armyinform Chapter 19 Corn Dumplings
Chapter 19 Corn Dumplings
"No, Mother, I'll go get the chicken out." Wang Hefan thought that although today had turned out alright, he shouldn't tell his mother and make her worry.
"It's alright, you go and rest. I'll go and help my older sister." Song Jiaojiao said. "It's okay, I'm not tired. I'll do it. Don't we need chestnuts? Mom, you and my younger sister can peel the chestnuts."
"Okay, take a break if you're tired, don't push yourself too hard," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile. "Second sister, go get a bowl, let's peel chestnuts."
Song Jiaojiao called out to the backyard, guessing that the little guy was curious about it, "Coming, Mom."
Mu Xue took out the bowl and peeled chestnuts while saying, "Mom, the little rabbits are so cute. I thought they wouldn't eat grass, but they do. They chew on the grass with their three-lobed mouths. It's so funny."
"Really? That little rabbit is so cute, you won't eat it once it grows up," Song Jiaojiao asked jokingly.
"No, we still have to eat it. Rabbit meat is delicious. We'll eat it like last time when it's grown up." Mu Xue quickly replied when she heard Song Jiaojiao's words. What could she not eat?
Song Jiaojiao laughed heartily, "Okay, okay, when it grows up, we'll braise it."
Time slipped away unnoticed as they chatted and laughed. Seeing that Wang Hefan had already prepared and chopped the chicken, Song Jiaojiao got up to prepare to stew it.
Blanch the pheasant in cold water with ginger and garlic. Once the water boils, ladle it out and wash it clean. Then, bring water to a boil again, add the chicken pieces, bring to a boil over high heat, and simmer over low heat. While the chicken soup is simmering, Song Jiaojiao scooped out a bowl of cornmeal, kneaded it into dough, and planned to cook the cornmeal dough in the chicken soup later.
Seeing that the chicken soup was almost ready, Song Jiaojiao washed the chestnuts and poured them in. It would be ready to serve in another 15 minutes.
A quarter of an hour later, Song Jiaojiao took a bowl and filled it with more chestnuts than meat. She called out to the courtyard, "He Fan, come here and take this bowl of chestnut stewed chicken to your Uncle Cheng. Tell him to bring me five catties of brown sugar and a clay pot as big as a bucket tomorrow. This is two taels of silver. It's not enough for your Uncle Cheng to cover it, but you can give him some more."
Song Jiaojiao suddenly remembered that she had almost forgotten about the grapes she picked yesterday. She was thinking of using them to make wine, but they would probably spoil in a couple more days.
“Okay, Mother, I’ll go right away.” Wang Hefan picked up the bowl and went out the door.
Song Jiaojiao scooped out the remaining chicken, left the chicken broth in the pot, and started tearing the corn dough into small pieces and throwing them into the pot to cook.
The slightly yellow chicken soup paired with golden corn dumplings thickened in no time. Song Jiaojiao picked up a corn dumpling and tasted it. Hmm, this is the taste. It's cooked.
Song Jiaojiao filled a large basin with the food and called out, "Big sister, second sister, dinner's ready! Has your eldest brother come back yet?"
"Mom, I'm back." Song Jiaojiao had just asked Wang Hefan when he returned.
"You're back, it's time to eat." Song Jiaojiao said, placing the chicken soup and corn dumplings on the table.
"Have you already discussed everything with your Uncle Cheng?"
"It's settled then, we'll go buy it tomorrow once Uncle Cheng sells the deer." Wang Hefan said, holding a bowl and looking at the clusters of golden corn dumplings inside.
"That's good. If I hadn't suddenly remembered today, I would have completely forgotten about it, and it would have gone bad." Song Jiaojiao chewed on a chestnut, feeling fortunate, otherwise she would have carried it all the way back from the mountains for nothing.
"After we finish eating, we'll pick out the grapes, wash them, and let them dry. Once the other ingredients arrive tomorrow, we can start cooking right away." Song Jiaojiao thought there were quite a lot of grapes, so if she got them sorted out tonight, she could start cooking immediately tomorrow.
"Okay, Mommy, I want to help pick grapes too." Mu Xue's little mouth was stuffed full, and she could barely speak. She quickly spoke up, afraid of being left out.
"Hahaha, Second Sister, you're like a little squirrel! I bet you're just pretending to pick grapes, eating them is what you really want!" Song Jiaojiao laughed loudly as she looked at Mu Xue, whose little face was all puffed up.
"Hehe, no, no, I really just came to help." Mu Xue scratched her head and chuckled.
Amidst laughter and conversation, Song Jiaojiao and her friends finished off the entire large bowl of corn dumplings, though some chicken was still left over.
After everyone finished washing up, they sat in the yard picking grapes, their bellies bulging.
"He Fan, get another winnowing basket, it's not enough. When you wash them, don't scrub them, just rinse off the ash with water, otherwise the wine won't come out," Song Jiaojiao instructed Wang He Fan as she picked grapes.
"I understand, Mom. Put the winnowing basket here, okay?" Wang Hefan placed the winnowing basket in front of Song Jiaojiao and continued washing the grapes. The well water was still a bit cold to the touch on a late autumn night. Wang Hefan drew water from the well, poured it into a bucket, put the grapes in, stirred them with his hand, and then scooped them out and placed them in the winnowing basket to drain.
Before they knew it, Song Jiaojiao and the others had finished preparing the grapes and it was already past midnight.
"Finally finished," Song Jiaojiao rubbed her lower back. "It's so late, He Fan, you should get some rest after you're done cleaning up." Song Jiaojiao said, looking at Wang He Fan, who still had some grapes left to wash.
"I understand, Mother. You and my younger sisters should go and rest. I'll rest after I finish this." Wang Hefan replied without stopping his work.
Seeing that Wang Hefan seemed to know what was going on, Song Jiaojiao led her sisters to bed to rest.
She didn't know how long she had slept, but when she woke up, it was still dark outside. Seeing her two sisters still sleeping soundly beside her, Song Jiaojiao entered her spatial dimension. With nothing else to do, Song Jiaojiao went straight to the yellow earth.
"Jiaojiao, I harvested quite a lot yesterday. The scallions and some grown vegetables are in the warehouse." Before Song Jiaojiao had taken two steps, Feihu came up to report on yesterday's events, tilting his little head up, waiting for Song Jiaojiao to praise him.
"Good job, keep it up. I'll make you something delicious next time," Song Jiaojiao said without stopping, "But, can you eat this?" She suddenly remembered that Fei Hu was an elf, and wondered if he could eat it.
"I can eat, I can eat! I love sweet things the most!" Fei Hu said, his eyes sparkling as he listened to Song Jiaojiao's words.
"Okay, I'll make it for you next time." Song Jiaojiao looked down at the soil and saw a round leaf standing upright in it. "Am I seeing things? Is this a lotus root? No, it can grow without water?"
"Of course! Plants from any environment can grow here," Fei Hu said arrogantly, raising his chin.
Song Jiaojiao: "...Awesome!"
Looking at the lotus roots, Song Jiaojiao thought that it would be better to have water, so she dug a small pond near the stream. She moved all the lotus roots there and started filling it with water.
Half an hour later, Song Jiaojiao looked at the pond full of lotus roots. She thought about how, when they were ripe, she would have lotus roots to eat. Whether used in cold dishes, stir-fries, or stewed with pork ribs or chicken, they would be delicious. She could even grind them into a paste to make lotus root starch, which was not only tasty but also had beauty-enhancing effects. Not only were the lotus roots edible, but the lotus seeds were also edible, and the lotus leaves could be used to make lotus leaf chicken, or dried and used to make tea.