Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 246 The Child Without an Umbrella

There is nothing Hualei can do. If she wants to make money, she can only work hard. Who made her a child without an umbrella? Well, she should roll up her sleeves and work hard.

So, Hua Lei took the women from the farm and selected some undamaged pig intestines, tore off the fat on the surface of the intestines, peeled off the membrane on the surface of the intestines, and washed them with warm water.

Then I turned the small intestine over with chopsticks. There was a lot of mucus in the turned-over small intestine, and it was impossible to wash it clean with clean water. However, Hualei was reluctant to use salt because it was too expensive. Although it was fish salt, it was not cheap. So I used the wood ash from the farm to wash the mucus on the small intestine several times until the water stopped becoming turbid when I soaked the small intestine in clean water. The small intestine was finally cleaned.

Then I asked Uncle Zhao to choose a bamboo of suitable thickness, split it into sections with two open ends, put one end of the bamboo tube on the small intestine and tie it tightly, and also tie the other end of the small intestine with silk thread. Then I blew air into the bamboo tube, and after the small intestine was inflated, I took off the bamboo tube, tied it tightly with silk thread, and put it in a ventilated and dry place to dry.

After three days, the casing was successfully made. However, it is easier said than done. At the beginning, I had no experience and if I was a little heavy-handed, I would tear the intestines. So I made a lot of mistakes in the process of making the casing, but there was nothing I could do. Fortunately, after becoming proficient, the success rate was much higher.

When making sausages, soak the casings in warm water to soften them, and then you can start stuffing them.

In the past, when making sausages, the ratio was generally three parts fat and seven parts lean. However, here, many people cannot afford oil and water and particularly like to eat fatty meat. This is why fat pork is a few cents more expensive than lean pork.

So Hualei made some adjustments and chose pork with 50% fat and 50% lean meat to mix together. Remove the pig skin, cut the fat into thin slices, and cut the lean meat into thinner shreds. Then, mix equal amounts of fat and lean meat, add salt, sugar, rice wine, chili powder, and five-spice powder, mix well, and marinate for another two hours.

The five-spice powder was bought from Xinglintang. It was quite expensive, but without it, the sausages would have a meaty smell and would not taste good. So for the sake of taste, Hualei reluctantly bought a lot of spices.

After the meat is marinated, you can start stuffing the sausage. Put the bamboo tube on the casing and tie it tightly with silk thread. Then, use a spoon to stuff the meat in little by little. For the sake of convenience, Hualei still starts stuffing the sausage from both ends. After all the sausages are stuffed, tie the two ends tightly, then use a sewing needle to poke some small holes on the surface of the sausage, and then use thick silk thread to tie the sausage tightly at a short distance, and put it in a cool and ventilated place to dry.

After three or four days, the moisture on the surface of the sausages is basically dry. Then if you want to eat smoked sausages, you can start smoking. If you don't like the smoked taste, these sausages can be dried for another two or three days, and when they are slightly hard when pinched with your fingers, they can be stored.

When you want to eat it, you can steam it on rice or stir-fry it. In the past, Hualei's favorite dish was fried sausage with garlic leaves. It was sizzling and fragrant, and it was especially good with rice. However, in order to cater to the tastes of different people, Hualei also made some smoked sausages.

A lot of cypress branches were cut from the small hillside above Baihua Village. First, several supporting frames were made with thick tree trunks. The sausages that had been drying for three or four days were hung on bamboo trunks and placed on the supporting frames. Then the cypress branches were lit below, and the sausages were smoked with the fire emitted by the cypress branches.

The reason for using cypress branches is that cypress branches will emit a special aroma during the smoking process, making the smoked sausages more fragrant and delicious.

Of course, you need to use straw fans to surround the sausages and the fire to increase the heat and prevent the aroma from escaping. After smoking for a few hours, the color of the sausages gradually turns a dark red. After smoking for another half an hour on a low fire, it is ready.

Of course, for safety reasons, Hualei specially assigned two people to guard the process of smoking sausages, and even placed more than a dozen wooden barrels for water on the side. There was no other way, because in the past, many smoked sausages were surrounded by iron sheets, which made it less likely to catch fire.

But now it is not possible, because iron products are not available, so the only option is to use straw fans. In addition, during the process of smoking sausages, sometimes the distance and position of the sausages need to be adjusted to avoid some sausages being burnt and others not being smoked.

However, although it is very troublesome to make smoked sausages, the smoked sausages are very delicious after they are successfully smoked, and have more unique flavors than unsmoked sausages. They are greasy and fragrant, and have a smoked aroma. A bite of them is full of fragrance and a little spicy.

In order to enrich the variety, Hualei made sausages with original flavor, five-spice flavor, and fresh and spicy flavor. There are also smoked and unsmoked sausages. Because sausages are also suitable for making in autumn and winter, Hualei allocated manpower from the farm to make sausages with all their strength. As for the picked vegetables outside, if there is no time to clean them, they can only find someone to do it temporarily, and Tian Changshui only needs to take care of it.

The advantage is that after finishing their work in the fields, many villagers go out to find work, and Hualei has always been generous, never withholding lunch, and paying wages promptly. Therefore, many people come to the village and there is no worry about finding people.

Soon, both the original and smoked sausages were sent to Mobei. It was said that the soldiers liked them very much. Sometimes the kitchen did not cut the sausages, but just steamed them in small sections. The soldiers ate them with big bites, and their mouths were full of oil. It was very satisfying.

Soon, Lord Bai also went to Yuanying Manor in person and purchased a large number of original and smoked sausages and sent them to Western Xinjiang. It was said that the soldiers there liked them too.

Soon, the sausages were also sent to restaurants and the Imperial College, and Hua Qianbian's shop was also stocked. In Shangjing City, sausages were still fresh, and it was the end of the year, so there were many banquets, so roast duck and sausages were very popular. As a result, many people thought that the cheap braised food also sold a lot, and the business was getting better day by day.

Hualei increased the production of sausages. In addition to supplying a large number of restaurants and inns in Shangjing, horse-drawn caravans and ships were also sent to Mobei and Xijiang. Hualei also sent a batch to Yongjia Prefecture and Chengyun Prefecture. Even Liang Xiangyi came to purchase a large number of sausages to sell in the south.

During this period, Manager Chen from Sifangyuan asked Brother Youdi to bring a message that there was a house for sale. Hualei took Uncle Fu to see it, and found that the house was indeed quite good.