The worst time travel, surviving seven years of famine

The old man was very happy.

Grandma Dabao, who had completed her mission, went straight to Grandma Gu as soon as she left the village head's house and reported the situation to her.

The reason why the Gu family asked Grandma Dabao for help instead of going in person was that they were afraid that Grandma Wu would deliberately keep it and not sell it to disgust people or raise the price after learning that it was Grandma Gu who wanted to buy it. There was no grudge between Grandma Dabao and Grandma Wu, so these situations would not occur. Maybe Grandma Wu knew that it was Grandma Dabao's family who wanted to buy it, and she could lower the price to sell it, so that Grandma Gu's house would be sandwiched in the middle and disgust her.

Although Lanxi Village is located in the south, it will also be frost, and a thin layer of ice will form on the water surface at night. It is not suitable to build adobe walls in this season. When the adobe bricks are dried, they freeze at night and thaw during the day, which makes them easy to crack. So we can only prepare the materials first and wait until spring to make bricks.

So Gu Liang thought that what he could do was to experiment first to see if he could make liquor.

The first and most important step in making liquor is the koji, which determines the taste and flavor of the liquor. In ancient times, the sanitary conditions were poor, and most of the koji was kept by themselves. It was unknown what kind of bacteria were mixed in the middle, which made the taste of the liquor brewed by each household different. Some are sour, some are bitter, some are rich in aroma, and some are astringent.

So the selection of koji, that is, the selection of bacterial strains, is very important. Gu Liang asked the old man and the old lady Gu to borrow some koji for home brewing in several nearby villages. He also went to several towns and bought some koji in the town winery. These wine sellers have cunning minds, and the koji they sell is quite expensive, but I don’t know how good the quality is. I was just afraid that they would have some bad intentions, so I didn't want to give them our good koji, but some bad ones to fool people.

These days, while the weather was good, Mrs. Gu took Old Man Gu to Lingbao Temple again and gave Gu Boxi some winter clothes. Lingbao Temple is in the mountains, and it is even colder than here. It is not easy to survive the winter without wearing more clothes.

When she came back, Mrs. Gu also brought back the koji from Taohuachong, a small village at the foot of Lingbao Temple. According to Mrs. Gu, this koji was from the home of the villagers who entertained them when he went to Taohuachong to spend the night. It was freezing cold at night, and they warmed a pot of wine for Mrs. Gu. Mrs. Gu felt that the wine was smooth and had a floral aftertaste, which was very good, so she asked them for some to bring back.

With so many kojis from famous sources, Gu Liang can start experimenting with winemaking.

The people of the Gu family had never brewed wine themselves before because of insufficient food, but they knew the basic steps after staying in the village for a long time.

All the koji are in duplicate, one for brewing first, and the other half for cultivating and making more koji.

Because brewing liquor takes too long, often several months, the time and labor costs are too high. Gu Liang chose to use these koji to make the common yellow wine in the countryside first, and then choose which koji is better according to the taste of the yellow wine.

There are a total of nine different sources of koji, and one koji consumes five kilograms of glutinous rice, which means that 45 kilograms of glutinous rice will be used at once. This made Mrs. Gu tremble a few times. The yield of glutinous rice is low, the price is more expensive, and it may not be made into wine in the end. Seeing that Gu Liang used so much glutinous rice, Mrs. Gu took a small bag of dried persimmons and went out to avoid seeing it.

The reason why it was a small bag was that there were no dried persimmons drying now, and Mrs. Gu could only hold so much.

After Mrs. Gu went out, Gu Liang took his mother Chen and his second aunt to make it together.

The fresh glutinous rice had been soaked for almost a day and a night, and the soaked glutinous rice was directly poured into the big pot and steamed. If one pot can't hold it all, then use the pot for cooking pig food as well. Anyway, the pigs in the pigpen will not live for many days, and a few pigs can survive the New Year.

Take out the steamed glutinous rice and spread it out to cool it for later use. Since it is winter, it cools very quickly. Add some cold boiled water when it cools down in the middle to prevent the glutinous rice from sticking to each other.

At this time, the glutinous rice is stimulated by cold water after being steamed, and it has a more crystal clear feeling. The sisters who were watching the whole process on the side couldn't help but want to grab a few bites at this time, but they were all rejected by Gu Liang. They usually don't say anything about eating, but this is a delicate work like brewing wine. If their hands are caught after playing in the mud outside, it is easy to mix with inexplicable bacteria.

Seeing that Gu Liang took it so seriously this time, Chen also hurriedly drove the children out.

When the temperature of the glutinous rice drops to a level that is not hot, about 30 degrees, you can add the wine yeast. This step is particularly critical. If the temperature is too high, it will easily kill the bacteria in the wine koji.

It is not easy to ferment in winter.

There are nine portions in total, Gu Liang, Chen and Li each have three portions, and mix the wine yeast and glutinous rice thoroughly.

Gu Lianghe specially reminded them that they must remember to wash their hands after making the previous portion, and then soak their hands in hot water to prevent cross infection.

The mixed glutinous rice is then put into nine medium-sized jars, which Gu Liang bought specially. One reason is that there are not enough jars at home, and the other is that even if there are enough jars at home, he dare not use them. Who knows whether the jar was used to pickle sauerkraut or to store lard for the New Year. Making wine is the same as making sauerkraut, and making wine is also afraid of making sauerkraut. What if lactic acid bacteria are mixed in, then is he brewing vinegar or Guizhou sour soup?

When Mrs. Gu saw the row of open jars that Gu Liang bought, she thought it was okay if Gu Liang failed. So many jars are used to press sauerkraut, so many that she can eat from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

The glutinous rice in the jar should be pressed more tightly, leaving a dimple in the middle, and then a layer of koji powder should be sprinkled on the surface, covered and left to ferment.

The temperature is low in winter, and after about five or six days, Gu Liang opened the lid and took a look. In fact, it can be regarded as wine at this time. It is the most common rice wine if eaten directly, and it is also called sweet rice wine in some places.

Except for one jar with some different colors among the nine jars, the fermentation of the other jars is pretty good, and there is a faint smell of wine.

Gu Liang looked at the source of the failed one, which was from the only wine shop in the town. I don’t know if it was because of my own reasons that the bacteria were mixed in or the koji given by the boss was not good at all.

In just five or six days, it was the first fermentation of the wine. The next step is the second fermentation, and boiled water will be added according to the amount of rice. The ratio of water to rice is basically controlled at 1:1, which is very suitable. Too much water will make the wine light, and too little water will make the wine strong.

After adding boiled water, use a stick to stir the water and rice evenly. Then cover the lid and continue the second fermentation. The second time will take longer, about a month.

As for the jar of spoiled rice wine, Gu Liang originally wanted to throw it away directly. Who knew that it was seen by the old lady Gu, who was so distressed that she almost wanted to eat it herself. Gu Liang tried his best to persuade her to stop.

This jar is also amazing. In just five or six days, the rice inside can actually breed five or six colors of mold. It is a mold culture dish.

In order to prevent the children in the village from eating it randomly, Gu Liang did not throw it away casually, but buried it in the fertilizer that was composted a few days ago. I believe that with the blessing of this pile of mold, the compost will decompose faster.