Chapter 57
Everyone in the village was busy harvesting rice, and Sang Luo was not idle either. Because she had no extra money and only two liters of soybeans, she simply did not run to the county, but sold them in the villages along the way.
Sangluo doesn't just charge money, but can also exchange grain, beans, vegetables or eggs. This way, business is not more difficult than going to the county. Such fresh food is said to be nourishing to the body. It doesn't cost money, and you can exchange it with your own produce. During this busy farming season, most families are willing to buy a piece.
The harvest of Chinese cabbage and radish is not large because they cannot be stored. The harvest of other vegetables is not limited, but soybeans are the most used in the end because farmers consider grain and eggs precious and are reluctant to give them up.
This was exactly what Sang Luo wanted. After the busy farming season, she had to supply three families, which could not be done without soybeans. So she simply did not go to the county for the next few days. She kept some of the soybeans she earned and used some to make tofu. She would then carry the tofu on her shoulders and sell it from village to village in the surrounding areas.
In the afternoon, she would borrow a small pointed hoe and a machete from the Chen family, put on her backpack and go into the mountains. She didn't bother with anything else and only focused on konjac and sour jujube.
With the yard, Sang Luo can now do everything much more conveniently. She bolts the gate, processes the sour jujubes in the kitchen and sends them to the backyard to dry. The chickens and ducks in the backyard have now been moved to the chicken coop outside the yard. Even the three ducklings, Chen An followed Hu Zi and others and built a duck shed similar to the chicken coop that Sang Luo built, so they were all moved outside the house.
It was the konjac. When Sang Luo brought it back for the first time, it scared the siblings Shen An and Shen Ning quite a bit.
"Sister-in-law, why are you picking snakehead grass? It's poisonous and can kill people if eaten."
I was busy trying to persuade Sang Luo to throw the things away.
Shen Ning was also anxious: "Sister-in-law, throw it away. Did your hands touch it? Wash your hands clean, don't turn back to eat and accidentally eat the juice or something."
Sang Luo...can understand this level of tension.
If konjac is not handled properly and eaten raw, it will kill you in one bite, and the whole plant is highly poisonous. But if it is handled correctly, it is not that scary.
"You call this snakehead grass?"
The two kids nodded, "Yes, there is also something called demon taro. The adults taught us not to touch it. If the villagers see any around, they will shovel it away, for fear that we will be ignorant and eat it by mistake."
Sang Luo: ...
She finally understood why there was no konjac tree on the nearby mountains, and it turned out that they were cleared away manually.
Seeing the little brother and sister staring at the konjac nervously, Sang Luo could only say: "This poison can be removed through treatment. Just be careful not to put it in your mouth if it has not been treated properly."
It's really not that scary, and this thing actually has certain benefits to the body. For example, in her previous life, she would occasionally make this for herself, because eating konjac was slightly beneficial to her condition to a certain extent.
She washed the konjac directly at the outlet of the spring pit. Seeing that the brother and sister were still trying to persuade her, Sang Luo thought for a moment and said, "This thing is actually recorded in a book. I don't remember the title, but it's probably like this: 'There are konjac, dogwood, melons and taro in the garden.' The annotation says, 'Konjac is a grass. Its root is called konjac. The big one is as big as a bucket. Its flesh is white. It can be boiled in ash juice and solidified. It can be eaten with bitter wine. The people of Shu cherish it.' It is talking about the konjac you mentioned."①
This is a passage from "Fu of Shudu" by Zuo Si of the Jin Dynasty. In her previous life, Sang Luo did some popular science when she made a video about konjac, so she wrote it down roughly.
Of course, there is no Jin Dynasty or Zuo Si here. She blurred it out and only mentioned the book without mentioning the title and source. She just used the content to reassure the two children that the recipe had a legitimate source and that this thing was indeed edible.
When Shen An and Shen Ning heard Sang Luo say this, their expressions relaxed a lot. Although they didn't understand every word, they understood the general meaning.
"Is it really edible?" Shen Ning was skeptical.
In fact, I have been repeatedly warned by the adults in the village since I was a child that this thing cannot be eaten. If you eat it, the mildest consequence is pain, itching, swelling and heat in the tongue and throat, and the worst is death.
It is still very difficult to reverse this perception at once.
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Sure, you just need to watch over it for a while. But to be on the safe side, let's get a special chopping board for this. Don't put this in a wooden basin, use a ceramic basin. Just wash it clean after use."
After all, my family is running a food business, so we better be careful.
The chopping board was not difficult to make. I just picked out a wooden block from the leftovers that Chen Youtian had processed before, washed it, and moved it into the backyard and could use it directly.
Handling konjac is a delicate job. In the past, rubber gloves were a must, but here Sangluo really couldn't find gloves. He left a handle on the konjac so that he could hold it in one hand and peel it with the other.
To be on the safe side, he even went to the kitchen, smeared vinegar on his hands, asked Shen Ning to light the fire, and quickly roasted them on the fire before he started.
After peeling the skin, cut it into cubes on a wooden block. When it filled a basin, I carried it to the kitchen.
Chen An and Shen Ning have always been cautious, and they had bolted the front yard door early. Now the three of them went to the kitchen and saw Sang Luo skillfully preparing wood ash water.
Wood ash, especially for food, has been stored at home since the house was built. It is hidden in a jar and can be taken out whenever needed.
Seeing Sang Luo holding the wood ash, Chen An remembered the words that his sister-in-law had read before, that the ash could be boiled and then solidified.
I thought it was cooked directly in the pot, but it turned out not to be.
Sang Luo led the two children to the stone mill and began to grind the pulp, adding wood ash and water.
The most difficult part is controlling the proportions, but Sang Luo had done this a lot in her previous life, so she is quite skilled at it, grinding, stirring, smoothing, and letting it stand.
While waiting for it to take shape, Sang Luo took some wood ash and took the two little ones back to the backyard.
She always left the sprouts when cutting the konjac. Now she rolled the sprouts in wood ash, carried it in a backpack, took a small pointed hoe and went into the mountains to replant it.
Planted.
Yes, if you leave some sprouts on the konjac before planting it, it can continue to grow.
If you want to have an endless supply of food, the right thing to do is to dig up one tree and plant another.
Because she was afraid that the konjac tofu would be cleared away by the villagers before it fully grew, Sang Luo walked a little further away and picked up a lot of sour dates before returning. When she returned home and took a short rest, the konjac tofu was ready.
Add cold water and cut into large pieces, boil water in a pot, put the konjac tofu cubes into the pot and cook for one and a half hours.
Shen An and Shen Ning witnessed the whole process with their own eyes, and they were surprised, happy, and a little stunned.
Shen Ning thought: It turns out that the poisonous things that the villagers have always said can also be made into food that looks like tofu.
Well, after watching his sister-in-law do it step by step in an orderly manner, Shen Ning has already believed that this thing is really edible.
Chen An thought: It turns out that reading is so good. The fairy tofu, tofu, and the snakehead grass rhizomes that my sister-in-law is processing now are all learned from books.
Sang Luo didn't stop yet.
It’s not over yet.
Sang Luo’s favorite snack in her previous life was konjac.
Of course, my health failed later, so I couldn’t enjoy myself even if I wanted to. I could not even think about making heavy, oily, spicy and flavorful dishes. I could only make them while shooting videos. As for the final product, I had to walk a long way to deliver it to my neighbors in the mountains.
She can only stir-fry it as a dish, which is relatively light.
In this life, I can eat it, but I don’t have any peppers…
But there are actually substitutes, such as cornus officinalis, mustard, Sichuan pepper, and pepper. Cornus officinalis can even produce the effect of chili oil.
Of course, Sang Luo didn’t know that. She had only read some relatively miscellaneous knowledge about the substitutes for ancient peppers when she was reading some idle books in her previous life. Her original self didn’t know these things in this life, so naturally she wouldn’t know them either.
I plan to go to Old Lady Chen for advice later, and I need to ask her for some dogwood and Sichuan pepper.
What she needs to do now is to further process the konjac tofu and cut it into a tripe-like texture.
Things that were already done in the past could be handled very simply by Sang Luo using the ingenuity of two chopsticks. She picked up a piece and pulled it lightly. Hmm, it would be even better if there were some ice cubes. She chilled it in the ice and then steamed it in the pot for twenty minutes. It would be really crispy and delicious.
Of course, it’s not bad now.
The vegetarian tripe is formed in your hands, and then you just need to cook it for a while, add seasoning and chili oil and mix it, and it will be a delicious dish that you can't stop eating.
There was no sign of the chili oil seasoning yet, and Shen An and Shen Ning, who had watched the whole process, were also amazed.
How can such an ugly snakehead grass be made into this?
Sang Luo looked at the stunned faces of the brother and sister and smiled: "That's just the beginning. I'll go ask your Grandma Chen for some seasonings later. I'll let you try the mixed ones tonight. That's the best."
Shen An and Shen Ning swallowed their saliva for unknown reasons.
The brother and sister who had worked at the stall with Sang Luo both knew that their sister-in-law had an amazing ability: when she talked about food, she could make people drool just by talking about it.
Now they are.
…
It was easy to get the seasonings. The old lady's family grew dogwood, and they also had Sichuan pepper. As for pepper and mustard, the old lady had never heard of them.
Hearing that Sang Luo was trying to find new food, the old lady got out everything for her, including garlic and onions.
Sang Luo went home and made a fuss in the kitchen. The vegetarian tripe, one large and two small, were cooked cold and started to sizzle as they tasted it.
Shen An and Shen Ning said that snakehead grass is highly poisonous and should be thrown away immediately: It’s delicious, so fragrant!
Of course, since I borrowed something from the old lady, I had to send a copy of the finished product over. Sang Luo cooked, Chen Ning made the fire, and naturally Chen An was responsible for running errands.
Poor little Chen An, he had to carry the bowl of vegetarian tripe all the way. It was so difficult for him to restrain himself from reaching out his evil claws.
I was really envious of my sister-in-law and younger sister. They were cooking at home. Do you think they were still eating the cold vegetarian tripe?
Is there any?
Is there any?
have!
Chen An was crying out, he wanted to eat too, he was eager to go home, do you understand?
I was so greedy that tears were about to burst out of the corners of my mouth.
As soon as he arrived at the Chen family's courtyard, he called out "Grandma Chen" in a hurry. After handing over the things, he poured a bowl of vegetarian tripe that smelled so good that his saliva was almost watering into the bowl that the old lady came to take, then turned around and ran away.
Old Mrs. Chen: ...
So what?
She looked at the food in the bowl. Uh, it looked quite appetizing.
She picked up a small piece with her fingers and put it into her mouth, and Mrs. Chen's eyes lit up! ! ! !
As for! This is really as for!
One more piece.
The old lady ate five pieces in a row and finally managed to hold back. Her good habit of sharing delicious food with her family made it difficult for her to control her hands.
Only at this time did I sigh in my heart, Sang has come up with new food again.
I don’t know whether I will sell this to them.
If this is sold, it will be so tempting and I will definitely make money!
Tomorrow, the busy farming season will be over. The Shi and Lu families should have already decided who will set up the stalls and where they will set up the stalls. I will go and ask them tomorrow.
The author has something to say:
①The whole paragraph is excerpted from Xiao Tong’s Selected Works of Literature. The garden has konjac, dogwood, melons and taro. The original text comes from Zuo Si’s Fu on the Capital of Shu in the Jin Dynasty.
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