The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 177 Oak Jelly

No matter how confused Mrs. Ding and Mrs. Mai were, they still followed Chen Cui's instructions, washed the oak nuts, peeled them, and then soaked them in a large basin.

Chen Cui originally ordered that the water be changed every day, but now the weather is too hot, and the water will bubble up and become dirty after soaking for too long, so Ding and Mai change the water every morning and evening.

After seven or eight days, the oak nuts were processed and put into a stone mill, where they were ground into a fine slurry.

Chen Cui filtered the slurry repeatedly with gauze, added water to settle it, and then poured out the filtered water on the upper layer.

Then add water to the sediment and boil it in a pot. At the beginning, there is a lot of water. As the cooking time gets longer, the water becomes less and less, and the contents of the pot become more and more viscous.

At this time, you need to use a spoon to stir the pot constantly to prevent it from getting stuck.

Finally, when the water becomes very little, you can stop burning the fire, pour the paste in the pot into a bowl, and let it solidify. This process usually takes a day.

What you end up with is a brown jelly-like substance.

For the entire production process, Chen Cui copied the method of the old lady from Shu, and the final product was roughly the same. However, the old lady said it was called Qinggangzi tofu, but Chen Cui felt that it was more like jelly.

So, after making it, she gave it a new name: Oak Seed Jelly!

Now that it is hot, Chen Cui cut the oak jelly into pieces and mixed it with some chili oil, sesame oil and minced garlic. It looked and smelled very good.

This dish was served on the table when the family had dinner in the evening.

"Mom, what is this?"

Sui Sui had sharp eyes and quickly realized that this was a dish he had never seen before, so he asked immediately.

"This is the jelly made from oak nuts. How is it? Not bad, right?"

As she spoke, Chen Cui stretched out her chopsticks to pick up some, wanting to taste the specific flavor.

But just when Chen Cui's chopsticks were about to touch it, she was stopped by Chang Ping.

"Mom, don't eat it yet. How about buying two chickens tomorrow and feeding them to the chickens first to try. If the chickens are fine, then eat it."

Changping advised.

The children found out about this a few days ago when Ding and Mai were shelling the oak nuts.

They didn't understand at the time why their mother asked them to clean up this thing?

"I had a dream that day. In the dream, an old lady said that the oak nuts were edible, but they had to be properly processed. Then she told me the method. Coincidentally, when I went to the farm the next day, a child threw oak nuts in front of me. I thought that this might be true, so I asked someone to bring some back to give it a try."

This is how Chen Cui explained it to the children.

But now, not to mention that the three sons have studied for several years, gained a lot of knowledge, and have become successful people, even the little girl Suisui's eyes are full of the word "disbelief".

"Mom, that was just a dream. How could you believe it and make Aunt Ding and Aunt Mai work so hard for it? Everyone knows that oak nuts are poisonous and cannot be eaten. Stop wasting your time."

Sui Sui pulled Chen Cui's sleeve and said.

Although the sons did not speak, the expressions on their faces showed what they were thinking, and they all felt that this was unreliable.

"Why are you unreliable? Didn't I learn the method of burning charcoal from my dream? If I hadn't made money from this business, our family would still be farming in the countryside, and you wouldn't be living the life you have now!"

Chen Cui retorted confidently.

Sui Sui was suddenly stuck. She happened to hear her younger brother mention how poor their family was in the beginning. They only made money and got out of the difficult situation by relying on their mother, brother and uncle to burn charcoal. Later, they started a canned food business with Mrs. Zhang, and things gradually became better.

The three sons looked at each other at this time, and they all had expressions that were difficult to describe.

At the beginning, they were just ignorant country kids, so they believed whatever their mother said. They were even happy about finding a way to make money and didn't think too much about it.

But later, after they read more and learned to think, they gradually discovered the unreasonableness of their mother's dream of the methods of burning charcoal and making canned food.

As the saying goes, "A gentleman does not speak of strange things, supernatural powers, or demons." Although they were puzzled by these things, they did not want to discuss them casually. After all, she was their own mother.

Ever since Dad passed away, it has been very difficult for Mom to raise them, and they don't want to make any assumptions about her.

Although there have been some changes in my mother, she has become more independent, strong and opinionated than before, but that is because my father is gone and she has to stand up and support the family.

Originally, with Dad around, Mom only had to work hard. For the sake of Dad's face and the stability of the family, she never had conflicts with Grandma and Aunt, and endured everything silently.

After my father passed away, it was as if my mother had taken off a shackle. She lost her former gentleness and became independent and strong.

However, her care and love for them did not diminish at all, and even increased.

Not only did the mother take better care of them in life, but she also acted as a father and often planned for their future.

If it weren't for their mother's foresight, who sent them to school as soon as she had money and planned for them step by step, they might all be working as farmers in the countryside now and wouldn't be in their current situation.

Although my mother's ability has been proven along the way and they all believe in her words, the oak nut is poisonous after all. How can they let my mother take the risk of eating it?

"Mom, you'd better not eat yet. Just do as big brother said. It won't hurt to wait two more days!" Even Chang'an, who usually doesn't talk much, tried to dissuade her.

"Yes, mother, if I really get poisoned it's no joke. Don't you always tell me not to be greedy and to be careful with what I put in my mouth? How come you are not cautious at all?" Changfu said anxiously.

Alas, watching her three sons trying to persuade her one by one, with disapproval written all over their faces, Chen Cui could only put down her chopsticks.

"Okay, I'll ask Aunt Ding to take it away, and I'll buy two chickens tomorrow and let them eat first."

After the family finished dinner, the three brothers went to the study to review their homework. Sui Sui said in a sneaky tone: "Mom, is that really made of oak nuts? I wonder what it tastes like!"

In fact, if her brothers hadn't stopped her, she would have picked up her chopsticks to try it after her mother tasted it. After all, the oak jelly smelled quite fragrant.

Her mother never allowed her to eat too much chili peppers for fear of getting a sore throat, so when she smelled the aroma of the chili oil just now, she couldn't help herself because it was so tempting!

Chen Cui...

She was wrong. She shouldn't have served it on the table without any scruples just because she knew it was edible. She should at least put it on the table and do an animal experiment.

She had just set a bad example for this girl and almost fed food that had not been confirmed to be poisonous!

"Sui Sui, let me tell you, don't eat food so casually next time..."