Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 470 469 Spanish Mackerel Dumplings
"Brother, tomorrow is Saturday." Looking at the clean bowl, Fengzhi raised her little face, looked at Tang Zhitong and reminded him.

"Well, how about eating dumplings?" Tang Zhitong naturally knew what his sister meant. She was reminding him that it was time to prepare to improve his life.

"Okay, what filling?" Fengzhi nodded quickly.

"There will definitely be meat, don't worry." Tang Zhitong grinned at his sister. He planned to eat mackerel.

The north wind has been blowing all afternoon and the temperature has dropped. Judging from this situation, whether it snows tomorrow or not, tomorrow's temperature will be enough to keep the mackerel fresh.

Spanish mackerel is a good thing. Although it is called fish meat, it actually has a high protein content, and protein is essential to the human body.

Right now people in some areas are suffering from edema, which is medically caused by lack of protein.

Tang Zhitong sighed. The most terrifying thing about people is that their ideas do not match their abilities. He is obviously an ordinary person with no ability, but he has a compassionate heart.

Tang Zhitong thought self-deprecatingly that he could all be empathetic, inaction, compassionate, and indifferent at the same time.

Then he shook his head and threw away the complicated thoughts. He thought that taking care of his family was the most important thing. Although the family had a fixed food intake, he certainly could not let his family lack protein.

The next day, November 11, Saturday, there was light snow.

Urged by the northwest wind, millet-sized snowflakes floated in the sky early in the morning, and the yard seemed to be covered with a thin layer of cotton gauze.

This kind of snow is actually very slippery. On the way to work, Tang Zhitong saw several children carrying schoolbags, sliding happily. Even if they fell down, they would not be depressed or cry. Instead, they would stand up laughing, pat the snow on their buttocks, and continue sliding forward.

Tang Zhitong saw this and felt a little relieved. Difficulties were in front of him, but he had to get through it anyway. It was a day whether he was sad or happy. He might as well choose a way that made him comfortable.

Gu Mancang is just like this. Although his family is clearly in financial difficulty, he no longer looks gloomy. Instead, he takes Lu Shi to set up a small stall in the dormitory building.

The stall was opened with permission from the dormitory manager, and the price was a pack of cigarettes.

There is a stool next to the stall, and next to the stool is a wall. On the wall is a piece of newspaper with calligraphy written on it: "Free Haircut".

The two of them bought the clippers, white cloth and comb together, and they had practiced using them on each other in the dormitory two days ago.

Although the result is not very fashionable, it is free.

Not every college student’s family can afford to go there. People like Luo Zhiping, Lu Jian and others would choose to go to a barber shop, but more people are willing to choose this free option.

Although it’s free, it’s not completely free. It’s true that they don’t charge any money, but your hair will still be left behind.

The two of them had the idea of ​​collecting hair, saving it up and stuffing it under the bed, and then selling it when they had enough.

Men's hair is short, and although it is not as valuable as the long braids of girls, the advantage is that male students now have thick hair. A little bit can add up to a lot, which may be a way to make money.

Decades later, many people must have heard of hair soy sauce. This thing is available now, and a paper has been written about it and published in the "Zhejiang Chemical Industry" journal. The production process is very complete, and it only lacks step-by-step teaching.

Due to the shortage of materials, people actively explored the possibility of producing chemical products from domestic waste. This is something that deserves recognition and cannot be criticized with the perspective of decades later.

After seeing this, Tang Zhitong finally knew where the chicken feathers and other things had gone...

The snow fell sparsely for most of the day, but it was not even a finger thick, but the temperature was even lower.

When returning home from the escort office, Tang Zhitong used the sack given by Tong Wang to pack a mackerel weighing more than ten kilograms.

The fish was knocked to death, and it was still twitching occasionally in the sack. Tang Zhitong wanted to use the time on the road to let the mackerel breathe.

The selling points like freshness and live mackerel are just excuses to trick Tong Wang into spending more money. He certainly can't be so wasteful at home. Xiao Wang is quite knowledgeable.

It was cold and the fishy smell of the fish was not obvious, so Tang Zhitong took the sack back home in a dignified manner.

"Is this a mackerel? So big?" Zhang Guifang was a little surprised when she saw Tang Zhitong take out a mackerel from the sack. In previous years, grocery stores also had mackerels for sale, but they were not so big. The bigger ones weighed only about two kilograms.

"Well, for both of our families to eat, even without the head, bones and internal organs, there isn't much." Tang Zhitong tried to downplay the size of the fish.

"Are you planning to use this to make dumplings?" Zhang Guifang no longer worried about the size of the Spanish mackerel, but instead became concerned about the dumpling filling.

"Yes, let's eat dumplings stuffed with Spanish mackerel today." Tang Zhitong affirmed.

"Can Spanish mackerel be used to make dumplings?" Zhang Guifang asked with some concern.

"Yes, you can, don't worry. I have a classmate who lives by the sea, and he said they use Spanish mackerel to make the dumplings, and they are delicious." Tang Zhitong made up another classmate out of thin air and used unfounded stories to fool his own mother.

"Okay, then I'll go knead the dough." After hearing what her son said, Zhang Guifang no longer insisted and went back to the house.

As for the origin of Spanish mackerel, Zhang Guifang didn't ask.

Fengzhi didn't even ask. She just stood there with her eyes wide open watching Tang Zhitong process the fish, wishing she couldn't even blink.

"Fengzhi, what are you going to say when we get out?" Tang Zhitong asked while cleaning the fish.

"Steamed bread and stewed cabbage." Fengzhi said without thinking at all.

"Okay, not bad." Tang Zhitong nodded with satisfaction. The education during this period was not in vain.

Spanish mackerel can be said to be one of the easiest fish to handle among all seafood.

There are no scales and few fish bones. After you gut it and remove the internal organs, cut it into pieces, sprinkle with salt and marinate it, you can then fry it and enjoy the silky sashimi.

However, when making dumpling fillings, you can’t be so casual.

Not only do you have to remove the internal organs, you also have to peel off the fish skin, and not leave any of it. Even the red meat on both sides cannot be kept. These two are the fishiest parts of the mackerel.

If the filling contains these two things, it will definitely not taste good.

Tang Zhitong placed a knife against the spine of the Spanish mackerel and shaved off the fish meat on one side.

We will eat this piece at home today, and take the remaining half to Chunshu Hutong tomorrow.

Most of the fish bones of Spanish mackerel are on the spine, and there is also a row of them on the back. In addition, there are some in the abdomen, supporting the abdomen and wrapping the internal organs.

Before making the Spanish mackerel meat into stuffing, you need to carefully pick out the fish bones one by one.

Tang Zhitong chose a big fish so that it would be easier to pick out the bones.

"Shall we have Spanish mackerel dumplings today?" When Tang Zhitong was concentrating on finding fault with the food, classmate Xiao Wang brought Feng Zhen in and saw through her husband's intention at a glance.

"Yes, have you eaten it?" Tang Zhitong looked up and smiled and asked.

"I've eaten it, it tastes good." Xiao Wang is indeed a knowledgeable person and he admitted it readily.

"Then let's review it again. Reviewing the past will give you new insights. You can compare which one is better." These days, there are only a few places that can make Spanish mackerel dumplings, most of which are concentrated in coastal areas such as Qingyanwei. Tang Zhitong didn't ask Xiao Wang where he ate, it must be a place he had never been to. "It must be that you made it better." Xiao Wang smiled brightly, put down his bag, washed his hands, and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just wait for us to make dumplings." It is not difficult to prepare the Spanish mackerel stuffing, but it is strenuous work. Not everyone can eat enough, and Tang Zhitong was reluctant to let Xiao Wang do the hard work.

To make the fish meat into stuffing, you don’t need to chop it on the chopping board, but instead hit it with a wooden stick, which is similar to the method of making Chaoshan beef balls, but it is easier than beef balls because the Spanish mackerel meat is not that firm.

The Tang family didn’t have a suitable wooden stick, and using a rolling pin was a bit extravagant. After all, it was made of mahogany, and it would be painful if it got bumped.

Tang Zhitong chose to use the back of the knife, smashing it repeatedly while pouring the soaked pepper water into it.

Sichuan pepper water is magical. It can remove fishy smell and enhance flavor when used in cooking. It can also be used as medicine, and has anti-itching and anti-inflammatory effects.

Children have tender skin, and when they are bitten by mosquitoes in the summer, a big bump often appears. At this time, applying wind oil, cooling oil, etc. will have very limited effect.

At this time, using pepper water is a good choice.

Add a handful of peppercorns and a bowl of water, bring to a boil for a while, then turn off the heat when the soup turns brown. When the soup is warm, wet a cloth and place it on the area where the child is bitten.

Apply it for about ten minutes each time, two or three times a day, and the swelling will be gone in two days.

In addition, many women have secrets and are unwilling to see a doctor, so they also use pepper water, which is said to have good therapeutic effects.

After the Spanish mackerel meat was almost pounded, Tang Zhitong put it into a basin, added some oil and salt, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, held the edge of the basin with his other hand, and began stirring in a clockwise direction.

This job is very demanding on the arms, and without twenty years of training to develop strong arms, one cannot do it.

Tang Zhitong stopped stirring until his arms were sore and the fish meat turned into a paste.

Decades later, with material abundance, many people would add some pork belly to dumplings stuffed with Spanish mackerel in an attempt to make the stuffing more substantial.

But the most traditional way to eat it by the sea is to eat it pure fish meat, or add some leeks.

However, Tang Zhitong did not take out the leeks. At this time of year, the origin of leeks was no easier to explain than that of mackerel.

"Mom, make the dough a little bigger and the skin a little bigger so we can have dumplings with bigger fillings." After Tang Zhitong finished stirring the fish meat, he felt a little sweaty on his back, both from being tired and from not eating enough.

"Okay." Zhang Guifang followed suit, rolled the dough into a stick, picked up the cleaned knife and started cutting.

"The fish skin and internal organs are quite fishy. I'll take them out to feed the chickens." Tang Zhitong said as he picked up the basin containing the internal organs.

"Don't you want to keep it for yourself?" It was a big piece of meat, and Zhang Guifang's eyes showed reluctance.

"Let's not keep it. It's too fishy. Let our chickens have some meat. They're so skinny now."

"Then let's do it tomorrow. The chickens are all in their roost." Seeing her son's firm attitude, Zhang Guifang stopped persuading him.

"It's okay, I'll turn on the light." Tang Zhitong said as he turned on the light and went to the chicken coop. This time Fengzhi didn't follow him.

The hens in the family haven't laid many eggs recently. Tang Zhitong uses the fish skin and internal organs as a cover-up and plans to feed them more small fish and shrimps so that the chickens can lay a few eggs and provide the family with some protein.

People’s diet is tight, and small animals are in a similar situation. The field mice in the suburbs are suffering, and the rats in the city are not much better off.

Of course, they were not caught and eaten by humans, but were caught by cats and Wong Tai Sin to serve as a snack.

Wong Tai Sin’s diet is quite diverse, and when the rats get tired of eating it, they will occasionally start to crave the common people’s chickens.

Compared to mice, chickens are much easier to catch. As long as you can get into the chicken coop, you can just bite the neck and drag it out.

In order to prevent Wong Tai Sin from harming the chickens, local people would cover the chicken coop with tiles or stone slabs and let the chickens out the next day.

Tang Zhitong did this a lot when he was a child, of course, also to touch the eggs.

The freshly laid eggs, still warm, can be simply fried with a little oil and a little salt, and can be eaten with a large steamed bun.

When Tang's mother remembered and touched it again, she would often mutter: The chicken didn't lay any eggs today.

When he returned to the house, he saw clues from the frying pan and the eggshells on the ground. He didn't say anything to his son at this time, but just cleaned up the place silently.

When Tang Zhitong grew up, he realized that this was maternal love.

After letting the chickens out, Tang Zhitong watched them finish their meal before sending them back one by one.

There were two naughty ones who refused to go in, so Tang Zhitong directly used the space to deal with them, and then used a big teleport to confuse them.

Tang Zhitong blocked the stone slab, clapped his hands and walked out of the chicken coop.

Dealing with chickens, dogs, squirrels and the like is much easier than dealing with people. After all, they can't talk, so there's no need to worry about exposing their secrets.

After returning to the main house, Tang Zhitong washed his hands and joined the team making dumplings.

The Spanish mackerel filling is a bit soft, or "watery" in Northeastern dialect, and you have to use a spoon to put it into the dough.

Today's meal was later than usual, and everyone was hungry, but there was strength in numbers, and after they had wrapped enough for tonight, Tang Zhitong asked them to stop. The remaining stuffing was enough for the mother and three of them to have another meal tomorrow.

When the dumplings are cooked, a few are served to the ancestors first, and the rest are eaten by the younger generations first.

Tang Zhitong took out a small bowl, poured some vinegar for the sisters, and some fried spicy sauce for Xiao Wang. Eating dumplings without dipping sauce always felt incomplete.

"Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch the food from you." Tang Zhitong reminded Feng Zhi when he saw her gasping for air due to the burn.

"Yeah, yeah." Fengzhi hummed twice as a response, but her hands and mouth did not stop moving.

"It's delicious, better than what I've had before." Student Xiao Wang took a bite, his eyes turned into crescents, and he immediately praised it.

"Hehe, maybe it's because you haven't eaten it for a long time." Tang Zhitong said this, but he knew in his heart that it was because of the ingredients.

Even if Xiao Wang had eaten it before, the filling must have been made from frozen Spanish mackerel, but what he brought back today was fresh Spanish mackerel.

People in the inland may not be picky, but in the coastal areas of Jiaodong, most of the more particular people only eat mackerel in two seasons: spring flood and autumn flood.

The sea water temperature is lower during these two seasons, the Spanish mackerel grows slowly, the meat is the most firm, and it is the most delicious delicacy.

When Tang Zhitong was gathering this batch of Spanish mackerel, it was almost the spring flood season.

The dumplings I made today were big, so only six or seven could fit in a plate. Fortunately, the stove was burning well and the Spanish mackerel filling was easy to cook, so they were ready to take out of the pot quickly.

Maybe because everyone was hungry, or maybe because the dumplings were delicious, the whole family was busy eating the dumplings and no one said a word.

(End of this chapter)