Ordinary clear day

Chapter 79 Food
When Duanning's reply letter arrived in Guangzhou, the third typhoon had ended, and the weather was getting hot again, but it was different from the sweltering heat of the past. It began to feel a little cool in autumn at night, but the sun was still scorching during the day.

Shuning was very happy when she received the letter, not only because she received the letter from home, but also because for Tong, who was bedridden at this time, her son's letter was a great comfort.

It's said that it's sick, but it's not a big problem, it's just that Mrs. Tong was invited to the theater two days ago. She was hot and tired, so she lay on the bed and didn't want to get up. .Suyun was afraid that Xianning would disturb Mrs. Tong, so she spread a thin quilt on the couch in the east room, and then covered it with a soft straw mat, and let Xianning crawl around on it, while someone looked after her.

As a result, Tong enjoyed the peace and became much more energetic, but she still had no appetite and felt tired of eating anything.

Shu Ning thought for a while, and saw that there was a newly bought bitter gourd in the kitchen, so she asked someone to cut the bitter gourd into sections, blanch it with water to remove some of the bitterness, put the pork bones and mussels into the pot to cook the soup, and put it in half an hour later. The bitter gourd went in, boiled for a quarter of an hour before turning off the fire, separated the oil residue with a clean gauze, and gave Tong a bowl.

Tong Shi liked it after drinking it, and felt that although the taste was a bit sweet, but with the taste of mussels, it was very refreshing to drink in hot weather, so she drank an extra bowl, and had two bowls of porridge at night. Tell Shuning to do it again tomorrow.

But when the old doctor Chen came to see her the next day, he said: "Bitter melon is too cold. Most people drink this soup to cool off the heat, but it is not suitable for my wife. The adult is in good health and nothing will happen, but the child is still eating. Grandma, I'm afraid I can't bear it." Tong immediately understood what he meant.

Shu Ning vaguely guessed that it was the mother who drank the soup and then breastfeeding her younger brother, which would be detrimental to the child's health, so she felt a little embarrassed, and said to old doctor Chen: "It was Shu Ning who didn't think carefully, thank Grandpa Chen for reminding. "

Doctor Chen caressed his beard and said with a smile: "It's okay, Miss Shu also wants to honor her mother. If you want to cook this kind of soup again, it will be better if you add more ginger."

Shu Ning saluted and thanked him, but he waved his hand, pointed to the direction of the kitchen and said, "The old man has driven such a long distance, and he is also a little thirsty. Miss Shu, do you want me to have a bowl of this bitter gourd soup for the old man too?"

Shuning hurriedly smiled and asked the maid to serve the soup.

Since the bitter gourd soup was too cold, I had to change it to another.Shuning asked someone to go to the back garden to pick some fresh lotus roots, cut them into small pieces, and made soup with pork bones, put a handful of red beans, thought for a while, then added a handful of dried shrimps, added a large piece of ginger, The salt was put in halfway, and it took more than an hour before the fire was put away, and it was also filtered with gauze, and it was given to Tong Shi to taste.

While drinking it, Tong felt that it was not as refreshing as the bitter gourd soup, but it tasted good, so she ate another bowl of porridge.Seeing that her mother's appetite had improved, Shuning happily made soup for her in different ways.But Tong ate soup and porridge every day, and soon felt tired. Moreover, liquid food was not as good as rice and noodles, and it was not easy to feel full after eating for a long time.

Tong's energy was low, and he half-lyed on the bed all day to rest, and from time to time asked the maid-in-law to hug her son and feed her.When Zhang Bao came home and saw that his wife was unwell, he came here to accompany her.He has been busy with business recently, and has neglected his family. Tong is very happy to be with him.

Shu Ning watched from the side, feeling that her mother was taking the opportunity to act like a baby to her father, so she secretly held back her laugh, told Su Yun, who was also laughing, not to be disturbed, and left the upper room.

But the problem of Tong's poor appetite and eating too little still needs to be solved. To put it bluntly, in fact, she thinks that she is tired of the usual meals and wants to try something new.For the sake of her mother's health, Shuning racked her brains to find ways to make all kinds of delicious food.

One day, when Shu Ning saw Ah Yin taking Tong's unfinished noodle soup back to the kitchen, she suddenly remembered something.

If she remembers correctly, the modern Shahe Fun should only have a history of 200 years, that is to say, it has not yet been born.This food is steamed with rice milk and should not be difficult to make.So she discussed with Ah Yin, asked someone to buy some old rice at a low price from the rice shop, mixed it with clean water to make a thin rice slurry, steamed it into a thin skin with a bamboo tray, and cut it with a knife. Make it into thin strips, cover it with a bamboo fence, put it in water to cook, put it in a bowl, and then pour in the soup specially cooked for Tong's every day, it is a bowl of soup powder.

Ah Yin tasted the taste and said, "It's very refreshing. Next time, I'll make it thinner and soak it for a longer time. It'll be fine when it tastes good. What's this powder called?"

Shu Ning replied: "It's Shahe powder." After a pause, he added: "I heard that it is a special food in a place called Shahe, but the specifics are no longer available. Let's not care about its origin. Okay, let's make another bowl for Er Niang to taste."

Ah Yin nodded, and then steamed a thinner vermicelli with rice milk, cut it evenly and finely, and made a bowl for Tong Shi to eat.

Unexpectedly, this sand river noodle was right for Tong's appetite. It had the taste of her favorite soup, and it was also something that could fill her up. She ate a big bowl of it.

Shuning happily took Ah Yin back to the kitchen, discussing what other tricks she could conjure up with Shahe noodles.When she saw the remaining powder skin, she wondered if this translucent and thin thing could be made into other foods?By the way, such as rice rolls, such as... Fenguo?
She thought of the Cantonese dim sum skin she had been troubled with, and wondered if this kind of rice noodle skin could be used to wrap dim sum?
Do whatever comes to mind.It's afternoon, and there is nothing in the kitchen, just to use it for experiments.She checked the powder skin and thought it would not be easily damaged, so she used a bowl to separate out round skins, applied a layer of oil, and put them away for later use.

She asked Ah Yin to help, cut some minced meat, dried mushrooms, dried shrimps, coriander, etc., mixed with peanuts and fried them in oil, put some seasonings, put them in a bowl, and put them into pieces with a spoon In the middle, wrap it up, stick it with rice grains if it can't stick, and steam it in a pot when it's done.

After steaming, try one, the taste is okay, but the outer skin is too easy to break, and there is a smell of rice.Ah Yin tasted one, then handed another one to Chun Xing, then tilted her head and asked Shu Ning: "Why do you use this kind of rice skin? Isn't it better to use Cheng noodles?"

Shuning stared at her with wide eyes, Ah Yin hesitated seeing her like this: "Use clear noodles, it won't break the skin so easily, and it will taste better, right?"

It turns out Ah Yin knows how to make clear noodles!Shu Ning hurriedly asked: "Sister Ah Yin, how do you use Cheng noodles? Tell me quickly."

Ah Yin told her in detail.It turns out that the dough is washed in water, after the gluten is washed out, the flour in the water is allowed to sink to the bottom, the water is drained, dried in the sun and then ground into a fine powder, which is clear noodles.Some people have used this kind of noodles to make snacks.

Then Ah Yin made some clear noodles in front of Shuning, took them to the backyard to dry, and then said to Shuning, "Miss, don't worry, the sun is so strong now, it can be dried in two days." Ning nodded.

In the evening, Mrs. Tong greatly praised the sand river noodles made by Shu Ning and Ah Yin. Zhang Bao also ate a bowl for supper. He just thought that the soup base made of pork bones was not as delicious as chicken soup, but he still praised his daughter.

Shu Ning didn't take her parents' praise to heart, she was full of thoughts about Cheng Mian.

After two days, the Cheng noodles were dried and ground.After finishing the work in the kitchen, Ah Yin drove the others away, leaving only Shuning and Chunxing to demonstrate how to make dim sum with Cheng noodles.

She mixed some cornflour with clear noodles, boiled a small pot of water, poured half of the flour into it, stirred it and then covered it. After a while, she turned the pot upside down on the wooden board prepared beside her, and then Add the rest of the powder and knead it for half a day to get something similar to dough.

She divided the ball into small pieces, and used a rolling pin to grind them into pastry skins. Then she smiled and said to Shu Ning: "Just put the fillings in. I have prepared jelly and shrimps at noon. Try it now?"

Shu Ning nodded hurriedly, Chun Xing brought out a plate of fillings, and the three of them began to make powdered fruit and shrimp dumplings.

After steaming it, the taste was really good. Shuning sighed deeply in her heart: I finally found a way to make Cantonese dim sum. When I want to eat it in the future, I can make it anytime.This kind of food is better than Wanning's fruit salad and cookies.

Ah Yin ate a few dim sum, and said: "Actually, Cheng noodles are better for making dim sum, but the rice skin that Miss used that day can also be made into other things, such as the rice rolls you mentioned yesterday, just rub a little on the rice noodle skin. A layer of egg sauce, plus vegetables, meat, and just steam it. But I like the sand river noodles the most, it is easy to make, as long as you change the soup base, you can make different tastes, and it doesn’t cost much.”

Shu Ning said with a smile: "Actually, Shahe noodles can be made in many ways. For example, if you squeeze the juice from bitter gourd or carrot and mix it into rice milk, can't you make red, green and green noodles? Besides making Noodle soup can also be fried dry or wet, and it’s also delicious when stewed with meat. There are so many tricks, let’s try it out carefully.” Although she didn’t eat all of them, she had seen the advertisement of Shahe Hotel before crossing. , I was deeply impressed by the "Full Feast of Sand River Fun".

Thoughtful, Ah Yin slowly stopped what he was doing, and lowered his head to think about things.Shuning didn't pay attention, and made a few more dishes, and brought them to the upper room for her mother to try.

Seeing her daughter and Ah Yin working hard to cook delicious food for herself every day, Tong Shi felt a little embarrassed.Maybe it was the remarkable effect of the food, maybe it was the gentleness of her husband and the filial piety of her daughter that inspired her, maybe it was because the weather was getting cooler. In short, after a few days, Tong finally recovered and was able to take care of her son and cook as usual. housework.

She smiled and said to the sisters of the Liu family who came to the house to accompany her guilt: "Because I am not well, I haven't seen you for so long. It's so neglectful. Please don't take offense."

Mrs. Liu waved her hand and said, "What kind of friendship are we? Why are you so polite? You are better now, right?" Mrs. Tong nodded with a smile.

Little Liu just heard the news about her son, and she was still wiping away her tears. She got up and saluted Tong, and said, "Thank you, Sister Tong, for thinking about it. I thought I would never know Xiaobao's whereabouts again." It's over."

Mrs. Tong hurriedly helped her up, and said: "This is killing me. Just like what your sister said, what kind of friendship do we have? It's just a little effort, and it doesn't take much trouble. Why do you have to do such a big gift?"

Da Liu said with a smile: "You just let her go. For her, there is nothing more important than her son now. For me to bring her to Guangdong, she complained behind her back many times, saying that in the future I will never see my son again. In fact, even in Beijing, I don’t see her once a year. The old man keeps a close eye on her, as if she might eat her child. Fortunately, they treat their grandson well.”

Xiao Liu stood up straight again, wiped away her tears and said: "Actually, they are all good people, and they all really love Xiaobao. Even if I can't see the child now, knowing that he is doing well, I am also happy."

Seeing that she was in a better mood, Mrs. Tong dragged her sisters to gossip for a while, and then ordered someone to bring some gifts for them to take home.

Two days later, Tong felt that her daughter had been focusing on eating recently, and she hadn't made much progress in female red, so she hired twelve women to help, and invited an outstanding embroidery lady to guide Shu Shu. Ning's embroidery skills.

In fact, Shuning Nuhong has a very good foundation, even if she is a little raw, she will not embroider badly. After a little practice, she will soon become proficient.

This new embroiderer, Miss Zhong Lian, heard that the husband and wife are both good at embroidery, and her husband is an embroiderer at the number one embroidery workshop in Guangzhou.

The embroidery method that Sister Zhong Lian taught Shuning belonged to the school in southern Guangdong, which was very different from what Shuning had learned before.The thread she used was not a single silk thread, but woolen thread, gold and silver thread, etc., which surprised Shuning who had used woolen embroidery before.But the colors of the embroidery thread she uses are gorgeous and complex. When tracing, she always paints the entire fabric to the brim. If there is any space left, she will paint some flowers and plants on it.

Regarding this point, Shu Ning had a headache.She prefers fresh and elegant embroidery, and is not very used to this gorgeous style.

But gradually, Shuning also started to get used to it, and she did better and better. Sister Zhong Lian once praised her several times, saying that among the girls she taught, Shuning was the fastest learner.

One day, Shu Ning was embroidering alone in the room, and felt tired, so she put down her work, stretched her waist, and planned to take a walk in the back garden.She went down halfway down the stairs, but saw Qiao Yun at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the direction of Qingyun Lane, twisting the handkerchief in her hand.

Shu Ning followed her gaze, but saw that in Qingyun Lane, Ah Yin was whispering something to Chang Gui.

(Thanks to the two readers, Paopaoyi and icesigh, for the method of making clear noodles.)
(End of this chapter)