Chapter 593 - 589: Tempting Taste (Third Update)
Chapter 593 - 589: Tempting Taste (Third Update)
Mu Shuangshuang pushed the stone mill at a leisurely pace, not feeling too tired. Compared to before, doing chores now was relatively easy.Perhaps it was because she had been well-fed and cared for over this long period, her strength had increased significantly.
Just as she was thinking about it, Yu Si Niang walked in from outside, holding two square iron boxes in her hands.
"Shuangshuang, these are borrowed from the Fu Family by your mother. They said they didn’t have round iron boxes, these were originally meant for making pancakes."
Making rice noodles requires round iron boxes, the center of the box should be flat and even, with no bumps.
Mu Shuangshuang searched around her own home and found nothing that could substitute, so she asked Yu Si Niang to look at the neighbors’.
Yu Si Niang asked several familiar households and finally borrowed from the Fu Family.
"Alright, Mother, when Fengzi cuts the bamboo from the mountain, we can start preparing!"
Mu Shuangshuang was making quite a lot of rice noodles this time.
She planned to hang the prepared rice noodles on bamboo poles to dry, cut them into strips, and then dry them again. When eating, they could be directly thrown into an iron pot to boil.
"Then I’ll help you grind the rice paste!"
Yu Si Niang put down the iron boxes and lent Mu Shuangshuang a hand.
With two people pushing the mill, Mu Shuangshuang felt much easier and sped up the milling.
Yu Si Niang would occasionally help by pouring some rice into the mill hole.
Everyone hadn’t had breakfast yet, waiting for the rice noodles Shuangshuang mentioned to be ready, and then they would feast.
Yu Si Niang had never seen such a sight and was curious.
"Shuangshuang, I’ve never seen what you’re making before? I can make sweet potato noodles, but not like this."
Many things that Mu Shuangshuang could make were unknown in the Da Ning Dynasty, even Yu Si Niang had never heard of them.
In the Da Ning Dynasty, breakfast mainly consisted of porridge, noodles, and some coarse grain pancakes or steamed buns.
Basically, anything that could save grain while also being filling would do.
However, many things Mu Shuangshuang made were completely outside this range and, importantly, they were especially delicious.
Yu Si Niang’s confusion was understandable.
However, explaining too many different things became cumbersome.
Some less complicated things were easy to explain, like experimenting or being taught by someone else, but these delicate items that required tools weren’t something locals would know about, nor could they be brushed off with a few words.
"Mother, I learned this in a dream. There was a sister who taught me. Ever since I woke up, every few days I dream of a girl dressed in strange clothes teaching me to make delicious things!"
"What? Strange clothes? Shuangshuang, you’re not possessed, are you? I’ll go get Granny Liu from the neighboring village, she knows how to deal with these filthy things!" Yu Si Niang looked all tense.
She paused her hands on the mill.
"Mother, how could it be possession? Shuangshuang is a normal person, and the sister taught me good things, teaching me how to cook and support the family, and said you and father are good people, good people deserve good karma!"
Mu Shuangshuang’s explanation was somewhat far-fetched.
But Yu Si Niang believed it, and she smiled brightly.
"Our Shuangshuang is blessed; maybe it’s the immortals in heaven helping you."
Having said that, Yu Si Niang walked to the kitchen door, knelt down, and kowtowed three times towards the door.
Mu Shuangshuang felt relieved, although this incident led to a misunderstanding by Yu Si Niang.
"Shuangshuang, let’s keep busy! If this turns out to be tasty, I’ll send some to your grandparents, they’ve certainly never tasted something made from the guidance of an immortal!" Yu Si Niang said with a smile.
Mu Shuangshuang was taken aback, her mother was just too adorable, she didn’t even know what to say!
"Alright! Later, let’s give my grandmother some bean sprouts too, she likes them!"
After Mu Shuangshuang finished speaking, she glanced at the stone mill, feeling that the rice paste was nearly done. The iron boxes still hadn’t been cleaned, and the stove fire hadn’t been started.
Most importantly, Lu Yuanfeng hadn’t come back yet.
Mu Shuangshuang estimated that by the time she finished with the tasks here, Lu Yuanfeng would have arrived.
"Mother, leave the work here to me. You go rest, I’ll call you when breakfast is ready!"
"I’m going to the pigsty to shovel manure, you stay here and work. If there’s anything you need, call me!"
Yu Si Niang had just left when Lu Yuanfeng arrived, he had cut three bamboos as instructed by Mu Shuangshuang, all very straight, with branches completely cleaned.
With a basin of water and a cloth, Mu Shuangshuang went out to the courtyard.
She wiped the three bamboos clean, and washed them twice with water.
Ensuring the bamboo was thoroughly cleaned, she placed them on the rack Lu Yuanfeng had set up.
The prelude was ready, the rest was to make the rice noodles.
Mu Shuangshuang entered the kitchen, lit a fire, put a pot of cold water in the pot, and placed the ground rice paste into the cleaned iron boxes.
After a while, the water in the big iron pot began to boil, and Mu Shuangshuang placed the iron boxes into the pot.
After a while, she took them out, which were now cooked rice noodles.
"It’s ready!"
In the iron box, white rice noodles appeared before the two, slightly resembling cold noodles but also different.
Mu Shuangshuang scooped the first piece of rice noodle with a spatula, placed it in a big bowl, and offered it to the Kitchen God.
This was something she learned from Yu Si Niang; whenever something delicious was made, it should first be offered to the Kitchen God to taste, praying for a smooth wind and rain and a bountiful harvest.
The second and third pieces, Mu Shuangshuang set aside.
She cut up the rice noodles she later took out with a knife and put them into another big bowl.
The broth was made when the rice was half-ground, kept warm in the big iron pot beside.
However, there was no fresh meat, only a bit of meat sauce Mu Shuangshuang made earlier when she had nothing to do.
The meat sauce would be mixed into the rice noodles later, with some chili oil, the broth would be poured in, and the fragrance of rice noodles should come out.
Mu Shuangshuang made a bowl for Lu Yuanfeng first, she couldn’t leave, the pot still needed to continuously cook rice noodles.
Lu Yuanfeng helped to call Mu Dashan and his family, bringing the three children over to eat rice noodles together.
The finished rice noodles were hung one by one on the bamboo poles, lined up in a complete row.
The rice noodles needed to dry first, so they wouldn’t easily fall apart, then be brought back and cut into strips before being dried again outside.
In the kitchen, Mu Shuangshuang busied herself back and forth, Lu Yuanfeng initially tried to help but was too heavy-handed. As soon as he touched them, Mu Shuangshuang’s rice noodles would fall into two pieces onto the ground.
After a few times, Mu Shuangshuang stopped letting Lu Yuanfeng touch them.
She scooped out the cooked rice noodles herself with a spatula and took them out to dry.
When Mu Shuangshuang came out again, Mrs. Lin’s disagreeable face was already under the bamboo poles where Mu Shuangshuang dried the rice noodles.
She had just finished her business in the outhouse and could already smell the delicious aroma of Mu Shuangshuang’s cooking.
If it were in the past, Mrs. Lin would have surely thought she wouldn’t get to eat any, assuming that the third branch’s brat would surely shoo her away.
But things were different now, her eldest brother had passed the scholar’s exam, she was still a scholar’s sister-in-law.
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