Farmhouse Pastoral Notes

Chapter 37 Crispy Loach
Loach, belonging to Cypriniformes, has a slender body with a slightly rounded front end and flattened rear end.Body gray and black, head small.It likes to inhabit the bottom of still water, and often appears on the silt surface rich in plant debris at the bottom of lakes, ponds, ditches and paddy fields, and has strong adaptability to the environment.

Loach is called "water ginseng", which can be harvested all year round, and loach contains a variety of trace elements and macroelements, which are very beneficial to the human body.Moreover, loach also has certain medicinal value: nourishing the spleen and kidney; diuresis; detoxification.Spleen deficiency and dysentery; fever and thirst; diabetes; night sweats and edema in children; difficulty urinating; erectile dysfunction; viral hepatitis; hemorrhoids; boils; skin itching and so on.

In general, loach is not only delicious but also useful. (However, these are cooked and eaten. It is very bad to eat loach raw, the author solemnly declares)
"Second Sister, do you know what kind of fish this is? It's this slippery fish." Chunqiu worried that Chunhua wouldn't recognize her, so she purposely folded a wooden branch into chopsticks, took the loach out of the bucket and put it aside. on the ground.

"This? I seem to have seen it before... what is it called?" Chunhua followed Chunqiu's gaze, narrowed her eyes and carefully observed the moving black things not far away, and said with some uncertainty in her mouth "It's a loach, right?" Chunhua checked again and again, and found that it was indeed very similar to a loach, and then added, "No one eats this, it's all for chickens and ducks."

"..." Loach, which is rich in so many nutrients, is so despised here!Chunqiu's jaw dropped from shock, his eyes had been fixed on the loach for a long time, and he was imagining loach soup, fried loach, pickled pepper loach, crispy loach, loach and spicy fish, etc. It's all money.

"Third Sister, what's wrong with you? Could it be that this kind of thing can be eaten? No way, these squid are everywhere, no one catches them, even chickens and ducks dislike them." Chunhua looked at the motionless Chunqiu beside her, a little curious, Following Chunqiu's eyes and looking at the still alive and kicking loach not far away, he still couldn't figure out what Sanmei was thinking. Could this stinky smell really be something good?But I haven't heard anyone else say it.

"Huh? Of course you can eat it." Chunqiu's eyes still didn't move, but he said in his mouth, "This is a good thing. Not only can it be eaten, but it may be sold for money." But he was thinking about how to make delicious loach dishes , easy to sell.

"Really? This food is really edible." Chunhua didn't care about making money or not. All she cared about was eating. When she heard from the third sister that the black squid could be eaten, she immediately jumped up, although she also disliked it. The loach looks ugly, but the food made by Sanmei is delicious.

"It can be eaten. Let's catch it this afternoon and make it for you to taste at night." Chunqiu nodded seriously.

"Second sister, go to the east room and get a basin first, let's pick out all these squid first, it's easy to use at night." Chunqiu looked around and found that there was no handy tool in front of him, so he reached out and poked silly spring flowers.

"Oh? Oh, oh, I know, I'll get it for you right away." Chunhua nodded repeatedly, and then ran to the small kitchen.

When Chunhua came back with the pot, Chunqiu rolled up her sleeves and grabbed it. Chunhua looked at it, but overcame her fear, and followed Chunqiu.The loach's skin is smooth, and it's hard to catch in the water. It took a lot of effort for Chunqiu to grab the loach from the bucket into the basin.

Phew, Chunqiu wiped the sweat on his head with his sleeve, and finally caught it.

"Second sister, go and help me press the water." Chunqiu directed Chunhua beside him.

"Hey, come and pick it up." Chunhua nodded, and then stretched out her hand to press the pressurized well.

Chunqiu hugged the basin, squatted down the well to catch the clean water, poured out all the filth in the basin, and then ran into the small kitchen with the basin in his arms.Because loach contains a lot of bacteria and parasites.So Chunqiu kept the loach in a clear water basin and changed the water several times before adding a little salt, simple cooking wine and a few slices of ginger to the basin, and calculated the time before Chunqiu went out.

Chunhua was waiting at the door, and when she saw Chunqiu coming out, she hurried over and asked, "When can I eat it?"

"Tonight, I'll make crispy loach. It's crispy and fragrant. I guarantee that my second sister will like it. It's delicious." Chunqiu smiled and winked at Chunhua.

"When I go to the ground in the afternoon, I will definitely grab some more and let the little stones also grab some," Chunhua said vowedly.

"Well, the second sister should catch more," Chunqiu encouraged from the side.

"Okay, Second Sister, I'm going back to sleep, I'm really sleepy." Chunqiu looked up at the sun that was directly on his head, rubbed his sore eyes, she was so sleepy after doing so much work.

"You go, I'm going back too, or mother will call me." Chunhua waved her hand to express her understanding.

After the two finished talking, they both went back to the room.

Just after noon, everyone who was still sleeping in the room was shouted by Yang Li's sharp voice outside the door, Chunqiu rubbed his eyes a little uncomfortable, feeling a little unhappy.

"Okay, okay, don't feel bad, quickly wipe your face with a handkerchief." Yuan took out a handkerchief from the water basin and handed it to Chunqiu, motioning her to wipe her face to wake up.

Chunqiu took the handkerchief slowly, and then spread the handkerchief flat on his face. Immediately, the cold touch directly stimulated Chunqiu's delicate skin, making Chunqiu wake up quickly.

Chunqiu shuddered and shivered suddenly, then got off the ground, put on his shoes, and obediently followed Yuan Shi out.

Regardless of the fatigue of the people behind her, Yang Li walked forward with the things in her hands, and greeted people from the same village with great enthusiasm on the way. Chunqiu stood at the back of the team, admiring her in her heart, her grandma's energy So exuberant.

When everyone went to the field, Chunqiu grabbed the Huzi beside him with quick eyes and quick hands, and told Huzi under the puzzled eyes, "You will catch more loach later, don't you know, don't care about the reason, just catch more."

"Oh." Although Huzi didn't understand what his third sister meant, he still nodded obediently.

"Go." Chunqiu let go in satisfaction, letting Huzi leave.

Different from the technique of catching in the morning, this time Chunqiu paid special attention to the silt at the bottom of the field, moved his fingers and rolled in the silt, and caught a palm-length loach in a short while.

Chunqiu grasped more and more smoothly, and the bucket was gradually filled to the bottom.Chunqiu didn't give up until the sun was setting.

Mrs. Yang and Li had already called for someone on the shore. Chunqiu raised his sore arm, wrapped his hands around his shoulders, and stretched his hands to stretch his waist. After feeling his body relax for a while, he returned to the shore with his booty.

Yuan Shi went back a long time ago, today she is the cook, Gu Shi was criticizing Chunhua because of some things, Chunhua lowered her head like frost hit an eggplant, Chunqiu didn't know what happened, so she just carried the bucket and followed Behind Yang Li.

"Good granddaughter, are you tired? Oh, why did you catch so many squid?" Yang Lishi just wanted to show her concern for her, and took a casual glance at Chunqiu's bucket. Startled, the densely packed loach tossing back and forth, if people with trypophobia see it, they will definitely vomit.

"Grandma, have you ever eaten squid?" Chunqiu looked up at Mrs. Yang and Li.

"How can I eat this thing? Good granddaughter, throw it away. It's not delicious. An old man has eaten it before, but it's fishy, ​​and it's not easy to bite." Yang Li shook his head and told Chunqiu to take the loach. Throw it all away, it's not a good thing.

"I can't throw it away, I caught it all afternoon? And why can't I eat it? It's delicious after frying it once." Chunqiu held the bucket and shook his head, with an expression of disbelief. She learned this from modern times, and cooking wine is not used Such as deodorization, unless this thing is mutated, it can definitely be eaten.

"Still frying?" Yang Lishi felt distressed when she heard that Chunqiu was going to harm the peanut oil she bought again. If Chunhua had said this, Yang Lishi would have scolded her long ago, but the person in front of her was her good granddaughter, Yang Mrs. Li shut her mouth unconsciously, but the distressed look did not escape Chunqiu's eyes.

Chunqiu didn't need to think about it, he knew that his grandma was worried about money again, and quickly comforted him, "Grandma, don't worry, I'll try it, if it's delicious, we can sell it for money, look, there are no such things Lao, if we can really sell for money at that time, won't it be cheaper for our family? Are you right?" Chunqiu said to Yang Lishi in a low voice, if she nods, she can only use a lot of money to buy Yang Lishi .

"Are you right? It's all true? You can't fool Grandma." After hearing Chunqiu's words, Yang Lishi thought about it carefully, and was also a little tempted. Indeed, loach is everywhere, and it's worthless.After all, it was her good granddaughter who came up with the business of filling soup dumplings before. If these squids in front of me can really make something delicious, it is really a way to make a fortune.

"How can I fool Grandma?" Chunqiu shook his head.I added in my heart that you are the supreme commander of our family.No one can fool you.

"Then... okay, if you use oil, just come to that point, just a little." Yang Li still has the upper hand with money. The granddaughter thought about it, but she gritted her teeth and agreed.

Chunqiu has achieved his goal, Yele's brows and eyes are curved.

Back home, Chunqiu went straight to the small kitchen, first put all the loach they caught in the afternoon into the clear water, and then ran to the big kitchen to get things.

Satisfied, Chunqiu took out a bowl of peanut oil, four eggs, and a small bowl of flour from the big kitchen.

Crispy loach is very easy to make. The main ingredients are loach, eggs, cooking wine, salt, ginger slices, and flour.

Chunqiu first drained all the loach soaked before, cut off the head and internal organs, and then cleaned them with clean water.

Chunqiu looked up at the yard, and called Chunhua not far away to help.

"Second sister, help me light the fire." Chunqiu pointed to the stove beside him and said.

"Hey" Chunhua nodded.

Then Chunqiu poured the oil into the pot, began to break up the eggs, added the flour and salt to the egg liquid and mixed well for later use, waited for about 5 minutes, when the hot oil in the pot smoked, Chunqiu picked up the loaches one by one , Drag it in the egg liquid, throw it into the oil pan and fry it.When the loach glowed with golden light, Chunqiu picked it up.After they were all fried, Chunqiu put the loach back into the pan and fried it for 1 minute, and then sprinkled some chopped green onions caught from the backyard on the plate.

"It smells so good." Chunhua lay beside her and smelled the crispy loach on the plate, her mouth drooling.

Chunqiu smiled when he saw it, "Second Sister, try it"

Chunhua moved her nose when she heard it, picked up one eagerly and put it in her mouth, "I love it," Chunhua said while eating.

"These are for you, I'll take the rest for Grandma to taste." Chunqiu set aside a small plate for Chunhua, then took the loach on the plate, turned and left the small kitchen.

Mrs. Yang Li was resting in the house, when she heard her granddaughter coming, she quickly called Chunqiu in.

"Grandma, try it quickly, it's delicious." Chunqiu put the fried golden loach in front of Yang Lishi, and said to Yang Lishi.

Seeing the pleasing loach, Yang Lishi reached out and took one and put it in his mouth.While eating the loach brought by Chunqiu, he exclaimed, "It's so delicious, don't tell me my good granddaughter, this can really sell for money, it's fragrant and crispy, and it can go with wine."

"Grandma, let's sell it tomorrow, how about it?" Chunqiu was a little excited, this is the only thing.

"I think it's okay, let's go to dinner first, and when you come over in the evening, we mothers and I will have a good talk." Yang Li agreed.

"Then take this out and give them a taste, my good granddaughter is really amazing." Mrs. Yang and Li walked towards the door with the plate in her hand, a little embarrassed to boast about her age.

　Add another chapter~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)