Chapter 1068: Chapter 438: Even the Most Rigorous System Has Bugs! Perfect Level Red Bean Paste Acquired!
The man was responsible for digging a hole in the flower bed, while the woman was tasked with filling it with pear pomace.
As for Shen Baobao, who was wearing a thick Psyduck pajama, he was in charge of shoveling snow into the dug hole.
When Lin Xu came out, Dundun, dressed in a small down vest, immediately came over and jumped into Lin Xu’s arms.
The ground was cold, and the little one’s paws were icy cold too. Lin Xu warmed them with his hands, then took it inside, letting it watch outside through the transparent balcony door.
"Supervisors don’t go to construction sites, your enthusiasm clearly shows you’re new to the supervision circle."
Lin Xu rubbed the little one’s head, not going out to help, but returning to the kitchen instead.
There was something still cooking on the stove, needed to be watched to prevent any accidental incidents.
While keeping watch in the kitchen, he mixed some glutinous rice flour, placed it in an oiled steaming tray, and started steaming it in the steaming cabinet.
To make the best Sticky Rice Rolls, it’s ideal to use well-soaked glutinous rice and glutinous rice flour for steaming, as the rice aroma is richer and the texture is better.
But today there’s no time to soak the glutinous rice, so he could first steam some glutinous rice flour to make other snacks, like Glutinous Rice Dumplings with red bean paste filling.
The Sticky Rice Rolls can be made tomorrow.
He had already instructed the worker to soak some glutinous rice when he arrived earlier.
As for the indispensable soybean powder for Sticky Rice Rolls, the soybeans also need to be soaked thoroughly, then roasted and ground, which all takes time. So it has to be postponed until tomorrow.
Soon, the construction team from the roof and Dundun, the supervisor, all came downstairs.
Old Shen was going home for a slimming meal tomorrow, but still wanted to indulge in some gaming:
"Come play a couple of rounds with me, tomorrow at home no one will play with me."
Shen Jiayue took several gulps of water before saying:
"You can let mom play with you, perfect for a one-on-one match."
Old Shen shook his head:
"Even when playing games, I wouldn’t touch a finger of your mom’s... "
His words made Han Shuzhen very happy:
"Xiao Xu is filming a video downstairs; take your game consoles and play upstairs... Come on Dundun, let’s go upstairs too, I’ll take you to the tea room on the third floor to do yoga."
Since they wouldn’t be staying here tomorrow, she let her husband play freely.
Once everyone went upstairs, the living room returned to tranquility.
The glutinous rice dough steamed for about forty minutes.
Lin Xu took it out, first greased the board with some oil, then inverted the steaming tray onto it to release the glutinous rice dough.
The stickiness of glutinous rice is very strong, especially when cooked.
It must be handled through an oily layer, otherwise, it would feel like there’s a layer of glue on the hands.
Once the dough was poured out, Lin Xu applied a layer of peanut oil over it, then started kneading the glutinous rice dough by hand.
This step needs to be quick; knead the glutinous rice while it’s hot to make it smooth and elastic, providing a silky mouthfeel.
Strictly speaking, to make delicious Sticky Rice Cakes, the glutinous rice should be cooked, placed in a stone mortar, and pounded with a wooden mallet. This method yields a better flavor.
But conditions weren’t available now, so alternatives had to be sought.
Lin Xu kneaded the glutinous rice, turning the dough into a flat sheet, then folded it and kneaded again, continuing until the initially uneven glutinous rice dough became smooth.
Once the glutinous rice was ready, Lin Xu covered it with a damp cloth to retain moisture.
Meanwhile, the red beans in the pot were cooked and burst open.
Lin Xu took a relatively deep basin, poured some original soup of the cooked red beans into it, then placed a thirty-mesh screen on top, starting to sieve the soft, cooked red beans.
This step requires patience.
With the camera focusing on the counter, he began the process.
Scooping a large spoonful of red beans into the sieve, he pressed repeatedly with a silicone spatula.
Half of the sieve was submerged in the red beans’ broth, and the red bean paste automatically dropped to the water’s bottom as it passed through the mesh, avoiding sticking to it.
Once only the red bean shells remained in the sieve, he dumped them in a nearby basin, moving on to the next batch.
This method is slower, but the resulting red bean paste is much better than what comes from a blender.
Once all the red bean paste was sieved, the basin was almost full of red bean paste. Even the broth poured in earlier had been fully absorbed by the paste.
He used a filter cloth to remove moisture from the red bean paste.
The broth, later boiled with brown sugar, old ginger, and aged tangerine peel, makes a very beneficial red bean soup for women.
As for the filtered-out red bean shells, they could still be useful in the flower bed upstairs.
With the red bean paste ready, it was time to stir-fry the filling.
This step was familiar to Lin Xu, as he had made similar fillings with chestnut mud and others many times before.
But unlike those ingredients, red bean paste filling is relatively more complicated to make.
He placed a large non-stick pan on the stove, added ten pounds of crystal sugar and half the amount of water according to the dry red bean 1:1 ratio.
First, he melted the crystal sugar, then poured in the sieved red bean paste, stirring it in the pan with a bamboo spatula to rehydrate the squeezed-dry red bean paste.
As he stirred, the syrup wrapped around the paste, which is the reason for the superior texture of red bean paste.
For frying red bean paste filling, sugar is essential; without it, the paste’s texture would be dry and lack the rich silkiness.
As Lin Xu worked, he explained the key points.
He somewhat regretted it because today he had made too much red bean paste. About half a pot of the stuff was derived from ten pounds of dry red beans, making both sieving and frying extremely challenging.
Frying the bean paste takes time, as the moisture must be fried out.
Once the paste returned to a sandy state, it signified that most moisture was evaporated, and Lin Xu poured in a bowl of cooked peanut oil.
After pouring, he continued stirring.
Soon, the bean paste regained a glossy sheen.
But that wasn’t enough, so Lin Xu added several more batches of oil, one bowl at a time.
Once the paste achieved a glossy but not oily state, it was done.
He ladled it out from the pot, looking at a large basin full of red bean paste, then spoke a closing remark to the camera before fetching the glutinous rice dough kneaded earlier.
Time to make Red Bean Paste Glutinous Rice Dumplings!
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Due to my blood sugar being a bit out of control, I cut out main staples from yesterday, only eating some salads per meal, which made me crave while writing this Chapter... I really want to have a good feast! This Chapter is 5100 words, requesting monthly tickets, brothers!