"Zhou Kun, your hawthorn really arrived in time, otherwise I wouldn't know how to get out. For Qian Lina, if it weren't for Zhou Kun's phone call just now, she would probably have to endure the double interrogation of her mother and aunt, and this meal would be restless.

"I don't dare to go home after going to the hospital now, and when the old ladies in the community see it, they all say that they want to introduce me to someone, and it seems that this period of time has not stopped until the New Year. ”

"Don't talk about these, what is the quality of the hawthorn brought back this time?" Qian Lina habitually put the hawthorn in her mouth, and suddenly a strong sour taste spread in her mouth.

"This hawthorn is too sour, isn't it?"

"Normal, fresh hawthorn is just the taste. ”

"Wait, this hawthorn actually has another taste, a bit like the burnt bitterness of black plum. "Qian Lina's first sense of this hawthorn is not very good, but the taste of this hawthorn is a little special, as long as it is something special, it can always be sold at a good price after processing.

"The fresh hawthorn market is not very large, but the sales of hawthorn products have been good, in the winter this rock sugar gourd and hawthorn snowballs are selling well, today I call you here to ask if there are any new ways to sell hawthorn. ”

"There is no rush in the sales matter, the first customers have already arrived. Qian Lina raised the mobile phone in her hand, and saw that the caller ID was her aunt.

"Hey, Auntie, the aunts in the community want hawthorn? Five catties per person? This fresh hawthorn is no better than other fruits, you can't eat more, why don't you come with two catties per person?"

Zhou Zhaodi on the other end of the phone was anxious, everyone's numbers were counted, each person was five pounds, and if he couldn't complete the task, wouldn't he be able to explain to everyone.

"How can you not eat five catties of hawthorn, just say that it is a snack, hawthorn snowball or rock sugar gourd is almost half a catty, and then you have to soak hawthorn wine, make hawthorn cake, there is a little girl at home when the days are not smooth, don't prepare some hawthorn at home? ”

"That's okay, five catties is five catties, and I'll have someone send them to your community tomorrow." ”

Hanging up the phone, Qian Lina said to Zhou Kun: "Sure enough, how to deal with hawthorn is still the most experienced old ladies, tomorrow we will go to the baking classroom in the community, and invite Master Jin to teach us a lesson, to see how to deal with this hawthorn, the taste of black plum in this batch of hawthorn is very special, it is best to use it." ”

The next day, in the baking classroom of Jinlan Mingju, as soon as I heard that Lao Jin was going to make rock sugar gourds, many old ladies gathered here with the hawthorns they bought.

In fact, rock sugar gourd is not difficult to make, but it is difficult for ordinary people to master the heat of fried sugar, the temperature is too high, it is easy to have a bitter taste, and the rock sugar gourd made at too low temperature will be sticky, and the sugar skin outside is not crispy.

As Lao Jin kept stirring the syrup in the pot, a large number of bubbles boiled in the sugar water, gradually making a "gurgling" sound, and when the frequency of the syrup began to decrease, it also meant that the pot of syrup was boiled.

The old ladies handed him the processed hawthorn skewers behind Lao Jin, and as the fiery red hawthorns rolled in the pot, they were coated in an amber syrup, and the rock sugar gourds were ready.

"Lao Jin looks like he makes rock sugar gourds, doesn't he look like we were running merchants when we were children?"

"It's really a bit like what you say, and at that time, you will be able to eat a bite of this rock sugar gourd during the Chinese New Year. ”

"Let's try it, this sugar gourd is not as delicious as we sold when we were children. ”

The old ladies ate a string of rock sugar gourds separately, and the hard and crispy sugar skin on the outside was matched with the soft and sour hawthorn on the inside, and began to weave into the taste in their memory.

Suddenly, Li Yumei said with emotion: "When I was a child, my family was poor, and a bunch of sugar gourds were eaten by a few brothers, at that time I was the youngest, and every time I made a fuss to eat more, at that time it was said that I borrowed my brothers and sisters, and now after so many years, no one cares about these hawthorns, and people may not be able to gather together in more than ten years." ”

"The Chinese New Year is approaching, and it's time to find a chance to get together with your family. ”

"At that time, everyone will be busy with children's affairs, and I don't know when we will be able to get together. ”

Here, Qian Lina also held a string of sugar gourds in her hand, and kept eating them one bite at a time: "This sugar gourd is really delicious, such a sour hawthorn wrapped in a crispy sugar skin tastes just right, and after eating, there is still that kind of black plum burnt fragrance in the mouth, if the rock sugar hawthorn made by our food factory can be half of Master Jin's craftsmanship, this batch of rock sugar gourds will definitely be able to sell." ”

"You girl, you want to use these two good words to deceive me, think beautifully!" Although he said that, the speed of frying sugar in Lao Jin's hands was obviously accelerated a lot.

The finished products of the rock sugar gourd have been piled up, and Lao Jin turned off the fire on the stove and prepared to make a few more strings of the remaining sugar water and stop.

"You two, such a good hawthorn, don't you think about making anything else besides rock sugar gourd?"

"Master Jin, what else can this hawthorn do?"

"Hawthorn can do more, hawthorn jam, hawthorn cake, and hawthorn roll is fruit dan peel, your batch of hawthorn is very special, there is no bitter taste of hawthorn in the skin, but there is a smoky taste like a black plum, I don't know if this special taste will change when boiling hawthorn jam is heated. Lao Jin was obviously interested in this hawthorn, he has been idle for more than a year, and he can take this opportunity to show his skills.

"Can Master Jin teach us to boil a hawthorn jam?" In fact, Zhou Kun also felt that this batch of hawthorns tasted special, but the previous rock sugar gourd did not give full play to the characteristics of this batch of hawthorns, and Zhou Kun also looked forward to whether the taste of hawthorn would change after high-temperature cooking.

The baking classroom was fully equipped, and it didn't take long for Lao Jin to promise to make hawthorn sauce, and many ingredients were ready.

As the hawthorn is pureed, put it in the pot where the soup has just been boiled, and add a generous amount of sugar. The pectin in the hawthorn is boiled out by the fire, and the hawthorn sauce in the pot begins to become sticky and soft, taking on a jelly-like translucent texture.

And the room began to waft out a certain special smell, with a hint of sweet, sour, burnt astringency, in short, very complicated. After the pot of hawthorn sauce cooled, Lao Jin invited Zhou Kun and Qian Lina to taste it first.

A mouthful of translucent hawthorn sauce in the mouth, the complex aroma accompanied by the sweet and sour taste of hawthorn hit Zhou Kun's taste buds, and then there was a special refreshing feeling in the mouth, and there was a slight sweetness. Until the hawthorn sauce has been eaten, Zhou Kun is still reminiscing about that special fragrance, which can be said to be complex and changeable.

"Huh, the taste of the black plum in this hawthorn has changed a little, and now it looks like caramel, no, it looks like the smoke of bacon, in short, I can't say it. "On Qian Lina's side, this hawthorn jam is a different feeling.