newbobooks Chapter 368 5 Melon Seeds
Chapter 368 5 Melon Seeds
Zhou Gu looked at the melon seeds and suddenly had an idea, "I didn't expect that melon seeds can be fried with salt. Then can we add soy sauce, vinegar, pine mushroom powder, just like cooking, and add everything else to it?"
Zhou Mi said: "Then why are you eating melon seeds? Wouldn't it be better to just eat vegetables?"
Others disagreed, "That's right, what does that taste like? Is it edible? It's salty and sour!"
Zhou Guo said: "Well, it's not impossible."
Everyone looked at her with indescribable expressions. Zhou Mai touched her nose and said, "Salty and sour melon seeds shouldn't be as delicious when fried like this, right?"
Zhou Mi looked disgusted, "Not only is it not as delicious as this, it's simply unpalatable! Anyway, I won't eat it."
Zhou Xing smiled and said, "Don't be too confident, or you'll end up getting slapped in the face."
Zhou Gu put his hands on his hips and laughed, "I believe Guoguo, if she says it's okay, then it must be okay. You can add salt to it, so why not add other things? It will definitely taste good."
The family was divided into two camps, one team led by Zhou Gu who blindly trusted the team, and the other team led by Zhou Mi who was pessimistic.
However, it seemed that Zhou Mi was the only one in the family who was not optimistic, while everyone else stood behind Zhou Gu.
Zhou Mi looked at Zhou Mai, "You just said it was not good!"
Zhou Mai smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "Although it sounds a little unreliable, but thinking that Guoguo's things are always novel, but they are all delicious, and leeks can be roasted and eaten, I think maybe these melon seeds are not bad either."
Everyone thought so. Li was busy preparing tomorrow's meals. Seeing how happy they were, she smiled.
Although the old man was sitting on the kang drinking tea, he would glance over here from time to time. He really wanted to try the new melon seeds that the young apprentice mentioned.
Zhou Mi was speechless. After thinking about it carefully, it did seem to be the case, but would it really taste good if you added soy sauce, pine mushroom powder and vinegar to the melon seeds?
Zhou Guo waved the spatula and saw them standing in line while talking. He was speechless for a while, "Why, do you want me to stir-fry another pot?"
She watched everyone nod their heads, their eyes full of anticipation.
Li came over and said with a smile, "Then you can fry another pot. It's the New Year, isn't it time to prepare food? If you don't do it now, when the spring farming season starts, you won't have time to cook even if you want to."
Zhou Guo thought so too. Chinese New Year is the time to prepare all kinds of delicious food. She weighed so many melon seeds and peanuts, but it would be too monotonous to always eat the same flavor. "Okay, then, big brother, you cook this pot."
Zhou Gu responded excitedly, picked up the spatula and started waving it. Although he seldom did such work as cooking, he still knew how to do it. He grew up with his uncle, and was ordered around by him, even washing his clothes.
Zhou Guo freed up her hands to prepare other things. She wanted to make some five-spice melon seeds because it was Chinese New Year, so she went to the pharmacy and bought a lot of spices that would be used in every dish. Chinese New Year was great because there were all kinds of ingredients.
She took out the clay pot, filled it half with water, put in aniseed, soy sauce and other ingredients, and poured most of the melon seeds into the pot, almost overflowing with water.
Everyone is used to it. They have never seen melon seeds being cooked, and no one knows whether the cooked melon seeds are really edible.
Boil it and soak it in it for an hour or two.
The melon seeds have been cooked, so let’s make some peanuts as well. We have enough firewood and seasoning anyway.
Many heads were crowded in front of the wooden barrel, looking at the black water in the barrel filled with the aroma of various spices, and they really couldn't imagine what the melon seeds made in this way would taste like.
Zhou Guo wiped his hands and said, "Don't be impatient. I promise to fry the melon seeds even if I don't sleep tonight. You can eat them early tomorrow morning. Take them out and walk around the village. I guarantee that the kids will ask you for them."
Li smiled and said, "You need to prepare more tomorrow. You have many good playmates in the village. When they come to play with you, share these melon seeds and the cakes with them."
Otherwise, there would be no need to prepare so much food for just their family. She stopped them from the beginning.
As everyone waited anxiously, the melon seeds were finally soaked, picked up and put into the pot, slowly roasted over low heat, and fried until crispy. This process looks simple but is actually not easy at all. You have to turn the pot frequently, otherwise the pot will get burnt, and the melon seeds will not taste good if they get burnt.
Zhou Guo did it himself. Slowly the moisture in the melon seeds evaporated. When they were turned over, there was a rustling sound and the fragrance slowly came out.
Freshly fried melon seeds taste better when they are cooled down.
Everyone looked at the melon seeds soaked in soy sauce and star anise and felt reluctant to eat them.
Zhou Guo looked at them with disdain, "No matter how bad they taste, they are just melon seeds. Look at you, just wait."
She picked one up and put it in her mouth. When her upper and lower lips touched the skin of the melon seeds, a complex and rich aroma instantly reached her taste buds. Her eyebrows jumped, as if it was a bit too strong, but compared to what she had eaten before, it was not much different. It seemed that she needed to add water to dilute the soup.
Seeing that no one was moving, Zhou Su took the lead in grabbing a handful and gave it to the old man first, "Sir, you eat."
Then he grabbed one himself, cracked the shell clumsily, and tasted the lid. He smacked his lips, his eyes lit up, and said to everyone, "Delicious, delicious, so delicious!"
Everyone automatically ignored his words.
The little guy has been left outside for more than a month, and I don’t know what kind of hardship he has gone through. After he comes back, he says everything he eats is delicious. If something is slightly delicious, he will say it is incredibly delicious. You can’t take his words seriously.
Li came in from outside and saw the fried melon seeds. She smiled and said, "Oh, they're done. Let me try some."
Zhou Gu also grabbed one, after all, it was what he wanted to eat.
The old man was already knocking his head against the kang.
After a few people ate this, the rest of the people also tried to eat one.
The result is that some people like it and some don't.
Zhou Mi, who was the most opposed, liked it very much. On the contrary, Zhou Gu couldn't get used to the taste. "This taste is a bit weird. I still like to eat it with salt. Even the one without salt tastes better than this."
Li was not used to it either, and she was the only one in the family who didn't like it.
The remaining water could still be used, so she cooked another pot of soup and diluted it by adding water again. Since so many people liked it, she decided to cook two more pots.
It was late at night when all the peanuts and melon seeds were fried. There were still quite a few people in the village who were still awake at this time. The New Year was coming tomorrow, and I couldn't fall asleep for a while lying on the kang.
This year is the best and most prosperous year in all these years. The family has prepared plenty of meat, enough to last until the new grain comes down next year. The family also has enough money. Everyone of them will have new clothes tomorrow. On such a good day, no one dares to close their eyes, for fear that they will wake up after a sleep and find that all these were dreams.