In fact, the variety of rice dumplings in this era was not as diverse as in later generations, and Su Qingluan did not want to make overly innovative flavors to attract attention.
After all, rice dumplings are still considered a seasonal item for many people, not to mention that glutinous rice itself is relatively expensive. When most people have problems with food and clothing, rice dumplings that need to be dipped in white sugar to make them more delicious can be considered a luxury food.
However, Su Qingluan still prepared both sweet and savory rice dumpling fillings.
The sweet version is relatively simple, you can just add red dates or honey beans pickled with sugar, but the salty version is more troublesome.
Even in later generations, rice dumplings were an "important prop" for traveling between close and distant neighbors before the Dragon Boat Festival, and were indispensable when giving gifts to each other. So in this era when most rice dumplings are still "pure glutinous rice", rice dumplings can be regarded as "exquisite and high-end" gifts, not to mention gifts.
Su Qingluan thought that after all, one pot was also a bag, so she bought ten kilograms of glutinous rice, plus the fillings she planned to put in later, and after all the miscellaneous calculations, she could almost make two large pots of rice dumplings - this was still Because the pots used by the Su family for cooking are large enough, otherwise ordinary small pots would take four or five pots.
At the beginning of last year, Su Qingluan was also looking forward to celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival, because generally she still likes to eat the kind of fragrant, soft and glutinous food.
However, since time travel, as the business of "Su Ji" has become more and more prosperous, Su Qingluan has not experienced the embarrassment of not having enough food to eat and not having enough clothes for a long time, not to mention that she can purchase the ingredients by herself and figure out the corresponding cooking methods. , so there are often wrong estimates of the "popular diet level" of this era.
For example, "Zongzi", although it has a wide audience in this era, and is indeed made of glutinous rice, horse lotus and rice dumpling leaves, the raw materials inside are very different from what Su Qingluan imagined.
The first is glutinous rice. The rice dumplings that Su Qingluan ate last year - she went to Hongfu Tower to queue up to buy them in order to avoid eating rice dumplings of poor quality - had a much more solid texture than she thought, and were a bit harder.
Later, Su Qingluan carefully inquired about the method of making rice dumplings here and found out that the problem lies in the "heat".
There were no pressure cookers in this era, and for most families, firewood and charcoal fires were not a small expense, and they needed to be calculated every step of the way. Of course, Hongfu Building is not short of money, but for a place to run a business, the top priority is not the taste of the product but the profit margin.
For a very seasonal food like Zongzi, its value for the occasion is far greater than its value for tasting. Many people can’t even get used to the chewy texture of glutinous rice, so they only buy two as a token to serve at home. That’s all.
As for the so-called "tricks", they are just a few people with a relatively strong foundation. They drizzle honey or dip the rice dumplings in white sugar. This is already a supreme delicacy for people of this era.
However, most ordinary families who don’t have enough spare money to buy sugar and honey just eat these rice dumplings as a staple food without any seasoning.
Although glutinous rice resists hunger, it is also expensive and far less expensive than brown rice, bean flour, etc. Therefore, it falls into the awkward situation of "rich people dislike the taste and are not willing to eat it, while poor people dislike it because it is expensive and are not willing to eat it."
So Su Qingluan plans to improve the taste of the rice dumplings this time - of course, at the expense of a lot of charcoal and firewood. Fortunately, her family can afford it, and rice dumplings are seasonal and festive foods, so they are not made often.
It was precisely because of this that Su Guangfu and Yang turned a blind eye to her behavior of changing water one basin at a time in the past two days. Otherwise, he would never say much to Su Qingluan, who now controls the "financial power", and would still be unable to help but say something like "firewood is not cheap."
Su Qingluan first put the soaked jujubes, wolfberry and pickled honey beans in three small basins respectively. Wolfberry and jujube are one kind of filling, while honey beans are another kind of filling.
Because honey beans are actually made from ripe black beans, red adzuki beans, mung beans, and gorgon seeds, and are marinated in thick syrup boiled with white sugar, the sweetness is very high - this is for two people. Prepared for children and other folks who may like sweet food.
As for jujube and wolfberry, although they themselves have a sweet taste, the sweetness is not very high, especially after being cooked, the sweetness will be further reduced.
In this way, it is a good choice for people who don’t like sweets but want something sweeter. Of course, if you want something extra sweet, you can also dip it in sugar or drizzle it with honey.
Su Qing brought the two rice dumpling leaves over and put them together, slightly overlapping each other. In this way, when the two layers of rice dumpling leaves interact, one can form a wider rice dumpling leaf, making the rice dumpling larger in size, and the other is Two rice dumpling leaves overlap each other to prevent the longitudinal pattern. If one leaf suddenly breaks a hole, the other one can also be used as the bottom of the pocket to prevent the filling inside from flowing out.
Su Qingluan's technique for making rice dumplings is a bit rusty, but she has not forgotten the skills that need to be paid attention to. For example, when nesting the rice dumpling leaves into a "funnel shape", one of the key points is to place them at the sharpest corners. Leave a small section so that the rice dumpling leaves can naturally dent into a small area as the angle bends. This way, it still looks like a beautiful sharp corner from the outside, but there is a small upward fold inside.
The biggest advantage of making rice dumplings in this way is that it maintains the appearance of the "triangular rice dumpling" and prevents the filling from leaking directly from the tip.
In addition, when folding the rice dumpling leaves to seal, the same "pressing corners" should be achieved - the glutinous rice inside the rice dumpling leaves should not be filled too much, and there should be an inward folding corner on the left and right sides, so that the two sharp corners on the side There will also be no filling leaking out of the corners.
Although it seems to be just a folding action, it is very easy for novices to overturn it. Either the leaves are missing or the corners are not folded properly. At first glance, they look neat. After the rice dumplings are cooked, the fillings will be removed. A pile flowed out from the gaps in the three corners and turned into "Zongye Glutinous Rice Porridge".
Although Su Qingluan's movements are unfamiliar, he still pays attention to what needs to be paid attention to, but because of his lack of proficiency, his speed is much slower.
So after she had just made a dozen rice dumplings, she heard Yang's Su Guangfu leading Su Xueyan in from outside.
From a long distance, you can hear your sister's chirping voice like a little sparrow. She learned from her parents what strange guests she saw at Mr. Xu's place that day, and she learned a few more. words, and how to use an abacus to manage accounts...
Then, the little girl saw Su Qingluan sitting near the door of the kitchen and said in surprise: "Sister, are you back first? What are you doing?"
