Golden Fishing Village

They were chatting around the cake, and the old lady came out happily.

The old lady laughed so hard that her eyes were invisible today. When she saw Ao Muyang and his party, she came over and held their hands one by one, smiling and asked: "Are you guys here?"

Ao Mudong said: "You must come. It's grandma's 90th birthday. This is the most important event in the village, right, Dragon Head?"

Ao Muyang nodded and said: "That's right."

The old lady smiled and said: "Oh, I'm old and immortal, how can it be a big deal? It's just that Huizi likes to make trouble, so we must make it well. Otherwise, according to my opinion, the three of us, grandparents and grandchildren, can just eat a bowl of noodles at home."

Ao Muyang said: "That won't do, grandma, this is really a big event in the village. You are the oldest birthday star in our village. Huizi did the right thing, and you have to make a good birthday party."

Speaking of her granddaughter-in-law, the old lady's smile became even stronger: "Huizi is a good child. She is the head of the family, so I listen to her. Qianlai and I listen to her."

As she said, her eyes looked towards the wing room, where Jin Huizi and Song Qiumin were pounding fish noodles.

In the early years, Hongyang fishermen did not eat cakes on their birthdays, and they did not have the money to eat cakes. In the local tradition, fishermen eat fish noodles on their birthdays.

Fish noodles are also called fish cakes because they are made of fish cakes.

However, pounding fish noodles is not a simple matter. Later, as the living standards of fishermen improved and they could afford cakes, most families changed to eating cakes on their birthdays instead of making fish noodles and fish cakes.

The old lady is a traditional fisherman's wife. She is not used to cakes, which are too sweet snacks, and she is reluctant to eat them. Every year during the New Year, she pounded fish noodles to eat.

Over time, habits become traditions, so this year she still wants to eat fish noodles on her birthday. Jin Huizi is filial, so she went to Song Qiumin to learn how to pound fish noodles. After Song Qiumin understood her meaning, she decided to help her pound fish noodles on her birthday. After all, according to custom, it should be done on the same day.

Ao Muyang hadn't seen the scene of pounding fish noodles for a while. When he was a child, his mother would pound fish noodles for him on his birthday. In fact, the taste was just so-so. So when he started junior high school, his family conditions improved, and he changed to eating cake on his birthday.

But now recalling it, the scenes of his mother pounding fish noodles when he was young were really rare. At that time, because of the busy housework and fishing work at sea during the day, she would choose to help her son pound fish noodles the night before, and then because according to tradition, noodles should be made on the birthday, so she worked in the middle of the night and worked until the early morning of the next day.

Ao Muyang walked to the wing room, and Song Qiumin and Jin Huizi were beating the fish meat with a wooden mallet.

There was a small panel next to each of them, with some flour on it, which was sweet potato flour. The two pinched pieces of fish meat and put them in the stone mortar, and then beat them with wooden mallets.

'Bang bang bang', the sound was as familiar as ever.

Seeing Ao Muyang coming, Song Qiumin smiled and said, "Village chief, why are you here? Are you here to help?"

Jin Huizi also smiled shyly. When she saw Ao Muyang coming, she quickly took a small stool and handed it to him.

Ao Muyang waved his hand to thank him and said, "Auntie, don't worry about me. You can continue to work."

Jin Huizi is young, but she is Ao Qianlai's wife, and her seniority is higher than Ao Muyang and Song Qiumin.

Song Qiumin skillfully beat the fish into dough. During this time, she evenly sprinkled sweet potato powder on the panel, which can smooth the stone mortar to prevent the fish from sticking, and secondly, make the fish become chewy and tough.

When the fish mixed with sweet potato powder was beaten into dough in the stone mortar, she took it out and put it on the panel to roll it into a pancake and put it aside.

Ao Muyang looked at the round fish cake and praised: "Sister-in-law has great skills. Apart from my mother, I rarely see anyone who can make fish cakes so round."

Song Qiumin smiled and said: "I learned the skills from your mother."

Before her husband and Ao Muyang's parents had an accident, the two families had a very good relationship. In fact, her husband had been working with Ao Muyang's father. After Song Qiumin married, she did learn a lot of housework from Ao Muyang's mother.

But now talking about this, it is inevitable that people feel a little sad.

When talking about the past, the two of them fell silent at the same time. Jin Huizi probably knew these things. She was a smart girl with a very sensitive personality. She felt it when the atmosphere changed.

So, she cleverly changed the topic and said: "Sister Qiumin, do you think I put too much sweet potato flour? How much should I put? I can't control it."

According to seniority, Song Qiumin should call her aunt, but she is much younger than Song Qiumin, so it is quite embarrassing to call her like that, so the two of them talk about their own things together. Anyway, Song Qiumin would not call Ao Qianlai uncle.

After hearing her words, Song Qiumin perked up and looked at it and said, "It's true that there is a little too much, but it's okay. This is a job that requires practice. You will know it after making a few more fish cakes."

In the process of making fish cakes, the amount of sweet potato starch added is the key to the quality of fish noodles. Less sweet potato starch and fresh fish will make the fish noodles taste good, soft and fresh, but the noodles are not tough enough and cannot be made into fish noodles. If there is too much sweet potato starch, the fish cakes will be tough enough, but it will affect the taste and make the fish noodles not so fresh.

After the fish cakes are beaten out, they should be quickly placed in the yard to dry. After being exposed to the wind and sun, the fish cakes will dry and take shape. At this time, they should be put in a frying pan and baked over a low fire until they are seven-tenths cooked, and then cut into thin strips to make noodles. This is the longevity fish noodles.

Jin Huizi and Song Qiumin are both experienced cooks. They are clever and can quickly beat out fish cakes one by one.

Ao Muyang helped. He put the fish cakes on the bamboo curtain and put it in the yard. In order to dry it better, he asked Ao Mudong to find a ladder and put the bamboo curtain on the roof to dry.

After he was busy in the kitchen for a while, more people came to Ao Qianlai's house.

Grandma Qianlai took him away and said with a smile: "I'll pack the fish cakes. Village chief, you go to the house to drink tea. Qianlai can't take care of him, so go and take care of him."

Ao Muyang said: "Old lady, you can rest today, but I can't let you work. As for taking care of you, I don't need to do that. We are all from my own village. Why should I not take care of you?"

Song Qiumin also said: "That's right, grandma, you have been tired all your life. It's been ninety years, so you should take a good rest."

The old lady said: "Why rest? It's much lighter now than it was a few years ago, haha, and my legs and feet are fine now, so I should move more while I can."

"Yes, grandma, exercise more, exercise is good for your health!" Lu Wuji, who was walking around in the yard with big melon seeds, came over and interjected, and then he asked, "Brother-in-law, do you want to eat melon seeds? They are always delicious."

Ao Muyang said: "Okay, give me the melon seeds, and then stay here to help my sister-in-law and aunt."

Lu Wuyi was stunned and said, "What? Brother-in-law, what do you mean? I will give you melon seeds to eat and you will find a job for me?"

Ao Muyang said: "This is called exercise. Exercise is good for your health. Okay, let's do it hard. Brother-in-law, go drink tea and eat melon seeds."