PNB Chapter 201 Century Eggs and Sour Duck
Chapter 201 Century Eggs and Sour Duck
Gao Mengli looked at the two baskets of duck eggs and felt pleased; the greenish-blue shells looked like they were of good quality.
However, duck eggs taste much worse than chicken eggs; the yolks of duck eggs are much coarser than those of chicken eggs.
Gao Mengli looked down at Lin Xi, "By the way, Xixi, shall we make preserved eggs?"
Lin Xi nodded, "Yes, make it into preserved eggs! Although there are many ways to cook duck eggs, preserved eggs are the most cost-effective and save money."
Moreover, it can be stored for a long time without worrying about it spoiling.
Gao Mengni nodded, then turned to look at Ali, "Ali, go to the village and find some rice husks for us to use to make preserved eggs."
"rice husk?"
Ah Li was a little confused. And what is a century egg?
Although he didn't understand, it didn't hinder his full execution ability. He turned around and ran towards the village.
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi quickly carried the two baskets of preserved eggs into their home and began preparing to make them.
The traditional method of making preserved eggs is the wood ash method.
Prepare materials such as rice husks, wood ash, lime, alkali, salt, and yellow mud.
Making preserved eggs only requires a little salt, and I have enough salt at home.
Gao Mengli first mixed wood ash, lime, alkali, salt and other ingredients in proportion, added an appropriate amount of water, and stirred it into a paste.
Add yellow clay and mix well. Set aside for later use.
Lin Xi sat by the well in the courtyard, washing the duck eggs one by one.
"Master, Madam, rice husks."
Ah Li ran in from outside and placed a handful of rice husks next to Lin Xi.
Lin Xi quickly coated the duck eggs with batter, then rolled them in rice husks, and placed them in the jar that Gao Mengli handed over.
Seeing Lin Xi openly playing with "mud," Ah Li rolled up his sleeves and joined the group.
The two of them did it, but very quickly.
After wrapping all the items, seal them in a cool, dark place and store them for half a month.
Wait for the mixture to react with the duck eggs; after about ten days, the duck eggs will turn into preserved eggs!
Lin Xi came out with water and said while washing her hands, "Mengli, these ducks have started laying eggs. We need to order more earthenware jars from Village Chief Tao."
Three hundred ducks, laying more than two hundred duck eggs a day, and the male ducks also need to be processed.
After all, ducks are eaten in great quantities.
The villagers only dare to raise about ten of them; any more than that and they'd probably eat all the roadside weeds and leave nothing but barren land.
Gao Mengli nodded, turned around and went into the house to get the silver. "Yes, it's time to place an order. Ah Li, go to Tutao Village."
Although she receives a share of the profits from the pottery village, she still has to pay for it herself, just to keep good accounts.
Ah Li accepted the order and hurried off to the pottery village.
Life outside of being an assassin is carefree and joyful.
The feeling of having your head constantly on your neck is simply wonderful.
He suddenly grew tired of living a life where his head was always on his belt.
He took out a message sent from Kyoto via carrier pigeon. A-Li pursed his lips, crumpled the letter into a ball, and swallowed it.
"Hmph, news? No news at all..."
He smiled slightly, muttered a couple of words, and then quickened his pace to go to the pottery village.
I thought earthenware jars would be fine, but the pottery village sent me all top-quality bone china jars.
Gao Mengli looked at the jars filling the yard and her lips twitched.
In the words of the village chief of Tutao, if the owner wants to use it, then use the best one, at the same price as Tutao.
You can suffer for others, but you can't suffer for yourself!
After all, he's been clinging to the Lin family's coattails for life, and he has no intention of letting go!
With the yard full of jars, Gao Mengli had no choice but to take Lin Xi to the duck farm.
There were forty-eight male ducks, and five of the strong and healthy ones were kept to be the mates of the female ducks.
The rest, Lin Xi ordered all the villagers to arrest and send them home!
The ducks were fed well every day, and even had grasshoppers as a side dish at every meal. They thought their lives were perfect. But after a few months of good times, they never dreamed that they would turn into a lump of meat on a chopping board!
If you are complacent and lack awareness of potential dangers, or if you are physically strong but not healthy, you will be eliminated!
Lin Xi grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, carrying a heavy duck in each hand, followed by a string of villagers who had delivered the duck back to their homes.
Quickly take the pot off the heat, boil water, and pluck the feathers!
Next, the villagers helped slaughter and clean the ducks, and then piled them all into a basin.
Ah Li carried the basin into the kitchen for Lin Xi.
Gao Mengli looked at the melon trellis in the yard from outside, resignedly went outside to make a wooden frame, and then lit a fire under the frame.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lin Xi was holding a cleaver and chopping the duck in half.
Ah Li, who was standing next to him, was eager to try it out.
Looking at A Li's eyes, which were as bright as a two-thousand-watt light bulb, Lin Xi waved the kitchen knife uncertainly, "You... want to try?"
Upon hearing this, Ah Li's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded repeatedly, quickly taking the kitchen knife.
With a swift and decisive stroke, the duck was cleaved in two!
Lin Xi clicked her tongue twice. "Ah Li, your swordsmanship is impressive! What did you do for a living before?"
Ah Li used to say he was a lonely, widowed, orphan. But Lin Xi really didn't know how he made a living.
Ah Li paused while chopping the duck, but quickly resumed his nimble movements. "I used to... be a butcher."
"Butcher?"
Lin Xi nodded knowingly. No wonder the swordsmanship was so crisp and clean.
Experts can spot it at a glance!
The two, drawn together by their shared love of swordsmanship, found kindred spirits in each other.
A-Li, who is usually quite quiet, started chatting with Lin Xi in the kitchen.
Ah Li taught Lin Xi how to debone meat and how to chop it with force.
Lin Xi taught Ah Li the pickling technique of "softening the mind" and "overcoming the strong with the weak".
So Gao Mengli lit a fire and came in, only to see the two people squatting on the ground, each holding half a duck carcass, rubbing the duck meat with coarse salt.
She quickly took out the glutinous rice, stir-fried it in a pot until cooked, and set it aside for use the next evening.
After the two of them had applied salt.
The three men placed the pickled duck on a rack over a fire outside in the yard and slowly smoked it over a low flame.
If you fumigate for one day today and another day tomorrow, that should be enough.
Smoking adds a unique smoky flavor to ducks and also helps to extend their shelf life.
After the duck meat is smoked, it needs to be coated with stir-fried glutinous rice.
If you want it to last longer, spread more glutinous rice on it.
Once everything is finished, place the duck meat coated with glutinous rice into the jar, press it down firmly, and seal the jar opening with an oilcloth and rope.
Cover the jar with the lid and pour water into the mouth of the jar to ensure that the jar is airtight.
The pickling process takes a long time, more than a year.
Because of the long fermentation time, the sour duck can fully ferment, forming a unique sour taste and mellow flavor.
The rich, sour aroma that develops after fermentation instantly stimulates the taste buds and greatly increases appetite.
The duck meat has a chewy and firm texture, but it's not dry or tough; the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes.
Sour duck combines the savory flavor of duck meat, the fragrance of glutinous rice, the sweet aroma of sweet rice wine lees, and the smoky flavor, and it can be stored for several years.
In times of scarcity, maintaining stockpiles of resources to the greatest extent possible was essential to cope with various natural and man-made disasters!
With food in hand, there's no need to panic!