Chapter 120 Happy Mid-Autumn Festival
“Finally, they’re gone.”
Now that they’ve sent off Gilbert and his people, all ten guests breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Gilbert and his party of four only stayed for two days, the ten guests were under a lot of pressure. Their appetites were just too much!
While the Rutes were hard at work building the pavilions, the ten of them were all busy, hunting and processing the ingredients, hunting and processing the ingredients, again and again. It was not easy ensuring that these big stomach kings could eat their fill. Later they didn’t even bother making any fancy meals for Gilbert and the Rutes. They simply made all their catch into barbecue. Fortunately, these chowhounds weren’t picky, as long as it was delicious.
On the Aquamarine Planet, they were able to eat well, sleep well, and enjoy the beautiful scenery. In just two days, Gilbert and his men indulged in pleasure and forgot about home and duty. If Gilbert weren’t the leader of the Rutes and he had managed to retain a little bit of sensibility, knowing that there were a lot of things he needed to deal with waiting for him at home, he might have stayed a few more days. Even when they left, they couldn’t forget about the barbeque. They decided to speak to Cheng Ji later about the importation of live poultry.
No sooner than the Rutes left, the program team removed all the kitchenware and smart robot previously provided to them. They did this very swiftly. Evidently, they weren’t going to allow them the slightest bit of advantage.
Without the loud and blustering Rutes, life for Ruan Tang and the others calmed down considerably. Every day, they completed the program team’s challenges to make a variety of dishes to appeal to the tastes of the audience. The days passed by very quickly.
Until one night, Ruan Tang looked up at the sky and found that the moon in the sky was extremely round, thought much smaller than the moon seen on Earth. He suddenly realized that it was close to the middle of the month. Counting the days, it was quite close to the time when it would have been the Mid-Autumn Festival on Earth.
“Let’s make mooncakes?” Ruan Tang said to He Yun Chen.
“Okay.” Although He Yun Chen didn’t know what a mooncake was, so long as Ruan Tang wanted it, He Yun Chen would never object.
Ruan Tang contacted the program team and asked for some flour and an oven. Of course, the program team had to ask him about what he was planning. When they heard that he was going to make mooncakes, the members of the program team were excited.
Anyone who had studied the history of Ancient Earth knew that their ancestors had the custom of celebrating traditional festivals. Each festival had some sort of representative customary snack. The Mid-Autumn Festival was one of the very important festivals, and in those days, every household would eat mooncakes.
Mooncakes symbolized reunions. During the Mid-autumn festival, the whole family would eat together and share mooncakes. It meant the reunion of the entire family.
The Blue Star Empire has fought for thousands of years and didn’t have any concept of festivals for a very long time. Now that they had entered a period of peace and development, they wished to revive these traditional festivals, which represent their historical heritage.
Therefore, the program team readily agreed to Ruan Tang’s request. They also made every effort to get a few blurry moon cake pictures, which they must have gotten from some books and videos. Although it wasn’t very distinct, it could still serve as reference. After all, the method of making mooncakes has been lost for thousands of years. Even if Ruan Tang wanted to restore the production of mooncakes, he would need to do so through trial and error.
Ruan Tang also asked the program team for some red beans, sugar, and milk powder. He was going to make the most classic Cantonese mooncakes with red bean paste and lotus seed paste. It just so happened that there were lotuses on the Aquamarine Planet. Since there were lotuses, of course, there were lotus seeds. Making lotus seed paste would be a simple matter. Of course, in consideration for the viewers who didn’t much like sweets, he also intended to make some flaky and meaty mooncakes.
The other guests soon learned from the program group that Ruan Tang was preparing to make mooncakes. So, they all converged at Ruan Tang’s camp to assist him.
In fact, making mooncakes wasn’t difficult for Ruan Tang. Not only did he know how to make them, he also had experience making them himself. But this was a secret he couldn’t tell anyone, so he could only accept everyone’s kindness and let them come to help him make it. The more people, the merrier.
Soon after, the program team sent everything he needed. Under Ruan Tang’s directions, everyone started to get busy.
They kneaded the dough, mashed the paste, and chopped the stuffing. Even He Yun Chen and the soldiers were tasked with making the mooncake molds based on the pictures provided by the program team.
[Ajun 5456: Tang Tang actually wants to make mooncakes!!!]
[Mo Wen: Awesome! I never expected we’d get the chance to taste this traditional delicacy from a thousand years ago!]
[Xuanyuan Zilong: Tang Tang I love you, I want to have your monkeys!]
The audience was equally as excited. They were all looking forward to these mooncakes.
Mooncake production was actually very particular about the details. Whether it was the production of the outer dough or the proportion of the filling to the dough, everything needed to carefully controlled. If they were left to figure it out for themselves, Lord know how many times of trial and error it would take for them to get it right. But with Ruan Tang’s guidance, they soon found their way.
First, the flour must be sieved to allow it to be aerated. This was so that the dough will be soft and elastic. When kneading the dough, the water cannot be added in all at once. It must be added in several batches, so that the kneaded dough will be both elastic and could maintain the proper moisture.
Because Cantonese mooncakes were characterized by thin and soft skin and sweet and fragrant filling, you needed to add oil when making the dough. This way the mooncake’s crust could better maintain its ductility without appearing dry.
As for the filling, whether it was red bean paste or lotus root, it must be ground very fine.
After doing these things, there was basically no other major problem. All that was left to do was to cover the stuffing with the dough and then press it down into the mold.
However, the Suzhou-style fresh meat mooncakes were completely different from Cantonese-style mooncakes. Its skin was crisp and powdery, and the fillings were savory and juicy. Therefore, Ruan Tang decided to make it himself.
He added water and lard to the flour and kneaded it into a dough. He then made a short-crust with flour and lard. He rolled out the dough into a rectangle and wrap it around the short-crust. He then folded and rolled it repeatedly to form multiple alternating layers. After letting it rest for 30 minutes, he cut it into equal sizes. He rolled it until it was a thin rectangle and just like when making buns, he wrapped the prepared fresh meat filling in it. He gently squeezed it close, and put it in the oven. The meat filling was selected from the pig’s forelegs, so it had a good combination of fat and lean. Moreover, it will be moist and juicy.
It wasn’t long before the two types of moon cakes were baked and placed neatly on the table, looking very tempting.
“Well, let’s try it together.” Ruan Tang called everyone to have a taste.
The two types of mooncakes were completely different from each other. The Cantonese mooncake looked smoother and more delicate. Because they were shaped with a mold, they were all of equal sizes and the surface had a delicate pattern. Moreover, the fresh meat mooncake although not as exquisite looking as the Cantonese mooncakes, its crust was golden yellow and crispy. With a single look, you could tell that it was soft and pillowy. You could faintly make out the meat filling inside and you could smell the delicious aroma.
[Cold-blooded Moon: My God! I love the fresh meat moon cakes! How could it be so delicious?!!]
[Mo Rilan: Hey, that sweet moon cake is also super delicious. The filling inside is so delicate and not too sweet, the taste is superb!]
[K. Noodles: I’m begging the shopping site to come out with mooncakes!]
[Hand over the dried fish to the meow: Begging Tang Tang to open a shop ... QAQ]
Two types of moon cakes, one sweet and one savory, each with their own distinct taste.
As far as Ruan Tang was concerned, he preferred the fresh meat mooncakes because that was how they made it in his hometown. The meaty mooncakes were hot fresh out of the oven, and the skin was soft and flaky. You could see the rich gravy slowly ooze out. The delicious taste fills the entire mouth, it felt wonderful.
However, the girls obviously preferred the sweet but not cloying Cantonese mooncakes. They had made the fillings themselves and it was soft and delicate. Zha Panpan and Wu Shasha couldn’t stop eating.
“I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.” Ruan Tang smiled brightly in the direction of the camera.
He already inherently looked good, and now that he had directed an affectionate smile to the camera, it completely charmed everybody.
[YUI: OMG! My Tang smiled at me! He smiled at me!]
[Can’t Stop Hugging Trees: Tang Tang, I want to have your monkeys!]
[Little transparent: Oh that smile! I’ll take a screenshot and save it for a lifetime!]
Ruan Tang and the others had made a lot of mooncakes, and they couldn’t finish them all. So they gave them to the program group. They then all got one and used the rest for a lottery. This will give the viewers a chance to personally taste mooncakes.