Chapter 90: Mugwort Green Balls
As soon as He said this, the people around laughed, "Aunt He, how come you don't want to make money?"
"I don't make money from making these dumplings, but I've invested a lot in them. Just be happy if you buy them. These are Chen Ji salted duck eggs. If you ask them how much they cost, you'll know how much these dumplings are worth."
"I actually know the price of this salted duck egg. The child saw that it was rare and wanted to buy it. When I asked him, he didn't know. When I asked him, he was shocked. One egg cost five cents, so I didn't want to buy it."
"Yeah, I asked, too. How much is an egg? Who would be willing to buy it? A raw egg is only a few dollars."
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What He said was absolutely true. The Gu family really didn't make much money from making zongzi.
Everyone opened one right away, and everyone realized how authentic the Gu family’s rice dumplings were.
In a short while, the rice dumplings were sold out before dawn.
Many people who came later beat their heads and chests, wondering why they couldn't get up earlier. There was only one Dragon Boat Festival in the year, and they missed it.
Later, I heard from Mrs. He that there would be more in the evening. If they didn't have to go to work, they would have wanted to wait at the door of Gu's restaurant until night.
The rice dumplings for sale were gone, but there were still some to give away. Xu Qingmeng packed some in a food box, handed it to Gu Yunyi, and asked him to deliver it to the Huang Mansion.
Then he prepared some more and asked He to deliver them to the neighbors around him and people who were on good terms with He.
Xu Qingmeng is a typical post-90s generation. The festive atmosphere that has been passed down in later generations is no longer the same as it is now. It has become more of a gimmick for businesses to make money.
All she knew was what was mentioned in the books, such as dragon boat racing and eating rice dumplings, but she didn't know anything else.
As soon as Yun Sheng and Yun Mo got up, He tied colorful ropes on them. She also tied some for Xun Ge'er, Xin Ting and Xu Qingmeng, saying that they were to ward off evil spirits and avoid plague.
Seeing that Xu Qingmeng didn't quite understand the Dragon Boat Festival customs, He hung some mugwort on the head of her bed and gave her a sachet and asked her to drop it around her waist.
As soon as Xu Qingmeng smelled it, she knew that it was filled with mugwort. After all, the house was full of mugwort and the smell was everywhere.
Speaking of mugwort, Xu Qingmeng thought of a delicious dish, mugwort rice dumplings. It just so happened that there were egg yolks and red beans for making rice dumplings, so she made it right away.
He got some fresh mugwort, which she washed and removed dead leaves and impurities.
Pour water into the pot and bring it to a boil, add a small spoonful of salt, put the mugwort in to blanch it, then take it out and immediately put it in cold water to cool it down.
Crush the blanched mugwort, add appropriate amount of hot water, and stir it into mugwort paste. Add some water from time to time, but not too much, so as not to affect the color and taste.
Then mix glutinous rice flour, sticky rice flour, fine sugar and salt in a large bowl.
Pour the mixed mugwort paste into the powder and stir with chopsticks until a dough of moderate hardness is formed.
If the noodles are too dry, you can add some water. If they are too wet, add some glutinous rice flour.
Xu Qingmeng prepared two kinds of fillings, one was egg yolk filling, which was made by steaming the salted egg yolks and then crushing them.
Prepare the red bean paste filling, soak the red beans, pour them into the pot together with the soaking water, and add enough water.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and cook until the red beans are soft and can be easily pierced with chopsticks. This will take about one to two hours. Stir appropriately during this period to prevent the red beans from becoming mushy.
Pour the cooked red beans into gauze, press the red beans into paste, and then filter out the bean skins.
Pour the stirred bean paste into the pot, add sugar, and stir-fry slowly over medium-low heat.
When the red bean paste starts to become thick, add lard and continue stir-frying until the red bean paste becomes very thick and can form a clumping mass. This is the red bean paste.
Divide the kneaded dough into medium-sized pieces. Take one of the small pieces, flatten it with your hands, put in an appropriate amount of fillings, wrap it up like glutinous rice balls, pinch the opening tightly, and then roll it into a round shape.
Put the wrapped green dumplings into the steamer and steam them over high heat for a quarter of an hour, until the dumplings become crystal clear.
Brush a thin layer of cooking oil on the surface of the steamed green rice dumpling while it is still hot, so that it will be more shiny.
"Sister-in-law, what is this?" Yun Sheng asked curiously, looking at the green dumplings in the steamer with sparkling eyes.
Xu Qingmeng smiled and said, "This is mugwort dumplings. Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, so I'll make something different for you."
Yun Mo also came over and sniffed, "It smells so good, the food my sister-in-law makes must be delicious."
Xu Qingmeng brought the steamed qingtuan to the table. Yun Sheng ran quickly and reached out to take it, but He patted his hands gently: "Wash your hands, it's just out of the pot, aren't you afraid of getting burned."
"Mom, I've washed it a long time ago. I'm not afraid of the heat." Yun Sheng said as he couldn't wait to pick it up and take a bite.
Yun Sheng's mouth was full of food, and he said incoherently: "Sister-in-law, this is delicious, sweet, and has a special fragrance."
Yun Mo also nodded, "The egg yolk filling is salty and fragrant, I like this."
Xinting thinks the one with red bean paste filling tastes better, sweet and sticky.
He also ate one and praised it highly, "Meng Niang, this mugwort green dumpling is good. I have never seen it before."
"Mom, this mugwort is fresh during the Dragon Boat Festival. It is both suitable for the occasion and healthy to use it as a food." Xu Qingmeng said.
This way, Xujia Village.
"Boss, I'm back."
"Auntie!" Xinyi, who was playing in the yard, was the first to notice and hurried over to greet her.
The second sister-in-law of the Xu family, who was burning the fire in the house, jumped faster than anyone else.
"Sister-in-law is back. I haven't seen you for a few days and I missed you so much. Oh, sister-in-law, you have gained some weight. The food at my sister-in-law's house is really nourishing. Look at how radiant you are. If you stay for a few more days, I might not recognize you even if I walked across from you."
Wang Cuiqin didn't even bother to pay attention to her and just looked sullen.
What a guy, he can't say anything decent except offending people.
Wang Cuiqin rolled her eyes without paying any attention to her. She said to her third sister-in-law Li Xiufang who was late, "Third sister-in-law, you have worked hard these past few days."
"It's not that hard. Xinwan and Xinyi are helping. Isn't it like this all the time?"
Li Xiufang's expression softened, and she continued, "Sister-in-law, Xun'er, how is he now? Is his condition serious? Why didn't you bring him back and take good care of him at home?"
Wang Cuiqin waved her hands: "Sister-in-law, it's not a big deal. I was also scared at first, but when I got closer, it was nothing serious. A few days ago, he couldn't lift his wrist, but now he can run and jump. He is well fed and well cared for. My brother-in-law is teaching him to read and write. I love him too, and I have arranged everything for him. I also told Xinyi to go out and play when he is free!"
(End of this chapter)
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