PFC Chapter 130 Making Pickled Peppers
Chapter 130 Making Pickled Peppers
Chapter 130: Pickle Pepper's First Try
The next morning, just as the sky was turning pale, Li Xiaoxiao gently climbed out of bed and began her busy day. She tiptoed to the kitchen and expertly lit a fire to cook. The iron pot on the stove gradually heated up, emitting a warm aroma. Li Xiaoxiao poured the appropriate amount of rice and water into the pot, covered it, and waited for the porridge to boil.
Meanwhile, she deftly picked a handful of fresh greens, washed them, and chopped them to go with the porridge. She poured a little oil into another pot on the stove, heated it, and added the chopped garlic and greens. Stir-frying them briefly, the kitchen suddenly filled with a fragrant aroma.
Soon, a pot of steaming egg and vegetable porridge was ready. Li Xiaoxiao also brought the side dishes she had prepared last night to the table. The color, aroma and taste were delicious and mouth-watering. She nodded with satisfaction and turned to wake her family to eat.
The family members came to the dining table one after another, sitting together and enjoying this warm and delicious breakfast. Everyone ate and chatted, the atmosphere was harmonious. Li Xiaoxiao listened to the laughter of her family, and her heart was filled with happiness.
After dinner, Li Xiaoxiao didn't rest much before beginning preparations for the upcoming chili processing. Today was the day that Shopkeeper Zhao would send someone to deliver the chilies. She had already made arrangements with Bai Dong, knowing that this year's chili production would be double that of last year. Therefore, she had specially invited her aunts Xiuqin and Li Jia to help, and also recruited eight other women from the village to participate.
Sure enough, not long after, the sound of a carriage arrived at Li Xiaoxiao's door. She hurried to the door and saw carriages parked neatly outside, loaded with bright red peppers, which looked particularly dazzling in the sun.
Li Xiaoxiao was delighted and quickly went forward to check the quality of the peppers. She opened a few bags and found that the peppers inside were plump and bright in color. She couldn't help but feel happy: "Such high-quality peppers will definitely make the most delicious chopped peppers!"
She called on everyone to work together, unloading the peppers from the carriage and neatly stacking them in the yard. Seeing this, the leading groom handed a receipt to Li Xiaoxiao and said, "Miss Li, this is the receipt for the peppers delivered today, a total of 5,000 kilograms. Another 5,000 kilograms will be delivered tomorrow. Please take a look and see if there are any problems!"
Li Xiaoxiao took the receipt, carefully checked it, and after confirming it was correct, she called everyone to work. She directed them to clean and chop the peppers. Suddenly, the yard was filled with a spicy aroma, and the air was thick with the fragrance of peppers.
The chopped chilies were placed in a large vat. Li Xiaoxiao instructed everyone to add the appropriate amount of salt, garlic, and other seasonings, then stir thoroughly. Working together, they quickly completed a large vat of chopped chilies. Li Xiaoxiao looked at the fruits of her labor and nodded with satisfaction, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
At this time, my aunt-in-law Li Jia was busy with her work while curiously asking, "Xiaoxiao, where did Xiangmanlou buy so many peppers? And the quality is so good."
Li Xiaoxiao smiled and replied, "Aunt, these peppers are all purchased by Xiangmanlou from the south. The weather is a bit cold here, and the peppers are not ripe yet!"
Li Jia suddenly realized what was going on: "So it was shipped from the south. No wonder it matures so early."
After a busy morning, they had already harvested a thousand kilograms of peppers. Seeing that everyone was exhausted and sweating, Li Xiaoxiao asked everyone to go back home to eat and rest for a while and come back to work in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, everyone continued to work on the chopped peppers. After a busy afternoon, they made another 1,000 kilograms of chopped peppers.
The next day, Xiangmanlou delivered another 5,000 kilograms of chili peppers. After Bai Dong and the coachman moved all the peppers into the warehouse in the courtyard, the leading coachman took a small bag of chili peppers from the carriage and handed it to Li Xiaoxiao, saying, "Miss Li, this is another variety of chili peppers that our people saw when they went to the south to buy chili peppers. The colors looked very beautiful, so we bought some and wanted to bring them back to you to see if we could make a new flavor."
Li Xiaoxiao took the bag, opened it, and found that it contained the colorful bell peppers she had often seen in her past life. She couldn't help but feel happy. In her past life, she loved eating pickled bell peppers. The taste was sour and spicy, and it was very delicious and went well with rice.
As she looked at the colorful bell peppers, an idea came to her mind. She decided to try making pickled peppers with them to see if she could recreate the taste she remembered.
Li Xiaoxiao got busy. First, she cleaned the colorful bell peppers and placed them in a clean jar. Then, following the recipe she memorized, she added the appropriate amounts of salt, sugar, vinegar, and white wine, stirring thoroughly.
Finally, she sealed the jar and placed it in a cool, ventilated place, waiting for the pickled peppers to ferment. A small bag of peppers just filled a small jar, and Li Xiaoxiao was filled with anticipation. She hoped that these pickled peppers would successfully ferment and produce the taste she remembered.
Over the next few days, Xiangmanlou delivered several more peppers, and Li Xiaoxiao was busy every day making chopped peppers and taking care of the colorful lantern peppers. From time to time, she opened the jars to smell the flavor inside and check the fermentation progress of the pickled peppers.
Finally, one sunny morning, Li Xiaoxiao opened the jar and was greeted by a tangy aroma. She took a bite of the pickled peppers and found them to be exactly as she remembered them.
Li Xiaoxiao was overjoyed, knowing that she had succeeded. She quickly told the news to Bai Shi, who couldn't help but pick up a piece of chopped pepper and tasted it.
"Hmm, delicious! It tastes sour, spicy, and a hint of sweetness. It's really delicious!" Bai praised it highly.
"Mom, I will take these pickled peppers to see Manager Zhao tomorrow, and ask him to send someone to get the chopped peppers." Li Xiaoxiao said happily.
"Well, then mother will prepare a smaller jar and fill some for you when we go tomorrow." Bai also said.
"Okay, thank you, Mom." Li Xiaoxiao said coquettishly.
The next morning, Li Xiaoxiao asked Bai Jing to drive the carriage and take her to the town.
When she arrived at Xiangmanlou, Li Xiaoxiao saw Manager Zhao busy at the counter at the door.
Li Xiaoxiao got off the carriage holding the small jar and came to Shopkeeper Zhao. "Shopkeeper Zhao, are you busy?" Li Xiaoxiao greeted him with a smile.
Shopkeeper Li looked up and said, "Oh, it's Miss Li. Why did you come in person today? What's the matter?" Shopkeeper Zhao asked with a smile.
"The pickled peppers I made are ready. I brought them here especially for you to try." Li Xiaoxiao said as he opened the jar.
Shopkeeper Zhao smelled the sour and spicy taste, and his eyes lit up, "Hmm, this smells so delicious!"
He picked up a pickled pepper with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and immediately his face lit up with joy, "Delicious! It tastes really good!"
"I'm glad you like it. There aren't many bell peppers, so I only made a small jar." Li Xiaoxiao said regretfully.
"Haha, this is not a problem. I will send someone to send a letter to the south later, asking the people there to buy a large amount of this lantern pepper and then send it to your home. As for the price... it's still the same price as chopped pepper. What do you think?" asked Manager Zhao.
"Of course, no problem. I'll just wait at home for Shopkeeper Zhao's people to deliver the bell peppers. By the way, Shopkeeper Zhao, can you send someone to my house to get the chopped peppers? I've already made over 10,000 kilograms of peppers in the past few days. If you don't come, my house will be full."