The whole mountain is my hunting ground

Night falls and the cold wind howls.

The outdoor temperature is getting lower and lower, and the lights in the house are dim, but it can give people the warmth of home.

In the outhouse.

Jin Xiaomei is chopping the minced meat, and Yang Yufeng is pounding the tofu. The dish at Zhao Jun’s house today is very simple, which is meatballs.

On the kang in the east room, Mrs. Jie Sun sat cross-legged on the east side of the kang table, Wang Meilan and the old lady sat on the west side, and Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu sat on the floor on four-legged and eight-pointed stools.

Li Baoyu did not interrupt during the whole process and listened to the four people discussing about finding a partner for Jie Chen and buying a house.

Seeing that the big clock on the wall was almost five o'clock, Wang Meilan got up and walked to the outhouse.

At this time, the meat filling was chopped and the tofu was mashed. Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei and Yang Yufeng began to mix the filling.

Divide the meat filling into three parts. One part is pure meat with minced green onion and minced ginger, seasoned only with salt, and stir the meat filling clockwise with chopsticks. When the meat filling makes a squeaking sound, it is called in the local dialect: the stuffing has squeaked.

It means that the stuffing speaks for itself, indicating that it has enough taste. At this time, add two tablespoons of starch and mix into a thick paste.

For the second portion of meat filling, add chopped elm mushrooms, minced green onions, minced ginger, and salt, stir, and then mix with starch to form a paste.

The third portion of meat filling is mixed with mashed tofu. Of course, there are also a lot of chopped green onions, ginger, salt, and starch.

At this time, there was still some mashed tofu left, and Wang Meilan added diced elm yellow mushrooms, diced carrots, various ingredients, and starch into it.

Just as Li Baoyu came out of the house, Wang Meilan asked him to go to the dish rack and take out the oil jar at the bottom.

Ladlefuls of bear oil were put into the pot. Wang Meilan and Yang Yufeng were on both sides of the pot. After the oil was warmed up, they grasped the meat filling with their hands. With the movement of their clenched fingers, the meatballs squeezed out of the tiger's mouth. When it came out, Wang Meilan and Yang Yufeng bent the spoon and lowered it into the oil pan.

The moment it was put into the pot, there was a sizzling sound, oil bubbles appeared around the meatballs, and the surface changed color.

When the oil is at the right temperature, the meatballs will float to the surface of the oil immediately after they sink to the bottom of the pot.

The two of them took the vegan pills first, and halfway through, only Yang Yufeng took the pills. As for Wang Meilan, she took a spoon and poured hot oil on the oily meatballs.

When the surface of the fried meatballs was golden brown, Wang Meilan used a sieve to pick them up, weighed them up and down on the pot surface twice to control the oil, and then poured the meatballs into a large plate.

It was up to the people next to me to make croquettes while the children had already squatted by the stove.

The children in the Zhao family's house, who eat and drink well every day, are relatively much better off. It's just something that's too oily, but it tastes delicious when you eat it.

As soon as the plates were placed on the kang table, the four children immediately gathered around.

"Brother!" Zhao Na looked up at Zhao Jun and asked crisply: "Can we eat?"

"You have to wait a while." Zhao Jun smiled and said, "It's too hot."

Then, Zhao Jun turned to Li Baoyu and said, "Baoyu, hurry up and get some pairs of chopsticks."

After saying that, Zhao Jun shouted to the east room: "Jiang Nai, Jie Niang, come to eat meatballs!"

Xie Sun couldn't hold it back for a long time. When Zhao Jun shouted, she was immediately ready to move.

But the old lady didn't go to the field. She was too embarrassed to go over and compete with the children for food.

At this moment, Wang Meilan poked her head in from outside the door and called to them: "Auntie, sister, you two hurry up and eat while it's hot! We are still frying here, you don't care if we have enough to eat, what are we eating? Isn't it full?" "

Next, Wang Meilan and Yang Yufeng fried the meat and tofu-filled balls. And Jin Xiaomei just came home with two small helmets. One of the two helmets contained some minced meat, and the other contained half a catty of soybean tofu.

When Jin Xiaomei got home, she picked up two more Chinese cabbages, cut them into leaves, and prepared to make a cabbage, tofu and meatball soup.

The meatballs in the soup are not too oily, so I just pinch them and put them in. The main purpose is to make them light.

At this time, in the west room of the Zhao family, Zhao Jun, Li Baoyu, the old lady, Xie Sunshi and the four little girls had already eaten. They pierced a ball with their chopsticks each time, brought it to their mouths and chewed it in circles.

The fried meatballs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, so fragrant.

At this time, Wang Meilan came in with another big plate and said with a smile: "Come, try this, there is meat here."

"Daughter!" the old lady called to Wang Meilan: "You eat too!"

"Let's eat." Wang Meilan said with a smile: "Me and Feng'er, we are rushing to fry and eat."

With that said, Wang Meilan put the plate on the Kang table and asked the old lady with a smile: "Is it delicious, Auntie?"

"It's delicious!" The old lady smiled broadly.

Wang Meilan went out and continued to fry meatballs with Yang Yufeng, followed by those stuffed with mushrooms and meat.

The elm yellow mushroom is a fungus unique to the Changbai Mountains. It is delicious and can be eaten stir-fried or stewed. It can be eaten any way.

But the locals like to use it for stuffing.

These elm yellow mushrooms were collected by Yang Yufeng from the mountains in August and September. When this thing grows, it grows in clusters on the trunk of the tree.

After picking them back, Yang Yufeng took the tenderest ones and dried them. Then she soaked them in water and ate them still delicious.

As plates of meatballs were served, Yang Yufeng slowly poured the oil from the pot into a basin filled with oil.

Wang Meilan entered the east room, placed the panel on the Kang table, lifted the quilt covering the basin, and pulled out the basin underneath.

There was cooked noodles here. Wang Meilan took a look after opening the basin, then turned around and opened the drawer of the standing cabinet next to her, and took out a piece of butter paper from inside.

Wang Meilan held the butter paper in one hand, grabbed a piece of noodles from the basin with the other hand, and dropped it on the butter paper.

This noodle is a reserved noodle starter!

This thing is called noodle in some places and old noodles in other places. Anyway, there are countless ways to call it all over the country.

But to put it bluntly, it is equivalent to yeast powder in the future. Without it, dough cannot rise.

Therefore, every time you make dough, you must set aside a piece. The next time you use it, boil it with water, and then use this water to knead and make dough.

It was winter now, so Wang Meilan took out a piece, wrapped it in butter paper, and froze it outside to preserve it. When you need to use it, take it back in advance and defrost it in the house, then mix it with water.

There is no refrigerator these days, so if you want to store it for other seasons, just put the noodles in a bowl, then put it in the dish rack to dry in the shade, and then add water when you need to use it.

Northerners love to eat noodles, especially at this time. White noodles, noodles, corn noodles, steamed buns, flower rolls, steamed cakes, steamed buns, and pancakes are all inseparable from noodles.

The piece Wang Meilan wrapped in butter paper was meant to be frozen outside for storage. In addition, she also put a piece in a small bowl and put it in the dish rack for steaming dry food tomorrow.

At this time, Wang Meilan grabbed some white noodles on the panel, then buckled the basin up, lifted a corner of the basin with her left hand, and took out the noodles from the bottom up with her right hand.

Kneading and rolling the dough, Wang Meilan rolled the dough into a skin and brushed oil on it. Add a little salt to the oil in advance. After brushing, roll up the dough from one end, and then cut the dough into pieces with a knife.

At this time, Yang Yufeng finished her oil and came in to wait for Wang Meilan.

At this time, there is still a little oil in the pot in the outer room, just waiting for the cake to be put into the pot.

I saw Wang Meilan cut out twenty-five dough balls, and then she pinched both ends of one dough ball with her hands, twisting it clockwise with her right hand and counterclockwise with her left hand, and then placed the tightly twisted dough in the palm of her hand. Here, after pressing with both hands, a dough pancake will be formed.

This is to bake the dough pancake until both sides are golden brown. The pancake is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and is layered and flavorful on the inside.

Wang Meilan pressed out the noodles one by one, and Yang Yufeng shipped them out two at a time. But in that pot, only six cakes could be placed at the bottom of the pot at the same time. When Wang Meilan finished pressing all the dough ingredients, Yang Yufeng hadn't even finished baking the pancakes.

Wang Meilan came out of the back room and said to Yang Yufeng: "Feng'er, burn the last four or five big ones."

In fact, no matter what you are cooking, the heat must be appropriate. Not even after birth, not even when old.

After baking this dough pancake until both sides are golden, it should be placed on the edge of the pot, like a large pancake, and let it stay on the edge of the pan for a while.

In this way, no matter how thick the cake is, the inside can be cooked through without affecting the taste and preventing oil from soaking in.

Otherwise, if you keep baking it on the bottom of the pot, both sides of the cake will turn black. Although it is not mushy, it will become harder and harder as it is baked, and it will no longer be crispy.

"I know, old aunt." Yang Yufeng smiled and said, "My brother is happy to eat like that."

"Yeah." Wang Meilan nodded with a smile and said, "He's across the road."

The meaning of "crossing the road" is close to being different, but it is a derogatory term. If you don't eat the golden, crispy and fragrant cakes, but if you don't eat the hard and hard-to-bite ones, isn't this just cutting off the road?

But Zhao Jun likes that kind of food. He has good teeth since he was a child, so he likes to eat that kind of chewy food.

Seeing that Yang Yufeng also knew Zhao Jun's taste preference, Wang Meilan smiled lightly and said to her: "Feng'er, you bake this cake, I'll put it on the table."

After saying that, Wang Meilan stepped into the west room.

At this time in the west room, the four little girls had already left the table.

Since the little lynx was weaned, they had lost a lot of fun. It happened that there was another little black bear in the house, and the little girls found new fun. Wang Meilan was busy in the afternoon and didn't take care of it at a glance. The little black bear was taken away by Zhao Hong and Zhao Na. I fed Li Xiaoqiao until she vomited milk.

The old lady and Li Baoyu also put down their chopsticks, chatting with Zhao Jun. Zhao Jun was holding a chopstick with half a meatball stuck on the head.

Zhao Jun had to lift this half ball for a long time before he was full. This was to prevent Xie Sun from being embarrassed to eat.

After all, Xie Sun was the only one still eating in her mouth. She felt that she had lived a fulfilling life every day since arriving in Yong'an Village. And this kind of enrichment was something she didn't have when she was at home.

When Wang Meilan came in, she caught up with Xie Sunshi and stuffed half of the meatball into her mouth. While chewing, she said vaguely: "I won't eat it. We will eat later."

Hearing what she said, Zhao Jun smiled and stuffed half of the meatball into his mouth. Seeing Wang Meilan come in, Zhao Jun asked, "Mom, set the table?"

"You don't need to." Wang Meilan waved her hand and said, "You and Baoyu, you two put on your clothes and go to the courtyard to see your aunt."

After saying this, Wang Meilan added: "Your aunt struggled to carry that big basin by herself."

"Hey!" Zhao Jun responded, and Li Baoyu put on the cotton monkey and walked out.

As soon as the two brothers came out of the house, Jin Xiaomei, who happened to be next door, was carrying a big basin, kicked the door and walked out of the house.

"Mom!" Li Baoyu ran to the wall, turned over and took the big basin from Jin Xiaomei's hand.

This basin is filled with more than half of the cabbage, tofu and meatball soup, exuding a burst of aroma.

Li Baoyu carried the basin to the wall and raised it. Zhao Jun took it. Li Baoyu hurriedly climbed over the wall and went to the door to open the door for Zhao Jun.

As soon as the three of them entered the house, the dogs outside started barking. Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong and Lin Xiangshun who were at work came back.

Today, Lin Xiangshun's daughter-in-law, Xu Chunyan, returned to her parents' home with her son. Wang Qiang's family didn't come over because they had visitors. His eldest uncle and second uncle came, but they had nothing else to do. They just came to see why their sister hadn't returned to her parents' home recently.

Therefore, the Zhao family’s dinner today included six people including adults and children. Wang Meilan did some calculations and decided not to place a table in the east room, but only placed a round table on the floor of the west room.

Then let the four drinking men, Zhao Youcai, Li Dayong, Li Baoyu, and Lin Xiangshun, sit around the kang table. As for Zhao Jun, he did not drink, but ate at the round table with the women and children.

Refreshing meatball soup, served with flatbread. Every now and then I would bite into a croquette. This meal was simpler than before, but it was warm, meaty and vegetarian, and everyone was extremely comfortable eating it.

After they had had enough wine and food, everyone went back to their homes. Zhao Jun sat on the edge of the kang in the west room and soaked his feet. Wang Meilan came from the east room and put the little lynx in his arms.

Zhao Jun rubbed the little lynx's head, and the little guy squinted his eyes and rested his chin on Zhao Jun's arm.

It hasn't grown too much yet, and it still looks a little cute, but Zhao Jun knows that lynx mature quickly, and he is afraid that by next spring, this little guy will be able to hunt pheasants, rabbits and other small mountain birds.

But if you want to take it out, you have to train it well, otherwise it will be lost within five minutes of going out.

When Wang Meilan returned to the house, the two little girls were asleep. Zhao Youcai was also in bed. At this time, he was holding his head in his hands, resting on his hands and looking at the shed, wondering what he was thinking about.

"What..." Wang Meilan called him in a low voice. Zhao Youcai turned his head and said "hmm".

"Your supplies..." Wang Meilan saw Zhao Youcai's face darken as she said this. She lowered her voice and said with a smile, "My son told me to go up the mountain tomorrow and give it to that old boss Xing."

Zhao Youcai glared at Wang Meilan and said angrily: "What are you doing for him?"

"Then why are you keeping it?" Wang Meilan asked doubtfully, "We usually don't eat it either."

Big pancakes are good to chew on the mountain. They are simple and convenient and don’t need to be baked over a fire.

But eating this at home is nothing compared to a hot meal. Especially what are the conditions in this house? Those big pancakes are not as good as fermented dough pancakes and fried steamed bun slices.

So the two women discussed giving those big pancakes to Xing San. The old man was in Lengchang, and the conditions were not as good as those at Shanxia. Moreover, he has to go somewhere every now and then, so he just happens to have some of these with him, so that he can eat them easily in the mountains.

"Why don't I eat?" Zhao Youcai said, "I have to go up the mountain in two days?"

"Haha..." Wang Meilan, who was unbuttoning her cotton-padded jacket, laughed when she heard that he was going up the mountain.

Although she didn't say anything, her laughter made Zhao Youcai feel very unhappy!

"No!" Zhao Youcai took his hands out from under his head, sat up all of a sudden, looked at Wang Meilan and asked, "What are you enjoying?"

Wang Meilan smiled and waved her hands, but her deep laughter still couldn't stop, "Hehehe..."

"I..." Zhao Youcai became angry with shame, turned around and pulled the light cord, and the room was instantly plunged into darkness. Then Zhao Youcai went downstairs and pulled the quilt over him, leaving only Wang Meilan who was groping in the dark on the kang.

Wang Meilan: "This is wicked!"

There's still a chapter at one o'clock. If you guys are sleepy, go to bed first.