After dinner, Zhao Shiyun took out the cut zong leaves, trimmed the ends with scissors, and poured clean water into a basin to wash the leaves. Lin Yan wanted to help him wash them, but Zhao Shiyun didn't let him sit on the small stool, fearing that it would stretch his stomach.
"Brother Yu, come and help me wash them." Zhao Shiyun asked for another helper. "Here I am." Brother Yu loved eating zongzi the most, so he was happy to do this job.
"Then I'll go boil some water." Lin Yan said. The rice dumplings leaves need to be boiled in hot water.
When the water is hot and the leaves are washed, put them into the hot water and boil for about quarter of an hour. Take out one leaf and pinch the stem at the top until it softens.
Take out the cooked rice dumplings leaves, rinse them one by one with clean water, then put them upright in a bucket to drain, and they can be used tomorrow.
After finishing all this, it was already getting late. Lin Yan dug out another bag of mung beans, having almost forgotten this important ingredient. He poured the mung beans and red beans into a basin, soaked them in clean water, and soaked the glutinous rice in warm water.
"Ha~" Yu Ge'er yawned and stretched, "Brother, I'm going to sleep. You should get some rest too."
"Okay, I'm done."
*
The next day, when Lin Yan woke up, his mother had already kneaded the dough and steamed the pumpkin, preparing to make pumpkin pancakes. Lin Yan checked on the glutinous rice he had soaked the previous night and pinched it. If it broke, it was done.
Zhao Shiyun had already ground the beans and hurried over when he saw this. "What are you doing? I'll do it."
"Pour out the water, then wash the glutinous rice with warm water to clean the pulp." Zhao Shiyun did as he was told. Then, following Lin Yan's instructions, he poured out most of the water from the mung bean basin, leaving a small amount. He then rubbed the mung beans repeatedly with his hands, using moderate pressure to avoid crushing them. After the skins fell off, he poured in clean water; the skins would float up, and then he removed them and discarded them. This was to remove the skins, which were required for making zongzi.
This step needs to be repeated several times until most of the skins are removed. Fortunately, red beans don't need to be peeled, otherwise it would be exhausting. Zhao Shiyun silently complained.
Lin Yan didn't stand by and watch, he went into the kitchen to help make pumpkin cakes. As for steamed buns, they only started making them at the shop. They kneaded and let the dough rise at home, then made them right at the shop and steamed them.
Today Zhao Shiyun went to the shop with him, and Yu Ge'er saw that there was still room on the donkey cart, so he went out with him.
After everyone left, Li Yuemei started to cook red bean paste.
The red beans were already soaked. Li Yuemei placed them in a pot and added an appropriate amount of water, with the water level slightly higher than the beans. Bringing the pot to a boil, she lowered the heat, covered the pot, and simmered for more than half an hour, stirring occasionally, until the beans were soft and could be crushed with a spatula.
After finally cooking the beans, the fire in the kitchen was still burning and it was so hot that Li Yuemei broke out in a sweat.
Li Yuemei took out a tofu mold, covered it with gauze, poured the cooked red beans into the gauze, squeezed and rubbed it with a spoon, so that the bean paste could be separated through the filter or gauze, leaving behind the bean skin and other residues.
Zhao Qiming poured a bowl of water over and said, "You must be tired. Drink some water and take a rest. Let me do it." After that, he took the spoon from Li Yuemei's hand and continued to squeeze the bean paste.
After squeezing the bean paste, add an appropriate amount of lard to the wok, pour in the bean paste, add sugar and other seasonings, stir-fry over medium-low heat until the water is dry and the bean paste becomes thick and does not stick to the bottom of the pan and the spatula. It is almost done.
Li Yuemei scooped out the red bean paste and prepared to cook some noodles for lunch. In the morning, she thought about not having eaten noodles for a long time, so she specially left some dough when making steamed buns. Therefore, she did not cook porridge in the morning, but ate pumpkin cakes and soy milk.
The scallion oil noodles made by Brother Yan last time were delicious, so let’s make that.
Li Yuemei first boiled water, kneading and cutting the dough while it was boiling. Then she cut the scallions into long sections and set them aside. When the water boiled, Li Yuemei added the noodles, stirring with chopsticks to prevent them from sticking. The noodles tumbled in the pot, emitting a faint wheat aroma.
Soon, the noodles were cooked. Li Yuemei scooped them out and placed them in a bowl. Next, she added a little lard to the pot and, once the oil was slightly warm, added chopped green onions. The green onions instantly burst into a rich aroma, and Li Yuemei quickly removed the firewood to prevent them from burning. She then added soy sauce, salt, and a little sugar to the scallion oil and stirred thoroughly to create a scallion sauce.
Finally, Li Yuemei poured the scallion oil sauce on the noodles, and a bowl of fragrant scallion oil noodles was ready. She mixed two bowls, added hot sauce, and came to the yard with the noodles, calling Zhao Qiming to eat noodles. Zhao Qiming was already hungry. He washed his hands and came over. Seeing Li Yuemei eating with gusto, he quickly sat down and ate, "Don't say it, these noodles are really delicious. After Brother Yan made it once, I kept thinking about it."
Li Yuemei also liked it very much. She used to have clear soup noodles with at most an egg and a handful of green vegetables. She never thought that a handful of green onions could make such delicious noodles.
"This scallion oil can be saved. After making the rice dumplings, I'll make some more and put it in a jar. When you and Shi Yun are home, you can make it whenever you want."
"Uh-huh."
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