Chapter 1062: Chapter 436: What Is It Like to Make 300 Bottles of Autumn Pear Paste at Once? Grandma Shen’s Sugar-Glazed Pancakes!
"Alright, alright, my son really has grown up."
Chen Meijuan was very happy, not because she could soon taste the Autumn Pear Paste or the Sweet Skin Duck, but because her son always thought of his family.
This was more heartwarming than how many bottles of Autumn Pear Paste one could eat.
When Lin Xu was on the phone, Shen Jiayue came over and said:
"Mom, Xu Bao and I are planning to add some fertilizer to the flowerbed in the next couple of days, just waiting for you to come and plant some vegetables."
"Good, good, when spring comes, I’ll plant the whole thing with vegetables for you."
Chen Meijuan had been busy for most of the day and was quite tired, but hearing her son and daughter-in-law’s words, all her fatigue vanished.
While she could still move, she definitely had to save more money for the two kids.
What the in-laws said before was very true; they had worried too much about money when they were young, so the goal in this life is to prevent the kids from worrying about money.
The more you have experienced poverty and hardship, the more you hope the kids can avoid it.
Now both sets of parents are working towards this goal.
After hanging up the phone, Shen Jiayue wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes:
"Xu Bao, I miss our parents."
Lin Xu smiled and said:
"Then when we have some time, we can go back and visit, there’s no rush... Oh, right, let’s take a few extra bottles to grandma and have her share some with the neighbors too."
The old lady insisted on living in the courtyard at the South Third Ring and didn’t like having a babysitter, and the family couldn’t visit every day, so they had to maintain good relations with the neighbors.
In case the old lady ever needed someone to help out, she wouldn’t be without someone nearby.
Shen Jiayue immediately said:
"Sure, then let’s bring some food too."
As they were preparing to drive back, Lin Xu saw the shop assistant loading Autumn Pear Paste into the van and said:
"Remember to give two bottles to Qi Siliang at the store, I promised him before."
"Got it!"
Lin Xu packed about ten bottles of Autumn Pear Paste into the car, then went back to the store to pack about ten roast chickens and some snacks and other items, making up four bundles of gifts.
After loading everything into the car, Shen Jiayue held Dundun and they, as a family of three, drove to the South Third Ring.
It was almost four in the afternoon, and they would likely have dinner at grandma’s house, otherwise, the old lady would be unhappy.
Shen Jiayue said with some anticipation:
"I wonder what delicious food grandma will make today."
After arriving at the South Third Ring, they turned the car into the alley and parked in front of the old lady’s house. Several old neighbors returning from grocery shopping quickly greeted them:
"Yueyue, you and your husband came to see the old lady again?"
"Yes, we made some delicious food for grandma and brought it over while we weren’t busy... Did you just go shopping?"
"Just bought some random stuff, you really came at the right time, the old lady played mahjong this afternoon and won against all three of us, said she’s going home to make Sugar Oil Cakes, did the old lady know you were coming?"
Sugar Oil Cakes?
Shen Jiayue’s eyes lit up, then she smiled and said:
"I’ve been craving Sugar Oil Cakes these past few days, didn’t expect grandma to make them... We’ll go in first."
"Go on, tell your grandma, the money we lost today, we’ll win back tomorrow!"
Lin Xu opened the trunk, and he and Shen Baobao each carried a large cardboard box into the courtyard.
Just as they entered the courtyard gate, they saw Old Lady Shen standing at the kitchen door.
"My granddaughter’s voice is just as loud as ever, even with the kitchen exhaust fan on, I could hear it... What have you got there?"
Lin Xu said:
"We made some Autumn Pear Paste today; and also brought roast chicken, snacks, and marinated foods from the store. Please share them with the neighbors; they’ve always taken such good care of you, as the younger generation, we should express our gratitude."
Old Lady Shen showed a broad smile:
"My grandson-in-law is so thoughtful, I’ll deliver them to them later. When we were playing mahjong just now, a few old neighbors mentioned they often see you on TV cooking, but their cooking skills haven’t improved much, they want some tips from you."
Lin Xu chuckled.
He thought only young folks watched videos to learn cooking, but it turns out the elderly do as well.
He said with a smile:
"Just watching is useless; you have to cook along."
After putting the box in the living room, Lin Xu checked the temperature. Although this courtyard house looked unassuming from the outside, every room had underfloor heating. It not only uses central heating but can also use electric heating.
In terms of comfort, it was indeed quite nice.
Standing in the room for a while, a warm feeling rose from underfoot.
After setting down the boxes, he rolled up his sleeves and walked into the kitchen:
"Grandma, why don’t I handle the cooking, and you just guide me?"
As he spoke, he noticed there were actually three doughs on the cutting board.
One was a well-proofed white dough, likely mixed with some cooking oil during kneading, making it very shiny overall, with evenly distributed pores, very well-proofed.
Among the other two, one was white and the other was red.
He knew the red dough; it should be brown sugar dough.
But this white one...
"Grandma, why are there three types of dough?"
Old Lady Shen replied:
"The white one is for making Sugar Oil Cakes, and the red one is for making Sesame Sauce Brown Sugar Oil Cakes."
Lin Xu felt his obscure knowledge had grown:
"Aren’t Sugar Oil Cakes only made with brown sugar?"
Old Lady Shen laughed and said:
"White sugar is white sugar, brown sugar is brown sugar, they’re not the same. However, many breakfast stalls nowadays switch to brown sugar to save time."
From the doorway, Shen Jiayue asked:
"Why is that?"
This was something Lin Xu knew:
"Because white sugar doesn’t change color unless fried enough, but brown sugar changes color when the oil is just slightly hotter..."
After explaining this to his baby, Lin Xu washed his hands and said to the old lady:
"Leave the rest to me, grandma, I’ll start now."
Initially, he didn’t quite understand what the white dough was, so he was hesitant, but since it’s all about sugar, there’s no point in standing around. The sooner you fry it, the sooner you can eat it.
He set up the oil pan, poured in half a pot of oil, then turned on the gas stove to heat the oil.
As the oil heated, he began working on the dough.
He oiled the cutting board, kneaded the proofed dough to release the air inside, then rolled it into long strips.
Divided it into even portions, then kneaded the sugar dough a bit to make pieces half the size of the proofed dough portions.
He then kneaded the proofed portions, flattened them, placed the sugar dough portions on top, and rolled them out with a rolling pin.
While rolling, he made sure the rolling pin didn’t press the ends, so the piece would be thicker at the ends and thinner in the middle.
He finished by cutting three slices down the middle with a knife.
Curious, Shen Jiayue asked:
"Xu Bao, is this the meaning of ’two sides, three cuts’?"
This actually touched upon Lin Xu’s knowledge gap.
He shook his head:
"I’m not really sure, maybe..."
By this time, the oil in the pan was hot. Lin Xu lifted the oil cake, and placing the sugared side down, gently set it in the oil pan.
He placed it slowly so the cake would gradually hold its shape.
If you tossed it in all at once, the cake could turn into a clump of dough dumpling in the oil.
Seeing her grandson-in-law so adept at this, Old Lady Shen washed her hands and said to Shen Jiayue:
"Come, Yueyue, let’s go deliver gifts to the neighbors with grandma... Dundun too, come visit with great-grandma..."
After they left, the first cake in the pan was almost done frying.
Just as he skimmed it out with a ladle, a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind:
"Progress on Beijing snacks +1, side quest ’Beijing Snacks’ is halfway through, please ensure the host masters cooking ten Beijing snacks to prevent missing out on task rewards..."
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This Chapter has 5,400 words, requesting monthly tickets, brothers!
