The Ding family had a stone mill. However, since this area didn’t originally produce much wheat, the occasional planting of other grains wasn’t just for eating; when the stone mill was used, it was mostly for grinding grains, beans, and such. Furthermore, a stone mill didn’t cost much to commission or even build oneself, so it was practically a staple in every household.
The stone mill in the Ding family wasn’t as large as Ding Baozhu had imagined, but it was about half the height of a person. Between her and Ding Baoqin, they could certainly push it.
Before that, however, she had to make some preparations.
Ding Baozhu took the purchased glutinous rice, found a large basin, and soaked it in water for several hours. Then she found two smaller basins to soak the red beans and jujubes simultaneously.
In Ding Baoqin’s memory, snacks and treats were only eaten during festivals, celebrations, or when someone in the family went to town. Although they could be made into glutinous rice, she didn’t think that’s what Ding Baozhu was doing, so she asked:
“Sister, what are you making with all this glutinous rice? And the red beans… are you making snacks?”
For them, being able to eat their fill every day was enough. Snacks were only a matter of whether family members went to town and brought something back, like the jujube paste pastries Ding Baozhu had brought today. Otherwise, outside of festivals, they might only lick a stick of maltose if a traveling peddler came by and they had spare change.
“I want to try making something. You were the one rushing to help me, so don’t go back on your word,” Ding Baozhu smiled and then asked, “Where are the dried red jujubes kept?”
Upon hearing that she was making snacks, Ding Baoqin didn’t think much more of it and quickly pointed:
“In the kitchen, kept with the grain.”
Ding Baozhu went to the kitchen with Ding Baoqin, took half a catty of dried red jujubes from a cloth bag, and set them to soak in water as well.
The soaking process would take several hours, so Ding Baozhu leisurely brought out the yellow sparrows.
The two yellow sparrows had only been freshly killed but not processed, so she still had to bleed them, pluck them, and clean them.
The original owner knew how to do this, and Ding Baozhu was even better at it. She first told Ding Baoqin to boil some water while she nimbly wielded the knife herself.
Ding Baoqin understood those were the sparrows she had bought, and more importantly, there would be more delicious food tonight!
Yesterday’s pig stomach dish had been delicious. She didn’t know where her big sister had learned it, but today she had become full of anticipation, and she didn’t find the chores boring at all.
Once the water was boiled, the processed yellow sparrows were bare. Unfortunately, there were only two, which wouldn’t even fill the gaps between her teeth.
Yet these two had cost her nearly half the money she had on her at the time. Truth be told, wild goods sold well—didn’t that stall owner have a completely indifferent expression?
Maybe she should find a time to head up the mountain and take a look?
Seeing the slightly complicated expression on Ding Baozhu’s face, Ding Baoqin suddenly burst out laughing.
Coming back to her senses, the former asked strangely:
“What are you laughing at?”
Ding Baoqin teased, “Sister, are you thinking that this isn’t enough to eat? Since you’re going to marry the hunter anyway, will you even have to worry about this in the future?”
Ding Baozhu rolled her eyes. If her hands hadn’t been dirty, she would have definitely flicked the girl’s forehead.
“What nonsense are you talking about? I see you don’t want to eat, since you have the spare time to say such things.”
Ding Baoqin giggled a few times and changed the subject: “Sister, is there anything else I need to help with?”
“What’s the rush? You’ll be busy in a moment. I’ll call you when I need you,” Ding Baozhu instructed.
Ding Baoqin gave an affirmative and left the kitchen full of expectation.
Seeing the cleaned yellow sparrows, Ding Baozhu planned to deep-fry one and stir-fry the other with sauce to provide more variety in flavor. However, regardless of the cooking method, they needed to be marinated before going into the pot.
She took out the cooking wine, sliced some ginger, took some salt, and began to massage the yellow sparrows.
In reality, there were more seasonings needed for marinating, but unfortunately, conditions didn’t allow for it, so she could only focus her efforts on her technique.
The yellow sparrows needed to marinate for at least half an hour. Seeing that the ingredients were being prepared, Ding Baozhu went back to the room to talk with Liu Ping for a while before returning to the kitchen with Ding Baoqin to make the filling.
The latter went back to boiling water. Ding Baozhu first washed the soaked red beans several times and put them directly into the pot to boil. As for the red jujubes in the other basin, once they were soaked through, she used the small scissors she had prepared to pit them.
This was just a trial run, so the ingredients Ding Baozhu had bought weren’t numerous. There was about half a catty of red jujubes. Since she frequently made these kinds of Chinese desserts, the jujubes were processed quickly.
The red beans were boiled, while the red jujubes were steamed. Fortunately, there were enough stoves in the kitchen.
Ding Baoqin helped with the fire early on; this was currently her most familiar task.
The fresh scent of red beans and the sweet aroma of red jujubes gradually wafted from the gaps around the pot lids, causing her to sniff her little nose constantly.
The stove fire was strong. After boiling for two quarters of an hour, Ding Baozhu first opened the lid of the red bean pot and scooped them out. During the time they were cooling, the red jujubes would finish cooking.
Since the red beans were ready first, she would make the red bean filling first. Ding Baozhu brought over the stone mortar, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared for battle.
She had realized that because the original owner had been raised in this household, she hadn’t lacked meat or eggs since childhood, so she was naturally taller than other women and even some men. Furthermore, because she later learned butchery from Ding Hong, she often carried heavy objects, resulting in a body of great strength. In the eyes of outsiders, she was considered thick-waisted and flabby, and she was often gossiped about.
Initially, Ding Baozhu thought this body was truly fat and was thinking about losing weight. However, as she became more familiar with it, she fell silent.
A large face was real, and flab existed, but one touch revealed that it was all fat-covered muscle!
The cooled red beans were now in a state where they could be crushed with a finger. Ding Baozhu took some and put them in the stone mortar, continuously beating them with the pestle. Occasionally, she added some of the red bean water for more flavor.
Finally, it became a delicate bean paste. Ding Baozhu took a look and saw that even the red bean skins were crushed, so she scooped it out with satisfaction and started on the second batch.
Ding Baoqin asked curiously, “Sister, is this going to become the snack filling? Can I taste it?”
“I want you to try it, but it’s not finished yet. The filling must be stir-fried to be fragrant, so in a moment, I’ll need you to continue tending the fire,” Ding Baozhu smiled.
“No problem!” Ding Baoqin agreed immediately.
After finishing the semi-finished red bean filling, the red jujubes had also cooled. The thoroughly cooked jujubes presented a dark red color.
Ding Baozhu pressed lightly with her finger and felt it was just right. With a slight pinch, the skin was peeled away, and with a push of her finger, the pit fell out easily.
With jujube paste like this, how could it not be smooth?
After finishing the preliminary work, she prepared to move on to the next stage—stir-frying the filling!
Stir-frying the filling emphasized control over the heat; if the bottom burned, the whole pot would be ruined.
Upon hearing this, Ding Baoqin lost her playfulness and focused intently on the fire in the stove.
Ding Baozhu first stir-fried the jujube paste, using a wooden spatula to stir constantly. She also sprinkled a handful of brown sugar in, and it gradually became slightly thick. Soon after, it became a slowly flowing paste until it was nearly solidified, indicating it was basically formed.
Jujubes were naturally sweet, and with the added brown sugar, the kitchen was temporarily filled with sweet steam.
Finally, Ding Baozhu added the bean oil bought from town, giving the dark brownish-maroon jujube paste a glossy, oily appearance. Not only was it good to eat, but it was also beautiful to look at.
With the jujube paste complete, Ding Baozhu busied herself with stir-frying the red bean filling, using the same method. The only difference was that she added lard to the red bean filling.
As for lard, it was quite easy for the second branch to obtain, but as a family, what was produced was still shared by everyone.
However, the amount of lard was also important—add too much, and the filling would be naturally greasy; add too little, and it would become dry.
While stir-frying, Ding Baozhu also added a handful of brown sugar.
Logically, rock sugar was best for red beans, followed by white sugar, but she couldn’t afford them and could only substitute with brown sugar.
The stir-fried filling was placed in bowls, and Ding Baozhu used a pair of chopsticks to pick up a bit of each for Ding Baoqin.
The latter tasted it, her eyes lighting up, and she nodded repeatedly:
“It’s done, it’s done! This taste is the same as those snacks in town!”
Whenever Ding Hong went to town, he would occasionally bring back a couple of pastries. Since jujube paste and red bean filling were two of the most common fillings for pastries, Ding Baoqin had tasted them before.
Ding Baozhu put away the chopsticks and smiled:
“Alright, let’s go grind the glutinous rice!”
She spoke while collecting the two bowls of overflowing filling and the semi-processed yellow sparrows, having Ding Baoqin take them into the room.
Although Baoqin didn’t know why, she did as she was told. Baozhu herself took the basin of soaked glutinous rice to the stone mill.
She first drew water to clean the mill, and after it was dry, she added the glutinous rice. Then came the manual labor.
Turning the mill to grind the rice, the original owner’s strength was indeed significant; she didn’t feel tired even after several rotations. At the outlet, a milky white powder gradually began to appear.
By this time, Ding Baoqin had returned and helped collect the delicate powder, putting it all into a new empty bowl.
Ding Baozhu had only bought half a catty of glutinous rice, so grinding didn’t take too long, and the bowl was soon piled high with snowy white glutinous rice flour.
To do it perfectly, Ding Baozhu would have sifted this flour again to get even finer particles, but firstly, there wasn’t an extremely fine sieve—one would need to find other tools—and secondly, this wasn’t for sale yet, so it didn’t need to be so meticulous for now.
Ding Baoqin held the bowl of rice flour. Although she wasn’t very old, she was capable of looking after herself and naturally understood that with this flour and that filling, snacks could be made. She asked happily:
“Sister, can you start making them now? I can’t wait to eat!”
“What’s the rush, little glutton?”
Ding Baozhu patted her hands and reached out to tap her nose, leaving a faint white mark.
“Did you forget? According to the household rotation, the Eldest Aunt must cook first. We have to wait a little longer.”
At the mention of the first branch, Ding Baoqin pouted, perhaps harboring some dissatisfaction as well. However, considering her good relationship with the original owner, she was naturally on the same side.