Chapter 281 - 281 Green Rice Fruit (2)
“Can this be eaten now?” Gu Qingming and Grandma Gu widened their eyes and asked curiously.
Grandma Shi nodded and said, “It’s edible now. It’s just that it’s not very cooked. It’s a little sticky!”
“Why don’t you cook them all?” Gu Qingming asked in confusion.
Grandma Shi said, “If it’s cooked too well, it’ll be too soft when the filling is wrapped and steamed to eat. It won’t be tough and won’t have this chewiness. In-law, this can also be eaten. It’s not bad to add some soy sauce and chili.”
However, Grandma Gu wasn’t very fond of spicy food!
Grandma Gu nodded and said, “It’s not bad for me to eat like this!”
With that, whe pinched a small ball with her hand and put it in her mouth.
Gu Qingming was speechless as she watched her grandmother eat the green ball with her hands.
Grandma Gu was really quick to adapt to the local customs.
Even if country bumpkins loved to be clean, they couldn’t possibly wear plastic gloves and the like every day when they cooked at home. That would be inconvenient. Therefore, as long as their hands were washed clean, they would use their hands to scratch what should be scratched.
This time, everyone washed their hands clean in order to be hygienic.
Gu Qingming also pinched a small ball and put it in her mouth. Yes, it was chewy, but because her father was not very familiar with it, it was a stained his teeth.
After the first pot of green paste was cooked, two buckets of rice paste were poured into the pot and thdy began to cook thd second pot began to cook!
Gu Qingmings younger cousin, Shi Zhiyuan, was in charge of the fire, while his eldest cousin, Shi Yibo, was in charge of the paste.
Shi Yibo was in charge of massaging it into an oval shape.
During this period, Eldest Grandfather and the women from Little Grandfather’s family came over to help.
There were too many people here and he could not turn around at all.
Everyone moved the things to the big courtyard.
The courtyard was spacious and could accommodate many people. Everyone could work freely without feeling crowded.
After the women from the two families came over, two of them rolled into a ball like Shi Yibo.
Another three to four people were in charge of kneading the compressed poop into a long strip about five to six centimeters in diameter.
Then, they kneaded a small ball from the long strip and kneaded it until it was flat. This pancake skin was used to wrap the filling.
There were five or six types of stuffing on the table, and all kinds of stuffing could be wrapped.
Gu Qingming and Grandma Gu also participated in pressing the crust and wrapping the filling.
The crust required tools: a plastic ladle to scoop water, a stainless steel basin, and of course, a molding tool.
After pressing the crust, even the children were very interested in the filling.
Grandmother and Eldest Aunt went to find a steamer. It was made of bamboo strips and was very big. It was meant to be steamed in a large pot. They washed it clean and wiped it clean. There was a layer of filtering netting on it.
Everyone placed the wrapped green paste on the steamer one by one and arranged them neatly.
When the entire bamboo steamer was filled, it could be steamed when placed in the iron pot.
Many children prefer strips without filling, so there were strips in each steamer.
There was strength in numbers. Soon, a steamer was ready. Second Aunt immediately carried it to the big pot to steam.
As Gu Qingming wrapped her Green Rice Fruit, she asked, “How long will it take to steam?”
Grandma said, “You have to boil the water first. Then, you usually steam it for 15 to 20 minutes!”
Gu Qingming’s eyes lit up. Soon, they could eat the finished product.
Gu Qingming glanced at her mother, who had put down her status as a noblewoman. She skillfully kneaded the rice balls, rubbed the long strips, and then kneaded the small balls. She placed them aside and asked someone to crush them into pancake skin.
“Mom, you know how to do this?” Gu Qingming asked.
In her memory, her mother was noble and elegant. Now that she was so down-to-earth, Gu Qingming was a little surprised.
Mrs. Gu said indignantly, “Child, what do you take me for? A rich lady who doesn’t do anything? I grew up in this family. I don’t know how many times I’ve made this at home, but I definitely know how to do it. Hmph, don’t underestimate your mother. I’m famous for my dexterity in the village. Everything I do is fast and good!”
Gu Qingming was speechless. She really could not tell.
She had always thought that with her mother’s appearance, with so many people doting on her, she probably wouldn’t work despite being born in a village.
At home, for the sake of his family, she would occasionally cook. To be honest, the food she made was average. However, the soup her mother made was very delicious!
In the past, when Gu Qingming came to her home with her parents, it was the end of the year. She came in a hurry and returned in a hurry. She had never eaten the local specialty rice fruits here.
Little Grandma next to her smiled and said, “That’s true. Not only is Shu’er beautiful, but she’s also extremely smart. She’s smart and quick-witted. No matter what she does, she’ll learn it after watching it once.”
“This girl is too wild,” Grandma snapped. “She can’t even sit still for two minutes before she runs away. It’s like she has ADHD. Fortunately, Ming’er is gentle and demure. Unlike you, you make me so angry that my liver hurts!”
Mrs. Gu immediately said aggrievedly, “Mom, how am I wild? I was just being playful.”
Grandma said, “Is that being playful? If I hadn’t confirmed with my own eyes that I had given birth to a daughter, I would have thought that I had given birth to another son. Climbing trees to dig out bird eggs, going into the river to fish, and even following a group of boys to stir up a hornet’s nest. Do you think a hornet’s nest can be stirred up casually? After this group of children stirred up the hornet’s nest, they were chased away by the hornets. A few children were stung until they were covered in bruises. Oh, you were smart. You knew to smoke the hornets with a torch, so they didn’t sting you.”
“Pfft!” Grandma Gu laughed and said, “Shu’er is really smart. In-law, how old was Shu’er then?”
“Ten years old!” Grandma said, “She was the youngest in that group of people. The others were all twelve or thirteen years old. After two children were stung, they actually came to the house and said that if she hadn’t smoked the hornets with a torch, the hornets wouldn’t have run around and stung them. They were covered in bumps and had to go to the hospital for an injection. They wanted us to compensate for the medical fees!”
“Haha…” Grandma Gu laughed as she wrapped Papa Qing. “It seems that Shu’er caused a lot of trouble when she was young.”
“That’s right!” Grandma nodded. “What’s even more infuriating is that this child was being protected by a group of men who can’t bear to say anything after she caused trouble. That infuriated me.”
As Mrs. Gu kneaded the rice ball, she said speechlessly, “Mom, it’s been 20 to 30 years. Why do you keep mentioning it? Let’s not mention the old things about my childhood on the first day of the Lunar New Year.”
Grandma said angrily, “I’ll talk about your matter for a few decades. Hmph!”
Mrs. Gu was speechless.
...
Gu Qingming smiled and said, “Mom, I’m very interested in what happened to you when you were young. Grandma, tell me more about my mother’s childhood. Haha, it’s interesting!”
Mrs. Gu was speechless. This little cotton-padded jacket was leaking again.