Chapter 25
After Gu Xiangrong and Gu Wenshu went to school, Gu Xinxin started calling people: "Grandma, you come to light the fire, stepmother, come to work."
The stepmother was annoyed by the shouting. Gu Daniu lay lazily on the bed and said, "Don't you want to learn this secret recipe?"
Gu Chen immediately got up and ran straight to the kitchen. Gu Xinxin was mixing honey on the side and asked Gu Chen to knead the dough: "Knead it for half an hour, let it sit for 25 minutes, and then knead it for another half an hour."
Old Mrs. Gu stood trembling at the door: "Wouldn't it take more than an hour to start? Light the fire now?"
"Let's light the fire and make breakfast now. If I don't eat breakfast, I'll be hungry and won't have the energy to work later." Gu Xinxin was annoyed. She didn't cook in the morning, so no one in the family got up to cook. Fortunately, she secretly gave Gu Xiangrong some money, otherwise Gu Xiangrong would probably go hungry too.
Since there will be something delicious later, breakfast is just a quickie.
While kneading the dough, Gu Chen looked at Gu Xinxin angrily. She felt that Gu Xinxin was dozens of times more hateful than before. Kneading dough was really too tiring. If she restrained herself a little, Gu Xinxin would act sarcastic.
Gu Daniu went up the mountain again. After all, Gu Xinxin's business had not yet been settled, and there were two scholars in the family. The expenses were getting higher and higher. When he thought of his two sons asking him for money every now and then, he felt that the bed was getting hot and he couldn't lie down.
Although the weather was hot and few animals came out of the mountains, he had to check on the traps he had made and then get a few new ones.
Gu Chen kneaded the dough until it was very smooth, almost shiny, and then Gu Xinxin said it was okay.
The next step is to make small twists, which is a relatively simple job. After making them, you need to fry them first. Fry them in lard on low heat. Take them out immediately when they turn golden brown. If you don’t take them out, they will change their taste and taste bitter. After taking them out, spread the honey and egg yolks you just prepared on them, sprinkle with white sesame seeds, and then bake them in the oven - this is to prevent the honey from flowing down, and the honey and egg yolks need to solidify together.
This is Gu Xinxin’s exclusive secret recipe.
Because whether it is fried or baked, it can only meet one aspect of the requirement, so hers is an innovation.
Of course, whether it is the frying time and temperature, or the oven time and temperature, there are very high requirements, because it is already fried when it comes out of the oil pan. If you bake it over high heat, it will most likely be burnt.
Again, there are only so many steps, and anyone can learn them. However, controlling the heat and timing is not something everyone can master. Timing is easy, but controlling the heat is invisible to the naked eye, and the temperature is untraceable; this requires talent.
Unless you have an electric oven.
But even with an electric oven, there are still chances of failure.
The oven was sealed, so Gu Xinxin could only open the door a crack to observe. After about a quarter of an hour, she immediately turned off the fire and used long chopsticks to pick out the fried dough twists one by one. The egg yolk had solidified, and there was a layer of honey on it, which made it look even more golden and tempting.
It tasted sweet, too. Old Mrs. Gu had already come over consciously: "Xinxin, you have to taste it, right?"
Gu Xinxin handed her one casually: "Put it in your mouth first and wait until it softens before eating it, otherwise your tooth will break and become damaged." But there was no place to fill her tooth.
Gu Chen also came over and grabbed a handful, but then let go because it was too hot.
Gu Xinxin ignored her and picked one up and put it in her mouth. She took a bite and immediately squinted her eyes. It was crispy, sweet and delicious, a perfect replica.
She filled a bowl with a smile and walked out on her own. Gu Chen quickly shouted, "What are you doing?"
"Send some to Second Aunt's home." Gu Xinxin smiled. Second Aunt happened to be at home today. There was no big market today, so only her son and daughter-in-law went to the town to set up a stall with a wheelbarrow.
Seeing what was in Gu Xinxin's bowl, she immediately became curious: "Is this the honey fried dough twist you mentioned before? It smells sweet, so they used a lot of honey, right?"
Gu Xinxin stuffed one into her mouth. Second Auntie took a bite and nodded after a moment: "It's very crispy, but I'm afraid it's not suitable for elderly people to eat too much."
"It's okay. You can eat it after holding it in your mouth for a while. You won't eat much, though." Gu Xinxin said, and asked the second aunt: "Is there any beekeeper near our village?"
If you buy honey in town, the price might be hard to adjust, but if you go to a beekeeper yourself, you might get a better deal.
In fact, she actually hopes to raise bees at home, after all, Gu Daniu also goes up the mountain every day.
But beekeeping is not something you can do whenever you want. It requires some skills. Otherwise, you may get stung by bees before you even see the honey.
Second Aunt shook her head. The winter here is not short. Beekeeping is best done in a place where it is spring all year round. I heard that there are more bees in the south because the honey sellers in the town all say that their honey comes from the south.
Second Auntie asked Gu Xinxin, "The potatoes in our village are almost sold out. Someone came to me today and asked if I could sell them all next year if they wanted to plant more potatoes."
Gu Xinxin pondered for a moment and said, "Sure, let everyone plant as much as they want. Don't plant as much as you want. Didn't I tell you before that we can make sweet plum chips? I'll see if there are any plums for sale in the county town. After all, we only have one village, so we can still consume them."
How big is a village? At most, it covers only a little over a thousand acres of land.
It's roughly similar to a medium-sized farm.
She didn't know much about agronomy, otherwise she could have taken the opportunity to develop the crop economy. By then, she would have become the benefactor of the entire village. It all depended on whether Gu Daniu dared to hit her and go against the entire village.
But it didn't matter now. She said to Second Auntie, "Potatoes can be made into other delicious dishes. I have a lot of ideas in mind."
Second Aunt hesitated for a moment: "If your uncle's family asks..."
Gu Xinxin said, "I can offer some advice. We're family, after all. But I need to get a bigger share of their earnings. I'm in urgent need of money now. Xiangrong is studying, and I need to save up some for my dowry. Otherwise, how can I expect my stepmother to save up a dowry for me?"
She didn't have any deep impression of the uncle's family. Unlike the second aunt, who would send her food and drinks from time to time. If Gu Daniu went too far, the second aunt would come to stop him in person.
The uncle's family had a common problem: they looked down on girls. His family lived a little far away, so he didn't hear anything and naturally didn't come to ask.
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