Chapter 19 Wood Ash Raw Materials
In the end, it was Shen Qing who made the final decision. They decided to eat the pig's head in the next two days and not keep it. They would eat fresh ones.
The lard residue can be stored for a long time after being boiled. You can add a few of them into stews later. They will have much more oil and water than pig ears and pig tongues.
What Shen Qing didn't say was that once the brushes were sold and there was income, he could increase his investment in soap, and then there would be no need to save on lard residue.
Thinking of the brush, she didn't even bother to eat the noodle soup and immediately asked Huo Bing, who was moving a chair over, "Do you know if there's anyone in our village who has straw?"
The main crops in Xingcheng are wheat, which is planted at the end of September in the lunar calendar and harvested in early May of the following year. Corn is then planted and harvested in early September, so that there are two harvests a year.
Wheat ground into flour is a refined grain and sells for a high price. Most farmers are reluctant to eat it and sell it for household use; corn is kept as food for the whole family.
Rice is also a refined grain, but its sowing and harvesting times are different from those of wheat. If you plant rice, you cannot plant corn, so few people in Xingcheng plant rice.
Shen Qing suddenly realized that few people in Xingcheng eat rice and most eat noodles. Is it because no one grows rice? Without rice, where would the straw come from?
Huo Bing saw Shen Qing squatting in the yard with a large bowl and starting to eat. She turned and went into the house to bring a chair. She placed the chair behind Shen Qing and watched her sit down. She thought for a moment and said, "It seems that only Aunt Ying's family has it. Uncle Ying is from the Jiangnan area and loves to eat rice. When he settled down in Qili Village, he specially bought paddy fields.
Mother, you and Aunt Ying don't get along, so it's normal that you don't know, but what do you want the straw for?"
Shen Qing sat on the chair brought by the eldest daughter-in-law, and was looked at by the third brother with envy, feeling very happy.
Her eldest daughter-in-law is really good. She is perceptive, quick-witted and hardworking. She has been in Qili Village since she was ten years old. She knows every household in the village very well and even finds reasons for herself.
She didn't intend to hide it from her, but lowered her voice a bit to make sure that only the three of them who were closest to her could hear it: "Mom, didn't you receive guidance from the Bodhisattva in your dream the day before yesterday? The Bodhisattva not only taught me to be kind, but also taught me a few ways to make money.
I picked out two of them to try, and both needed something from wood ash, which is available in straw ash.”
Jiang Xiangnan, who was previously eating the noodles in big mouthfuls, opened his mouth wide and forgot to continue eating for a moment.
Huo Bing took a deep breath, feeling both surprised and happy, but mostly happy.
She looked around to make sure there was no one around, then lowered her voice to the lowest possible level: "Mom, how about I go ask?
Aunt Ying has always taken good care of me, but the straw can only be used to pad under the mattress to keep me warm, so I’m afraid she can’t give me much.”
Aunt Ying got married late and has a small family, but her family has a large population, and normally worthless items like straw would have been given away long ago.
Shen Qing's heart sank. Even if Jiang Ying let bygones be bygones and gave him some straw, it would still not be enough.
She tried to recall what she had seen before. What else was there besides straw ash to extract alkaline water?
Suddenly I thought of the Dragon Boat Festival when I was a child. At that time, every household in the village would make alkaline water rice dumplings.
After harvesting soybeans, the straw will not be thrown away and will be kept for burning. However, most villagers will keep some of it to make alkaline water when making rice dumplings.
Not only are the rice dumplings cooked in alkaline water authentic in flavor, they are also golden and translucent on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside. They can be hung under the beams for more than ten days without going bad and are very durable in storage.
"Do we grow a lot of soybeans in our village? Are the straws still left?" She didn't see any soybeans at home, so she wasn't sure whether her family had planted any. There was a mess of things piled up in the woodshed, and she took a quick look but didn't see anything.
But even if she saw it, she couldn't guarantee that she would recognize it.
Huo Bing hummed, "A lot, Mom. There's still some piled up in our firewood room, but it's at the very back, so it hasn't been burned yet."
The land on the riverbank can't grow much, so most people plant soybeans, because soybeans are edamame when they are young, and they are delicious when they are young.
The leftovers can be dried and saved, and can be cooked, fried, ground into powder and soaked in water to drink. There are many ways to eat them.
However, their family had little land and they planted little, so the beans could not grow old and were eaten up when the young beans were ready. My mother didn't do the dirty work like firewood burning, so it was normal that she didn't know about it.
When Shen Qing heard that there were more people from his family in the village, his eyes lit up and he immediately calmed down.
She ordered: “Okay, Third Brother, when you’ve finished eating, go find it out and I’ll see how much there is and whether it’s enough;
Ah Bing, when you cook the pig's head and make lard later, use soybean stalks."
"Okay!" Jiang Xiangnan poured the last bit of soup at the bottom of the bowl into his mouth in three or two gulps, responded excitedly, put down his bowl and chopsticks and rushed to the woodshed.
Huo Bing was worried, but now she asked Shen Qing when she was in doubt, "Mom, we only have one big iron pot at home. Should we boil the lard first or cook the pig's head first?
There's also a clay pot for boiling soup or medicine. It can't hold a pig's head, but can I use it to boil lard?"
Lard is a very precious thing, she can't make the decision on her own.
Shen Qing wanted to cry but had no tears. It was rare for someone to be so poor that he only had one pot.
"Okay, let's boil it in a clay pot."
It doesn't matter if it has a little herbal smell. It can still be called herbal soap. Besides, if the ceramic jar is washed clean, there will basically not be much residue.
After Huo Bing got the confirmation, he immediately got up to pack up the big iron pot and clay pots.
Shen Qing was not idle either. She got up and went into the house to look for fabric.
She was the only one in the family with a lot of clothes. Huo Bing and Jiang Shui only had two sets of clothes, which were barely enough for changing. In winter, they had to wear two sets on top of each other, which was not warm at all.
Except for Jiang Xiangzhong, the other sons are not much better.
Shen Qing found three sets of clothes on the inside of the bed, picked out a piece of clothing that was washed white and only had a thin layer of cloth, and cut out a large piece of cloth.
She remembered that gauze was the best, but now there was no gauze, so she had to use cloth instead.
Put the ashes into a cloth, and then pour boiling water over it from top to bottom over and over again. The alkaline water can be extracted during the filtering process.
Jiang Xiangnan quickly brought a large bundle of soybean stalks outside the house. Huo Bing had already cut the lard into blocks of the same size, put them into a ceramic pot, and lit the soybean stalks to start refining lard.
The big iron pot on the other side was also boiling water, waiting for the pig's head to be washed and put into the pot for blanching.
The three of them were busy. In the room, Jiang Xiangdong looked at the sleeping baby and quietly walked out. He came forward and asked, "Mom, do you want me to do anything?"
Most babies in the confinement period sleep after eating and eat after sleeping. They cry when they have bowel movements and will not turn over. They live in their own home, so there should be no danger.
However, in addition to the baby in confinement, there is also a three-year-old Xiaohua at home. Shen Qing is very eager to make money, but she dare not take the baby's safety lightly.
Thinking of Jiang Xiangnan who had been busy all morning and now had to go to the woodshed to move soybean stalks, which was dusty and tiring, she said to Jiang Xiangdong: "Boss, go to the woodshed and move soybean stalks for Ah Bing. Move as many as you can. We will burn them all in the next few days.
Let the third child look after the two children. If they wake up and cry, call Ah Bing over. He can also take a break."
It takes at least an hour to boil the pig's head and make lard, which is just enough time to burn out the soybean stalks and put them in a large pile. When they are burned into ashes, they are smaller in size and much easier to store.
"good!"
The Jiang family's small kitchen and large yard were suddenly bustling with activity.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
