NOVEL NEXT Chapter 208 Yujing Rice
In June, summer lotus roots are ripe in the pond in the suburbs.
Early in the morning, brother and sister Yu Xiaochuan came to Liuxiang to bring snacks and fresh food from the river. Wan Niang still held a bouquet of lotus flowers and gave it to Mao Xi.
She also brought a lotus root hairpin and gave it to Mao Xi to make cold dishes.
"Ah Xiao, the lotus roots are ripe this summer. I'll give you these lotus root hairpins for cooking. In the afternoon, I'd like to go to the pond in the suburbs to dig lotus roots together."
Summer lotus root is sweet and crisp, perfect for cold dishes.
And this lotus root hairpin is the bud of lotus root, which is even more fresh and tender.
Mao Xi took some, boiled it with water, mixed it with balsamic vinegar and hot sauce, and asked the wife to stay and taste it.
"You guys have a try, I made some cold dishes."
Mao Xi saw that Yu Xiaochuan was a little distracted: "Brother Yu, it's not too late to go find Miss Zhemei after eating these lotus root hairpins."
Yu Xiaochuan held a jar of lotus root starch in his hand, which seemed to be a gift for Zhe Mei.
Yu Wanniang quietly said to Mao Xi, "Brother has dried some lotus root starch at home these days, and I wanted to give it to Miss Zhemei today."
"Mother, my favorite is the lotus root powder and plum blossom. Please wait for me a moment."
After saying that, he hurried to the Silk and Bamboo Pavilion.
"Mother, why don't you give me a can of lotus root starch?" Mao Xi was a little jealous of Zhe Mei, and she wanted to eat the lotus root starch too.
"Ah Xiao, there are not many lotus roots dug at home. The lotus roots dug a few days ago only produced half a can of lotus root powder. My brother is reluctant to eat it himself and wants to give it to Zhe Mei."
In the afternoon, everyone went to the pond in the suburbs together. Since they were going to dig lotus roots and the water was too deep, Mao Xi only brought Xiaodouzi and left his sister Ajiao in the shop. Lou Laner helped take care of her.
There are lotus leaves in the fields, the wind and the fragrance of lotus.
Yu's boat stopped at a shallow pond, where several villagers were digging lotus roots.
"Xiaozhou, you are here. The summer lotus roots are growing really well this year."
The speakers were Yu Xiaochuan's neighbors. They were half-stepping in the water, and strips of fresh lotus roots they dug out were floating on the water.
In order to dig lotus roots, everyone had already made preparations in advance, and Mao Xi also wore an old dark dress.
She followed the others and stepped into the water. The water was up to her waist and half a meter deep.
Yu Xiaochuan and Wanniang took Mao Xi, Mu Zhiyuan and Xiaodouzi to a cluster of lotus poles to teach them the secret of digging lotus roots.
Yu Xiaochuan grabbed a lotus pole with his hand and said: "First look for this yellow lotus pole, where the lotus roots grow on the bottom. Then step on it with your feet. When you step on the lotus root, then reach out and touch the lotus root. You will touch it first. A big lump of caked mud.”
Yu Wanniang seemed to have touched a lotus root with her hand. She leaned down and touched it with her hand to demonstrate.
"After you find the lotus root, first grab the lotus root hairpin, which is its top bud, and then start from the smallest node of the lotus root, and dig out the soil bit by bit. When the soil is loose, you can pull it out."
As soon as the wife finished speaking, she pulled out a five-segment long white lotus root.
"Put the lotus root directly into the water after pulling it out, and it will float on its own."
Mao Xi picked up the lotus root that Wan Niang had just pulled out from the water, oh! This big root weighs more than ten kilograms.
They started digging in the water together. An hour later, two fishing boats were filled with water.
Everyone fished the dug lotus roots out of the water, put them in the boat, picked a few lotus leaves to cover them, and transported them back to Yujia Village together.
Grandpa Yu also returned from fishing. When he saw two boats of lotus roots, he smiled and said: "Little boat, these two boats of lotus roots can't be eaten. This time they can be enough to dry the lotus root powder."
Yu Xiaochuan smiled naively and said, "Master, what are you talking about? I have a boat here that I want to give to shopkeeper Shu Xi."
After getting off the boat, Yu Xiaochuan and Mu Zhiyuan selected some of the lotus roots in better condition from the two boats, tied them up, and put some in the carriage.
Wan Niang first took a basket of lotus roots home and prepared dinner with Mao Xi.
Grandpa Yu has already cooked two dishes of stewed vegetables and pork. My wife used freshly dug lotus roots to stew lotus root and pork ribs soup in a pot, and then started to prepare "Yujing Rice".
Seeing that the rice hadn't been put out of the pot yet, Mao Xi peeled off the lotus seed rice in the lotus pods first: "Mother, do you want to cook lotus seed porridge?"
"It's to make Yujing rice. Ah Shi, you help me peel the green skin of these lotus seeds and rice first. The lotus seeds are also going to go. I'll cut the lotus roots."
The evening mother took a lotus root, washed it, peeled it, sliced it first, and then cut it into small dices, keeping each dice square on the outside and round on the inside, like a small well.
When the lotus seeds and lotus root dices are ready, take the japonica rice and boil it, add the lotus seeds and lotus root dices, cover and simmer for another quarter of an hour.
The diced lotus root is crisp, while the lotus seeds and japonica rice are soft and glutinous. The two collide in the mouth, with the fragrance of lotus, sweeping away the summer heat.
Farmer's rice, Mao Xi's favorite is firewood rice. When I ate this Yujing rice today, I never thought that the taste would be so elegant, and it would wash away the fatigue of a day's work.
"Ah Xiao, I've tied up the lotus roots for you and put them in the car. I'll make some lotus root powder for today's lotus roots. After they're dried, I'll deliver them to the shop another day."
Yu Wanniang took some lotus root starch from the house that was dried last year: "Ah Xiao, these lotus root noodles were dried from lotus roots last autumn. Do you want to eat some?"
Mao Xi nodded hurriedly. It had been a long time since she had eaten lotus root starch.
Wan Niang put some lotus root powder in a bowl, stirred it evenly with cold water, then boiled a pot of hot water, melted the maltose in the boiling water, and then slowly poured it into the lotus root powder liquid.
With the stirring of the spoon and the injection of boiling water, a bowl of translucent paste lotus root starch is ready.
The late mother took another spoonful of honey and sprinkled some dried osmanthus flowers into the lotus root powder, which looked quite elegant.
Mao Xi tasted it slowly, while Xiaodouzi and Mu Zhiyuan on the side had already swallowed a whole bowl of lotus root starch paste into their mouths.
"It's getting late, late mother-in-law, we should go back." Shui Xi stood up and prepared to leave.
Mu Zhiyuan drove the carriage along the edge of the pond from Yujia Village and rushed to the suburbs first.
As soon as I left Yujia Village and reached the pond, I heard a cry from the other side of the pond: "Someone fell into the water!"
Mu Zhiyuan stopped the carriage, and Mao Xi and Xiaodouzi also got out of the carriage and came to the pond.
It was getting dark, and among the commotion, a girl who fell into the water was lying on the ground. She had been rescued from the water by the returning boatman.
"Isn't this cousin Yuying's friend?"
Mao Xi recognized the woman who fell into the water, and she and Mu Zhiyuan carried the unconscious woman onto the carriage.
The carriage was bumpy, and the woman coughed twice and gradually woke up.
The woman woke up and saw herself in a carriage, looking panicked: "Who are you? Why did you save me?"
Mao Xi quickly took out a handkerchief, wiped the water off the woman's body, and said comfortingly: "Girl, don't panic, it was a kind person who saved you. I am Yuying's cousin, do you recognize her?"
"Yuying, you recognize Yuying!"
The woman looked carefully at the person in front of her, and she did look somewhat similar to Yuying.
Mao Xi nodded: "Girl, why did you commit suicide? If the boatman hadn't saved you, I'm afraid..."
"Ugh... why don't you let me be buried with He? My whole body is dirty..." the woman cried, "Girl, can you take me back to Lihua Town first? I want to see Yuying."