Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Spicy Strips Recruitment (1)_1 Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Spicy Strips Recruitment (1)_1 Actually, making spicy strips is quite simple; the most important step is to fish them out and let them dry before frying them with various spices to bring out the heat.
Fishing out the spicy strips was a very time-consuming and patience-requiring task.
After grinding the soy milk, Lin Wei helped Lin Yuan light the large stove, preparing to boil the soy milk in a big pot.
She had a reason for using a large pot to cook the soy milk: it produced large bean curds.
Spicy strips fished out with chopsticks would be comparatively longer, making them look and taste better than those made in a smaller pot.
After the soy milk in the pot began to boil, it didn’t need to be attended right away.
A thin layer of bean curd would form on the surface.
Gradually, as the temperature increased, the layer would thicken and darken.
When it turned a milky yellow, that meant the spicy strips were ready.
Lin Yuan picked up her homemade long chopsticks and fished the bean curd skin from one side, quickly placing it onto the large plate she had prepared in advance.
Because of Lin Yuan’s handling, the bean curd skin ended up wrinkled and squeezed together, forming one long strip.
As Lin Wei tended the fire, she cast a curious glance and felt that the spicy strips weren’t as impressive as her elder sister had boasted; they merely smelled of soy milk and seemed no different from tofu.
Lin Yuan tapped her on the forehead, chiding her, “Stop looking, the fire is about to go out.”
You’re fooling me again,” Lin Wei pouted, adding another log to the stove and feeling quite disgruntled about her sister’s deception.
Lin Yuan smiled with pursed lips, continuing to wait for the second layer of bean curd skin to form on the surface of the soy milk.
The rest of the job simply involved waiting for the skin to turn yellow and then scooping it out with chopsticks.
It required no special skill, but it did demand constant attention and patience; otherwise, if the fire got too high or too low, the bean curd wouldn’t taste good.
Bored, Lin Yuan looked at the long chopsticks in her hand.
They were made by Xia Zheng when he was mending the vegetable garden’s fence.
He had carved them for Lin Yuan because she was always busy in the kitchen; Xia Zheng worried that her small hands might get scalded by hot oil or boiling water, so he crafted these long chopsticks for her.
Honestly, these long chopsticks were quite handy.
She could use them to fry dough sticks in the future, if the opportunity arose.
Speaking of frying dough sticks, Lin Yuan’s cravings were aroused.
It was just a pity that oil was particularly expensive nowadays, and no household would be willing to use so much of it on deep-fried foods.
However, there were many oil-producing materials, such as peanuts, soybeans, sunflowers, and even castor beans would do.
But castor beans are a poisonous crop; although their seeds can be pressed for oil, due to their toxicity, Lin Yuan had seen plenty of castor plants on the mountain but never heard of anyone extracting oil from them.
Then there were soybeans.
In the past, soybeans were primarily used for feeding pigs.
Ever since Lin Yuan started making tofu, she had Shopkeeper Zhou source soybeans from different places.
To prevent the villagers from noticing anything amiss, she made sure only a small amount was purchased from any one place.
Little by little, she had accumulated a considerable stock of soybeans in the tofu shop’s storehouse, enough to make tofu for half a year.
But what about after half a year?
While scooping up bean curd skin, Lin Yuan pondered over this.
It wouldn’t be sustainable to keep buying soybeans from the outside.
It was manageable once or twice, but with more frequent purchases, alert people would start asking questions.
They didn’t raise pigs, yet they bought tofu.
It wouldn’t take long for people to suspect that the tofu was made from soybeans.
Lin Yuan originally wanted her uncle to grow soybeans, but although he owned much land, it was mostly used for growing grains, as that’s what was needed to earn Silver.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind.
Lin Yuan remembered the good piece of land from the southern part of the village that she had obtained when dividing the family property.
Although not large, the land was fertile and close to the Little River, making it perfect for growing soybeans.