Because he got up too early and had nothing to do, and because he finally unloaded the burden in his heart, he was in a really good mood. Yin Xiaoman planned to make crab meat steamed noodle dumplings this morning.
Crabs are something that cannot be kept forever. Once they die, the meat will rot and you can no longer eat them. So, every time the patrol boat brings the fish back, everyone will eat them quickly for a while.
The only way to eat that thing in the cafeteria is to boil it or steam it, which is not only laborious but there is not much meat. So the soldiers didn’t like to eat it. The more they ate, the slower they swallowed.
Later, Yin Xiaoman took back all the crabs that no one ate.
When I’m not busy, I pick out the crab roe and crab meat with the kids and store them in bottles.
Rice once asked her, how to store this thing? Yin Xiaoman sent him away with the excuse of putting him in the kitchen warehouse.
But in fact, except for a very small part that she added a lot of salt to make shrimp paste and crab paste and was indeed placed in the warehouse, the rest were put into the space by her.
Although the temporary warehouse built in the cave has a constant temperature, it is still about 10 degrees Celsius, making it impossible to store meat for a long time. It is really convenient to put it in a space and it will not deteriorate.
Yin Xiaoman took out some dried scallops and soaked them in water, then started to knead the dough.
If you want to make the steamed dumpling soft and chewy, kneading the dough is the key.
Use freshly boiled water to scald the noodles, use chopsticks to break up the noodles while they are still hot, stir them into flocs, and then knead them with your hands after they cool down a little.
The more evenly you knead the dough, the softer it will be.
In order to keep the noodles chewy, you need to add a little salt.
She has been cooking for the experts for a year and is now very skilled.
Even though she has to knead such a large bowl of dough, because she has done it so often, she no longer feels pain in her wrists after kneading the dough, and she can even achieve the state where she doesn’t sweat at all.
After covering the kneaded dough with a wet cloth to keep it awake, Yin Xiaoman quickly ran to the vegetable garden to pick some tender tips of pumpkin vines.
The climate on Zhongshan Island is particularly suitable for growing pumpkins.
The pumpkins here grow fast, are big and sweet, and their leaves are much thicker than those on land.
To be honest, Yin Xiaoman didn't know that the young leaves of pumpkin were edible before. It was Ren Ping'an who enlightened her after she came here.
Pinch the tenderest leaves and vines, stir-fry them with a little bit of minced garlic. It doesn't require any skills or even any seasoning. Just a little bit of salt and the resulting dish will be fresh, tender and delicious.
It suits her taste very well.
After trying it for the first time, Yin Xiaoman felt like he had opened the door to a new world! After all, compared to other green vegetables, pumpkin vines are really easy to find and can be found everywhere!
From then on, this thing was included in the list of vegetables she often cooks.
When making steamed dumplings today, she decided to use pumpkin vines as the filling.
Take out the crab meat from the jar, chop it together with the soaked scallops, and add finely chopped ginger.
Stir with a little rice wine, then add various seasonings, chopped pumpkin vines and mix evenly, and finally pour vegetable oil fried with peppercorns on top...
With a sizzling sound, a mouth-watering aroma hits you in the face.
Yin Xiaoman took a deep breath and nodded with satisfaction.
She had no idea how many times she had made dumplings in her previous life. She was so skilled at it that she didn't even need to use her brain.
Not only can she make dumplings quickly and beautifully, but she can also make them in various different shapes. I remember that in the palace back then, we had the Hundred Dumplings Banquet.
But such skills naturally cannot be displayed here. In fact, at this moment, she was mostly trying hard to hide her incompetence.
But habits are not something you can hide just because you want to. By the time she reacted, a plate of round, plump, neatly arranged "little ingots" had been placed on the curtain board.
There were dozens of steamed dumplings, all exactly the same size and shape, even the number of folds on the dumplings were the same, not one more or one less.
"Dumplings! Let's eat dumplings this morning!"
Just when Yin Xiaoman was still working hard, the kitchen door was pushed open from the outside, and then the three little guys rushed in together.
Da Mi was holding a carrying pole in his hand, and it seemed that he came in to get a bucket of water.
He was startled to see that his aunt had already started busying herself so early, and subconsciously turned around to go to the living room to check the clock.
"No need to look, it's still early."
Yin Xiaoman sighed helplessly, stretched her legs, and pushed aside Erniu, who was shouting for dumplings and throwing herself on her. Then he said to the two boys, "The water in the jar has been drawn, so don't worry about it. Go, get this little bastard out of the way and don't delay my work."
Da Mi chuckled and didn't respond. He walked over and grabbed the messy pigtails on Erniu's head that hadn't been combed yet. Then he bent down, picked her up and walked towards the door. Dabao hurriedly followed.
Erniu was actually just being affectionate and coquettish with her mother, but the little girl actually understood the situation very well.
She knew that her mother was cooking for the grandfathers and uncles in the expert group. This was the most important thing at the moment and could not be delayed.
So after going out, she obediently followed her brothers to wash her hands and face, and then took her own small basket and went to the vegetable garden behind with Dabao to pull weeds and catch insects.
Ren Ping'an finally killed almost all of the chickens.
After discovering that they had become so wilted that they refused to eat, he was at a loss as to what to do. Finally, he had to hand over this "difficult and important" task to Yin Xiaoman.
But even after giving them the money, he still refused to give up and kept telling them over and over again: "Sister-in-law, you still have to think of a way to save them! If you eat one less, there will be one less. But if they are saved, they can lay eggs for us every day. There is a saying in my hometown that the chicken's butt is a bank. If we can avoid eating the bank, we should try not to eat it, okay?"
Yin Xiaoman, whose mind was already full of boiled chicken, braised chicken, and stewed chicken, nodded somewhat embarrassedly.
After returning home, she asked Da Mi and Da Bao to find some branches to build a nest for the chickens, and told them to get some rotten vegetable leaves and water to feed the chickens.
Although she promised Ren Ping'an that she would try her best to save the relationship, in her heart she actually wanted to eat chicken more.
So the explanation was naturally a bit perfunctory.
But what Yin Xiaoman never expected was that several children took this seriously. Especially Erniu, she treats these chickens as her own treasures.
Every day he would pick up vegetable leaves and dig out insects himself. After bringing them back, he would squat next to the chicken coop and watch them finish eating the vegetables.
That wasn't all. She even grumbled and forced Da Mi to build a chicken coop with a roof made of rattan cut from the mountains, with only a very small door for entry and exit. In this way, when the mountain is blasted next time, she will catch the chickens one by one and take them to the chicken coop.
After a long time, once the mountain was blasted, the chickens would return to their roosts on their own.
After raising the chickens like this for a while, Yin Xiaoman was surprised to find that her hope of eating chickens was completely dashed.
Now our family can harvest four or five eggs every day.
The eggs did have to be handed over to the government, but Ren Ping'an was so excited that he was completely stunned by the surprise. He promised on the spot that as long as the health of the chickens could be guaranteed, he would allow Erniu to keep an egg every day as a reward.
So the little girl became more motivated.
Because the rule of the Shen family is to cook for the expert group first, and only after their meals are prepared and sent over can the family members cook for themselves.
So, even though there were bursts of delicious food coming from the kitchen, none of the children went to cause trouble for the adults except for swallowing their saliva occasionally.
While Dabao and Erniu were feeding the chickens, Dami had already swept the entire yard with a broom and shoveled away the chicken manure in the nest.
Two large baskets of steamed dumplings have already come out of the pot, and the last basket is almost done. When Yin Xiaoman took out the special box for delivering meals and was about to put the food in, he suddenly remembered that he should also send some ginger vinegar to go with the food.
She looked around the kitchen but couldn't find a bottle to hold the vinegar, so she decided to get a small porcelain jar in the living room.
As a result, just as I walked into the living room, before I had time to reach out to take it, I heard Dabao screaming outside: "Thief! Catch the thief!"
Yin Xiaoman was shocked! He didn't even take the porcelain jar and turned around and ran outside.
There are thieves on the island? And you came to my own home?
This has never happened before.
As a result, she couldn't help frowning as soon as she reached the door.
It’s that Chen Mingshi again.
At this moment, he was holding two steamed dumplings in one hand and was being strangled by Da Mi, pressing him against the wall at the kitchen door.
Dami was more than a head taller than him, and when he stood there, he was almost as wide as two Chen Mingshis.
Being pressed down by Da Mi, even though it was obvious that he was not exerting much strength, Chen Mingshi was suppressed and could not move at all.
Dabao and Erniu were both standing beside Dami, staring at him indignantly. Dabao was so angry that he was about to kick him on the leg.
“Don’t kick!”
Yin Xiaoman quickly stopped his son and walked over quickly.
"Mom, he sneaked into our kitchen, took the dumplings and left! I don't know how long he has been watching outside, he was very quick. If I hadn't seen it, he would have taken away the dumplings for the grandfathers in the expert group!"
Seeing her coming, Dabao rushed to complain angrily.
As he spoke, he glared at Chen Mingshi fiercely: "Why do you steal everything? Yesterday you stole my sister's candy, and today you stole our dumplings. How can you be so..."
The words "shameless" were on the tip of his tongue, but Yin Xiaoman quickly covered his mouth with his hand and muffled the words.
Yin Xiaoman looked at the child named Chen Mingshi.
He was wearing a white sweatshirt and a pair of blue pants. It was obvious that the clothes were new, and they must have been bought just for coming to the island.
But I don't know how many days I have worn it. It is covered with dirt and sweat, and it also gives off an indescribable strange smell.
He was very thin, so thin that he looked like a piece of skin covering bones. His arms and legs, which were exposed, did not look even half as thick as Erniu's, who was about the same age as him.
At this moment, Chen Mingshi was held down by Da Mi's neck and fixed to the wall. Because of difficulty breathing, his sallow face finally showed a little redness.
He struggled a bit at first, but when he was sure he couldn't get free, he just stopped moving. He just stood there, looking reckless as if he was going to kill anyone he wanted and you could do whatever you wanted to him.
But both hands held the four dumplings tightly.
Yin Xiaoman stared at his hands, a little worried that the dumplings just out of the pot would burn the skin on his hands.
"Da Mi, let him go."
After hearing what his aunt said, Da Mi reluctantly let go of Chen Mingshi.
As soon as the boy regained his freedom, he bowed deeply to Yin Xiaoman and said very skillfully: "I'm sorry."
After saying that, he turned and left.
The action was done in one go, as if it had been done countless times.
No one expected him to act like this, and all the adults and children present were confused by him. So much so that I could only watch him walk out of the gate with the dumplings in his hand.
Yin Xiaoman just felt a stomachache because of this child, but he didn't know what to say.
"Just let him go like that?" Dabao finally came to his senses and turned to look at Yin Xiaoman in disbelief.
Erniu reached out and grabbed the corner of her clothes, pouting her lips and pulling hard.
Then he shouted to the door: "This guy is so annoying, I don't want to play with him!"
Da Mi didn't say anything, just stood beside them, looking at the gate quietly.
But from Yin Xiaoman's position, he could clearly see his jaw moving, and he was obviously grinding his teeth.
"Don't get too close to the twins in the future. If you go out, you should go out together as brothers and sisters. Don't be alone."
She patted her daughter on the head and said warningly.
After saying that, he called Da Mi into the house and started busying himself with delivering meals.
It’s not that Yin Xiaoman doesn’t care about this matter, it’s - how can she care?
I don’t know anything about the child’s temperament or family background since he just arrived on the island yesterday. Moreover, my husband went to their house yesterday and talked to the adults in his family for a long time because of the boy who stole my daughter’s things.
Isn't it of no use?
Is she going to complain again today? And then let him get beaten again?
But it's no use fighting.
From his final behavior, anyone can see that neither reporting nor being beaten has any deterrent effect on this child. He apologized so quickly that it was obvious that the process was always the same every time his grandfather beat him.
He is used to it.
Yin Xiaoman is too lazy to help others educate their children.
That's their parents' business. All she can do now is to take care of her own family and keep a distance from such people.
Although four steamed dumplings were taken away, she had steamed more so it wouldn't delay anything.
But after such a commotion early in the morning, it was obvious that the good mood of the whole family was ruined.
Not only did Yin Xiaoman not want to talk on the way to deliver the meal, but even Dami didn't say a word from beginning to end. No one knew what he was thinking about.
After returning home, I quickly made steamed dumplings with the remaining flour and stuffing and gave them to the children.
When the plump, white, translucent dumplings with pink meat filling visible inside were served into everyone's bowl, smiles finally appeared on the little ones' faces again.
The atmosphere that had been dull for a long time was finally broken.
Yin Xiaoman also picked up one.
After taking a bite, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Although she guessed that it would taste good when she wrapped it, she didn't expect it to be so delicious.
The crab meat still retains its original freshness and the texture is still firm. Because the scallops are dried and then soaked, they taste richer than fresh ones. Each chopped particle is very chewy and full of flavor.
The pumpkin vines that go with them don’t have any special flavor of their own and won’t overpower the flavor like leeks and celery. But it has a smooth taste that no other vegetables have.
Paired with crab meat and scallops, it creates a bonding effect between them, neutralizing their own umami flavors to make them more compatible, and also adding a bit of the slightly sweet taste unique to vegetables.
In short, these were just three-fresh steamed dumplings that she had randomly put together, but they tasted so good that it exceeded Yin Xiaoman's own imagination.
"Make some more at noon and wait for your father to come back to eat." After savoring it for a long time, she said this.
"Yes, Mom, let us help you make more. It will taste delicious!" Dabao quickly agreed.
But at this time, Erniu raised her head. She looked towards the door, then turned to look at Da Mi: "Brother Da Mi, go get a stick and lock our door to prevent that person from coming in."
Da Mi was slightly stunned, then immediately nodded: "Okay. If he dares to come again, I will break his legs!"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Yin Xiaoman glared at him, but in her heart she was impressed by her daughter's sharpness.
She didn't expect that the little girl who usually looked delicate and ignorant actually knew everything.
Although she didn't agree with locking the door.
After arriving at Zhongshan Island, their courtyard gate has never been locked.
First of all, his house is different from others. His yard is connected to the experts’ canteen, and they are both enclosed in one yard. Although basically no experts come to eat, there are public facilities inside and it would not be appropriate to keep the door closed every day.
What's more, in the entire dormitory area, they are the only family with a yard, so they cannot have this kind of special treatment.
Before Chen Mingshi sneaked into the yard, Yin Xiaoman didn't think too much about it because the previous personnel situation on the island was too simple.
Apart from the experts and soldiers in the camp, there are only two families, theirs and Qi Feng's family.
There are only five children. Everyone is familiar with each other. No one is on guard, and no one is worried.
But what happened this morning made Yin Xiaoman realize that those days are over.
Yesterday, twenty or thirty people came to the island, including more than a dozen families. I don’t know anyone and I don’t understand the situation.
And this is just the first batch, there will be more and more in the future.
According to the plan proposed by Mr. Hua before, the regiment should still be recruiting military workers, so the people who come in the future will be more complicated.
Where there are many people, there are many things to do. What's more, they all come from all over the world, each with their own circumstances and temperament.
If it was just a kid like Chen Mingshi who stole some food, at most he would be annoying, but it wouldn't cause any big trouble.
But will there be more troubles in the future?
Yin Xiaoman felt that when the man came back, she had to have a good talk with him, the rules had to be established, and the distance between people had to be defined. Otherwise, it will become more and more difficult to manage as time goes on.
However, she definitely would not tell these words to the children. She just warned Da Mi not to cause trouble for the child, and then sent them out to play.
She wanted to take advantage of the fact that she had nothing to do at the moment to prepare a few more dishes and invite Li Fang to her house for dinner in the evening.
After all, the girl helped her a lot.
She took out a pen and paper and wrote down the menu for the evening.
What girl doesn’t like sweet food? What’s more, this is an era when sugar is scarce everywhere. So the first dish she chose was lemon melon bars.
This dish is very simple to make.
Just cut off the skin of the winter melon, scrape out the flesh, and then cut into strips. Then blanch the cut winter melon strips in boiling water, take them out, rinse them with cold water, and then drain.
Finally, pour in the syrup made from her pickled lemon honey, making sure the syrup covers the melon strips, and soak for a few hours.
This dish is simple, but it requires time to soak. Only when all the melon strips are soaked will it taste good, so she must make it now.
Besides that, she wanted to make all the remaining dishes seafood.
People who have stayed on Zhongshan Island for a long time may no longer be interested in fish and shrimp. But Li Fang came from the inland! It's not certain whether she had ever been to the beach before.
For her, fish and shrimp should be rare delicacies.
When it comes to cooking seafood, it can be said that nothing can stump Yin Xiaoman now. Whenever something is put in front of her, no matter whether she has made it before or even seen it before, she can figure out the most suitable way to eat it. And it’s simple and easy to operate.
Today, Yin Xiaoman did not plan to go to the kitchen to ask Ren Ping'an for seafood, and decided to use his own stock first.
No matter what, inviting Li Fang is their family's private matter, which is different from inviting Mr. Hua and others.
There are so many people gossiping nowadays, and she doesn't want to be gossiped by others without knowing it.
Fortunately, there was still a lot of stock in the small room in her space.
Spicy fried clams, fried crab with ginger and scallions, lemon melon strips, and a piece of smoked fish that had been made in excess and stored in space, soon the four dishes were complete.
In addition, she plans to make a loofah and egg drop soup.
Inviting Li Fang alone to be a guest with four dishes and a soup was considered very respectable in any way.
I went to the vegetable garden to pick a small winter melon, and when I came back I made some lemon melon bars. Look, it’s time to make lunch again.
When they went to deliver the meal in the morning, the experts were all embarrassed to see that she had prepared such a delicious meal early in the morning.
They all told her not to go through so much trouble again and not to spend too much effort on cooking.
Of course Yin Xiaoman wouldn't respond to this. She just smiled and said nothing.
But her behavior made the experts even more uneasy. When she and Da Mi were about to leave, Engineer Ning specially chased her out and told her that they had agreed not to eat anything else but steamed buns at noon, and asked her to just cook some vegetable soup and send it over.
Yin Xiaoman knew that the elderly people saw how hard she worked and were trying to save her some trouble. She had to appreciate this kindness.
It is unrealistic to steam buns right now, as it takes a long time for the dough to rise. But usually in this situation, she just needs to tell the kitchen staff in advance and they will prepare it, so she doesn't have to steam it deliberately.
So at noon Yin Xiaoman only needs to make one soup.
After thinking about it, she decided to make seafood dumpling soup.
On the basis of seafood soup, add egg flowers and small lumps made from beaten noodles. In this way, even if the steamed buns made of three-grain flour taste a bit rough, it will be fine as long as you swallow it with the soup.
She made the soup thicker so that people like Ning Gong and Hua Lao, who have weak spleen and stomach, can feel full just by eating the dumpling soup.
After making the decision, Yin Xiaoman walked out of the kitchen and stood in the yard, shouting to the outside world: "Da Mi, Da Mi, go to the kitchen team and tell them that the comrades in the expert group need to eat steamed buns for lunch."
However, after shouting for a long time, no one responded from outside.
This has never happened again since I was beaten that time.
Where did the children go?
She couldn't help but take a few more steps toward the door.
Just as he reached the door and looked at the door that was not closed tightly, Yin Xiaoman suddenly felt a chill in his heart and stopped subconsciously.
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