Chop fresh sugar cane into small sections, wash it, and throw it on a millstone to grind out the juice.
Because the millstones found in the Miao village were small, the juice extracted was not very sufficient. Looking at the sugarcane bagasse that was still wet after squeezing the juice, Xiao Han's eyes were full of regret, and he couldn't help licking his lips with his tongue.
The urge to step forward and squeeze it out again with my own mouth.
"Strain it through gauze, then light the fire and cook it in a pot!"
Fortunately, in the end, Xiao Han still remembered his identity as a marquis, so he had to restrain his impulse and reluctantly asked Gupu to pour the squeezed sugarcane juice into a large pot and start to light a fire to boil the syrup.
There is no technical content in making soup. The key lies in one word: stir! And stir constantly!
While stirring, Xiao Han also asked someone to find some lime and pour it into the sugar cane juice to cook together.
"Xiao Han, why are you pouring lime into it? Isn't that thing made for cement? Can you still eat the candy made with it?"
Liu Hongji was behind Xiao Han, watching him put a small amount of lime into the syrup. His eyes immediately became very strange. When he turned around to see that no one was paying attention to him, he hurriedly stepped forward and whispered in Xiao Han's ear.
Bian asked.
"Nonsense! Of course you can eat it! Have you never heard that all things in the world are in conflict with each other? Have you forgotten about the old immortal Sun using poison to treat diseases?"
Xiao Han sneered at Liu Hongji's worries! He thought that if you put a little lime now, you wouldn't be able to bear it anymore? Then wait a while, when I pour the yellow mud water into it, won't you be going to heaven?
Yes, the sugar-making technique in Xiao Han's memory is the legendary sugar-making technique of yellow mud decolorization accidentally discovered by Chinese craftsmen during the Yuan Dynasty.
Although this method seems a bit dirty, since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, white sugar has been regarded as a sacred object in Europe, and only kings and marquises can enjoy some.
Judging from the fact that our country was already exporting large amounts of white sugar to India and other countries at that time, this method is currently the easiest and most effective way to obtain white sugar!
As for the centrifugal sugar making technology that is most commonly used in later generations? Ahem, Xiao Han thinks this thing should be left to more ambitious people in the future to invent!
Add handfuls of lime, and the sugar liquid in the large pot that was just turbid immediately showed signs of becoming clear. Of course, the so-called clarity was only a little bit clearer! It was far from achieving an immediate effect.
After all, adding lime at this time is mainly to use alkaline lime to neutralize the fruit acid in the syrup, so as to remove the sour taste and promote crystallization.
It can be said that most of the reasons why many people cannot make solid sugar, or the solid sugar they make are of poor quality, is due to these fruit acids.
It is precisely because of their existence that the sugar cannot crystallize smoothly, resulting in the failure of refining solid sugar.
Under the cauldron, a raging flame shot up along the edge of the cauldron, sending a stream of white smoke with a thick, sweet aroma rising into the air.
This white smoke smells good and looks good, but it also has one disadvantage, and that is that it chokes the eyes.
After being exposed to the white smoke for a while, the eyes of the young man from the Miao family who was responsible for stirring the cauldron soon became red and swollen, and tears could not stop flowing down his face.
Later, his companions realized something was wrong and hurriedly stepped forward to replace him. This prevented him from dying in heroic tears for the sake of the first pot of candy in the Miao village.
"Okay, okay! Put out the fire!"
After burning for about half an hour, when the syrup in the pot changed color and its form changed from a water-like liquid to a thick porridge-like gel, Xiao Han decisively asked someone to pull out the firewood from under the pot, leaving only
The lone cauldron kept emitting white smoke in the middle of the open space.
"Pour it out! Just pour it on the slate!" He carefully poked the thick syrup with a bamboo pole. Seeing the small pit left by the bamboo pole on the syrup slowly closing, Xiao Han finally felt relieved.
Take a breath.
God bless, this is similar to what he has seen in books before! Hey, as expected, poor people need to study more. Who knows one day, it will be useful?
"one two three!"
After shouting the slogan, teach the Miao boys to hoist the big pot, and then pour the thick syrup inside on a nearby slate that has been washed clean by the girls. The process of boiling sugar is complete.
Seeing it slowly spreading out like volcanic lava on the stone slab, Pupu couldn't help but twist a little with his fingers and put it into his mouth. Suddenly, a thick sweetness filled his entire mouth, which was sweeter than before.
Just chewing sugar cane will make it ten times richer!
"Well, it's so sweet! Everyone, try it! Xiao Hou? Xiao Hou? Do you want to try it too?" He greeted everyone working in surprise to taste the taste of the candy. Pupu turned his head and suddenly found Xiao Han and Liu
Hongji stood aside and didn't do anything, so he quickly greeted the two of them.
"Ahem, um, you eat first! We'll wait..."
Xiao Han's face was a little red, and when he saw this, he quickly waved his hands to signal that he would not eat!
Although Liu Hongji next to him had long been salivating over the candies on the slate, when he saw that Xiao Han refused to eat, he had to swallow his saliva and shake his head in a sensible way.
There was nothing he could do. Liu Hongji had been tricked so many times by Xiao Han before that he had lost experience! Now, no matter what good things he sees, as long as Xiao Han doesn't eat them, he won't dare to put them in his mouth casually!
"Hey, why don't you eat?"
Seeing that Pu Pu glanced at himself and Xiao Han with a look that was partly regretful and partly disgusting, Liu Hongji took advantage of him to turn back and quickly asked Xiao Han in a low voice.
Xiao Han, on the other hand, kept his face as usual, smiling warmly as he twitched his lips slightly and said, "I didn't know how much lime I should put in just now, I guess it was too much! I'm afraid that after eating it, stones will grow in my stomach..."
"
"Ah...cough cough cough..."
Liu Hongji almost choked to death at Xiao Han's words. He coughed for a long time and then looked at Xiao Han with wide eyes: "How dare you teach them to make candies for takeout? Isn't this harmful to others?"
"What's harmful?" Xiao Han rolled his eyes and said confidently: "Nonsense! Isn't this an experiment? Do you understand experiments? You have to try and make mistakes over and over again to find the best result! Besides, in the city,
Life is so hard that a few kilograms of lime won’t kill you!”
"You, you..." Liu Hongji was speechless by Xiao Han's rebuke. After glaring at him for a while, he let out a sigh of relief.
He also knew that arguing with Xiao Han was just asking for trouble! Instead of worrying about others, he might as well think about how to avoid becoming this guy's experimental subject in the future!
"Why don't you stop living in the city and move to the countryside? I don't know why the people in the city offended him. He must be trapped by a group of people!"
Shaking his head, Liu Hongji made up his mind. After returning to Chang'an this time, he would send all his family members, old and young, to live in Zhuangzi on the outskirts of Chang'an! After all, they are all human beings, not clams! What if there are several kilograms of stones in the belly?
