Crossing Over to Yamada Love

The next morning, Mo Lan and her family got up early and got busy, as they were making liangpi (cold skin noodles).

First, Qiu kneaded the dough. After Qiu kneaded it, Mo Lan covered it with a cloth and let it rest for half an hour. Then she prepared a large basin filled with water. She pinched off a piece of dough and asked Mo Mei to watch her wash it. She put the dough in the water and found it very fun to wash, just like playing with Play-Doh in water in modern times.

Mo Lan watched as the impurities in the dough in her hand sank to the bottom of the basin little by little as the water washed them away. The remaining dough in her hand also became more and more elastic and whiter as it was washed. This was the prototype of gluten.

After washing the gluten, add a little baking soda and start kneading. Knead until there is no white starch when you rinse it with water.

The tougher the gluten, the better. If it's too tough, the steamed gluten will be too stiff and won't taste very good. You have to find the right balance.

After the two finished washing all the flour, they went to steam the gluten. Once the gluten was steamed, it looked like a steamed cake, with a honeycomb-like cross-section.

The starch water that comes out after washing is left to stand and settle for about an hour.

Mo Lan looked at the settled starch water; there was a layer of excess water on top. Mo Lan and Mo Mei lifted it up and poured off the excess water. Mo Lan poured slowly from one side, holding it tightly to prevent shaking, otherwise the starch would mix with the water again.

After the water was poured out, Mo Lan and Mo Mei started stirring the remaining starch slurry. The bottom part had solidified, so the two of them vigorously stirred it with chopsticks.

After stirring, Mo Lan picked up a flat-bottomed aluminum basket and poured the starch paste evenly into it with a spoon. She then picked it up and rotated it to make sure the paste was evenly distributed. The water in the large iron pot had already boiled, and a steamer rack was placed on top. She put the basket filled with starch paste onto the steamer rack and started steaming.

The steamed rice noodle sheet isn't very thick; it only takes about two minutes per sheet. Then, open the lid and take the small steamed rice noodle out. Put another small steamed rice noodle filled with starch slurry back in. Let the steamed rice noodle sheet cool for a while; it will peel off easily. Place the finished rice noodle sheet on the cutting board.

After steaming, add a little oil and stack the sheets into a thick pile. When you're done, just pick one sheet and cut it into strips.

Mo Lan asked Mo Mei to steam the cold noodles while she went to prepare the seasonings. Since there were no cucumbers left, she could only use bean sprouts.

Next is chili oil. Making chili oil also has its own set of rules. First, put crushed chili powder in a bowl, add a little salt, and Mo Lan also added peanut and sesame powder. Then heat the oil to about 50-60% of its maximum temperature, add star anise and peppercorns, and after it boils, use a slotted spoon to remove the star anise and peppercorns. Pour the hot oil into the chili powder while stirring with chopsticks. This is how you make chili oil, which smells incredibly fragrant.

After finishing that, Mo Lan went to make rice noodles. Rice noodles are made by grinding rice into rice flour paste with water using a small stone mill. The ground rice flour paste is then spread evenly in a multi-layered bamboo steamer and steamed over a high heat. Because this is a multi-layered steamer, Mo Lan told Mo Mei not to lift the lid and to steam it for a longer time.

Looking at the thick stacks of cold noodles and rice noodles on the cutting board, Mo Lan felt a great sense of accomplishment. Finally, she could eat cold noodles in ancient times!

Seeing that the Xue brothers should be arriving soon, Mo Lan asked her mother to come and stir-fry some cold noodles.

Heat oil in a small iron spoon, then add chopped green onions and bean sprouts and stir-fry briefly. Next, add the chopped cold noodles and gluten and stir-fry quickly. Finally, add soy sauce, salt, and chili oil, and it's ready to serve.

"Auntie, Lanlan, and Young Master Xue have all arrived. Is the cold noodles ready?"

As soon as the food was served, Qiu Dajun ran over to ask if it was ready.

"Alright, here are three bowls of cold noodles. Take them over first, and I'll bring over three bowls of rice noodles later." Mo Lan pointed to the three bowls of freshly stir-fried cold noodles on the tray in front of Qiu Dajun.

"Okay," Qiu Dajun replied and took it away.

Once the three bowls of rice noodles were ready, Mo Lan followed Qiu Dajun to the partitioned room where the Xue brothers were.

She entered the partition with a smile, looked at the bowls in front of the three people, and saw that most of the cold noodles had been eaten, with only a little bit left at the bottom of the bowl.

"Quick, bring me this bowl, two more bowls, I want more. It's spicy and fragrant. It's so delicious." The chubby boy saw that another bowl was coming and directed Qiu Dajun to place it in front of him.

"Huh? This bowl tastes a little different from that bowl. Are they different?" The chubby boy finished one bowl and started eating the other.

"You're quite the smooth talker. One bowl is made with noodles, and the other with rice noodles, so the taste is quite different." Mo Lan smiled at him, surprised that this chubby boy was so good with words.

"Not bad, bring me some later." Xue Lingfeng finished a bowl and thought his mother would definitely like it too, so he asked for some.

"Alright, I'll pack five sheets of rice noodles and five sheets of cold noodles for Steward Xue later. You must have scallions and bean sprouts at your residence. I won't bring the seasonings; just have the cook stir-fry them when we get back. Remember to stir-fry them over high heat!" Mo Lan was happy to see the three of them enjoying their meal, which meant her cold noodles would be popular in the future.

"Mm." Xue Lingfeng gave a soft "Mm" and then fell silent.

"We'll start making the glass noodles later. It should be ready in two or three days. I'll make some dishes with glass noodles for you guys then. If you have time, come along." Mo Lan invited the three brothers, since they didn't usually come together, so she invited them all now to avoid any complaints later.

"Sure, I'll definitely be there. Fifth Brother is the supervisor, so I don't think there will be any problems. What about Seventh Brother?" The chubby boy quickly agreed; he was always the first to arrive when there was new food.

"I probably won't be able to come. I'll be busy starting tomorrow. I'll come and try Lanlan's vermicelli after I'm done." Xue Lingyun smiled at Mo Lan. His smile was like a spring breeze in March, warming people's hearts. If it were a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl just beginning to experience love, she would definitely be captivated by his smile.

"Okay, then I'll go down first." Mo Lan returned his smile; her smile was clean and pure, making people feel comfortable.

"She smiles so sweetly at Seventh Brother, but rolls her eyes at me. It's infuriating!" The chubby boy muttered angrily after watching Mo Lan leave.

"Haha, so what! Your seventh brother is so charming." Xue Lingyun boasted without any restraint.

"Hmph!" The chubby boy snorted and ignored him.

Xue Lingfeng grinned but didn't reply.

In the afternoon, the Mo family took out the flour that had been dried a couple of days ago and diluted it in several large water vats, letting it settle overnight. This time they made a lot, including both sweet potato flour and potato flour.

The next day, after finishing her work, she put the starch back into the draining bag to drain the water. Mo Lan watched with a smile as her family members swung the draining bag back and forth. The water dripped down as they pushed and pulled it. She found this scene very heartwarming.

After the starch dried, it was all taken into the kitchen. Several large basins were already placed inside. Wang and Liu kneaded the starch in the basins of water until it was very smooth.

The water in the iron pot was boiling vigorously.

Mo Quan stood next to the iron pot, holding a ladle with a hole drilled in the bottom.

Mo Changhe picked up a ladle filled with kneaded starch and slowly poured it into the ladle.

The starch dripped down the ladle into the iron pot, and when it was scalded by boiling water, it solidified and turned into a long strip.

Qiu took a large, thick chopstick and stood next to the stove. When she saw that the strips in the pot were ready, she used the chopstick to scoop them into a large basin next to her, which was already filled with cold water.

Mo Changhai stood next to the basin, picked up a strip from the basin and began to coil it in his hands, coiling it to a length of about half a meter, then threading it onto a stick next to him and continuing to coil it.

Mo Mei and Mo Lan hung the skewered vermicelli outside to dry.

The Mo family members were constantly busy, and everyone probably had aches and pains, but none of them had time to stop and rest.

"That's about enough. We can't finish in one day. Let's stop once this pot is done." Wang looked at the darkening outside, stretched her neck, and straightened her back. She hadn't felt it while working, but now that she was straightening her back, her waist and back were aching.

“Okay, we’ll stop once this pot is finished,” Mo Quan replied.

The Mo family members all patted their backs. The women were preparing dinner, while the men took out the vermicelli to cool. Now that it was getting cool at night, the vermicelli would be ready to dry after being left outside to freeze overnight and then sun-dried for another day.

After dinner, Mo Lan and the rest of the Mo family were so tired that they fell fast asleep.

The vermicelli was finally dry. There were thin vermicelli, medium-thick vermicelli, and wide, thick vermicelli. Mo Lan broke off a piece and held it up to the fire in the stove to burn.

With a "sizzle," the vermicelli was burned, swelled to twice its size, and turned white. Mo Lan nodded; this was real vermicelli, cooked quickly and crispy in the mouth.

Mo Lan burned several more sticks and gave them to Wang Shi, Qiu Shi, Liu Shi, and Mo Mei, so that they could all have a taste.

"You silly girl, where did you get all this fuss from?" Mrs. Qiu said with a smile as she watched her daughter happily playing with the rice noodles.

"Hehe, this is fun." Mo Lan wasn't afraid of what Qiu Shi said at all and continued playing her game.

"Girl, come here, I've chopped up these vermicelli noodles. Besides the ones for making steamed buns, I've saved some for you. You can use them yourself." Wang Shi had already chopped up the cooked vermicelli noodles, using half to make steamed buns and saving the other half for Mo Lan.

"Okay, I'll get right on it." Mo Lan hurriedly ran over.

She first mixed a thin dough with starch, then added broken vermicelli and stirred it well. She also added a small amount of salt and Sichuan peppercorn powder, making it thick and sticky. Then she placed a steamer basket on a cast iron pot, brushed it with a little oil, and poured the contents of the bowl onto the basket to steam.

The steamed dish is called "Menzi," and it comes in a large, round piece. After cooling, it's sliced ​​into thin, even slices, then stir-fried in oil until crispy. It's chewy, salty, and fragrant. You can also add it to soups while cooking, as it doesn't easily fall apart during cooking and tastes quite good.