txolops Chapter 108: A large fire breaks through the skin, a small fire produces sand!
Chapter 108: A large fire breaks through the skin, a small fire produces sand!
Nine o'clock in the morning.
The bread truck was parked downstairs at the rental apartment.
The car door opened, and Wang Hai jumped out.
He walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and unloaded the groceries.
"Brother Chen, these twenty catties of mung beans and ten catties of rock sugar are heavy, I can carry them!"
"Take that basket of farm eggs; they're precious. It'll break your heart if they get scratched or bruised."
As Wang Hai spoke, he slung the large sack of dried goods over his shoulder.
Lin Chen did not refuse.
He stepped forward, picked up the basket of free-range eggs, and placed a bunch of fresh purple-rooted scallions on the side of the basket.
The two of them walked upstairs one after the other with steady steps.
Back in the kitchen of the rented apartment.
"Bang."
Wang Hai put the sack on the ground and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead: "Brother Chen, the ingredients have been brought up."
Shall we start preparing the ingredients now?
Lin Chen placed the eggs in a shady corner and took off the waterproof apron from the wall and tied it around his waist.
"Okay, let's begin."
Lin Chen said, "Wang Hai, you are in charge of washing the rice and steaming it. Wash and chop the purple scallions."
Chop the old hen into pieces, blanch it, and put it in a small thermos to simmer.
"Alright! Leave it to me!"
Wang Hai readily agreed and turned to get to work at the sink.
After settling Wang Hai in, Lin Chen's gaze fell on the bag of mung beans.
Making chilled mung bean soup is the highlight of tonight's meal.
Lin Chen took a stainless steel basin, untied the burlap sack, and poured all twenty catties of mung beans into it.
"Splash—"
The mung beans poured down, making a crisp sound.
Lin Chen turned on the tap and filled it with water.
He put both hands into the water and stirred in one direction to skim off the bad beans and impurities that floated to the surface.
This process was repeated three times until the water was crystal clear.
"Brother Chen, should we just wash these beans and put them directly into the pot to cook?"
Wang Hai, who was washing rice nearby, asked a question.
"no."
Lin Chen turned off the tap and glanced at the time: "The skin of mung beans is thick, and they will taste astringent if boiled too hard."
Soak the beans in water for two hours first, allowing them to absorb plenty of moisture. This will make the skins easier to break when cooking, resulting in a smoother, more mushy texture.
Without any unnecessary words, Lin Chen simply placed the basin of water aside and let it sit.
Wang Hai nodded and continued working on the rice in front of him.
He rinsed the rice five times until the water became clear before pouring it into the rice cooker and pressing the cook button.
Then, Wang Hai picked up the bunch of scallions, washed them, and spun them dry.
"Knock knock knock knock—"
The rhythmic sound of chopping vegetables echoed from the cutting board.
In less than ten minutes, the vibrant green scallions were neatly packed into a food storage container and placed in the refrigerator.
On the other side, Lin Chen brought the water-soaked mung beans to the stove.
After soaking, the mung beans become plump and round, and their volume increases.
"Take it off the heat."
Lin Chen moved the largest stainless steel soup pot over and placed it on the commercial high-powered stove.
Pour the mung beans and water into the pot, then add purified water in the correct proportion.
"Boom—" Lin Chen turned on the gas valve, and flames instantly erupted, completely engulfing the bottom of the bucket.
"The intense fire broke through the skin."
Lin Chen stood in front of the stove, staring intently at the movement inside the pot.
A few minutes later.
"Gurgle gurgle..."
The water in the soup pot began to boil violently.
The mung beans at the bottom of the bucket tumbled up and down with the boiling water.
Wang Hai took a closer look and exclaimed, "Wow!"
"Brother Chen, these beans have all split open!"
Through the boiling water, you can clearly see that the plump mung beans, under the impact of the high temperature, have their outer skins burst open, revealing the pale yellow bean kernels.
The originally clear soup gradually turned into a bright green color.
"Turn the heat down to low."
Lin Chendi turned the valve.
The flame instantly shrank to a weak simmer, and the water droplets subsided into a slight bubbling.
"A large fire breaks the skin, a small fire produces sand."
Simmer it slowly.
Lin Chen picked up a long-handled wooden ladle and gently stirred the contents of the bucket twice to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
"Alright, I'll go stew the old hen!"
Wang Hai stepped aside, put the pieces of old hen into a small insulated soup pot next to him, added ginger slices and red dates, and turned on a small fire to simmer it.
Time passed second by second.
A pure and rich aroma of mung beans gradually filled the entire kitchen.
An hour later.
Lin Chen picked up the wooden ladle again and scooped up a spoonful of mung bean soup.
At this point, the soup is thick and has a beautiful light greenish-yellow color.
The mung beans had completely dissolved into fine mung bean paste, which floated in the soup.
"Amazing! This sand is so fine and dense!"
Wang Hai swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the soup spoon.
"The timing is right."
Lin Chen put down the soup spoon and opened the cardboard box containing yellow rock sugar.
He weighed out a sufficient amount of yellow rock sugar and poured it all into the simmering mung bean soup.
"Adding sugar at the end won't prevent the mung beans from turning into a paste, and it also helps the sweetness blend better."
Lin Chen said as he slowly stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon.
As it was stirred, the large chunks of yellow rock sugar quickly melted.
The pure aroma of soybeans is immediately enhanced by a gentle, sweet fragrance.
Five minutes later, the rock sugar had completely melted.
Lin Chen scooped up a little soup, blew on it, and took a small sip.
The rich red bean paste melts on the tongue, and the warm, mellow sweetness of the yellow rock sugar is just right, without being too cloying.
The moment you swallow, a sweet aftertaste that quenches thirst immediately rises in your throat.
"Turn off the heat."
Lin Chen turned off the valve. "Give me a hand, lift it down."
The two of them worked together to steadily lift the huge soup pot off the stove.
Looking at the scalding hot mung bean soup, Wang Hai scratched his head: "Brother Chen, this half-bucket of scalding hot soup, if left at room temperature in the summer, will it cool down completely before we set up our stall this afternoon?"
If you put it directly into the freezer, the compressor will definitely burn out.
Lin Chen didn't speak. Instead, he walked to the sink, picked up a clean stainless steel basin that was even larger than a soup bucket, and placed it on the ground.
He filled the large basin with cold tap water.
"Put it in to cool it down in a water bath."
Lin Chen pointed to the basin of water on the ground.
The two carefully placed the bucket into a large basin filled with cool water.
"By using cold water to absorb heat and changing the water twice in the middle, most of the high temperature in the soup can be removed in half an hour."
Lin Chen picked up a soup ladle and slowly stirred the contents of the bucket to speed up the dissipation of heat. "Once it cools down to room temperature, put it in the freezer to chill."
When I set up my stall in the afternoon, the temperature had just dropped to around zero degrees Celsius, leaving the food chilled.
Wang Hai nodded repeatedly as he watched Lin Chen's smooth and effortless movements: "Understood!"
"Brother Chen, you're so thoughtful and efficient!"
At this point, all the ingredients for tonight's stall have been processed.
In the corner, three hundred free-range eggs are stacked up; in the refrigerator, chopped scallions exude vitality; in the rice cooker, each grain of rice is perfectly cooked; on the small stove, old hen broth releases its delicious aroma.
In the center of the kitchen, a large pot of old mung bean soup, simmered until it turned sandy and exuding a sweet aroma, was being rapidly cooled in a cold water bath.
Lin Chen took off his apron, picked up his water glass, and took a sip of water.