We have plenty of ingredients at home, so we can make several different flavors. We can freeze them outside and put them directly into the space so they won't stick together.
Without further ado, Lu Chuan went to wash the meat, while Xu Han went to wash the vegetables.
Make some of the following fillings: sauerkraut and beef, cabbage and mutton, beef and celery, chives and eggs, or a mixture of beef and mutton.
The two spent the morning preparing fillings, and after they had all the fillings ready, each one filled a large bowl.
"Let's have sauerkraut and beef dumplings for lunch today! We've never had them before!" Xu Han asked.
"Okay! Let's have the sauerkraut and beef filling then!"
Seeing that Lu Chuan did not object, Xu Han began to knead the dough, making a small batch to wrap up what they would eat for lunch.
"I'll also pack a few other flavors! To test the saltiness, so that if they're too salty or too bland, I won't pack them all and then have no way to adjust the seasoning."
"Okay, you handle it!"
After wrapping the dumplings, Lu Chuan started a fire, while Xu Han began kneading the dough, preparing it for making dumplings in the afternoon.
The dumplings cooked very quickly; Xu Han hadn't even finished kneading the dough yet!
Lu Chuan waited for Xu Han to finish kneading the dough. This time, he brought the dumplings into the room and sat on the heated kang to eat.
"How does it taste?" Xu Han asked.
"It's pretty good, but the chive and egg filling seems a bit salty. You should try it."
Xu Han ate one and said, "It's a bit salty. I'll add some chives and eggs later. This beef and celery one is a bit tough. Let's add some cooking oil and butter and mix it in! It's more fragrant with more oil."
After eating, Xu Han had a better idea of what to make. She then adjusted the seasoning and began making dumplings. She brought the filling and dough to the main room, where the two of them sat on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) and slowly started making dumplings.
The wrapped dumplings are placed on the outside rack to freeze, and then stored in the storage space after they are frozen.
Dumplings without glutinous rice balls are no good either. I didn't have time to make them before, but now that I have some free time, I definitely have to make some.
So Xu Han said to Lu Chuan, "Let's grind some glutinous rice flour tomorrow! We can also make some glutinous rice balls."
"Sure! Making glutinous rice balls is a hassle, and I haven't eaten them much myself. You'll probably like their chewy texture, so make a lot."
After the two agreed, Lu Chuan went to soak the glutinous rice so that he could make water-milled glutinous rice flour the next day.
In the evening, I had a simple meal of congee with some side dishes and fried dough sticks, which was quite satisfying.
The next morning, today is the Little New Year, which is also an important festival, so we certainly can't be careless about celebrating it.
After breakfast, Lu Chuan led the corn out to grind it, and then the two of them began preparing for lunch.
We should at least have a proper meal! We can't just use the food from the virtual space; it would ruin the festive atmosphere.
Xu Han first stewed a beef rib. She chopped the beef rib into large pieces, blanched it to remove the blood foam, stir-fried it in a pot, added appropriate spices, brought it to a boil, and then put it into an earthenware pot to simmer slowly.
I also braised some spicy lamb trotters and lamb head in the pot outside. These were especially delicious, with lots of chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, making them numbing and spicy and incredibly satisfying.
We've already had two more main dishes, and each portion was quite large. We can't finish them, so we're storing them in our storage space.
Whether it's a little or a lot, it's still work, so why not make more at once! Xu Han has space, what's there to be afraid of!
Xu Han steamed spicy dried fish and boiled marinated salted chicken. After cooking, she tore the chicken apart by hand, making it both salty and fragrant. It's an indispensable main dish for the Chinese New Year.
Meat alone wasn't enough; Xu Han also stir-fried some greens, made a cucumber and green bean salad, and served it with fruit.
I cobbled together ten dishes and a mushroom soup, which was quite a feast for two people.
After preparing the meal, Xu Han went to the storeroom to get some wine, and also specially got some baijiu for Lu Chuan.
After everything was ready, we began to enjoy today's sumptuous lunch.
This was the first time the two of them had such a grand meal since the Mid-Autumn Festival.
I've been busy ever since the Mid-Autumn Festival. I guess I won't be able to really relax until the drought gets worse.
Lu Chuan and Xu Han were enjoying a leisurely meal, as there was no work assigned for them today except for grinding glutinous rice into flour. However, corn was already being ground, so they didn't need to keep an eye on it.
Simply add water and glutinous rice as needed, and pour it out when the bucket is full.
After the two finished lunch, all the glutinous rice flour outside had been ground.
Xu Han added the rest in, then poured the ground glutinous rice paste into a cloth bag and pressed it with a heavy object to drain the water.
The remaining freshly ground material will be drained again in a new cloth bag. Once drained, it can be taken out to dry in the sun tomorrow.
After finishing, I took out all the lotus root starch I had made earlier, put it on a winnowing basket to dry, and then I could store it away.
Before they knew it, another day had passed. The next morning, after Xu Han finished breakfast, Lu Chuan had also finished his boxing practice for the day.
The two of them worked together to extract the glutinous rice flour, chopped it up, and spread it on a winnowing basket to dry.
Xu Han took another portion and started preparing to make glutinous rice balls, but she needed to make the filling first before making the glutinous rice balls.
The most common filling for glutinous rice balls is black sesame, but since there is no black sesame here, Xu Han can only use white sesame instead.
After toasting the white sesame seeds, crush them with a rolling pin, add sugar and cooking oil to form small filling balls that can be squeezed together, and set aside.
Xu Han used the same method to make peanut-filled glutinous rice balls, and then made various jam-filled ones. However, Lu Chuan probably didn't eat many fruit-filled glutinous rice balls, so she made fewer.
After preparing all the fillings, Xu Han began to prepare the glutinous rice dough. Glutinous rice dough is very easy to fall apart, so you have to be quick when wrapping the glutinous rice balls.
In Xu Han's hometown, they make glutinous rice balls. They simply press a hole in the center of a glutinous rice dough, put the filling inside, and then squeeze it into a round shape.
After wrapping for a while, the two felt it was too slow, so Xu Han said, "Let's try a different way of wrapping! This is too slow."
"How do you wrap it?" Lu Chuan asked, both curious and puzzled.
"Coat the filling with glutinous rice flour, then put it in water and roll it around. Repeat this process a few times and the glutinous rice balls will be ready," Xu Han said excitedly.
As they were talking, something suddenly came to mind.
He continued, "This requires dry glutinous rice flour, but our glutinous rice flour isn't dry yet!"
"It's okay, we can put the filling in the space first, it won't spoil, and we can wrap it later, right?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Han's eyes lit up. That's right! She does have a spatial ability.
Then the two of them started to put away all the materials. They put the kneaded glutinous rice dough into their space for later use, or they could make it into other foods.
Today's glutinous rice balls were meant to be tasted, so Xu Han cooked several different flavored ones, adding brown sugar to the pot, making them like a little dessert after a meal.
Eating only this would definitely not be enough to fill them up, so they took out some more food from their storage space.
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