Ding Baozhu was stunned, realizing that morels might be even more precious here than she had imagined. Given that the growing environment for morels was quite demanding, even though villagers frequently went up the mountain, few had ever gathered them. Most likely, people wouldn’t even think to pick such an odd-looking mushroom; it was only because she recognized them that she had struck such luck.
She quickly explained, “Mom, this is indeed a type of mushroom called… a morel. See how the cap looks like a sheep’s stomach?”
“These mushrooms are quite hard to find. I plan to take them to town to see if I can sell them for a good price.”
“Are they really that valuable? Then put them away carefully for now.”
Liu Ping didn’t ask further, nor did she question how Ding Baozhu knew about a mushroom she herself had never seen. After all, Baozhu had left the village and visited the town with Ding Hong many times; she was bound to have gained some worldly knowledge.
As they were talking, the outer door opened, and Ding Baoqin came skipping in, laughing. “Mom, Big Sister, look! These are the eggs Third Aunt rewarded me with!”
She held them in both hands, cradling five or six eggs.
Liu Ping paused before asking, “Did you thank your Third Aunt?”
“Of course! Third Aunt even praised me, saying I cut a lot of pig grass and that the bugs I caught were nice and fat!” Ding Baoqin replied proudly.
“You, you only get this energetic when it comes to things like this!” Liu Ping said helplessly.
The chickens raised at home produced one or two eggs a day, and that was only after Ding Shao had researched feeding methods. For an ordinary family, having a chicken lay one egg a day was considered excellent, and those eggs were usually saved to be sold for money, not eaten lightly. Even in the Ding family, most of the saved eggs were eventually sold.
Yao Dan was certainly generous. While she could have simply ordered the younger generation to help, it was unexpected for her to give so many at once. Liu Ping understood that the Third Branch had always maintained a business relationship with their own branch, so it wasn’t strange for the two families to get along well. Moreover, they were family after all; if they weren’t harmonious, it truly couldn’t be called a home.
At that moment, Ding Baoqin turned to Ding Baozhu with anticipation. “Sis, we have the ingredients now. What delicious thing are you making today?”
Liu Ping snapped out of her thoughts and smiled. “Your sister has already managed several meals. You’re still going to make her busy?”
Ding Baozhu gathered the eggs and also smiled. “Mom, I’ll be getting married eventually. In the future, I might not even have the chance to cook at home. Since I didn’t cook much before this, let me show some filial piety to you and Dad during this time.”
Liu Ping had nothing left to say; her eyes quickly turned red, looking incredibly moved. “Fine, fine, I’ll leave it to you. You two go get busy; your father and I will wait to eat!”
Ding Baozhu and Ding Baoqin acknowledged her, organized all the ingredients, and left.
Although the so-called rules of the Ding family were to prepare food in a specific order, Ding Baozhu could still start prepping the dishes beforehand. First, the vegetables needed washing. The wild vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, and spring bamboo shoots all needed multiple rinses. The stems of the shiitakes had to be removed, the bamboo shoots peeled, and the wild vegetables washed right down to the roots to properly remove the earthy smell and bitterness.
Ding Baoqin acted as the assistant, knowing she would soon have to help start the fire in the kitchen, which also allowed her to see early on what delicious food her eldest sister was preparing.
Since the Beginning of Spring, the spring plowing had commenced and would last for a month or two. Ding Jin, who was responsible for the family’s fields, and the men of the First Branch left early every day and returned punctually at sunset. The First Branch now basically ate with the grandparents, so Wu Tang had to prepare dinner before then. Because of this, despite the recent conflict, she wouldn’t linger in the kitchen past her allotted time.
As soon as Wu Tang finished using the kitchen, Ding Baozhu and Ding Baoqin immediately brought the cleaned ingredients inside. The former picked up the kitchen knife and set to work on the ingredients. The wild vegetables required no further processing; to remove the bitter taste, they were put directly into the pot to be blanched.
The de-stemmed shiitake mushrooms looked like shallow little bowls. Ding Baozhu found a plate, arranged the mushrooms one by one, and sprinkled a bit of finely ground salt over them. Then, she cracked the eggs, splitting each one in half and placing them into the mushroom caps.
The plate of mushroom-stuffed eggs was successfully sent into the pot to steam. Afterward, Ding Baozhu took out the blanched wild vegetables, found a few cloves of garlic in the kitchen, peeled them, and minced them. She planned to make the wild vegetables with a garlic flavor.
She fired up the stove again and used a spoonful of lard to sauté the minced garlic until fragrant. Since the mushroom-stuffed eggs didn’t take long to cook, a fresh aroma began to permeate the kitchen.
Stir-frying wild vegetables was very simple. Ding Baozhu finally picked up a leaf to taste, confirmed it was cooked, and then threw in a handful of salt before plating it. Ding Baoqin became the server once again, standing up to carry the fragrant plate of wild vegetables into the main room. Usually, these wild vegetables were either stir-fried with just lard, mixed with salt and a few drops of sesame oil, or made into soup. They had never been this fragrant; she could hardly resist eating them immediately!
Two dishes were almost finished, and Ding Baozhu set to work on the final one: the spring bamboo shoots they had discovered on the mountain today.
As she was slicing the bamboo shoots, she suddenly discovered that the family still had some home-cured salted meat. Even if the bamboo shoots were good on their own, when paired with meat, their freshness could be fully realized. So, she took out the meat and sliced it along with the spring bamboo shoots.
She wanted to incorporate these ingredients into the staple dish, so they could have both vegetables and the main grain in one—commonly known as “Vegetable Rice”! By doing this, she wouldn’t need to use too many bamboo shoots, and she could save the rest to make other dishes.
A bowl of coarse rice had already been soaked. Ding Baozhu blanched the bamboo slices in water first, then used lard to stir-fry the salted meat, releasing all the oil and savory saltiness within before adding the bamboo slices to the pot. At this point, the bamboo dish was actually finished, but Ding Baozhu added one more step—she added the soaked coarse rice.
After stir-frying and seasoning, she added the appropriate amount of water, covered the large pot, and let it continue to cook. Meanwhile, the mushroom-stuffed eggs were done steaming. Ding Baozhu extinguished the fire in the stove, opened the lid, and was met with a wave of steam and fragrance. She quickly mixed a bowl of sauce with soy paste and starch, drizzled it over the dish, and sprinkled it with chopped green onions.
Ding Baoqin returned, sniffing the air as she entered, unable to help but praise, “It smells so good! I’m so hungry!”
“Just wait a bit longer. Once the rice is done, we can eat,” Ding Baozhu said, then asked, “Are Dad and Second Sister back yet?”
The fading glow of dusk was visible through the small window of the kitchen. Usually, Ding Hong and Ding Baozhen returned at around this time.
Ding Baoqin replied, “Second Sister is back; Dad isn’t back yet.”
Ding Baozhen was a girl traveling alone; if she only returned under the stars and moon, the family would never have agreed to let her go to the neighboring village to learn her craft.
Once the plate of mushroom-stuffed eggs had cooled slightly, Ding Baoqin carried it out. The rice was still cooking in the pot, steam rising from the edges. Ding Baozhu began peeling and cleaning the remaining spring bamboo shoots, cutting them into pieces an inch long and a quarter-inch wide, and put them on the stove to steam.
Yao Dan entered the kitchen right on time and was immediately hit by the enticing aroma. She saw at a glance that Ding Baozhu was busy scrubbing an earthenware jar nearby. During the winter, the family had pickled some vegetables for storage, so why was she taking out an earthenware jar now? Was she making more food?
Thinking of this, Yao Dan asked with a smile, “Eldest Niece, have you thought of another good way to make food?”
Ding Baozhu greeted her and nodded toward the stove, answering, “My younger sister and I went up the mountain today and brought back some ingredients. Some of them won’t stay fresh if kept for too long, so I thought I’d prepare them in advance so they can be eaten whenever we want. Third Aunt, just wait a moment; it’ll be ready soon.”
“Alright, no rush. I still have my own preparations to make.”
As Yao Dan went to wash her rice, Ding Baozhu opened the pot lid. The bamboo pieces were steamed through, and the bamboo rice was finished. She stirred the rice and scooped it into a bowl, noticing a layer of perfect golden crust—the guoba—at the bottom, which she placed on top of the rice. This cleared a stove for Yao Dan to cook her meal.
Ding Baozhu called for Ding Baoqin to carry the bamboo rice over, and the dinner was complete. She found a piece of cloth, wrapped the steamed bamboo pieces in it, and squeezed them dry until they clumped together. She then tied the cloth, placed them all into the earthenware jar, and added salt and oil. This jar of Sun Zha (fermented bamboo shoots) was mostly finished; the rest was just a matter of time. She placed the jar with the others, clapped her hands, said goodbye to Yao Dan, and returned to the Second Branch’s room.
By now, the whole family had gathered. As soon as Liu Ping saw her, she said with a face full of smiles, “Zhu’er, are you finished? Come and eat.”
She must have said something to Ding Hong, as he also had a beaming face and a look of relief. Ding Baozhu acknowledged them and sat at the table.
Everyone was served a bowl of bamboo rice first. Seeing the rice grains glistening with oil and smelling the aroma, Ding Baoqin laughed, “Just looking at this, I don’t even need to taste it to know how good it is!”
Ding Baozhu laughed as well. “This is the best way. I even thought of a temporary name for this rice.”
Everyone asked curiously, “What name?”
Ding Baozhu said with a mischievous smile, “How about we call it ‘Winter-Goes-Spring-Comes Rice’?”
The family was stunned for a moment before they all broke into laughter, except for Ding Baozhen, who curled her lip and said, “It’s not like there are no bamboo shoots in winter. Besides, only winter shoots and spring shoots are good in a year. Aren’t these two pretty much the same?”
Well, it seemed her second sister was a closet contrarian…
Liu Ping stepped in to smooth things over. “Alright, alright, aren’t you hungry? Let’s eat first.”
So, the family picked up their chopsticks, and for now, eating was the priority. Ding Baoqin usually didn’t like vegetables, but Liu Ping served her some as usual. Thinking that this was something Ding Baozhu had made, she wrinkled her face and took a bite. With that one taste, her eyes lit up—this dish wasn’t bitter at all! It had the natural fragrance of the leaves but with an even better garlic aroma. Stir-fried with lard, it was mellow and fragrant. Delicious!
Thinking this, Ding Baoqin shoveled several mouthfuls of rice into her mouth. In the “Winter-Goes-Spring-Comes Rice,” the richness of the salted meat had completely soaked into the rice grains and bamboo slices. The bamboo was fresh and crisp; it seemed she could eat several bowls of just the rice alone. Everyone also received a piece of the crispy guoba, which crunched loudly as they ate.
The mushroom-stuffed eggs featured thick, savory mushrooms that were naturally rich and delicious. Paired with the eggs and the drizzled sauce, the umami flavor was elevated to the extreme. For a while, the family was so focused on eating that no one had a spare mouth for talking; even if they did, it would likely only be used to continue eating.
The food on the table was devoured like a whirlwind. Ding Baoqin patted her small stomach in satisfaction. “It’s too delicious! If only we could eat like this every day!”
She felt that ever since Ding Baozhu woke up, their family’s circumstances had suddenly improved a lot, especially the food!
“That’s enough. Go for a walk in a bit, or you’ll get indigestion, and I won’t rub your stomach for you,” Liu Ping warned.
Ding Hong wiped his mouth casually and laughed. “Baozhu’s skills are truly excellent. It seems wanting to do business wasn’t just a fleeting thought. Go ahead and give it a try.”
Ding Baozhu acknowledged him, smiling in her heart. It seemed half of the matter was already settled; by tomorrow, she would see if she had a chance to complete the other half.