strictlysupreme Chapter 211: Men's Army Making Rice Cakes
Chapter 211: Men's Army Making Rice Cakes
Early in the morning of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, every household makes rice cakes, and the sound of pounding glutinous rice can be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys. Families who like to eat rice will mostly choose to make rice cakes, while families who like to eat noodles will choose to make steamed buns with leavened dough, which means rising year by year and thriving day by day.
Every household in the village is making rice cakes and cutting window flowers. The three sisters Yiyi, Bailu and Yanan are gathering in the Hot Spring Valley again. Their husbands don't have to worry about their official business today. Now that everyone is together, they should celebrate their own festival with great enthusiasm.
Just as Yiyi got up, Xiaoqi and Xiaoba were already steaming rice in the backyard. This was glutinous rice that had been soaked overnight. Making rice cakes was a laborious job, and Yiyi thought she might not be able to do it, but she could give some ideas. Big, round rice cakes were good for offering to ancestors, thick round slices could be baked, and finger-shaped rice cakes, which could be eaten in one bite, could be fried, pan-fried, deep-fried, or baked.
Yiyi and Ling Wuxin had just finished their breakfast, and three stone mortars were already lined up in the courtyard. Bailu's family and Yanan's family all came over with wooden barrels for steaming rice. "Yiyi, is your rice not steamed yet?" Bailu asked when she saw Yiyi.
"It's almost done. It's been steamed early in the morning! Big sister, second sister, what kind of rice cake do you want to make?" Yiyi asked with a faint smile.
"What I mean is that you only need to make one big one, and you can make more small ones. Just do whatever is convenient. I remember that cutting rice cakes is also strenuous work, so it's best if you don't have to cut them!" Yanan expressed the thoughts of the three sisters.
"I think so too!" Bai Lu nodded hurriedly.
"I agree! Finger-shaped rice cakes that can be eaten in one bite are the best!" Yiyi also quickly agreed.
"Original white rice cake, honey rice cake, more flavors..." Yanan added.
"Here it comes, here it comes!" Xiaoqi and Xiaoba also carried out a wooden barrel of steamed rice, still steaming hot.
"Let's start. Each family has just enough three people to take turns replacing each other." Ling Wuxin spoke.
Three men from each family guard a stone mortar to pound the rice cakes. At this time, two people carry the steamer and put the steamed glutinous rice into the stone mortar that has been washed with boiling water, and then they can start pounding the rice cakes. The key to pounding the rice cakes is the word "beating". The quality of the rice cakes is achieved by beating them with strength. Two or three people take turns to beat the rice cakes, and stop from time to time for another person to pull the rice cakes continuously to prevent the stone mortar and stone hammer from sticking to each other.
When the rice cake looks shiny and glossy, it is placed on the cake-making table. You can make it in any shape you like. You can use a thin hemp rope or cotton yarn to divide the rice cake into several squares of roughly equal size. You can also rub the rice cake into long and thin strips by hand and then cut it into finger rice cakes with coordinated thickness and length like your little finger. You can also make a large rice cake with moderate thickness, smooth bottom, round and large. You can even use the mold made by the craftsman Xiaoliu Lu Yao to press it into various patterns, such as zodiac pictures, koi pictures, ingot pictures, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, fortune, longevity and other characters.
Yiyi, Bailu and Yanan Xianyu were very satisfied with this. The men's creativity was better than they had imagined and exceeded their expectations!
"Sister, sister, I can't wait to bake a plate of finger rice cakes in a clay oven. What do you think? Can you eat it?" Yiyi was amazed and thought about how to eat it.
"It's feasible. There should still be fire in your backyard from steaming rice. Let's go heat up the earthen oven and make some all-purpose cake sauce!" Yanan led the two sisters to the backyard and left the front yard to the men. Based on the production process they had just observed, they could rest assured that they could leave it all to nine men!
"Haha, no matter what kind of all-purpose cake sauce you want to make, please give priority to whether Yiyi and I can eat it!" Bai Lu laughed and made her request.
“That’s for sure. Just make your favorite ones. Add sesame seeds, cumin, honey, a little salt and some soybean paste…” Yanan muttered as he moved the charcoal fire towards the earthen oven.
"I can use the jam I made before. I can bake it and eat it in one bite. It's so delicious just thinking about it! Slurp..." Yiyi waited eagerly for Yanan to light the fire. Before the oven was even hot, she could already imagine the crispy and glutinous rice cakes wrapped in a layer of sweet jam...
"You are so beautiful! Do you want us to cut window flowers?" Seeing Yi Yi sip her saliva, Bai Lu couldn't help but tap her forehead with her finger.
"I don't have that skill, I'll try later! I'll make some food to satisfy your cravings first!" In Yanan's eyes, Yiyi and Bailu looked exactly the same with their pregnant bellies waiting for food. She couldn't help but laugh, and at the same time, she increased the speed of adding firewood to the earthen oven until the flames were burning brightly.
"You two wait for me, I'll bring over a plate of finger rice cakes!" Yanan ran quickly to the front yard. She was the only girl in the family who could run and jump around. Her younger sisters were like national treasures and everyone had to take good care of them.
In the front yard, the army of men making rice cakes are still busy pressing various rice cake patterns. The pressed rice cakes are placed on bamboo flats waiting to be shaped. If the weather is cold enough, it won't take long for them to cool down and take shape.
"Husband, give me a plate of finger rice cakes!" Yanan came close to Hua Heng and asked him to help pack a plate of finger rice cakes.
"Okay, wait a moment, ma'am!" Hua Heng's eyes were full of warm smiles. He quickly picked out a full plate of finger rice cakes from the bamboo plate and handed it to Yanan. At the same time, he told her that he would send them another plate later, and some would be given to Uncle Hua after they were baked.
"Okay, I got it. You can send it over later! After it's baked, we'll go see Uncle Hua together!" Yanan agreed happily. Yiyi and Bailu would probably go together to have their pulse checked. It would be a good idea to send some rice cakes to Uncle Hua, Doctor Wang, Chef Li and other elderly people!
"Sister, come quickly, the fire is strong enough, we can put it in and bake it!" Yanan had just entered the backyard when Yiyi anxiously waved to her.
"You're a foodie. No matter how delicious it tastes, it's still glutinous rice. You need to eat it in moderation. By the way, let's go take some rice cakes to visit Uncle Hua, Doctor Wang and the others later!" Yanan talked about the arrangements later.
"Yeah! That's right! They are old, they probably won't choose to make rice cakes by themselves." Bai Lu quickly replied.
"There are plenty of rice cakes in the village, so we have no shortage of food. What I mean is that I want to take the opportunity of sending the rice cakes to diagnose your pulse. The Chinese New Year is coming in a few days, so there is no need to go to the doctor!" Yanan explained.
"Oh, I see! Then bake it quickly, and I'll prepare a few bottles of jam later." Yiyi understood her elder sister's good intentions. It is true that it is not advisable to see a doctor during the New Year holidays. Although they can meet often, it is not appropriate to have someone take your pulse during the holidays.
The earthen oven was put to use again, and the aroma of the baked rice cakes filled the air. Paired with Yanan's all-purpose sauces and jams, Yiyi and Bailu were quite satisfied with the meal. However, this stuff takes a long time to digest in the stomach, so they can't eat too much!