Chapter 66: Noodles and Buds
Jian Mo went home and found a small metal axe.
This small axe was bigger than his palm, and it was enough to chop down ordinary trees.
After receiving it, the old patriarch of the Zhengchi tribe looked lucky and thanked Jian Mo and Wu Jiong. After sending the people of the Zhengchi
tribe away, Jian Mo asked Wu Jiong to deliver nine pieces of stone wood to the tribe.
The house used by the clinic was the tribe's house, and it was protected by the tribe because it was opened in the tribe. Jian Mo had negotiated the distribution ratio with the tribe from the beginning, with seven for him and three for the tribe.
Wu Jiong was the patriarch and his partner, so it was natural for him to carry the nine pieces of hard wood to the cave where the tribe stored public goods.
Wu Jiong nodded: "I'll carry it over later."
Jian Mo: "Don't worry, now that we have the stone and wood, I want a few more cabinets and boxes, as well as tables, chairs, and cutting boards. You can choose the wood and keep the ones that are suitable for furniture."
Wu Jiong: "Okay."
Jian Mo thought for a while: "Make some cups, plates, wooden basins, etc., stone and wood are more durable. It's too hard for you to do it alone, see if there is anyone in the tribe who can help, and we will pay you."
Wu Jiong also agreed: "I'll ask later."
After Wu Jiong moved the nine stone and wood to the tribe, he specifically told the people in the tribe.
Their tribe has always been managed by three people. This generation is managed by Wu Jiong, Qingkuang and Dejiang to prevent corruption to the greatest extent.
Everyone manages together, and the coming and going of materials will be very clear.
That day, Qing Kuang came to Jian Mo and saw him busying himself with flour grass seeds in the yard. He asked, "What are you doing?"
Jian Mo looked up and said, "Germination. I went to water the crops two days ago and saw that the large-leaf garlic roots had sprouted. I guessed that spring was coming soon, so I thought of trying to germinate the flour grass first, so as not to be in a hurry when the germination was officially started and something went wrong."
Qing Kuang: "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. The wind has been a little softer these two days. I'll pick a good day and go out to collect collectively."
Jian Mo smiled and said, "Yes, when we went to collect the fish cages in the morning, we could clearly feel that the ice in the river had become thinner."
All signs showed that spring was coming soon, and everyone was making various preparations.
Jian Mo was not good at hunting and gathering, so he prepared for planting.
It is not difficult for him to accelerate the germination. He grows cat grass all year round. Every time he accelerates the germination, he wraps the seeds with a damp paper towel and puts them in a warm place. The seeds will germinate quickly.
There is no paper towel here. He uses cloth to wrap it. When he opened it today, he saw that tender yellow buds had grown on it.
The seeds of cat grass are very small, but very full. The buds that grow are very lush and look very good.
Qingkuang came over to take a look: "Such small buds can be transplanted, right?"
Jian Mo did not expect the germination rate to be so high. He said with a little melancholy: "I'm afraid not. Although the weather outside is a little warmer, it is not the season for planting."
Qingkuang: "What should we do with these small buds?"
Jian Mo: "Let me think about it. If it really doesn't work, just pick them off and stir-fry them into vegetables."
All non-toxic plants can be stir-fried into vegetables. At most, they will taste a little bad.
Jian Mo looked at it, then wrapped it up again and placed the grass sprout in a warm place to wait for it to grow.
When it grows a little bigger, Jian Mo will see what to do.
Anyway, it will be useful when it grows bigger. If it doesn't work, it can be fed to the Jiujiu or Tuotu beasts.
After putting it away, Jian Mo remembered to ask, "What do you
want to talk to me about?" Qing Kuo: "We plan to go to Mengshui tribe to exchange a batch of things before the official start of spring. I want to ask if you want to go?"
Jian Mo's eyes lit up: "Go! When? What do you want to exchange? Exchange as an individual or with the whole tribe?"
Qing Kuo: "Go tomorrow. There are a lot of things to exchange. The tribe wants to exchange a batch. You can also exchange a batch if you want to exchange something. Spring is coming soon. Each tribe will deal with the supplies stored in winter. I should be able to exchange good things this time."
Jian Mo: "I'll pack it up."
The next day, Jian Mo followed the crowd. There were more than ten people going out to exchange things this time. The giant beasts lined up in a long line, and the sub-beasts sat high on the giant beasts.
Everyone seemed very excited to be able to go out. I don't know who took the lead on the way, and they even sang songs.
Jian Mo listened to the giant wolf and smiled.
After leaving the tribe, Jian Mo saw that the ice and snow had melted in many places, revealing the dark soil underneath.
There were more animals moving around outside, and he also saw an animal similar to a bullfrog chirping on the dead leaves. When it saw them, it ran away quickly.
Jian Mo didn't know whether this kind of animal was edible, and he looked at it for several times.
Bullfrogs taste really good. I haven't eaten them for a long time.
After they arrived at the Mengshui tribe, they were warmly welcomed by the Mengshui tribe.
Especially Jian Mo, the people of the Mengshui tribe asked him to help with the treatment. Recently, many people have symptoms similar to those of a cold, and some of them already have back pain and leg pain, so they all want him to see them.
He accepted everyone who came, and helped to deal with it in the small house that the Mengshui tribe vacated for him, and received some supplies as a reward.
In the afternoon, people from other tribes who heard the news came to ask him for help with medical treatment. One of them even broke his leg.
Jian Mo did not expect that there would be so many patients today.
He could not return to the Riverside Tribe in time, so he and Wu Jiong stayed in the Mengshui Tribe for another day.
When they returned home, the flying beast and the tuo beast had been fed by the people in the tribe, and the house was still in order. Even the flour grass wrapped in cloth for germination had grown to two or three centimeters long, and the color had changed from light yellow to yellow-green.
Wu Jiong opened the cloth bag with him and asked, "Do you want to plant them ?"
Jian Mo: "I guess not yet. You see, the buds left outside are frozen and withered. Wait a little longer." Wu Jiong: "Then I'll pull them out and cook them?" Jian Mo quickly stopped him: "No, they're too thick. I guess they won't taste good when cooked. I thought of another food. Let's try it." Wu Jiong looked at Jian Mo's excited expression and asked, "What?" Jian Mo: "Maltose!"
Jian Mo actually didn't eat maltose much, but thanks to the development of self-media, he is very familiar with maltose.
Noodle grass is also a grass that grows from millet. If it is made into a delicacy, it should be able to be made into maltose.
Wu Jiong listened carefully and said, "I'll cut it."
Jian Mo: "I'll find the filter cloth. If it succeeds, we will have another source of sugar in the future."
The two made maltose at home.
Jian Mo followed the method in his memory and instructed Wu Jiong to chop the noodle grass sprouts first, then put them in a stone mortar, mash them thoroughly, and then filter them with water several times.
The filtered water is a bit like grass juice squeezed out of a juicer, and it smells good.
Jian Mo took a deep breath and poured it directly into the pot to slowly boil it.
Jian Mo confidently said to Wu Jiong: "When the water inside evaporates fully, thick syrup will be left."
Wu Jiong looked at the pottery pot: "How long will it take?"
Jian Mo was not sure: "Half a day should be enough. You can't leave someone alone when boiling syrup, you have to stir while boiling, and we will know when it is cooked."
The fire under the pottery pot was very strong, and the steam rose up with a slightly sweet smell, warming the whole room.
Jian Mo opened the door and window, boiling while waiting for the maltose to come out.
Unexpectedly, the water was almost boiled dry, and the soup inside turned into a slightly yellow water soup. When it was scooped out and tasted, it still didn't taste sweet.
Obviously, they failed.
"How could this happen?" Jian Mo was dumbfounded. "It shouldn't be like this. I saw others make it this way."
Although he had never learned how to make maltose properly, he had seen others making maltose so many times, so it shouldn't be wrong. This thing doesn't require much technical skills.
Wu Jiong was used to his successful look and thought his expression when he succeeded was very dazzling. Now that he had failed for the first time, his confused expression was also very cute. With his eyes wide open, he looked like a big cat.
Of course, he couldn't say this at the moment, otherwise he would get angry.
Wu Jiong rubbed Jian Mo's head: "Maybe the flour grass is different from the malt in your tribe, so it will fail."
Jian Mo hesitated: "It's possible."
Wu Jiong: "Don't think about it, you go wash up, I'll clean up, let's go to bed early."
Jian Mo was listless: "I'm going to take a shower."
It happened that they were boiling malt sugar today and had been burning for a long time. There was a lot of hot water at home, so they could wash carefully from head to toe.
Alas, it was incredible that so much firewood was wasted and no sugar was boiled out.
While taking a shower, Jian Mo reviewed the whole process, but still couldn't figure out why it failed.
Doesn't the starch convert into sugar when the plant germinates?
Since there is sugar in it, why is the juice not sweet after it is concentrated? Could it be that because the grass sprouts grew too tall, all the sugar inside was consumed?
I don't know if it's because you think about it during the day, you will dream about it at night. At night, after Jian Mo fell asleep, he dreamed of making maltose.
In the dream, he made it quite successfully. The maltose he made was bright yellow, sweet and sticky.
After tasting the maltose in the dream, he suddenly realized that he was dreaming, and he turned over and sat up.
Wu Jiong, who was beside him, was startled by his movements and immediately sat up, reaching out to pat his back: "Are you having a nightmare?"
"No, no, no, don't talk." Jian Mo turned over and ran barefoot to the charcoal basin. He found a piece of unused charcoal and wrote on the wooden board, "Maltose, malt, rice, yes! How could I forget that I also need rice?"
Wu Jiong walked over: "Are you still thinking about maltose?"
Jian Mo turned his head and nodded vigorously: "Yes! I remembered everything in my dream! See, rice is also needed. If rice is not available, sweet potatoes will also be fine, and stems and the like should be fine as well."
In just a short while, the content of Jian Mo's dream had almost faded away, but what he wrote down was still on the wooden board.
Wu Jiong: "What are rice and sweet potatoes?"
Jian Mo said: "The food in our place is the key material for making maltose."
He said, why can't sugar be boiled out of wheat grass sprouts? It turns out that wheat grass sprouts are just enzymes, and what needs to be boiled is the sugar converted by them.
Jian Mo looked at the content he just wrote down with relief: "Let's do it again?"
Wu Jiong agreed directly: "Okay."
Jian Mo: "I'll go scoop up wheat grass seeds. You don't need too many. Two bowls should be enough."
It was already light outside, and it was time to get up and work.
Jian Mo ran down to get a bowl to scoop up the wheat grass seeds, put them in a large basin, and planned to soak them in warm water later.
The first time is the first time, the second time is the second time. Jian Mo was much more skilled in germinating the wheat grass than the first time.
In just three days, he got a piece of cloth covered with grass sprouts.
This time, the noodle sprouts grew lush and plump, and the color was more tender yellow.
Jian Mo didn't hesitate to chop the noodle sprouts into pieces and mash them into a paste with Wu Jiong, then mixed them with the steamed stems and left them in the pot to ferment. Jian
Mo took a look and said, "It should be almost done by the evening."
Wu Jiong: "Then we'll come back in the evening and do it."
The weather was warmer, and although the tribe had not started collective hunting and gathering, they could try to go out individually.
The two planned to go to the forest today to see if they could hunt or pick anything.
They were lucky today and found a peju fruit tree in the forest with some fruits hanging on the branches.
This is a nut that tastes like hazelnuts, and it tastes great when fried.
Unfortunately, it is a little small, the fruit is only as big as a finger, and the kernel inside is only as big as a soybean after being peeled.
It is already this season, and it is very good to be able to find wild nuts outside.
The two picked all the fruits on the branches and finally got a small bag.
Jian Mo estimated that it was only about 11 or 12 pounds, about the same weight as a fat male cat.
After they went back, the stems fermented with grass sprouts were almost ready.
When they filtered the water, they got a bucket of milky white liquid, which was completely different from the liquid filtered from the grass sprouts.
Jian Mo could already taste the sweetness when he tasted it without boiling it.
He scooped a little with a spoon and gave it to Wu Jiong to taste: "It does taste sweet, right?"
Wu Jiong tasted it and nodded seriously.
Jian Mo breathed a sigh of relief: "It looks like there is no problem, we can start boiling it."
Today's dinner is barbecue and fried grass sprout meat cakes.
Although the grass sprouts have been filtered, there should still be nutrients in it, which cannot be wasted. Moreover, the grass sprouts this time are more tender, so it should be fine for people to eat.
Jian Mo added meat and garlic powder to it and fried it. It tasted pretty good and had a unique aroma.
He left a few stems and grass sprout meat cakes for Jiujiu, and sent them to Jiujiu with other grass, which was warmly welcomed by Jiujiu.
When he came back after feeding the winged beast, Jian Mo found that the juice in the pot had begun to become viscous. Looking inside by the firelight, the color of the juice gradually took on a light yellow color. Jian
Mo cheered up: "That's the feeling. I'm sure I can make sugar today!"
Wu Jiong smelled the sweet aroma: "It should be ready before bed?"
Jian Mo gestured: "No problem!"
He was free anyway, so Jian Mo just took this opportunity to fry the nuts.
There is nothing special about frying nuts except patience. Fry over and over again with the lowest fire until the kernels are fried and fragrant.
The soup in the pottery pot smells sweet, and the nuts on the stone slab smell burnt.
Jian Mo smelled the two aromas and had an idea: "Wait, it seems we can make some nut candy!"
Wu Jiong: "Huh?"
Jian Mo jumped up: "Quick, quick, find other nuts, peel the kernels out and crush them, and add them to the sugar liquid."
Wu Jiong hesitated for a rare time: "Will it taste good like this?"
Jian Mo smiled and hugged his shoulders and pushed him: "Don't doubt my cooking skills!"
Wu Jiong went to find the remaining nuts at home and gave them to Jian Mo.
Jian Mo used the stone slab to fry the nuts until they were fragrant, and then the two of them smashed various nuts together and crushed them.
The mixed nut crumbs have a wonderful flavor, and they taste even more fragrant and charming.
Jian Mo: "You crush the remaining nuts, I'll go check on the sugar liquid."
At this stage, they need to stir the sugar liquid in the pot constantly, otherwise it will easily burn.
Jian Mo scooped out some of the sugar liquid with a shovel.
The sugar liquid hung on the shovel and fell down in large pieces. It tasted fragrant and sweet, and looked like pieces of amber.
It was so tempting.
Jian Mo dipped a little with two grass stems and gave Wu Jiong one.
The two of them tasted this rare sweet substance together by the fire.
"It's sweet and refreshing." Jian Mo commented, "It's not as sweet as honey, but it has a special fragrance and is also delicious."
The sugar on the grass stems has solidified into a sugar shell. After tasting it, Wu Jiong said, "It's easier to get than honey."
Jian Mo: "Yes! If our planting goes smoothly in the future, maltose, no, maltose will be easier to get."
Jian Mo sighed: "The days are getting more and more promising."
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