novelaction Chapter 98 Mung Bean Jelly
Chapter 98 Mung Bean Jelly
Song Jiaojiao bought the shop mainly to open a beverage shop for Mu Qing. Mu Qing was not young in this era, and the families she was interested in had already started looking for a husband. In ancient times, marriage was complicated. From meeting the prospective husband to the actual marriage, it would take at least a year or two to get everything done.
After putting away the silver, Song Jiaojiao went out to see the peach blossoms she had brought back from Nanshan. She could clearly feel the expansion of the red soil. Last time it was only half an acre, but this time it had grown by at least half again, probably to a full acre. The land in her space was enough to support Song Jiaojiao's family. Even in the event of disasters or famine, they wouldn't be afraid.
The peach branches were planted in the red soil, and within a few days, they had changed a lot. They had grown much larger than when Song Jiaojiao broke them off. The previous flower buds had long since fallen off, and new buds were now sprouting on the branches. It was useful. It seemed that at most a month would be enough to cultivate a lot of peach trees, and the space left on the barren mountain could finally be filled.
Song Jiaojiao was in a great mood after leaving the space, humming an unknown tune.
Song Jiaojiao went to check on the construction progress of the workshop; she hadn't seen it yet, even after so long.
"Jiaojiao's here! You've come to see the workshop, haven't you?" The village chief stood in front of the workshop, directing the workers, and asked Song Jiaojiao with a smile.
"Yes, Uncle Wang, thank you for your hard work. It's good that you're here, which has made things much easier for me." Looking at the workshop that was almost finished with the roof tiles, the speed was truly impressive.
"It's not hard work, this is nothing. Being broke is the real hardship. We can put the tiles on today, and then there's only the wall left. That's fast, it'll be finished in two days at most. Everyone was worried that the weather wouldn't cooperate and that we wouldn't be able to finish in time for the busy farming season, but the weather has been good lately, so we finished ahead of schedule."
The village chief laughed and said, "In previous years, you could hardly see any men in the village at this time. All the hardworking ones had gone to work in town. There weren't many jobs in town, and even though there were many people working, the wages were low. It was all hard labor, nothing like the easy work Song Jiaojiao did."
"That's perfect. I was worried about delaying the villagers' work." Song Jiaojiao looked at the cloudless sky and figured it wouldn't rain for the next few days.
Before dinner, Song Jiaojiao went to check on the mung bean powder settling. She poured off the cloudy water on top, added clean water, stirred it well, and let it settle overnight. It could be dried tomorrow, but not much powder would be produced. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and she had been craving cool and refreshing food for a long time.
After two days of sun-drying, the mung bean powder was finally dry. Song Jiaojiao weighed it and found it weighed 2.8 jin (1.4 kg), which was a little higher than expected. Ten jin yielded nearly three jin (1.5 kg) of powder, so the powder yield was quite good.
Song Jiaojiao scooped out a bowl containing about half a pound of food and went to prepare the dishes. She called Xu Fang over and asked her to help out.
The water ratio is approximately five times that of the flour bowl Song Jiaojiao used, roughly 5:1. First, boil the water. While the water is boiling, add the flour to the water and stir until dissolved, ensuring there are no lumps in the starch water. Once the water boils, add the starch slurry while stirring constantly until it becomes a thick paste. Then, ladle it into a clean, oil-free, and water-free bowl and let it cool naturally. The mung bean jelly is now ready.
This method will make the jelly slightly firmer. You can use it to stir-fry the jelly. If you want it to be softer, just add two more bowls of water.
The first time she made it, Song Jiaojiao put it directly into a large basin. The jelly didn't cool down until the afternoon. She then used a knife to run it around the edge of the basin before turning the basin upside down on the cutting board. This was done to make it easier to unmold the jelly.
Looking at the jelly noodles on the cutting board, Song Jiaojiao cut them into strips with a knife and placed them in a bowl. She added seasonings and finally drizzled chili oil on top. The translucent jelly noodles with the bright red chili oil looked delicious. One bite, and the jelly noodles coated in chili oil were tangy and spicy. Having a bowl of this on a hot day instantly made you feel much cooler.
Song Jiaojiao made several bowls and asked Xu Fang to send one to the village chief, Uncle San, and Cheng Yun's family.
I left a piece in the water, planning to take it to Sifanglou tomorrow. This weather is perfect for some sour and spicy jelly. It would be great if they had ice jelly, but unfortunately I didn't see any ice jelly fruit here. Those things are usually treated as weeds, and they're probably gone before they even grow up.
The next day, the weather was gloomy, with dark clouds gathering in the sky, just waiting for them to gather before a heavy rain.
Song Jiaojiao and Meng An went to the town, bringing with them jelly and a pound of mung bean powder.
Although it was a cloudy day, the air was stuffy and uncomfortable before the rain started. You would sweat easily if you moved around even slightly. This is usually the case before a heavy rain in summer.
Upon arriving at Sifanglou, one could clearly sense a decrease in customers; the sweltering weather made everyone reluctant to go out.
Shopkeeper Wang was wiping his sweat with a handkerchief while writing something at the counter. The weather was already this hot before the dog days of summer even started; who knew what it would be like when the dog days began?
"Manager Wang, are you busy?" Song Jiaojiao came in carrying a basket and greeted Manager Wang with a smile.
"Madam Song is here! Come, sit down. Pillar, bring a pot of tea." Manager Wang looked up when he heard the voice and saw Song Jiaojiao greeting him warmly.
There weren't many people in the shop today, and many seats in the lobby were empty. Song Jiaojiao and Manager Wang found a nearby spot to sit down. It was too hot, and Song Jiaojiao was indeed thirsty. When she saw the waiter serving tea, she instructed him to send a pot of water to Meng An, who was watching the carriage outside.
"Why has Madam Song come today? Looking at the sky outside, it looks like it might rain at any time, and the rain is probably quite heavy," Manager Wang said worriedly, taking a sip of tea.
"Good things don't wait for anyone, so even in this bad weather, I have to deliver them to Manager Wang," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile, her eyes gleaming with a fox-like shrewdness.
Upon hearing this, Manager Wang was overjoyed. Anything sent by Song Jiaojiao must be of high quality. The sweet potato starch had just been discontinued, so he wondered what surprise awaited them this time.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go to the kitchen now." After saying that, he got up and walked towards the kitchen, taking Song Jiaojiao's basket with him.
Song Jiaojiao chuckled helplessly and shook her head, then had no choice but to follow.
Song Jiaojiao took the jelly out of the basket. Manager Wang looked at the greenish-gray block in front of him, wondering what it was for.
"Madam Song, is this something you've come up with recently?"
"Yes, this is called liangfen (cold mung bean jelly), it's made from mung bean flour. This is the finished product, I brought it for you to try first." Song Jiaojiao said as she began to cut the liangfen into strips.
Having been here many times, Song Jiaojiao is familiar with the kitchen of Sifanglou. She simply adds seasonings and pours on chili oil, and a bowl of cold mung bean jelly is ready.
"Manager Wang, please try it," Song Jiaojiao pushed the bowl in front of Manager Wang and handed him a pair of chopsticks.
Shopkeeper Wang looked at the jelly in front of him and couldn't believe it was made from that greenish-gray stuff from before. He never expected that the jelly, cut into strips, would be so transparent. Paired with bright red chili oil, it looked incredibly appetizing.