Xing'an Mountains 1984: Starting from climbing mountains to support the family

Chapter 71 Steamed buns, delicious venison buns

yard.

Da Ni and Er Ni are playing with Liu Ni.

Chen Weidong rested for a while, climbed up from the kang, looked at the three little kids' cute sleeping faces, and kissed them one by one.

"dad!"

"dad!"

Da Ni and Er Ni looked at Chen Weidong and called him obediently. When Liu Ni heard him, she also babbled, "Dad~Dad!"

Chen Weidong was delighted. He touched the two little girls and picked up Liu Ni. Liu Ni kicked her legs and babbled for milk.

"Weidong, why are you up? Why don't you get some more sleep? By the way, where are the three little guys?"

Liu Xueting was busy in the kitchen. She turned around and saw Chen Weidong holding Liu Ni outside the yard and asked curiously.

"All three little ones are asleep! I just want to lie down and rest for a while, but I'm not sleepy."

Chen Weidong said slowly.

"These three said they were going to give you a back massage, but they fell asleep themselves." Liu Xueting smiled.

"Xueting, what are you doing in the kitchen?" Chen Weidong asked Liu Xueting who was busy in the kitchen.

"There's still some pork left at home from the pork you bought last time. I plan to make some buns. The little ones have been talking about it these past few days."

Liu Xueting said.

"Why do we need pork? I brought back a lot of venison today. Let's eat venison buns tonight."

Chen Weidong said quickly. You know, venison is a good thing. It can strengthen muscles and bones, nourish the five internal organs, replenish qi, and it tastes delicious, has delicate meat, high nutritional value, and is easily absorbed.

"Da Ni, Er Ni, do you want to eat venison buns?" Chen Weidong asked the two little girls.

"Are venison buns as delicious as the ones with pork?" Erni asked curiously.

"Of course, it tastes much better than pork." Chen Weidong smiled.

"I want to eat~"

The two girls licked their lips.

"Okay, Xueting, let me knead the dough!" Kneading dough for making buns is a physical job, and Chen Weidong feels sorry for his wife.

"You should just take a rest! I can do it myself." Liu Xueting refused.

"It's okay. I just lay in bed for a while. Now I'm full of energy."

As Chen Weidong spoke, he handed Liu Ni to the care of Da Ni and Er Ni, then went to the wooden cabinet beside the main room, took out a small piece of old dough, and soaked it in water.

Old dough, also commonly called old dough starter, is the start.

Northeastern people often use it to make dough. Chen Weidong used it to steam buns a few days ago. He made it specially and the method is very simple.
Add a bowl of wine and a bowl of flour to the basin, pour in an appropriate amount of warm water and mix well, then pour in a bowl of cornmeal and mix well, then add two tablespoons of white wine.
Place it in a warm place to ferment for one hour. After one hour, stir it with chopsticks for a while, pour in an appropriate amount of warm water, and then add an appropriate amount of cornmeal. Stir with chopsticks until it becomes a sticky batter, and then ferment until the batter is full of honeycomb-like pores.

After the fermentation is done, pinch the batter in the basin into small balls with your hands and knead them into small pancakes of the same size. Put them on a ventilated grate and place them in a cool and ventilated place to dry. Once made, they can be used for half a year.

Then Chen Weidong took out an iron basin that he had just bought, poured in flour and water, and began to knead the dough. He then added the starter water from soaking old dough and kneaded the flour into a ball.

Liu Xueting on the side had already gone into the main room to cut a piece of venison and started chopping the meat. After she had chopped the meat, she put it in a large bowl, sprinkled it with seasonings, and stirred it evenly.

Then Liu Xueting came over and said, "It's already been chopped. You take a break and I'll do it!"

"Need not."

Chen Weidong continued: "The meat filling is almost done, you can take a rest."

Liu Xueting: “…”

In the past, Chen Weidong never went into the kitchen, but now he comes to help whenever he has time, and his cooking skills are better than hers. Liu Xueting thought that she would have to make dumplings later, so she went to find a job for herself.

After Chen Weidong skillfully kneaded the dough, he held the lid of the pot and let the dough slowly ferment. When the dough was fermented, Liu Xueting had already cleaned the floor table in the main hall and took out a clean wooden board.

Chen Weidong brought two basins over. The couple sat down on a small stool each and started making dumplings. Da Ni, Er Ni and Liu Ni also came over.
Chen Weidong rolled the dough methodically, while Liu Xueting wrapped the buns skillfully, Da Ni helped with the wrapping, and Er Ni was in charge of taking care of the baby.

~

When the sun was setting in the evening, Chen Weidong and Liu Xueting were steaming venison buns in the kitchen.

The three little ones woke up on their own. When they came out with sleepy eyes, Chen Weidong and Liu Xueting had almost finished steaming the buns.

Two or three pounds of flour were used to make big venison buns. When they were steamed in a pot, the whole small yard was filled with the smell of hot steam.

The six little girls were playing in the yard, but soon they were attracted by the hot steam coming out of the pot and immediately ran to the kitchen panting.

"Sister, it smells so good. What is daddy doing?" Sanni asked in a baby voice.

"Deer meat buns! Dad said they're better than pork buns!"

Dani said.

Si Ni pointed at the big firewood pot and said, "Smoke~ Dad, there is smoke coming out of the pot~"

Wu Ni ran over, sniffed it, and a smile appeared on her little face.

"Dad, it smells good."

The venison buns are almost steamed by now.

Chen Weidong smiled and said, "You guys, come closer, the heat is dangerous."

The little guys immediately stepped back obediently.

Chen Weidong found a clean porcelain basin and opened the lid of the wood-fired pot.

Suddenly I saw white smoke billowing.

At the same time, the hot air, carrying the aroma of flour and venison, swept across the air instantly.

The little girls were so greedy at the sight of the white flour and venison buns.

They all stood in a row, standing on tiptoes and looking into the pot.

Seeing this, Chen Weidong took out the bowls for five people, picked up the chopsticks, picked up a bun for each person and put it in the bowl.

Da Ni and Er Ni could eat from their bowls, but San Ni, Si Ni, and Wu Ni could not. Chen Weidong carried the bowls of the three little ones to the table in the main hall.

When Liu Ni saw that there was no place for her, she immediately followed behind with her short legs, crying. Seeing this, Liu Xueting carried her back.

As soon as Chen Weidong put the bowl on the table, three little kids hurriedly sat beside the table, leaned forward, picked up the buns with chopsticks, struggled to pick them up, puffed up their cheeks, and blew on them a few times.

Then, he took a bite.

The steaming aroma, accompanied by the delicious juice of the lean meat, flowed out in an instant.

"Da Ni, Er Ni, is it delicious?"

Chen Weidong asked.

“Delicious~”

"It's delicious, eh! Dad, it smells good."

Si Ni spoke in a baby voice while eating with big mouthfuls. Her little cheeks were swollen and her words were a little unclear!
"You little foodie! I didn't ask you!"

Chen Weidong gave her a light slap on the head, but his heart was filled with warmth.

For him, the greatest happiness at this moment is the happy and satisfied smiles of his children.

(End of this chapter)