Transmigrated into the fat wife of the future prime minister

Chapter 87 Zongzi
Xu Qingmeng cleaned the earthenware pot, then asked Xinting to bring a clean large basin. She poured in the high-proof liquor she had bought, then rolled the duck eggs in the liquor to ensure that each duck egg was coated with liquor. After that, she put the liquor-coated duck eggs into the earthenware pot.

There are many modern methods for pickling duck eggs, including brine pickling, wine lees pickling, soy sauce pickling, and of course, pickling with wood ash and yellow mud.

Xu Qingmeng used the simplest method of pickling with saturated brine. Although this method is simple, the pickled duck eggs are very easy to extract oil, and the duck eggs pickled using this method are incredibly fragrant.

Xinting had already boiled the water in advance. Xu Qingmeng slowly added salt to the pot and stirred it continuously until the salt stopped dissolving and sediment appeared at the bottom of the pot. The saturated brine was then ready.

Next, pour saturated brine into the earthenware jar containing the duck eggs, ensuring the eggs are completely submerged. Then, add a little white wine, and finally seal the jar. This completes the preparation of the salted duck eggs. After a month, they are ready to eat.

The group then moved the earthenware pot to a shady spot.

"Auntie, are the salted duck eggs done? They look so simple."

"Yes, that's good. Place it in a cool, dark place, and it will be ready to eat in about a month."

"This seems to have taken a while, but since it was made by my aunt, it must be good."

"This salted duck egg would probably be too salty if eaten as is. It's better to eat it with porridge."

As the two were talking, Madam He walked in, saw the earthenware pot in the corner, and said:

"Mengniang, have you two finished taking notes?"

"Yes, this marinating process is very simple and not troublesome."

"Now that you've done this, I'm curious about what it tastes like."

"It will be ready to eat in a month."

Now that there are enough people, Xu Qingmeng only needs to season the braised food for dinner; she no longer needs to sell it.

Madam Huang is still hiring for the pastry shop, so Xu Qingmeng is relatively relaxed. However, in order to make Western-style pastries in the future, she needs to have the baking oven, that is, the bread oven, made first. But the first priority is to draw up the rough blueprints.

Once the general direction of the renovation is decided, the workers can start work.

As the weather gradually warmed up and the Dragon Boat Festival approached, Xu Qingmeng decided to wrap some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) and sell them in her shop. Madam He had never objected to her words, so she asked Shen Jinwen to send two bags of glutinous rice and bamboo leaves suitable for wrapping zongzi.

Shen Jinwen's general store has everything. If you want something, you can basically find it in his store. The bamboo leaves are bundled up in bunches.

In the south, the leaves used for making zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) are generally reed leaves, bamboo leaves, or cinnamon leaves. Quanxian County is also located in the south, but its actual geographical location is relatively northerly, so the leaves used for zongzi are mostly bamboo leaves and reed leaves.

Bamboo leaves are usually dry and yellowish in color, while reed leaves are fresh green and have a fragrant aroma.

Shen's General Store had both kinds; the bamboo leaves were short and wide, while the reed leaves were long and thin. I took several bundles of each kind, which were personally delivered by Shen Jinwen.

"Mr. Shen, what brings you here today?" Shen Jinwen is usually very busy and never visits unless there's a reason.

Shen Jinwen walked into the kitchen and said with a smile, "Firstly, because the mushroom and meat sauce we made later was very popular with wealthy families, so we'll probably have to increase the quantity later. Secondly, I heard that Madam Gu was planning to make zongzi, so I came to take a look."

Xu Qingmeng smiled. The two families were already quite familiar with each other, and she knew Shen Jinwen, who was a true foodie.

Gu Yunyi and Madam He were in the kitchen at this moment. Aunt Tang and Aunt Li had finished washing the braised meat and gone back to their work. Xinting and Sister-in-law Xu had done the main work in the morning and at noon, and were still resting inside. Madam He said with a smile, "It's almost a festival, and we eat zongzi for fun. We've always eaten sweet zongzi before, and have never heard of savory zongzi before. Mr. Shen, you're very knowledgeable, have you ever heard of them?"

Most of the rice dumplings that Mrs. He ate were plain rice dumplings dipped in white sugar, or rice dumplings with jujubes. But Xu Qingmeng was different. She prepared red bean rice dumplings, which Mrs. He could understand, but she had never heard of savory ones before.

Unfortunately, Xu Qingmeng had also marinated a large basin of meat, intending to make savory meat dumplings.

Shen Jinwen's love for food is truly comparable to Xu Qingmeng's, except that he can only eat, not cook.

As soon as Mrs. He spoke, Shen Jinwen immediately perked up and said with a smile, "Auntie, you've come to the right person. Meat dumplings may sound unreliable here, but once you've tried them, you'll definitely want to eat another one after you've had one."

After Shen Jinwen said that, He Shi and the others had extremely high expectations for this so-called meat zongzi.

"Miss Gu, I just don't know if you know how to wrap egg yolks?"

"Mr. Shen also knows about salted egg yolk rice dumplings?"

"I was lucky enough to try it once, and the taste was... wow!"

"I can, but the egg yolks... my salted duck eggs are only freshly pickled, I don't have any ingredients yet!"

"I have salted duck eggs in my shop. I just got them from a friend. Not many people here know how to pickle salted duck eggs. I didn't expect that Madam Gu would know this skill?"

"What is the price of these salted duck eggs?"

"Don't worry, if Madam Gu wants them, I can pay the original price. I just don't know if, after the salted duck eggs are cured, there's been any..."

Before Shen Jinwen could finish speaking, Xu Qingmeng already understood what he wanted to say and nodded.

Smart people don't need to say anything to understand everyone's purpose.

Shen Jinwen went back and had the shop assistant deliver the salted duck eggs to Xu Qingmeng.

However, the zongzi cannot be made fresh. The glutinous rice and the bamboo leaves need to be soaked in water, and the meat also needs to be marinated to absorb the flavor. The salted duck eggs that the waiter brought over only had their yolks taken, which made Mrs. He feel that it was a waste.

Even if Shen Jinwen offered the original price, it was still incredibly expensive!
"Mengniang, isn't this such a waste? How much would these zongzi cost?"

"No, Mom, there are many ways to eat egg whites. You can stir-fry them, steam them, make soup, or even make pancakes. They won't go to waste."

That evening, Xu Qingmeng prepared a large table full of dishes, all of which were made primarily with salted duck egg whites.

Xu Qingmeng cooked plain congee for dinner, and it was a perfect match with the egg white.

Gu Yunyi and the others also praised the salted duck egg highly, but Xu Qingmeng felt that the salted duck egg was not pickled properly.

The glutinous rice was soaked overnight and left overnight until the lunch market was over before Xu Qingmeng and the others had time to start wrapping the zongzi.

(End of this chapter)