Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 129 Mung Bean Soup

"How did you cook it?" Song Jiaojiao was curious about how this guy made it.

"How else can we boil it? It's all medicinal herbs, so naturally we should boil it like medicine."

Upon hearing this, Song Jiaojiao burst into laughter. No wonder!

"Hahaha... this sour plum drink... that's not how you make sour plum drink. It's no wonder it tastes awful if you make it like this."

Liu Xuewen glanced at Song Jiaojiao with annoyance, then turned away, intending to ignore her, except for her slightly red ears that betrayed him.

Mu Qing found it amusing to look at the two of them; she hadn't expected Uncle Liu, who was so old, to still be so childish.

"Alright, let's talk about raw materials. In the end, you're the one who has to pay for them, so it doesn't matter whether you get paid or not, right?"

"How is it the same? In that case, wouldn't I be losing money twice? At most, I'll have to pay the purchase price; don't even think about getting something for free," Liu Xuewen said angrily.

"Alright, alright, you can decide these things. Now go and get me five servings of plum juice." Song Jiaojiao wrote down the prescription and handed it to Danggui.

After taking the medicinal herbs, the group returned home. Liu Xuewen settled all the people he brought into the small courtyard he had bought in the county, while Song Jiaojiao continued to live with Mu Qing.

The next day!

"Muqing, these are the herbs for making sour plum drink. One serving requires soaking in five catties of water. Let's make one serving to try first, and soak it in water for 25 minutes."

Mu Qing listened attentively, and thinking about how much milk had been delivered today, she said with concern,

"Mother, what are we going to do with all this milk that the cowshed has delivered in the past few days? Even if we teach them how to use it, they can only use up half of it at most."

"It's alright. Do you remember last time I planned to make butter with milk, but I was too busy and forgot? We can use today's milk to try again. Let's follow the same method as last time. Come on, let's seal the milk bottle and let the plum juice soak it for now." Song Jiaojiao hadn't given up on making butter. Only after the butter was made could the cream be made later.

The two sealed half of the fresh milk and placed it in their room. The plum juice was almost ready to be brewed.

"The milk should be ready in about two days. Remember to remind me then, so I don't forget again," Song Jiaojiao instructed, afraid that she might forget this matter again.

Song Jiaojiao looked at the rosy red water in the basin. "It's almost ready. Just pour it into the clay pot along with the water. It's best to use a clay pot to make sour plum soup. If you don't have a big enough clay pot later, buy a few small stoves to make it separately."

First, bring it to a boil over high heat for about five minutes. Then add rock sugar and simmer over low heat for another half hour. After it cools, strain the plum juice. You can put it in a cellar to chill for a while, and then take it out and add ice cubes when customers need it.

While watching the fire, Song Jiaojiao explained the precautions to Mu Qing. Bai Shuqin was going to teach Liu Xuewen how to make the milk tea and ice.

When Liu Xuewen arrived at the shop, Song Jiaojiao had already started teaching Mu Qing how to make mung bean soup, and the sour plum drink had already been prepared and placed in the cellar.

"Cooking mung beans is the same as cooking red beans, except that the color of mung beans isn't as nice. Do you still have the bitter oranges you brought last time? Squeeze some of the juice from the bitter oranges and the beans won't change color." Song Jiaojiao said as she demonstrated. Sure enough, after squeezing in the juice from the bitter oranges, the mung beans didn't turn black or oxidize.

"Actually, lemon is the best. I wonder if the Great Jin Kingdom has it," Song Jiaojiao sighed. If they had lemon, they could make several more drinks.

"What lemons?" Liu Xuewen asked as he entered the kitchen, fanning himself.

"It's an oval-shaped, yellow fruit that looks like an orange when cut open, but it's very sour. There seem to be two kinds, and another kind might be green," Song Jiaojiao said, recalling the lemons she had seen in her previous life.

"Is this lemon very important?" Liu Xuewen asked doubtfully.

"It would be great if we had it. We could make a lot of things with it, especially a refreshing glass of hand-squeezed lemonade in the summer." Song Jiaojiao didn't know if this kind of fruit existed in this era.

"Alright, I'll have my men keep an eye on it."

Hearing this, Song Jiaojiao's eyes lit up. "In that case, there's a fruit that would be great for making drinks, called passion fruit. The outer skin is reddish-brown when ripe, and inside is yellow jam with black seeds. Why don't you get them to notice it too?"

"Alright, alright, I don't know where you got all these strange and unusual things from. Even I've never heard of them before," Liu Xuewen replied helplessly.

Song Jiaojiao replied, feigning composure, "Where else could it be? In books, of course. The world is full of wonders."

Liu Xuewen didn't dwell on the matter too much. Seeing what was in the pot, he asked, "Are these mung beans? Why haven't they turned black?"

"Uncle Liu, Mother said that adding the juice of the trifoliate orange will prevent it from turning black, saying that the blackening is an oxidation reaction," Mu Qing explained from the side.

Oxidation reaction? I recognize all the words, but I don't understand them when they're put together. Liu Xuewen thought to himself.

What are you planning to do with these mung beans? Or make a condiment?

"No, it's mung bean paste, just like double-skin milk, it's a snack." Song Jiaojiao scooped up a spoonful of mung beans. The mung beans in the spoon had mostly split open. Song Jiaojiao took one, crushed it with a pinch, scooped half of it into the bowl, and crushed it with the spoon.

"Take out half of the mung beans and crush them. Then pour them back into the pot, add rock sugar, and simmer for another 15 minutes. This will make the mung bean paste thicker. You can't leave it unattended during this time; you have to keep stirring to prevent it from burning at the bottom," Song Jiaojiao said as she worked.

As Song Jiaojiao finished speaking, the mung beans in the pot began to thicken.

"This is the raw material. Just like double-skin milk, you can add various toppings, and the taste will be different."

Take out the mung beans and put them in the cellar. Also, take out the plum juice that you just put in and bring it to the kitchen for everyone to try.

Looking at the rose-red plum juice in the bowl, sprinkled with dried osmanthus flowers for added fragrance and aided by ice cubes, it looked quite beautiful. It was a completely different style from the dark liquid he had made last time. So this is what plum juice looks like.

I took a bite, and it was icy cold, sweet and sour, with the refreshing coolness of mint. The heat from the journey was instantly soothed.

Liu Xuewen's eyes lit up. If this kind of water appeared in the capital, it would probably be so popular that even the doorstep would be worn out.

After finishing his bowl, Liu Xuewen wanted another, but found only an empty pot. He looked at Song Jiaojiao with a mournful expression, wondering why she couldn't have cooked more.

Song Jiaojiao explained with a laugh, "This is just an experiment. If you still want to drink it, just have Mu Qing brew it again later, and teach them how to make it."

Hearing this, Liu Xuewen was finally satisfied and asked with a smile, "Song Jiao, this thing is so refreshing, I'd like to offer it to the higher-ups, is that alright?"