CH 21

The actual name of jelly fruit is Xueli. It is the fruit of the climbing plant Xueli. It can be used as medicine in itself, but it could also be a flavorful dessert.

Yu Qingze looked at a large piece of jelly fruit climbing on the rocks and surrounding trees, and felt very happy. This is the perfect food to relieve summer heat and reduce dryness!

He still remembered when he was at his grandfather’s house. In the middle of summer, several trees in the village were covered with this kind of jelly fruit. The villagers would pick it and make it into jelly, adding honey or sugar, making it cool and refreshing, very delicious.

The recipe is also very simple, he still remembers. Yu Qingze saw them and felt their thoughtfulness, and even brought the dishes.

After discovering this good thing, Yu Qingze didn’t even bother to wash away the shame of being a cripple in picking mushrooms and began to collect the big, plump jelly fruits.

His left shoulder was injured, and he couldn’t lift his it up, so he could only pick the fruits with one hand. Fortunately, the vines the jelly fruit climbed were not high, some were on the rocks next to him and can be picked from the ground.

Not far away, Chang Hao, who was also crippled initially, found another fungus. He picked it excitedly and wanted to show it off again. Who knows when he turned his head that he found Yu Qingze was already stopped ‘doing his job’ and was not looking for fungus at all, but was picking something.

“Brother Yu, what are you doing? I found another fungus, I now have two! If you don’t hurry up, you won’t be able to catch up with me.” Chang Hao walked over to Yu Qingze with the two fungi he had found, and looked curiously at the pile of fruits lying on the ground.

“You can’t eat this fruit, what are you picking it for?” Yu Qingze immediately decided to make a fish head tofu soup.

“You can eat it, I’ll make it for you in the afternoon, I’m sure you like it!” Yu Qingze didn’t turn his head, and tiptoed to pull the jelly fruit on the branches above his head. The color was green, plump and huge, and there must be a lot of pectin in it.!

“Is this edible? Isn’t it medicine?” Chang Hao was surprised. He had known this fruit for many years, and he never knew it was edible, but he had seen Doctor Yu pick it for medicine.

Yu Qingze finally picked the fruit from the tallest branch and explained with a smile, “Many medicinal herbs are edible by themselves.”

“Oh, is it delicious?” Chang Hao is most concerned about this question, “Will it smell like medicine?”

Yu Qingze poked him on the forehead and scolded with a smile: “Fool, you won’t eat it if it smells like medicine?”

Chang Hao touched his forehead with a smile, and said cheekily, “If it’s delicious, a little medicinal smell can still be tolerated!”

Yu Qingze smiled, turned around and continued to pick the fruits.

Chang Hao didn’t look for fungus anymore. Anyway, if he couldn’t find it, he might as well pick this wild fruit. The forest was full of them, so he didn’t have to search hard.

The two picked a bunch of them, Yu Qingze saw that it was almost the amount he wanted, so he went with Chang Hao to find Grandpa Chang and Chang Le with jelly fruits in their arms.

Grandpa Chang and Chang Le also looked surprised when they saw the jelly fruits, but since Yu Qingze said you can eat it, it means that you can eat it. Anyway, even if Yu Qingze is pointing at the grass on the ground now saying he can make it to delicious food, and they will not doubt it and eat it with a smile.

Grandpa Chang and Chang Le picked up a lot of fungus, which together could weigh three or four kilograms, and dumped them in one dung pan. Yu Qingze and Chang Hao put the jelly fruit they picked in another dung pan. Chang Le started and cut the chicken thighs and breasts into small pieces according to Yu Qingze’s instructions.

The group returned home full of harvest.

There is no taboo on the Mid-Yuan Festival here, but there is also a custom that you must eat duck, which is the homonym of “press”, which means to suppress ghosts.

Yesterday, grandpa Chang bought a duck from someone in the same village.

After returning, it was almost noon, and the family started to cook.

Grandpa Chang killed and prepped the ducks, Chang Hao helped from the side.

Yu Qingze first asked Chang Le to cut the chicken into pieces and blanch in water, then put it into a large casserole together with the fir tree mushroom, add ginger and garlic, and set it on the stove to simmer. Then Chang Le went to wash the vegetables, and Yu Qingze began to pluck duck feathers with Grandpa Chang.

After the duck has been processed, cut it open, keep half of it for dinner, and prepare the remaining half to make braised duck with ginger according to Yu Qingze’s arrangement.

“Brother Le, you cook today.” Yu Qingze said.

Chang Le looked at him and waved his hand, saying that he had never made braised duck with ginger, he had never even heard the name of the dish, and he had never seen Yu Qingze make it once, and couldn’t make it.

Yu Qingze pulled down his wrist and said, “It’s alright, I’ll teach you, just follow my instructions.” Chang Le set the fire, and Yu Qingze started to do it, explaining to Chang Le while doing it.

Chang Le hesitated for a moment.

Yu Qingze pointed to his left hand and said, “I can’t lift my arm yet.”

When Chang Le heard this, he immediately nodded. It was also his own carelessness. Brother Yu is a patient now, how could he still cook? His face was a little embarrassed.

Yu Qingze smiled. In fact, his right hand was fine, and cooking with one hand was completely ok, but he just wanted to see Chang Le make it.

Moreover, if you want to have good cooking skills, you must practice often, but with the ingredient limitations in this world, there is no way for Chang Le to use food to practice on his own, so Yu Qingze can only teach him to do it step by step. Practice is also learning, killing two birds with one stone. Especially Mi Geer and Fu Bo, it was the first time for them to eat the dishes made by Yu Qingze.

Yu Qingze didn’t do anything in the whole process, from cutting the duck meat til the end, he just gave the command and let Chang Le do it.

The chicken stewing in the stove has begun to release its fragrance, mixed with the rich aroma of fir tree mushrooms, the smell makes you want to drool.

“It’s really fragrant!” Chang Hao put his head close to the pot while burning the fire and inhaled the aroma, which was delicious and sweet.

Chang Le smacking his lips, hungry.

“Hao, the fire is too big, just a little bit, or the soup will be dry in a while.” Yu Qingze saw that the soup was boiling when he lifted the lid, and quickly reminded Chang Hao.

“Oh, ok.” Chang Hao quickly pulled out two firewoods. His brother likes to drink soup. If there is no soup, he won’t have to anything drink.

Chang Le, under the guidance of Yu Qingze, first cut the duck meat into pieces, sliced ​​ginger and red pepper. Then boil the water, blanch the duck pieces, rinse off the blood and drain the water. Take another oil pan, sauté the ginger and garlic slices until fragrant, then pour the duck pieces into the pot and stir-fry until golden brown, add the ginger slices and stir well, then add soy sauce, white vinegar, wine, and finally put the water to cover the duck meat, after it begins boiling, turn to medium heat and simmer. Finally, when there is a little soup left, add salt and red pepper flakes, stir fry to collect juice, sprinkle with chopped green onion, and it’s done.

After setting up the plate, Chang Le looked at the braised duck with ginger in the bowl. The duck meat was golden and buttery, the ginger was soaked in the soup, and the bright red pepper flakes and green chopped green onion enriched the color, overall, it looked very appetizing.

I did this myself. With a smile on his face, Chang Le took a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Yu Qingze to let him taste.

Yu Qingze took the chopsticks, put a piece of duck meat in his mouth, chewed it a few times and swallowed it, then stretched out his thumb and said, “Well, it tastes good.”

In fact, the taste is different from what he would usually make, but it is very good for a person who is doing this for the first time. He is also happy to see Chang Le’s heartfelt expression and wants to make him happy.

Chang Le heard the words, his eyes lit up, the corners of his mouth curved up, and he put the bowl of vegetables on the counter on the other side with satisfaction.

Happy to be recognized by Master.

“You also eat a piece.” Yu Qingze changed his chopsticks, picked up another piece of duck meat, and naturally handed it to Chang Le’s mouth.

Chang Le looked at the chopsticks by his mouth and was stunned for a moment, why did Brother Yu feed him? He was a little hesitant to eat. He watched every process and every processing step attentively. Because he didn’t know what the finished product and taste Yu Qingze was going to make.

“What’s the matter? Eat it, you made it yourself. Ah—” Yu Qingze urged and coaxed.

Chang Le’s face became hot, but he didn’t want to think about it anymore and quickly opened his mouth, and leaned forward to bite the piece of meat away.

“How is it? Does it taste good?” Yu Qingze said with a smile.

Chang Le lowered his head and nodded, his ears were all red, he didn’t know what the duck meat in his mouth was like, he only knew that his face was hot and his ears were hot, and he was a little embarrassed.

Looking at his reaction, Yu Qingze pursed his lips and smiled.

Chang Hao lowered his head and covered his mouth secretly and smiled.

When the chicken meat was ready, the duck stewed with fir tree mushrooms was almost ready. Yu Qingze added some salt to adjust the taste, and then let Chang Hao draw out the firewood.

Chang Le stirfried another green vegetable, and lunch was ready.

There are chicken and duck dishes. The taste is light and sweet with fir tree mushroom stewed duck, and there are also ginger stewed duck. With a plate of green vegetables, it is also a very hearty meal for farmers.

Braised duck (credit to thewokoflife.com)

Ginger stew duck

Chicken soup (credit to recipeler.com)

Everyone drank the chicken soup first, which perfectly combines the fragrant flavor of chicken and the sweetness of fir tree mushrooms, which made people linger in the aftertaste. A pot of chicken soup was quickly destroyed.

Chang Le paid special attention to the reaction of his grandfather and younger brother to the duck dish. Seeing that they were praising it’s delicious, his heart blossomed and he was very satisfied. Seeing this, he happily took the chopsticks and put a piece of chicken in his mouth.

After lunch, everyone was very full, and their stomachs were round.

But for the foodie Chang Hao, he still remembers the wild fruits he picked in the morning, and big brother Yu said he’d make something delicious with it.

After taking a nap, he went to the kitchen to find Yu Qingze, and began to probe, “Brother Yu, when are we going to make that jelly?”

“Now!” Knowing that Chang Hao had been looking forward to it for a long time, Yu Qingze agreed to make it for him. The entrance first felt a little spicy.

He and Chang Le were making cold noodles in the kitchen, but when he saw that the foodie was getting up, he washed his hands and started making the jelly fruit dessert.

Chang Le also paused to watch him make it.

First cut the jelly fruit, get the seeds out, wrap it in a clean cotton towel, and tie the opening. Then immerse the whole end with the seeds in the cold water prepared in advance.

There were a lot of fruit seeds, so he filled most of the water in the wooden tub they used to make cold noodles with cold water.

After a few minutes, Yu Qingze squeezed the cloth firmly, and let Chang Le wash his hands and rub and squeeze the bag of fruit seeds, squeezing out the milky white pectin inside. This whole process is done in water. Yu Qingze then fry the jelly fruit, then put it in a dung pan, pour a little bit of honey, and let it sit on the floor.

After kneading and squeezing until nothing came out, Yu Qingze took out the cloth bag, put it aside, took out the fruit seeds accidentally got in the water, and then let the basin of water stand.

Chang Hao watched the whole process without blinking. At this moment, seeing Yu Qingze walking away, he asked, “Brother Yu, are you done?”

Yu Qingze nodded, “Yes, just leave it alone, you can eat it in a quarter of an hour.”

Chang Hao pointed at the basin of water, stunned, “Just drink, drink this basin of water?”

Yu Qingze laughed and said, “It won’t be water in a while. Hey, don’t move it, just leave it there, it will surprise you later.” Seeing that Chang Hao wanted to shake the water, Yu Qingze quickly stopped it.

There was no honey at home, so he found some white sugar and dissolved it with water to use it later.

Chang Hao stayed motionless by the basin of water, waiting to see something that would surprise him, but after watching it for a while, nothing changed. His legs were numb, and he stood up to help his brother make a fire to make Liangpi.

But after burning fire for a while, he couldn’t help but run to take a look at the jelly.

After checking five or six times, he suddenly found that the water seemed to be different.

“Frozen, it’s frozen! Brother, come and see, it’s frozen!” Chang Hao was shocked and pointed to the basin and asked his brother to come and see. When it was almost noon, the family welcomed two unexpected guests.

Chang Le heard the words and came over curiously to see that the water in the basin had disappeared, and it had frozen into a whole piece, and it was still transparent!

Yu Qingze came over to take a look and said, “it’s ready!”

He took four bowls, filled them with jelly, poured the melted sugar water on top, handed it to Chang Hao and Chang Le, and said, “Try it.”

The two took the bowls, and the ‘jelly’ inside was crystal clear and looked like a gem, but as soon as the spoon was put on it, it could be cut open easily, and it was very tender. The crispy and mellow taste filled the mouth, mixed with salty and spicy taste.

Chang Hao scooped a piece with the spoon, put it in his mouth, it was cold, and his whole body was shaken. The jelly had a sweet taste. He was about to chew it, but it slipped down into his throat.

Chang Hao: …Oh, no need to chew!

“Delicious!” Chang Hao immediately scooped up another spoonful of the jelly and swallowed it.

Chang Le took a sip, also with a surprised expression on his face. He began to think that jelly was like eating cold noodles and Liangpi. It turned out to be like this, and it should be regarded as a dessert.

However, it’s really delicious. It’s cool and fresh, smooth and tender. He was busy making cold skin and it was very hot, but now he feels more comfortable. He hasn’t eaten dessert like this … like ‘frozen water’?

Seeing their expressions, Yu Qingze smiled with satisfaction, then took a bowl of jelly to the main room to give to Grandpa Chang, who was repairing hoes.

After Grandpa Chang tasted it, he was also very impressed. The hoe was no longer repaired. It was so hot, go to the kitchen first and eat two bowls of jelly! Better reading experience on h olo lo nov els, believe it

“Brother Yu, can we also sell this jelly? There are so many fruits on the mountain, and they are so delicious. The method is also simple. It is not sold for nothing. Besides, it must be very easy to sell!” Forget about eating for once, he has been helping at the stall for a while, and he was beginning to think about what can be sold and how much more money can be made.

Jelly fruit dessert mixed with other fruits

(credit to [email protected]/)

Grandpa Chang and Chang Le also nodded in agreement.

Yu Qingze said: “It can be sold. I also thought of selling it in a few days. This is less than the cost of mung bean soup. Just need to buy some sugar or honey.”

After making up their minds, they decided to go to the mountains to pick some more. Grandpa Chang accompanied the two of them to chat, Chang Hao helped Chang Le clean up.

Since finding jelly fruit and fir tree mushrooms, Yu Qingze has become more interested in the mountains. There are many treasures over there, what good things will he find if he goes venture around more?

The next day, Yu Qingze followed Chang Le and Chang Hao to the mountains. Grandpa Chang was at home alone. When it was almost noon, the family welcomed two unexpected guests.

Translator has something to say: Sorry my lovely readers for the delay in updating. I was super busy last week with work so, this week I had to catch up on school. Barely managed to finished this chapter just now.