Chapter 107 - Sachima

The conversation between the two made Xiao Sheng speechless. Yu Bing clearly treated him no differently from others.

Xiao Sheng cleared his throat and said helplessly, “Just take care of yourselves. You don’t have to worry about me. Stop fooling around with matchmaking.”

Xiao Sheng had no intention of getting married at all. With his family’s conditions, he was too ashamed to let others suffer with him.

Xiao Sheng only wanted to cure Xiao Li’s eyes and raise his siblings. He didn’t want to think about anything else.

On the other side, Yu Bing and Jiang Chun were also discussing the Xiao family.

Jiang Chun cut an eighth of the chicken she had bought at the last market, chopped it into small pieces, and stewed them with radishes and cabbage. The two of them ate the warm food stewed on the stove with relish.

After taking a bite of the radish, Yu Bing smiled and said, “This is the first time I’ve seen Xiao Sheng so relaxed. He’s usually as serious as an old man.”

Jiang Chun said casually, “That’s also worrying. I heard Xiao Lin mention that Xiao Li’s eyes can be recovered through surgery, so their family is trying so hard to save money.”

Yu Bing stopped eating and looked up at Jiang Chun. “Xiao Li’s eyes can be treated with surgery?”

Jiang Chun nodded. “He let the cat out of the bag that day. The information was kept very secret.”

Yu Bing lowered her head and continued eating thoughtfully. In her previous life, the Xiao family had kept a low profile when living at the foot of the mountain and secretly saved money. She wondered if they had gathered enough money for the surgery.

Due to the snow, the mountain became even colder. After discussion, Xiao Sheng and Yu Bing brought the raw materials on the mountain to Yu Bing’s house according to the amount used every time.

Yu Bing and Jiang Chun began to make pastries and jam at home. Fortunately, their residence was far from the village. The two of them only began to cook after sealing the doors and windows at night.

There was still more than half a month before the New Year. The annual Spring Festival was the country’s most important festival. Everyone was willing to spend money on the New Year’s goods.

The amount of jam the county wanted was also increased by 50 bottles each time. Due to the custom of visiting relatives and friends more often during the Spring Festival, Yu Bing decided to add a new type of Manchu pastry—Sachima.

As there was no way to openly go to the station to hitch a ride, every batch of vegetables was sent by Xiao Sheng and Zhou Min’s brother, Zhou Qun.

However, this also gave Xiao Sheng many opportunities to explore the city. Some raw materials that needed to be bought could also be compared and obtained at a cheaper price, effectively reducing the production cost.

Yu Bing asked Xiao Sheng to buy some red dates and raisins from the northwest. She was prepared to make the Sachima into two versions, a simple version and deluxe version.

After buying the materials, they began to make samples. Jiang Chun and Xiao Sheng helped.

Yu Bing mixed the eggs and flour together and added a moderate amount of baking powder. First, she stirred it with chopsticks until it was evenly mixed. Then, she kneaded it into a medium-soft dough. She placed the dough in a basin and covered it with white gauze. Fifteen minutes later, she kneaded it evenly again and covered it with white gauze again.

When the dough was ready, she pressed it with her hand and rolled it into a large square piece with a rolling pin. It was rolled into the thickness of a one-dollar coin. Next, she cut the large piece into 5cm and 3mm wide slices. Finally, she sprinkled a small amount of flour and gently shook it open to prevent it from sticking.

At this time, Yu Bing poured vegetable oil into the pot. When the oil was 60% hot, she fried the noodles in small amounts a few times. During this process, she had to constantly flip the noodles with her chopsticks and fish them out when the noodles were fried until the surface was slightly golden.

Then, it was time to mix the syrup. White sugar, malt sugar, and water were poured into a clean pan. They began to stir and slowly thicken. Yu Bing had a good way to test if the syrup concentration was up to standard. When a drop of syrup was dropped into clear water, if Yu Bing could pinch it with her hand, it was ready.

At this point, all the noodles that had been fried could be poured into the syrup. They could be continuously stir-fried until the noodles were evenly dipped in the syrup. Finally, they could be poured onto the chopping board. With a rolling pin and a spatula, the noodles wrapped in syrup would be pressed into a square.

At this moment, on the other side of the chopping board, Jiang Chun had already removed the cores of the red dates and cut them into small pieces.

Yu Bing sprinkled red date fragments and raisins on half of it while it was hot. After it completely cooled, she cut it into a small square that was five centimeters long and wide. Sachima had been made!

Those with embellishments on top were the deluxe version, while those without were naturally the simple version.