northernbook Chapter 495: You are obvious
Chapter 495: You are obvious
After dinner, I started making hawthorn cake.
Wash and core the hawthorns, add appropriate amount of water and boil. After they are softened, turn to low heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until they become a red meat paste.
Add an appropriate amount of powdered rock sugar and continue to cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula until the spatula has obvious resistance.
Pour the boiled hawthorn syrup into the mold and spread it flat, then place it outside to cool and wait for it to solidify.
Su Ying poured some hawthorn sugar juice onto a layer of oiled gauze, spread it out and put it in the sun to dry, instead of putting it outdoors.
"What is this for?" Li Tai saw that the two methods were different.
"This is fruit leather. Let it air-dry for four or five days. After it's dried, it can be stored for a longer period of time and will be chewy when eaten." Su Ying explained.
Guodanpi originated during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. During the campaign against Galdan, the Eight Banners Army used a secret communication method called "Guozidan".
Secret orders were written on slices made of hawthorn juice, which officials would eat directly after reading. Or if intelligence soldiers were caught along the way, they would eat the fruit pills to ensure that secrets were not leaked.
Later it spread to the people, and continued to evolve and improve, becoming a favorite snack.
In Lingnan, Su Ying used sour jujube to make sour jujube cake and dried it, which is similar to fruit jelly.
The hawthorn cake was left to dry for a while, but the temperature outside was low, so it solidified quickly.
Cut into even small pieces and wrap with cooked glutinous rice flour. The crystal clear bright red hawthorn cake is covered with a thin layer of white frost, which is particularly tempting.
"Come, try it!" Su Ying filled a plate and asked everyone to taste it.
Li Chengqian picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. It had a sour and sweet taste, a different flavor.
"Hmm, delicious! Lord Xiao Su, I want to take some back for my father and mother!" Li Tai shouted as soon as he took a bite.
Li Chengqian was so angry that he looked at Li Tai and said, "You are the only one who is filial! You are so filial!"
"Master Su, please give me some, including the fruit leather." Prince Lu Li Yuanchang rarely asked.
His father was the retired emperor, over sixty years old, and moved to Da'an Palace.
The terrain there is low, and it is humid and hot in summer. My father often has no appetite, so I brought hawthorn cake back to stimulate his appetite.
"I want one too, I want one too!" Du He didn't fall behind either.
After a busy period, everyone took away a portion of hawthorn cake and fruit leather.
The fruit leather had not dried yet, so we took it away together with the flour and gauze to eat and carry.
"Thank you for bothering me today, Lord Su, for your hospitality!" Li Chengqian expressed his gratitude after he was escorted to the door.
"Master Xiao Su, thank you!" Li Tai said casually, "When the math book is finished, please let me know. I'll read it first."
"Yes, Your Highness the Fourth Prince!" Su Ying said respectfully.
"Qingque!" Li Chengqian frowned unhappily after hearing this, without even opening his mouth.
"It's okay. After it's compiled, I'll ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to review it and confirm that it's correct before distributing it." Su Ying had a headache, and she stroked the hair to save the Crown Prince's face.
Li Chengqian nodded and got on the carriage with satisfaction.
"Hmph!" Li Tai rolled his eyes. He was somewhat dissatisfied with his brother and also somewhat dissatisfied with Su Ying. It was clearly he who said it first.
"Your Highness, the activated carbon will be ready for production today. Lord Yan should deliver it to you. Do you have any brown sugar? When do you plan to make it?" Su Ying changed the subject.
"I don't have much brown sugar. Does Lord Su have any?" Li Tai looked uncomfortable. He liked to eat sweets, and there was not much brown sugar left from the ones he had distributed a few days ago.
"Then, come and learn from me!" Su Ying said helplessly.
"Good!" Li Tai said happily, having another excuse to leave the palace.
"I'm coming too!" Li Chengqian said.
Seeing that Su Ying and Li Tai were so close, he felt uncomfortable, because Lord Su was his own person.
"Great! This is the task that my father assigned to me!" Li Tai was not happy with his brother's interference.
"Didn't you come to carry out the mission assigned to me by my father? Why can't I come?" Li Chengqian said lightly.
Qingque used his usual tricks, and now Li Chengqian returned them to him, walking in other people's paths and leaving them with no way to go.
"You, I..." Li Tai had no words to refute.
"It's getting late, Your Highnesses, please go back!" Su Ying interrupted hurriedly.
This is outside the palace. The two brothers are having a quarrel. If they are seen by someone with ulterior motives, they will either impeach them or take advantage of the situation.
After the carriages and horses left, the bustling gate of the Su Mansion became empty.
"Leaving?" Su Bucheng came out from the neighboring Jingzhao Prefecture.
On the last day of the year, I should have left the government office early, but I learned that the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince and others were visiting my house.
Su Bucheng had no choice but to stay on duty in Jingzhao Prefecture.
They came to the mansion to see the eldest daughter. If I go back, I will have to pay my respects to them. I will disturb the interest of several princes, so I'd better stay in the government office.
"Well, Father, can you have a meal?" Su Ying asked.
"It's used!" Su Bucheng approached, "Let's go home!"
"Bang!" The door of Liangyi Hall was pushed open.
"Aye!" Qingque's joyful voice.
The emperor, who was reviewing memorials, looked up helplessly with a doting look in his eyes. This child was not afraid of him and was unruly.
He enjoyed his son's admiration and coquettishness.
"Qingque! What brings you here so late?" The emperor put down the imperial pen in his hand.
"Come on, try it and see if it tastes good!" Li Tai opened the food box.
"Oh, was it made by Lord Su?" The emperor looked at the hawthorn cake covered with white frost, smelled the sour and sweet taste, and his mouth kept secreting saliva.
"That's right, Dad, try it!" Li Tai took out a small piece and stuffed it into his father's mouth.
"Is it delicious?" Li Tai looked at his father hopefully, with a look that looked like he was asking for praise.
"Well, not bad! It just so happens that Aye is tired, and eating a piece will instantly relieve the sleepiness." The emperor felt that this was better than the candied haws from yesterday.
"My son has learned it. I will make it for Daddy from now on!" Li Tai hugged his father and rocked him coquettishly.
"Okay, okay! Aye is waiting to eat the hawthorn cake made by Qingque, haha..." Li Tai's coquettish words touched the emperor's heart, and the emperor was very pleased.
"Hey, Aye, today I finally got to see how knowledgeable Master Xiao Su is!"
Li Tai's eyes sparkled as he shared with his father what he had seen and heard today.
"Oh, no wonder. I was wondering why the bacon and sausages sent to you didn't taste like mutton." The emperor nodded.
Just as they were about to have their meal, Xu Zhi came in with a thermos lunch box and said that the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince were still at the Su Mansion and had not finished their studies yet, so he sent some home-cooked dishes for His Majesty to taste.
When the lunch box is opened, the first aroma to come out is the sour radish and old duck soup, followed by scrambled eggs with leeks, and the most eye-catching are the Cantonese sausage and the bacon fern cake fried with garlic sprouts.
The emperor, who was not very hungry originally, suddenly felt very hungry.
"Can the Queen have a meal?" The emperor wanted to share with his wife.
"One copy was sent from the Empress, and one was also given to Changle of Fengyang Pavilion and Princess Yuzhang!" Xu Zhi replied.
"In that case, then we won't call anymore, so the Queen won't have to run back and forth!" The Emperor nodded with satisfaction.
Sit down and eat slowly. The dishes are not big in portion, just enough for one person.
Su Ying had experienced the royal meal that day, so the portion was not extra.
"How can Lord Su be so stingy!" The emperor ate all the food without noticing and still felt hungry.
On the other hand, Xu Zhi was smiling. It was rare to see the emperor eating so happily.
The emperor was very surprised that the Cantonese sausages and bacon did not have that strong smell. He thought Su Ying was a great cook, but he didn't expect that they were castrated piglets.
"Father, Master Su said that if this technology is promoted, live pigs will replace mutton, saving a lot of arable land." Li Tai remembered Su Ying's words.