Special effects: Starting with Ultraman Tiga

12 month 28 day.

Christmas has just passed, and the New Year is just around the corner.

As dawn broke, the early risers of the Gaborians were already enthusiastically decorating for the New Year.

According to Japanese custom, the 29th and 31st must be avoided when decorating for the New Year.

In Japanese, December 29th sounds like "double suffering" in Japanese, which is considered very unlucky.

December 31st is only one day away from the New Year, and it is considered unlucky to decorate for only one night.

Therefore, in most parts of Japan, the time for decorating for the New Year is usually set for December 28th or 30th.

December 28th contains the number 8, which is considered a lucky number.

Early that morning, the members of the Yaguren got up early, cleaning and decorating the office with New Year's decorations.

Meanwhile, Shen Yun and Tidom were also busy preparing to make rice cakes.

The glutinous rice used to make rice cakes was a batch of tribute-grade glutinous rice from Jiangnan that Shen Yun specially sourced through domestic channels—a tribute rice that had been exclusively supplied to the imperial family since the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

"Making rice cakes~ I can't wait!" Tidom washed the stone mortar and pestle, her pretty face full of anticipation.

"I miss it so much. When I was in junior high school on Kagoshima Island, all the neighbors would hold a rice cake pounding event today. Then the best rice cake would be made into a kagami mochi (mirror cake) and offered as a sacrifice in town. The winner would also receive a lot of prizes." A look of nostalgia appeared on Taiga Sae's cute face.

She hasn't been back to her hometown for Chinese New Year for two or three years.

Kagami mochi, a round, flat rice cake offered to deities, is a representative decoration symbolizing good fortune in Japanese New Year decorations.

The typical image is two round, flat rice cakes, one large and one small, stacked together, with a tangerine on top.

Similarly, the mirror cakes used for offering to the gods are mostly made on the 28th, or before the 28th.

"Wow, there are events like this? I really want to participate!"

"If you have the chance in the future, Tidom can come to Kagoshima to visit," Sai Taiga said with a smile.

Shen Yun listened to their conversation but didn't interrupt much. He simply pushed the stone mill silently, grinding the soaked glutinous rice into powder.

Japanese mochi is usually made by steaming glutinous rice and then pounding it in a mortar and pestle, instead of grinding the glutinous rice into powder.

Chinese rice cakes are different. There are many steps involved. First, you need to grind glutinous rice flour, then add water to mix the flour, sift it, put it in a steamer, and steam it over a fire. After the glutinous rice dough is steamed, you can start making rice cakes.

"Speaking of which, why does the professor grind the glutinous rice into powder?" Taiga Sae asked curiously as she put glutinous rice into the stone mill and watched Shen Yun grind the glutinous rice into powder.

"This is how to make Chinese rice cakes, so you should all look forward to it," Shen Yun said with a smile.

"Chinese rice cake? I'll look forward to it then," Tidom said with a grin.

Shen Yun's physical strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, and he ground dozens of kilograms of glutinous rice into glutinous rice flour in no time.

Then, Shen Yun collected all the ground glutinous rice flour, and then handed two finely meshed sieves to Tidom and Oogawa Sae, saying:

"Tidom, White, could you two please sift the glutinous rice flour for me?"

"Huh? Sifting glutinous rice flour? Why would you do that?" Tidom asked curiously.

"Because the rice flour ground with a stone mill is somewhat uneven in size, if you don't sift it first and then use glutinous rice flour to make rice cakes, the resulting rice cakes will have a poorer texture and taste," Shen Yun explained.

When he was a child, the New Year's atmosphere was still very strong. Every time he returned to his hometown with his parents for the New Year, the villagers in that brigade would work together to make rice cakes. The atmosphere was really lively and bustling.

He learned the steps just by watching.

Moreover, back then, children didn't all have cell phones. Besides setting off firecrackers, what they loved most was watching adults make rice cakes. They would even beg the adults to let them try it too.

However, there are techniques involved in making rice cakes, and it's not as simple as it looks.

The children couldn't even lift the wooden pestle used for pounding rice cakes, let alone hit anyone, which only made the adults burst into laughter.

"Oh, I see!" Tidom suddenly realized.

Tidom and Sae Oga also took a fine mesh sieve and sifted the ground glutinous rice flour through it, removing all the granules and making the remaining glutinous rice flour even finer.

Next, Shen Yun mixed a certain proportion of hot water with some white sugar, then poured it into the sifted glutinous rice flour, and stirred it by hand to allow the glutinous rice flour to fully absorb the water and become sticky.

The amount of water added to glutinous rice flour is also very important; too much or too little water will seriously affect the texture of the rice cake.

After the glutinous rice flour had fully absorbed the water, Shen Yun sifted it again, this time removing the non-sticky glutinous rice flour.

After doing all this, Shen Yun placed the prepared glutinous rice dough into a wooden steamer for steaming.

"Alright, now all we have to do is wait for the glutinous rice dough to steam until it's cooked, then we can start making rice cakes," Shen Yun said.

"I was surprised to find that Chinese rice cakes have so many more steps involved than Japanese rice cakes," Sae Taiga remarked.

"I'm really looking forward to the taste of rice cakes," Tidom said with anticipation.

After going through multiple processes, the glutinous rice balls were quickly steamed.

After pouring the steamed glutinous rice dough into the stone mortar, Shen Yun picked up the wooden pestle and pounded it vigorously, making a dull "thump thump thump" sound.

"Tidom, stop standing there! Hurry up and turn the glutinous rice over. Turn the bottom part up, or it won't be able to be pounded properly once it gets cold." Seeing Tidom squatting in front of the mortar, his hands supporting his cheeks, watching him pound the glutinous rice with great interest, without any intention of helping, Shen Yun couldn't help but urge him on.

"Oh!" Tidom suddenly realized and reached out to turn over the steaming glutinous rice balls in the stone mortar.

"Are you an idiot? The freshly cooked glutinous rice is very hot. Wet your hands with cold water so you won't burn yourself." Shen Yun saw Tidom reach out to flip the glutinous rice balls and quickly grabbed Tidom's wrist, saying helplessly.

"Oh, I see." Tidom nodded and quickly fetched a basin of cold water and placed it beside his feet.

After wetting his hands with cold water, Tidom reached out and turned the glutinous rice in the mortar over.

Even so, Tidom's fingertips were scalded red by the steaming hot glutinous rice.

"Did you burn your hands?" Shen Yun asked while pounding the glutinous rice dough.

"No, no," Tidom waved his hand.

"That's good. Next, all I have to do is lift the wooden pestle, and Tidom, you have to flip the glutinous rice ball over, understand?" Shen Yun instructed.

"Understood!" Tidom said confidently.

"White, you also need to follow my instructions. If I tell you to sprinkle water, then you should sprinkle water, so that the rice cakes don't stick to the mortar." Shen Yun then looked at Oga Sae and said.

"Yes~" (End of Chapter)