mom, the glutinous rice cakes are ready."
Following the second uncle's call, grandma's fried stuffing was ready.
The family moved the fillings and glutinous rice cakes into a room with a charcoal fire, and sat around. Grandma pinched a small ball of glutinous rice cake for each child and said, "Here, take it and eat it first. After you finish eating, you can learn how to make it."
Gu Yuhe didn't care whether it was hot or not, he held the glutinous rice cake in his hands and threw it into the basin of fillings and pressed it hard. In this way, the whole glutinous rice cake was covered with fillings.
He opened his mouth wide and bit off most of it in one bite. "Wow, that's great."
His mouth was full of glutinous rice cakes and he couldn't speak clearly.
Mrs. Li was a little disappointed. This shameful thing turned out to be her son? She really didn't want him at all. Turning around, she saw her eldest son next to her with a cold face, as if the whole family owed him millions of taels of silver. She was immediately even more upset.
One is cold and the other is stupid, how can we live like this?
Will she still have a daughter-in-law in the future?
Hmm, she seemed to have forgotten something? Something quite important.
Gu Jiayue pinched a small ball and dipped it in a little stuffing.
It was delicious, a different flavor. But she still missed the sweet rice cakes her grandmother made.
In her previous life, Gu Jiayue lived in the south, where they also made glutinous rice cakes during the New Year. But the difference was that in the small town where her family lived, people preferred to eat glutinous rice cakes made with brown sugar.
Wrap the glutinous rice cake with brown sugar, then fry it with oil until golden brown. The crispy taste explodes in your mouth.
Gu Jiayue looked up at the beams of the house. She missed her grandma a little.
"Come here, Jiayue." The aunt nudged her gently, and then placed a bowl of chopped brown sugar in front of Gu Jiayue. "I thought you might not be used to the taste here, why don't you try something sweet?"
Gu Jiayue's tears, which had finally stopped her from going back, suddenly fell.
This frightened the whole family and made them panic. "Oh, what happened?"
"You silly woman, Jiayue didn't say she wanted to eat sweets, why are you making such random ideas?"
The aunt-in-law was also anxious. "I thought Jiayue had never eaten anything like ours in Kyoto before. So I made my own decision."
Gu Jiayue quickly wiped away her tears. "No, no, no, I really like eating candy, especially brown sugar rice cakes. Thank you, auntie."
Thank you, thank you for giving me a family again.
A steamer is a cooking tool used in Juzhou. It's similar to a bucket and made of wood, and can be used to steam rice and other things. The rice cooked in it is actually better than that cooked in an electric rice cooker; the rice grains are perfectly cooked. It does require skill, though. When I was little, I often made half-cooked rice, earning a lot of scolding from my mom, hahaha.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
