Travel to ancient times and become rich women with your bestie

This set of movements was smooth and flowing, Zheng Yuan was full of admiration in his heart. That posture did not take the spark seriously at all.

After the fire was lit, Sanni stood up and asked, "Mom, why don't you go and take a rest while I cook."

In her opinion, if her mother couldn't even light a fire, she certainly couldn't cook. Zheng Yuan felt embarrassed for a moment, but didn't show it on her face. She just waved her hand and said, "Go feed the chickens. By the way, where did you put the wild vegetables your sister-in-law brought back this morning?"

Sanni picked up a basket next to the pig grass and handed it to her, then went back to the backyard. She took it and saw that it was bitter hemp vegetable. No wonder it tasted so bitter when cooked this morning.

She had eaten this before, but that was during festivals when she had eaten too much meat and fish. Her mother would pick the fresh and tender ones to eat cold, but no matter how she blanched them and added seasonings, the final result was still a bit bitter. Because of this bitter taste, Zheng Yuan had never liked to eat this, but the elders thought that the bitter taste could relieve greasiness and reduce internal heat.

Even with all the rich condiments in modern times, the bitter taste can’t be removed, not to mention the ancient times when condiments were scarce. Today, I basically searched through all the edible things in my house, and I only found a small basket of garlic, a small bag of peppercorns, and a pottery jar of coarse salt on the stove. I didn’t see any chili peppers, soy sauce, vinegar, etc. I don’t know if chili peppers exist in this era. As for vinegar and soy sauce, I guess they didn’t even have enough food and clothing, so how could they have time to improve the taste of food?

I resigned myself to the fate of taking out the bitter vegetable and putting it in a basin. I could only blanch it in water to see if it could be made a little more tasty. I would then go to the vegetable garden to see what other vegetables there were and prepare some. Otherwise, if this failed, I would have to eat dry rice again.

I picked up the ladle and prepared to scoop some water to wash the pot and cook porridge, only to find that the pot was actually a ceramic pot, not very big, and the edge of the pot was even pulled inward. This is really unusual, oh no, it is unusual in modern times. After all, it was the ancient times when productivity was low, and metal smelting technology should not have been popularized. I don't know what dynasty this was.

This pot was used to cook pig food in the morning, and Zheng Yuan carefully scrubbed it several times with a brush before boiling the water. Then he took the pot of bitter melon and planned to go outside to pick some of the tender cores while it was still light, so that they would taste better.

When Sanni came over with the eggs she had picked up from the chicken coop, she saw her mother's bold way of picking vegetables. She felt a little sorry for the discarded leaves, but didn't dare to say anything. She just quickly put the eggs in the basket designated by her mother in the kitchen and walked towards the backyard.

Zheng Yuan didn't notice Sanni. He picked the bitter melon and returned to the kitchen. The water was boiling, so he quickly scooped out a pot to cook porridge. Then he put the bitter melon in the pot and boiled it for a while before taking it out and putting it in the pot to soak it. He scooped out the water from blanching the bitter melon and poured it out. He washed the pot and poured the water reserved for porridge. After a while, he poured out the water for soaking millet, washed it carefully and put it in the pot to boil.

After searching the kitchen for a while, she finally found a wooden shovel and stirred the pot a few times to prevent the millet from sinking to the bottom and sticking to the pot. She also washed the bitter greens and soaked them in water again before heading to the vegetable garden in the backyard to see if there was anything in the garden that could help her culinary skills shine.

There is another room next to the kitchen, which seems to be a utility room. Turning around the utility room, there is a large vegetable field, and the pig pen and chicken pen are at the end of the vegetable field. The toilet and the pig pen are side by side.

Looking at this vegetable field, Zheng Yuan was so sad that he wanted to cry. This was the true meaning of "grass grows but bean sprouts are scarce". The vegetable field was divided into small plots, planted with leeks, garlic, shallots, radishes, cabbages and a small plot of beans. The vegetables were planted, but the problem was that it looked like they were not well managed. The grass was taller than the vegetables.

After looking around, I reluctantly pulled out a few scallions and two cabbages, and stir-fried the cabbage and mixed it with some bitter melon. I don't know if the clay pot can be used for cooking, as I don't think I've ever used it to cook in my original memory.

I took the vegetables back to the front yard and placed them in front of the firewood pile. I went into the kitchen and used a wooden spatula to stir the millet in the pot. The millet had already started to become sticky, and another thirty minutes should be enough. I went to the back of the stove to build up the fire to prevent the firewood from falling out and to control the amount of fire to avoid burning the pot.

Then I took the basin out and picked the vegetables in the daylight. This ancient primitive ecology was quite primitive, but I was afraid that it would be eaten by insects if it was too green and primitive. The cabbage was not wrapped very well, far inferior to the modern improved varieties, and it was not well cared for. It was full of insect holes, and Zheng Yuan was scared to death when she suddenly pulled out a round cabbage worm. She was most afraid of this kind of soft and squeaky insects.

After a lot of picking and choosing, I finally had half a small basin, and I had almost thrown away the shallots. I put the selected vegetables in the basin, took it back to the kitchen and scooped some water to soak them. I also took a few cloves of garlic and peeled them behind the stove to help control the heat.

While peeling, Sanni came back from cleaning the backyard. She entered the kitchen and saw that the vegetables had not been washed yet, so she rolled up her sleeves and started washing them. Zheng Yuan hurriedly stopped her: "Sanni, come here and watch the fire while peeling some garlic, I'll wash them." Sanni also obediently agreed.

I don't know how much insect feces are stuck on this vegetable, so I have to wash it myself to feel at ease. Fortunately, the water in this house is brought down from the mountain in a wooden sink, so there is enough water. After washing it carefully three or four times, Zheng Yuan finally felt relieved. Sanni also peeled the garlic, and Zheng Yuan took over and washed it together, and Sanni went back to the stove.

After walking around the kitchen, he saw the chopping board in the corner and the three eggs that Sanni had just picked up in the basket next to it. The chopping board hadn't been used for a long time and was covered in dust. Zheng Yuan took it to the water tank and scrubbed it again and again before putting it on the stove to cut vegetables. The knife was also blunt and heavy.

While cutting cabbage, he asked Sanni, "Sanni, how many eggs can our chickens collect every day?"

"Mom, it's not fixed. We have four hens at home. Sometimes there are three, sometimes there are two. I've noticed that one hen doesn't lay eggs every day." Chen Sanni answered timidly, afraid that Zheng Yuan would think she was hiding eggs.

I knew it was an old hen, so I could kill it and eat it. I had eggs every day. In fact, other families in the village occasionally had eggs for their children to eat, but her family didn't have enough strong labor, so she could only save them and wait to exchange them for money on the street.

The dishes were prepared and the millet porridge was almost done. Zheng Yuan scooped it up, cleaned the pot, and prepared to cook.

I took out lard from her room, scooped half a spoonful into the pot, and when the oil temperature rose, I added the crushed garlic and some peppercorns. After the aroma came out, I put the cabbage in and stir-fried it.

Sanni was stunned when she saw Zheng Yuan put lard in the dish. How could they eat so much oil during festivals? She had only seen this kind of cooking two years ago when the grandson of the village chief got married. That was one of the few large iron pots in the village. Mom was really amazing. She could make it with this clay pot.

But she was soon dazzled by the fragrant aroma that wafted up. This aroma was just like the aroma wafting from the restaurant when she went to the market in town. Her mother was really amazing.

After cooking the dish with trepidation, Zheng Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that the clay pot would explode due to the high temperature.

When the dishes were served, Dashu and his friends came back from the fields. They smelled the fragrance outside the house, and hurriedly put down their tools and ran in, asking as they ran, "Sanni, what delicious food did you make?"

When I walked in and saw my mother holding a spatula, I was stunned. Was this made by my mother?

Zheng Yuan saw them coming back and said, "Hurry up and wash your hands. Then mix some cold dishes and we'll start eating. Sanni, you serve the meal."

The two children started to scoop water to wash their hands, and Sanni also started to take the bowls and chopsticks. Xu Huiniang followed in and was also stunned when she saw Zheng Yuan cooking, but she didn't say anything.

After washing the pot and boiling water, Zheng Yuan took the bitter melon out of the water and rinsed it again before adding the seasoning. He added shallots, garlic and salt, but still felt something was missing: no chili peppers. Oh, right, vinegar!

"Don't we have vinegar at home?"

Sanni and Hui Niang both shook their heads. What kind of conditions are these?

"What about kimchi?" Zheng Yuan thought it would be nice to have some kimchi juice.

"Yes, yes." Xu Hui Niang brought out a small jar from the back of the cupboard. Zheng Yuan opened it and a sour smell hit his nose. He scooped up some pickle water with a spoon and mixed it with the bitter cabbage, solving the vinegar problem.