Chapter 149 Pickled Dexian
Shen Zhi picked up his pen and wrote a letter back to Zhan Xiao, writing down every detail in it, using small handwriting in a gel pen, for a total of five pages.
Poor pigeon, it had five pages of paper tied to its feet, while other people's pigeons only had small pieces of paper.
Everything in the villa was back on track. Shen Zhi pulled herself away temporarily. She wanted to make the food she had longed to eat.
Because of the recent continuous drizzle, the spring bamboo shoots moved with the sound of spring thunder and sprouted with the spring rain. At this time, the spring bamboo shoots are white, tender and crisp, with thin shells and thick meat, and the meat is tender. Shen Zhi had noticed them a long time ago.
Taking advantage of the free time, Shen Zhi took a hoe and carried a small backpack to the mountain. The bamboo forest on the mountain was now full of spring bamboo shoots breaking through the ground.
When digging spring bamboo shoots, you should look for those that have just emerged, as they are the freshest and tenderest. Shen Zhi was very skillful, digging one by one without making any noise, and soon the basket was full.
On the way back, she cut another bundle of fresh mugwort. She planned to make the green rice dumplings she had missed for a long time. The last time she ate them was in her previous life, and now it seemed like a long time had passed.
Shen Zhi lived alone in a small courtyard in Baiyun Villa. There was a small kitchen inside, but Shen Zhi had never used it. Today, she planned to use the small kitchen to make more Qingtuan for everyone to share.
The small kitchen was actually quite large, and it was fully stocked with all the tools and seasonings. Shen Zhi cleaned it thoroughly before starting to make the qingtuan.
Today I plan to make two styles, sweet and salty. The sweet ones have sesame, peanut and red bean paste fillings, and the salty ones have spring bamboo shoots and bacon fillings. All the ingredients needed today are ready in the big kitchen, so Shen Zhi asked Ruyi to go to the big kitchen to get some.
Ruyi has now fully recovered. She has started to follow Shen Zhi and help him with everything. Shen Zhi felt that saving Ruyi was a wise move. She was very good at using Ruyi. Not only was she considerate and always thought ahead, but Shen Zhi also found that she was a treasure girl. He felt that she was very talented in everything and could do everything with a little guidance.
While Ruyi was getting something, Shen Zhi had already cut the bacon and spring bamboo shoots into cubes and fried them into fillings.
The next step is to pour the washed mugwort leaves into the pot and start cooking. At the same time, add baking soda into the pot to ensure that the finished product remains emerald green in color.
Take out the cooked mugwort leaves and chop them into small pieces. Add them into the glutinous rice flour and sticky rice flour in the right proportion and mix them evenly. Knead them like dough until smooth. Then divide the dough into small even pieces.
Now you can start making them. For sweet ones, make them round, and for salty ones, make them in the shape of ingots. Qingtuan is also called Qingming cake, which means peace and health, but it does not exist in this era. So when Shen Zhi said she wanted to make Qingtuan, the maid from a wealthy family like Ruyi said she had never heard of this kind of food.
The qingtuan was wrapped quickly, and the big winnowing basket was filled with several of them. Shen Zhi put them one by one into the big steamer, and soon the first pot was out of the oven.
Shen Zhi couldn't wait to pick up a salty one, and picked up one for Ruyi as well. She couldn't wait to take a bite, the spring bamboo shoots were really fresh, no wonder the old saying goes that if you don't eat spring bamboo shoots, you don't know the taste of spring.
Ruyi also exclaimed that it was delicious. Later, she tasted the sweet one, which was also as sweet and delicious as in the previous life.
Shen Zhi and Ruyi were busy for most of the day before they steamed all the green rice dumplings and let them cool.
Shen Zhi took out the plastic wrap, wrapped the green dumplings one by one and put them into the basket, and asked Ruyi to take the green dumplings to give a few to each worker to try.
Eunuch Cao and Lord Sun actually smelled the scent and came over.
"I told you to give us some special treatment. That's really not nice of you. You should at least take us with you." Eunuch Cao reached out, grabbed one and put it in his mouth.
Lord Sun followed suit and picked one up, but Shen Zhi hit him on the hand with a chopstick and said, "How many times have I told you to be careful about what you eat? This qingtuan is filled with sweets, and you dared to eat it without asking. Here, this one has bacon and fresh bamboo shoots, you can eat it."
"Girl, I want to eat dinner here too." Eunuch Cao said while eating.
Lord Sun also agreed: "I want one too."
"No." I'm not a cook.
Eunuch Cao took out a gold leaf and handed it to Shen Zhi.
"Deal." Shen Zhi grabbed the gold leaf and stuffed it into his sleeve.
Eunuch Cao looked very proud and said, "You little brat, I don't even know who you are, but I don't believe I can't control you."
Upon seeing this, Lord Sun also followed suit and stuffed a gold ingot into Shen Zhi's hand, which was much heavier than the gold leaf given by Eunuch Cao.
Shen Zhi quickly pushed him away and refused, "No, don't try to bribe me. Riches and honor cannot corrupt me, poverty and humbleness cannot move me, power and might cannot bend me, this is what a real man is."
Lord Sun was confused. What does that mean? Why are they treating us differently? No matter what, I will follow Cao Rumo wherever he goes.
Not long after, Ruyi came back, but she was followed by a huge crowd of people, the group of adults. Ruyi looked at Shen Zhi with an apologetic look and whispered, "Miss, I seem to have caused trouble for you. They asked why the servants had food but they didn't, so they had to follow me to get it."
Shen Zhi glanced at the winnowing basket behind her. There was not much left. She was planning to go to town in the afternoon to deliver some to her sister and the Song family.
Shen Zhi smiled awkwardly and said, "This is just a kind of rural snack in our countryside that is not presentable. I am afraid that it will not be accepted by the adults."
An old man in the lead said, "Countryside snacks are authentic. I came here to ask for two to try."
Shen Zhi respected this old man very much. He was usually humble and well-spoken, but she never knew what his official position was. Shen Zhi hurriedly took two of each flavor and handed them to the old man.
Once you have the first one, you don’t have to worry about the second one. Officials will come in and ask for more until all the green dumplings in the winnowing basket are gone.
Alas, I worked so hard for so long, and I only ate one and it was gone.
In the evening, Shen Zhi put a clay pot on a small red clay stove in the yard and cooked a pot of pickled pork with preserved vegetables. It happened that there were a lot of bamboo shoots and bacon left from making green rice balls at noon, and with lettuce and thousand-leaf knots, a pot of delicious pickled pork with preserved vegetables was ready.
The staple food is mugwort cake, which is full of the taste of spring.
Shen Zhi served a bowl of soup for himself and Ruyi. Ruyi grew up in a wealthy family, and she had a clear hierarchy, so she didn't dare to overstep the boundaries. But Shen Zhi insisted that she eat at the table, and Ruyi sat down next to Shen Zhi. But she couldn't stop after taking a sip of the soup, which was really delicious. Shen Zhi and Ruyi drank two bowls each and ate two mugwort cakes before putting down their chopsticks.
When Eunuch Cao and Lord Sun arrived, the preserved pork with preserved vegetables on the small stove was still bubbling, and there were only two pieces of mugwort cake left. Lord Sun frowned, there really was only one portion, so he said he would not give it to me. Lord Sun quickly scooped a bowl of preserved pork with preserved vegetables while Eunuch Cao was still smiling and chatting with Shen Zhi, and grabbed a piece of mugwort cake and stuffed it into his mouth.
By the time Eunuch Cao reacted, there was only half a bowl of food left in the casserole. He was so sad that he could not even cry.