frightfiction Chapter 142: One Year Higher Than Another
Chapter 142: One Year Higher Than Another
The old ladies sitting on the kang in the cave were also busy making rice cakes.
Eating rice cakes during the Chinese New Year means that life will become more prosperous year by year, and it also means that children will grow taller year by year.
Although they don’t have big red dates, let alone white flour or glutinous rice flour.
The old ladies here are very skillful. They can use yam and kudzu root powder to make rice cakes in various shapes, which look vivid and lifelike.
There are shapes of carp, hedgehog, butterfly, and the twelve zodiac signs. The most special ones are four that are shaped like ingots and a large rice cake with the shape of blooming flowers.
The yam and kudzu root dough slowly took shape in the rough hands of the old ladies.
People used to say that auspicious snow means a good harvest, and it was at this time that scattered snowflakes began to float in the sky.
Unlike the heavy snow of the past few days, it was not snowing heavily, but only scattered snowflakes, as if the snowflakes knew they were going to cook outside.
I deliberately added a little atmosphere to them without affecting their preparations for the New Year’s Eve dinner at all.
White steam began to rise from the iron pot racks again.
Amidst all the noise, festive words were heard. The situation outside the cave was different from that inside.
The cold air alternates with the hot air. Pork ribs are stewed in a big pot. Stir it with a spoon. The yam has not been added yet because the ribs are not cooked at this time. Putting the yam in too early will easily rot.
The white soup between the big bones was bubbling and steaming. You could imagine how delicious it was before you even put it in your mouth.
"Dad, please get some dry firewood quickly, we don't have enough!" This is the voice of Aunt Ma Zi calling Uncle Ma Zi.
Uncle Mazi was just washing yams and didn't even bother to wipe his hands before he went to pick up some dry firewood.
Aunt Fugui called out, "Third sister-in-law, how big should the yam be peeled and cut into pieces?"
Li Jingshu was so busy that she had no time to look up, and most of the stews had to be made by her.
Shen Zhiqiu quickly replied on behalf of his wife: "Just cut it to the length of your finger, and I'll make candied yam after you wash it."
In fact, when talking about sweet and sour yam, what everyone thinks of is that the yam is sticky when peeled, and the white juice will form strings, which will make your hands itchy when they get them on. When they peel the yam, they have to use a palm peel to hold it.
How do you make the shredded yam? The cooked yam doesn't have any shreds, but the raw one does. The key is that it doesn't seem to be edible raw. Don't you see that your hands feel itchy when it gets stuck on them?
An open space of about 200 square meters was cleared at the entrance of the cave, and everyone was so busy that they seemed unable to turn around.
Mrs. Guo's wife, Auntie Guo, squatted on the ground to clean the fish. The internal organs had to flow out, and then she turned around and buried them in the snow.
These internal organs are also used as fish food when fishing.
The two daughters-in-law of Grandpa Dahai, Aunt Wangcai and Aunt Wangfu, were holding kitchen knives and cutting bamboo shoots. The white and tender bamboo shoots quickly became slices in their hands.
Even if there is a lot of fish, all ten dishes cannot be meat. Shen Youyou's family has always been particular about the combination of meat and vegetables.
Li Jingshu was directing his eldest sister-in-law, her younger sister-in-law, Tian Cuifen's eldest daughter-in-law Zhinan's wife, and several other women to steam the carp first.
In order to save on cooking stoves, they used a bamboo cage and a bamboo basket just like steaming buns today, with five big carps on each layer, for a total of five layers.
There is a special feature of this steamed fish, that is, the largest whole fish cannot be eaten after stewing, but is used for ancestor worship.
The custom in Shenjia Village is to hold a ancestor worship ceremony on the evening of New Year's Eve.
People will go to their ancestral tombs to worship on the afternoon of New Year's Eve, which in previous years was at the afternoon of New Year's Eve.
This time is chosen because it is believed that the yin energy is heavier in the evening, making it a good time to communicate with ancestors.
In fact, they had chicken and fish in previous years, but this year they had no chicken. However, Mr. Shen was experienced enough to hunt wild boars.
Several pigs were made into complete cured pig heads, and the largest one would be used to offer sacrifices to the ancestors.
In ancient times, men were superior to women. It is said that the food for the sacrifice had to be placed from the time of Shen on New Year's Eve until before dinner on New Year's Day.
At that time, men in every household will be able to eat it, but women and girls, even old ladies, will not be eligible to eat it.
Shen Zhiqiu was listening to the old man discussing ancestor worship with him when he suddenly remembered this. He secretly gave a shot of prevention to the mother and daughter, who had no memory of ancient times but had always believed in gender equality.
Don't let this happen suddenly. Her daughter is fine, she can keep calm, but her wife is unsure.
He has such a bad temper that when he gets angry, he basically doesn't care about the situation.
As a result, his wife rolled her eyes at him and said directly: "It was left over overnight and was cold the next day. I have eaten all kinds of delicious food. Do you really think I am a rare eater?"
Even though he got the eye roll and was scolded, Shen Zhiqiu was relieved now. It was OK as long as his wife didn't care about it. He felt better knowing that his wife didn't like it.
At least it's better than his wife wanting to eat something but he can't get it for her.
The rich wife had learned how to make golden thread fish soup, so Li Jingshu was no longer interested in this task and gave up.
The golden money fish should be fried in a pan first, and then boiling water should be added, so that the soup will be milky white, and the fish soup should be simmered over low heat.
In the end, the fish soup will be delicious and the fish will not fall apart.
In short, the big iron pots are set up in every household, and none of them are idle.
In other pots, there are sour bamboo shoots and grass carp fillets, braised catfish, and sweet and sour black fish.
There was a real fragrance floating in the air.
These are done by women, and Li Jingshu is in charge of coordinating them.
Shen Zhiqiu brought the men and was responsible for cooking. Of course, it was Shen Zhiqiu who cooked, and the other men learned from him.
The strong laborers didn't think much about it, mainly because Shen Zhiqiu, a young man, could cook, so there was nothing they couldn't do.
They have seen so much along the way that they are used to it. The third brother is not really afraid of his wife. The three brothers respect their wives from the bottom of their hearts.
The main thing is that Shen Zhiqiu always says: "What kind of man is it to lose your temper with your wife? You are not a high-ranking official, and I don't live a rich life with you. I have to endure your anger in the wind and rain all day long. It's a good thing that your wife has good character, otherwise she would have run away with someone else long ago.
Because of this, you should be nicer to her, and don't get angry and beat your wife to show off your face and status. A man's face and status are earned with blood and sweat outside. "
When it comes to this kind of thing, Shen Zhiqiu would just pull the trigger and give the man a set of punishment when he saw him getting angry, especially when he was educating the teenagers from a young age.
We must really do our best to completely prevent the situation where wives are bullied among the people in Shenjia Village.
Don't wait until the day when his wife gets displeased and takes out her anger on him.
Shen Youyou saw it all and had nothing to say. When it came to her mother's affairs, her father was even smarter than usual, and his overwhelming desire to survive was unparalleled.
Shen Zhiqiu instructed the men to stir-fry bamboo rat in an iron pan, using palm oil. The shiny red bamboo rat meat pieces, under the men's large ladle, emitted a burnt aroma.
I guess he could even chew a bone into pieces, it's so appetizing.
Candied yam, Shen Zhiqiu personally cooks it.
He had made this dish countless times in his previous life, because his wife and daughter both loved it. The fried yam was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the syrup was just the right amount.
Finally, pour the fried golden yam into the syrup and roll it until it is fully coated with syrup.
When it is clamped, long threads can be pulled out, which makes people marvel at it.