Chapter 689: 689
“Master, let’s leave . That pot of beans is dirty!” After Lone Wolf confirmed that no one was looking, he secretly said to Fangzheng .
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Fangzheng was taken aback . “Why do you say so?”
“Just now, when I climbed onto the kitchen top, I saw that the beans in the pot weren’t washed . They even had mud on them . Leave quickly, or we might end up with a stomach ache,” Lone Wolf said furtively .
Fangzheng immediately laughed when he heard that . He struck Lone Wolf on the head and said, “Silly, it just wasn’t washed, but that doesn’t mean it’s dirty . ”
“It wasn’t washed? Then how can it be eaten? Master, let’s run . ” Lone Wolf widened his eyes wide . Although he also used to eat things raw and chew on bones in mud holes in the past, he had become a wolf that cared about hygiene after moving to the mountain!
Fangzheng laughed . “This is a necessary step to making bean paste . The beans are not to be washed and are fried first before they’re cooked… Forget it, follow me in and take a look . ”
Fangzheng led Lone Wolf into the building outside, and they happened to see Du Mei finish frying a huge pot of beans . The beans were then poured into a huge plate and washed .
Upon seeing this, Lone Wolf heaved a sigh of relief . At the very least, they weren’t eating mud .
When Fangzheng saw this, he asked the question Lone Wolf had asked .
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Du Mei smiled . “I wanted you to learn this a long time ago, but you refused . Now, you begin asking? Let me tell you this, if the beans are washed ahead of time, it will be very difficult to dry them, and it would be a waste of time to wait for them to dry . Washing them after they are done frying makes it less troublesome . This is also the first step we follow in the northeast when making bean paste . Then comes the cooking . ”
As Du Mei spoke, she finished washing the beans . She then poured them into the pot, added water, and covered the lid .
Yang Hua was helping out . He added timber and began to cook the pot with a huge flame .
Du Mei believed that Fangzheng wanted to learn how to make bean paste, so she patiently explained . “There are things to take note of when cooking . There can’t be too much water or too little—about three times the amount of the beans . Cook it on a high fire for an hour . In the process, whenever the water has completely evaporated, add more water . However, one must add hot water instead of cold water . ”
As she spoke, Du Mei brought Fangzheng and Lone Wolf into the house . As she took care of the two infants who were sleeping soundly, she said, “After it’s done cooking, we need to grind them to pieces . This step depends on personal preference . Some people like it fragmented, so you need to be lighter . Our family doesn’t like it too fragmented, so we grind it until we can’t see the bean fragments . Then we make the bean paste blocks and let them ferment . This takes some time . After the fermentation is done, we crack the blocks and cover them to be dried . After the paste is dried, we add water and salt, heat it up and mix it . After we take it off the fire and cool it, we put it in a jar and put the now small-sized bean paste blocks in . We mix that again and use a permeable cloth to cover it and place it in an airy place with sunlight . Remember, there must be sunlight . Only with sunlight will the bean paste ferment . When there’s plenty of sun, pull away the cloth and let the sunlight shine directly on it to ferment . It can then be eaten a month later . Make sure not to eat it immediately . It has to be fully fermented before you eat; otherwise, you might get food poisoning .
“In addition, during this period, you must use a bean paste rod to mix it from bottom to top . In the beginning, it’s a tiny piece but slowly, it melts . As you mix it daily, if there are black items on the surface, you must throw them away . Otherwise, not only will it be ugly, it will also have a moldy stench . After the bean paste is done a month later, it looks like gruel . Whether it’s used as a dipping sauce with green vegetables or for noodles, that’s when it’s just right . Later on, as the water slowly evaporates, the bean paste turns more solid . ”
Upon saying that, her child suddenly started crying, so Du Mei hurriedly coaxed it .
Fangzheng took this opportunity to leave .
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“Master, why did you make such detailed inquiries?” Lone Wolf asked out of curiosity when they were out the door .
Fangzheng rolled his eyes . “I know all of this . It was meant for you . Did you remember it?”
“What did she say?” Lone Wolf asked in a daze .
Fangzheng smacked him directly . To think that after all was said, it turned out this a**hole had been daydreaming! What a waste of time!
“Master, Master, are we just leaving? Aren’t we waiting to get the bean paste?” Lone Wolf wasn’t afraid of the pain . He followed behind and kept asking .
“What’s there to take? We can take it in a month or two…”
“Uh… That long?” Lone Wolf instantly lost his interest . He was only interested in delicacies that were right in front of him .
Fangzheng shook his head in exasperation . In fact, northeastern bean paste was typically made at the beginning of the new year . However, some people liked it before the end of the year, right after the frost descended . This was because during these two time periods, the weather was cold and there weren’t disgusting insects like flies or mosquitoes to mess things up . The bean paste produced would be clean and hygienic .
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Du Mei belonged to the type of family which did it before the new year, so that they could eat it at the beginning of the year .
What Fangzheng wanted from Du Mei naturally wasn’t the new batch of bean paste . Instead, he wanted the leftovers from last year . While walking through the village, he could smell the scent of beans every few houses . Apart from that scent, there was also the smell of autumn . Fangzheng licked his lips and could not help but look up the mountain . Time sure passed slow .
Fangzheng went around with Lone Wolf and bought some coarse salt before returning to the mountain .
When he returned to the mountaintop, Fangzheng ran to take a look at the flower pot . Indeed, a sprout had already appeared, and it was a finger long! At this speed, Fangzheng guessed that it wouldn’t need until the next day . It would probably be mature in the middle of the night .
For the rest of the time, Fangzheng chanted scriptures, ate, and slept .
The next day before dawn, Fangzheng woke up before the rooster even crowed . It wasn’t that he wished to wake up early, but that he heard a loud sound outside . It was as though something had shattered . Then, he heard Lone Wolf exclaiming outside . “Who is it!? Uh, what the blazing hell is this? That’s not right… Master! Quick, come! It’s a huge cabbage!”
Before Fangzheng even walked out, he heard Red Boy grumble . “Senior Brother, why are you shouting so early in the morning? How big can a cabbage be? What’s the fuss… Holy sh*t! This cabbage is huge!”
“What cabbage? I never heard that our monastery grows cabbages?” Monkey’s voice sounded . Instantly, it turned into an exclamation . “My Buddha, how is this so big!?”
Then, he heard Squirrel’s grumbling . “It isn’t even dawn yet . Are you trying to compete with the rooster? What’s up? Eh, what is this? Is it a cabbage? It’s huge!”
Fangzheng, who hadn’t shirked off his sleepiness yet, obviously couldn’t sleep any longer when he heard his disciples’ conversations . He hurriedly got up and berated them . “No matter how big a cabbage is, it’s still a cabbage . Is there a need to make such a fuss? It’s not that I want to reprimand you, but since you have become Buddhists, you should learn to be composed like Buddha . You must remain unperturbed even if the sky falls . Get it? If it’s big, we call it nappacabbage 1 , and if it’s small, just call it bok choy 2 !
As Fangzheng spoke, he pushed the door, only to discover… that he couldn’t push it open!
“What’s happening?” Fangzheng was astounded . “Who’s blocking the door?”
“Master, wait a moment . I’ll move the cabbage away . ” Red Boy shouted . After a while, Red Boy said, “Master, it’s done . ”
When Fangzheng opened the door and was about to say something, he stood rooted to the ground . He saw that right in front of him, there was a meter tall, one meter and a half wide cabbage in front of him! The leaves of the cabbage were like a tiny bed!