Chapter 22: Three Steamings and Three Sunnings
Da Huang jumped onto Su Mulan’s body and clung to her, meowing incessantly. It rubbed its head against her, clearly trying to please and act cute.
“This Da Huang is so clingy,” Su Mulan didn’t expect this orange cat to be so friendly towards her. She reached out and stroked Da Huang’s head, feeling its thick and smooth body.
Not bad to touch.
However…
The orange cat truly lived up to its reputation—round and plump all over, without a hint of being overweight. It felt solid when lifted, even a bit heavy.
Su Mulan quickly placed Da Huang on the floor of the eastern room.
However, Da Huang refused to move around and instead stuck close to Su Mulan, rubbing against her legs.
“Go to sleep soon. We have to start clearing the land early tomorrow,” Su Mulan said.
“Okay.” Bai Shuiliu withdrew her surprised gaze, nodded, and added, “Mom, you should also go to bed early.”
Turning towards the western room, Bai Shuiliu looked back several times. Da Huang was still lingering around Su Mulan, rubbing against her.
Does Da Huang know she has changed for the better, and that’s why it wants to get closer?
Then, has she truly changed for the better?
Bai Shuiliu thought with her head down and went back into the house to sleep.
With mugwort in the house, there were fewer mosquitoes than before. With Da Huang accompanying her, Su Mulan inexplicably felt much more at ease. She slept soundly that night, only opening her eyes when it was just becoming light the next day.
Clearly tired from patrolling the house all night, Da Huang yawned and curled up beside Su Mulan’s shoes, emitting a gentle purring sound. Su Mulan got up and reached out to stroke it.
With its eyes closed, Da Huang meowed softly, then licked Su Mulan’s hand with its tongue before curling into a large round shape again, purring as it fell asleep.
Su Mulan got out of bed and started preparing breakfast.
Bai Shuiliu and the other three also got up one after another, washed up, and helped Su Mulan prepare breakfast.
Mixed with white noodles and corn flour, a tomato was used to mix up a noodle soup, with a layer of egg drop floating on top. When it was stir-fried, green onions were used.
So, this bowl of noodle soup is very fragrant, and the slightly sour tomato is also appetizing and refreshing. After drinking the bowl, I felt a lot of aftertaste.
After finishing the meal, Su Mulan shouted at Bai Shuili and Bai Lixia to help move the sweet potatoes from the house.
Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou are very perceptive and go to get an empty basket, taking the dried sweet potatoes to dry.
“It’s already cooked, but this steaming is to let the dried sweet potatoes absorb some moisture again. Then they’ll be dried for a day, steamed again tomorrow, dried again, repeating this process three times. That’s how dried sweet potatoes become soft, sweet, and chewy, instead of hard and tough on the jaw.”
Su Mulan smiled, “This is the secret to delicious dried sweet potatoes. Now that you know, keep it to yourselves.”
“We definitely won’t tell anyone,” Bai Zhuye nodded vigorously, resembling a bobbing drum.
“Dried sweet potatoes can be sold for money, and tasty dried sweet potatoes sell even better. In other words, the secret equals money. They wouldn’t spill the beans and tell others,” Su Mulan said.
“Good.” Su Mulan smiled and rubbed Bai Zhuye’s head. “One pot may not be enough, so let’s steam them in two batches. Help me add some firewood.”
Bai Shuiliu responded and hurried to the kitchen to add firewood and start the fire.
This is the secret to delicious dried sweet potatoes, you can give it a try.
However, when initially cutting the sweet potatoes, if the quantity isn’t large, you can cut them open and steam them. The principle is the same as steaming them whole. For larger quantities, cutting them open for steaming can cause them to stick together, which affects their appearance.