It's a new day, the mist is hazy, and the sky is dawning.
Guan Lang took Wu Yazhen, who had woken up early, to the vegetable market to purchase ingredients.
Although Qin Yanxi had made more than ten kilograms of rice dumplings to share with them before, Guan Lang's appetite obviously couldn't last long.
And since it’s the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, if you don’t wrap the rice dumplings with your own hands, you always feel like something is missing, even though yesterday’s Dragon Boat Festival has passed.
It would have been fine if he was the only one in the family like in previous years, but now that he has a cousin to help him, he can't be so casual.
Zongzi, also called horned millet and tube rice dumplings, were first used to offer sacrifices to ancestors and gods, but by the Jin Dynasty, they had become common people’s Dragon Boat Festival food.
The custom of eating rice dumplings has been passed down for thousands of years, and has even spread to the entire Chinese cultural circle, such as Japan, North Korea, Southeast Asia and other countries.
Although the Dragon Boat Festival in modern Japan has evolved into Boys' Day, it still retains the custom of placing calamus leaves in front of the door and eating rice dumplings with cypress cakes removed.
Most of the other countries in the pre-Confucian cultural circle are like this. Even though there are differences in the cultural connotation of the festival, they still celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
In terms of fillings, the main ones in the south are pork belly, mung beans, bean paste, and egg yolks.
As for the taste, the south is dominated by salty rice dumplings. The aroma of salted egg and ham meat is mixed with the sweetness of glutinous rice, which is mellow but not greasy. The north is mostly dominated by sweet rice dumplings. Jujubes and candied fruits are sweet and glutinous, dipped in some sugar and
Honey is simply the most delicious thing on earth.
Guan Lang actually doesn't have a very obvious preference. Both salty and sweet dishes are available. It mainly depends on the craftsmanship. The most important thing is to make it delicious.
However, because the one in Jiangcheng is all made of bacon rice dumplings, Guan Lang considered Wu Yazhen's taste and planned to follow the taste of the one in his hometown.
The two eldest children are away from home, so making some hometown-flavored rice dumplings can be regarded as maintaining their local sentiment.
After buying the necessary ingredients at the market, the two returned to the yard happily.
The glutinous rice was soaked yesterday and ready for later use.
The two of them divided the work to wash, boil, soak, and trim the rice dumpling leaves and horsetail grass bought from the supermarket.
He also sorted the prepared ingredients into categories and placed them neatly and orderly in various pots.
In addition to the main bacon rice dumplings, Guan Lang is also preparing to make some crystal sago rice dumplings.
Taking into account my own food intake and the portions I plan to distribute to others later, I bought a lot of ingredients, and there were also many steps to process the ingredients, including marinating the pork belly and cracking the local duck eggs to get the salted egg yolks.
Wu Yazhen and I worked together for a long time before we finished processing all the ingredients.
The podocarpus in the yard was swaying gently in the breeze, and Qianqiu was lying on the high wall of the yard sunbathing.
The unique fragrance of the ingredients itself wafts out after being chopped and soaked, filling the entire courtyard with the lingering aroma of rice dumpling leaves, apricots and bacon.
Guan Lang sat in the pavilion and spread out the basins full of ingredients on the table.
With the gentle breeze blowing, I started to wrap the rice dumplings.
Wu Yazhen did not watch the excitement, but also grabbed a rice dumpling leaf and rolled it into a funnel shape and got busy.
The green rice dumpling leaves are held in the hand, glowing with a faint watery light, and the bright color unconsciously makes people feel good.
She was humming a light tune, and although it was a little out of tune, Guan Lang could barely tell that it was Luo Xiaohei's episode Good Night Meow.
The light playful tune is also particularly peaceful amid the herbal fragrance of rice dumpling leaves.
Guan Lang had a faint smile on his lips and tightened the bottom of the funnel-shaped rice dumpling leaves.
Don’t add too much glutinous rice. Glutinous rice will easily swell when it is full of water and will leak out after cooking.
This is not the first time Guan Lang has made rice dumplings.
When he was in Jiangcheng before, he would also help Guan Ma make bags, so he was quite familiar with it.
From time to time, he can also give Wu Yazhen some tips on how to make rice dumplings.
After adding the ingredients according to the proportions, make a delicate knot and you're done.
Guan Lang has dexterous hands and is very familiar with the steps of making rice dumplings. Often before Wu Yazhen has finished wrapping one, his fingers will fly, and two or three rice dumplings will fall on the plate in front of him and be piled up.
Even looking at his light movements, after watching for a long time, you can still feel the beauty of flowing clouds and flowing water.
Every fold seems to be so delicate that no more movements would make a difference.
"Brother Lang, why do your rice dumplings look so good? Do you have any tips?"
"Maybe I'm more skilled at wrapping, right?" Guan Lang smiled.
"Oh." The more Wu Yazhen looked at the dull rice dumpling in her hand, the more dissatisfied she felt.
As if I was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, I unpacked and unpacked everything.
The rice dumpling leaves were not folded properly and the horse lily grass was tied too roughly.
Facts have shown that even in such a small matter as making rice dumplings, there is a distinction between superior and inferior.
Just when Wu Yazhen was trying to figure out how to make "good-looking rice dumplings" by herself, Guan Lang had already finished making "good-looking rice dumplings".
Filled with pots the size of a millstone, they piled up into a spectacular hill.
Qianqiu moved when she heard the wind, and she didn't know when she started wandering around the basin next to the rice dumplings.
It is not so honest, mainly because it was caught by Guan Lang when it was stealing rice dumplings and preparing to run away, and now it does not dare to make too many mistakes.
But it can only be watched to satisfy the eye.
Cats have poor digestion ability, so sticky or hard foods such as glutinous rice are not suitable for eating in large quantities.
While Wu Yazhen was still continuing to pack, he told her to keep an eye on the little thief Qianqiu, then walked to the kitchen with the basin in hand.
Throw the beautifully and firmly tied rice dumplings into a large pot, add water and bring to a boil.
Make a pot for lunch first.
After he controlled the heat, he continued to make rice dumplings.
Then I made a batch of other flavors of rice dumplings.
Crystal sago rice dumplings, white rice dumplings for eating with sugar, brown sugar honey rice dumplings
But I don’t pack much, it’s just for a change of taste.
The sweetness of glutinous rice, the smell of rice dumpling leaves, and the strong aroma of pork belly permeate the yard for a long time.
Guan Lang seemed to have transformed into an emotionless rice dumpling-making machine.
The ingredients quickly ran out under his hands, and not a single grain was left.
When the rice dumplings were made, the rice dumplings put in the kitchen to cook were almost ready.
He came out carrying a pot of steaming rice dumplings.
The steam hit their faces the moment they opened the pot, carrying a rich aroma that made the two of them swallow a few saliva after being hungry all morning and not eating breakfast or lunch.
Sure enough, food is the most beautiful gift given by nature. Under the stimulation of the original senses that stimulate the taste buds and arouse greedy insects, the body and mind will be healed.
It’s no wonder that ancestors always pay homage to festivals, and cultural traditions are entrusted to food. Only this kind of food, as a media carrier, can continue to be passed down and developed in the passing years, as if it is engraved in everyone’s blood memory for a long time.