Chapter 14: Making Kimchi

Lin Yujuan carefully recalled the process of making kimchi according to Baidu before. The www.biquge.info Sichuanese-style kimchi is made with garlic, ginger, Sichuan pepper, spices, and chili peppers. Garlic is available at home, ginger and pepper spices are about to be bought, and people like chili peppers don't eat spicy food. There are only green peppers that I usually grow, and the ones that taste quite spicy are quite spicy. When soaking, you can soak several vegetables at a time, and now there are more varieties of vegetables than usual in this season, so you can put a few more. The brine of kimchi is boiled and various spices are added. After cooling, put it in the jar and add all kinds of vegetables, and the whole process is oil-free and water-free.

After thinking about it and clearing my mind, I waited for tomorrow to buy all kinds of spices. When she arrived on the street the next day, Lin Yujuan left her brother to buy spices. After inquiring for a while, I found a shop that sells groceries, and some sell them. I asked the store, except for peppercorns, of course, there are no dried peppers. After buying everything, Lin Yujuan went back to sell vegetables with her brother after the store wrapped it.

As soon as she arrived at home at noon, Lin Yujuan first took a basket to the vegetable field and picked some cowpeas, cucumbers, lettuce, green peppers, eggplants, loofahs, and lentils. She didn't know exactly which ones would make kimchi. So I picked everything except the tomatoes. When I got home, I washed it immediately and put it in a ventilated and sunny place to dry. After finishing all this, I had lunch, and my sister Xiujuan helped make half a pot of boiling water from the oil-free iron pot where the rice was cooked. All kinds of spices are thrown away from the pot and let cool. In the afternoon, before dinner, make sure that the dried vegetables are out of moisture. I grabbed some of each vegetable and weighed it on a scale, and only one green pepper was put in. But this salt can't be weighed, and when you put salt in it, you can only roughly remember that it is one spoon or two spoonfuls. In the future, if you do too much, you have to take notes and weigh them. After all the jars were loaded, the salt water was covered with vegetables, and finally I poured some rice wine from my grandfather's house. Then close the lid and pour water over the closure of the mouth of the jar. Finally, carry the jar into the room and find a corner that is not easy for someone to touch and put it down.

"That's good?" Lin Xiujuan participated in the whole process of making kimchi.

"That's pretty much it, we'll know in four or five days. I guess I'll have to do it a few more times. "Lin Yujuan is not very sure in her heart." Yujuan, what are you messing with, so you are making pickles? It seems to be a little more troublesome than the pickles we usually make. Qi Shi has also been watching from the side.

"Mom, let's try it, we've been selling ordinary dishes. I can't make a lot of money. It's all grown by my own family, and I can't waste much. Lin Yujuan felt that she had to do it to know.

Five or six days later, Kaitan used clean and oil-free chopsticks to sandwich kimchi and try the taste. Sure enough -- it doesn't taste very good. It's not sour enough, it's not too crispy, and it's a little spicy, and Brother Lin vomited "It's not delicious, it's still a little spicy"

Lin Yujuan didn't suffer any blows, and recalled carefully. And he added some rock sugar to the jar. In addition, a new jar was made, and this time there was a little less salt. I just adjusted the taste little by little every time, and it took more than 20 days to get it right. This time, everyone was full of praise, "How is it?" Can this flavor be sold on the street? Lin Yujuan hurriedly asked everyone.

"Well, it's more delicious than ordinary pickles or something. I've never seen pickles like this for sale in this area. Qi is very sure of his daughter's results, and he tried again and again, wasting a lot of vegetables to succeed. She's in the eye.

"Hehe, then I'll soak all the jars, and now the radishes can be soaked too. When you run to the back, the soup is old, and it will soak faster. But the most important thing is that everyone should keep it secret, this is not difficult, others only need to look at it and not understand everything. This is pickled vegetables with salt. Lin Yujuan is very happy, she can make a little more money again.

"Well, but the rice will be harvested in a few days. By then, everyone was tired, but my feet weren't good yet. The leg is still a little swollen. Qi was very guilty.

"Mom, it's okay. Isn't there still a few of us who are small, and besides, our family is only a few acres of land that can't be delayed. Lin Xiujuan comforted her mother very considerately. The other three also expressed their positions in unison, and the coaxing Qi family couldn't be happy.

The autumn harvest has begun, and the whole family is on the battlefield. Qi also went to the field with him to help cut the rice, otherwise he would not be at peace at home. She wouldn't be allowed to do other tasks that required walking. Fortunately, the rice is planted together in several plants one by one, which is much easier to cut than wheat. Although it was slower, the three older children could also help cut a lot. God appreciates the food, this year is considered to be the wind and rain, there is no rain during the harvest, and the autumn is high and cool. Although everyone was a little tired, everything was going well.

After the rice was received on the field, this time it was Lin Xiujuan who took Lin Xiaodi to release the ducks. This time, not only did they sweep the side of each field, but they didn't even let go of the way to pick rice. The villagers did not stop until they were ploughing the fields and preparing to plant wheat. This time, the autumn harvest was not as busy as the wheat harvest, so the ducks ate well for twenty or thirty days. The family discussed it and decided that they could sell it on the street in batches now. Of course, I gave one to my grandparents and ate one at home. Finally, leave a three-two for the New Year.

These seventeen or eighteen ducks can be sold for a lot of money, and Qi Shi is not worried about going with them. So every time, I rubbed the boss's boat on the street, and when I went, I loaded five or six ducks in a basket. It took four or five times to sell out, and after carefully calculating the average duck, it was about six catties, seventeen yuan per catty, and eighteen ducks totaled more than 1,800 yuan. That's a lot of money.

Although all kinds of kimchi are ready, it is a problem to sell them on the street. Usually, it is not easy for the two brothers and sisters to go to the street and walk five or six miles with more than ten catties of vegetables. Now you have to get a clay pot to sell kimchi, and the jar or something is even heavier. Only when the boss goes to the boat every few days will he take some and sell some. Novelty side dishes, at the beginning, many people still bought and tried them. But later, not too many people bought it. After Lin Yujuan found out about the situation, she carefully analyzed the situation with everyone.

"At first, it was unusual, and there must have been a lot of people trying it, but the fact that there were fewer people later may have something to do with the colder weather." Lin Yukou's thoughts

"We don't sell it cheaply, four or five cents a catty. Rednecks don't buy it very often. Only those who have a little money will buy it. A pound of pork is only thirteen or fourteen yuan. "This is Mom's opinion

"But we can't sell it too cheaply, otherwise we won't make much money by working for half a day, right?" Lin Yujuan didn't want to sell it too cheaply, "Maybe everyone will only eat it as a side dish when they buy it, and they don't know how to eat it, so there are not too many people who buy it," Lin Yujuan thought about it, and her family didn't come up with any tricks. If you make sauerkraut and spicy cabbage or something in the future, you have to make related dishes at home to guide consumption.

"The most important thing now is to buy a boat, otherwise it will be inconvenient to go out, and you won't be able to carry more things." Lin Yujuan brought up the purchase of the boat again

"Yes, Yujuan and I can't take much of anything. Mom, do our family have the money to buy a boat now? Jade Buckle asked

"I'll take a look, and you will count the money in the money box." Qi commanded

The four sisters and brothers all arrived at the West House, and Xiujuan took out the money box and put it on the bed. The four of them have saved a lot of money now. It's been almost October since Qingming, and it's been more than half a year except for the occasional expenses of the four people. In total, more than two taels of silver were saved. The other three were very happy, and the children had saved more than two taels of silver. In this country, there are not many children who have it. Only Lin Yujuan is not very happy, she just feels that it is too difficult to make money. What I sell at home is something that has no technical content, and it is difficult to make a lot of money. I can't help but envy the stories I saw in the books before, and if I come up with an idea, it's money rolling in.

Over there, Qi Shi also came over with a money bag, and she saved more money than the children's. Lin Guilu earns, the children's money from selling vegetables, and the money from selling ducks are all here. There were as many as seven or eight taels, a few pieces of silver, and the rest were copper coins. "Mom, you have enough money to buy a boat, and there is a pig and three sheep at home." Lin Yukou didn't want the money he had saved to be gone.

"It looks like a lot, and it's also thanks to the help of a few of you who have saved these over the years. Look at your clothes, all of them are small, wear the big ones, and the rest of them. The adults' are all made up, and they can't be made up anymore. I'm thinking about making my hands loose this year and turning over all your cotton clothes. Well, the two of you wear the younger ones directly with your brothers and sisters, and the older ones can do it directly. In two days, I'll go shopping with you on the street to buy some cotton. Wait for your dad to come back in the evening and discuss with him where to buy the boat. Qi Shi said a lot: "You can get money to buy a boat." ”

"Mom, just leave some money in our hands, you have so much money there." Little Brother Lin wailed

Although the other three didn't say anything, their expressions were also reluctant. "Hmph, I still have to make cotton clothes for you. Didn't you say that you would pay for it yourself? Besides, I didn't buy a boat for you," Qi said

"Then leave us a thousand, don't you take all the money from the ducks?" And the pigs are yours too. At the end of the year, we don't want to sell for money. In the end, it was good to say that the Qi family promised to leave them a thousand dollars, and the rest was taken away directly.

The four children looked at each other, but they didn't feel much uncomfortable, and the look just now was just for the Qi family. It's still very happy to think that there is a boat at home.

After waiting for Lin Guilu to come back in the evening, Qi told him what everyone thought. Lin Guilu felt that it was time to buy a boat at home, and said that he would buy it when the work was done in the past two days.