She Only Cares About Cultivation-Chapter 759: [742] Beast World Farming 52 (3 updates)
This year, the females of the Nandi Clan, to varying degrees, all began to make cotton cloth, quilts, and clothes from stinky fruit cotton. She had only taught for a month before she left with Jin Han, so during that time, any issues they encountered were directed to Lili, who had become her successor. Whenever there were any uncertainties, they would seek out Lili first, and under her guidance, Lili would share all she knew generously.
As a result, Sugar and Lili’s status within the entire Nandi Clan now surpassed even that of the Clan Leader, the High Priest, and Witch Doctor Mu Nai.
This year, with the help of cotton clothing, everyone seemed to be having an easier time during the Cold Season.
During the daytime, space on the heated platform would be cleared to dry the grains, which were then ground into flour and stored in her space. Whether it was millet, sorghum, or buckwheat, all were turned into flour, except for the husked millet, which was kept whole.
She didn’t peel the coarse grains like millet, so naturally, they weren’t as delicate as modern ones, but for the Beastmen, who ate meat daily, these grains were easier to digest, so consuming more coarse grains was quite reasonable.
Last year’s glass noodles had almost all been eaten, so this year she continued to make sweet potato flour, potato flour, and lotus root powder. The remnants from these processes, along with the bean dregs from tofu making, were all kept to feed the poultry and livestock at home. And now their numbers had grown: the Wild Boar Family had expanded to six members, the Cow Family was a family of four, the Sheep Family had eight, and the Chicken Family had about fifty or sixty, so every few days, they would cook fresh chicken soup, the freshest kind.
The pigeon and quail families had grown to several dozen each. Quails, with their short growth cycle, needed to be replaced every few months, making fried quails almost a staple on their plates, although compared to other giant beasts, their meat was hardly enough to fill the gaps between teeth and thus didn’t cause much excitement, being deemed more like a snack.
Their old cave home had now become a dedicated breeding base, with Lang Sen immersing himself there whenever he wasn’t out, chopping vegetables and feeding the animals. He took his duties very seriously, which made Sugar feel their father-son duo was truly worth taking in.
With a higher consumption of vegetables at home, vegetable leaves, as well as wild greens picked in summer, became the prime fodder for the livestock, along with sweet potato vines, peanut vines, and various crop stalks and leaves. The cows and sheep ate all of these, pigs particularly favored sweet potatoes, while the chickens, quails, and pigeons preferred a mix of various food scraps with vegetables.
In truth, there were many insects in the Beast World, but she hadn’t had the time to deal with them. If she could breed maggots and earthworms, her livestock enterprise could develop further, but she was still in a phase of development and couldn’t afford it. So, she figured once everything stabilized and she didn’t need to run around, she would be able to settle down and employ some long-term workers to expand her livestock and farming endeavors.
Because food recognition was still in its infancy and required her leadership, she temporarily had no time to consider other matters.
The supply of brown sugar and fructose was also running low. Fructose seemed unattainable this year, as there had been less fruit collected since everyone spent more time gathering grain crops, reducing their collection of wild greens, mushrooms, and fruits. This led her to experiment with growing fresh mushrooms, and fortunately, there was no shortage of cut sugarcane. But its processing was too complex, involving pressing, juice extraction, and cooking to set the shape. The only consolation was that everyone had become skilled at this work, and it could be done well even without her reminders.
After milling the flour from buckwheat, sorghum, and millet, she began to experiment with making noodle and steamed bun dishes.
Although these flours were all from mixed grains and didn’t stick together as well as wheat flour, it was still possible to make noodles and steamed buns with them.
In ancient times, there was no baking soda; fermentation was natural.
So after she kneaded the dough, she covered it with a damp cotton cloth and a wooden lid, and placed it on the heated platform. Because warm places naturally allow fermentation, and the air naturally contains wild yeast, she mixed a little of all three types of flour. Later, when making flower rolls, she combined them to see which tasted better, to see if they matched the flavors of a previous life.
Without stainless steel steamers, the Beastmen made her many bamboo steamers, and since there was cotton cloth at home, the conditions for steaming buns were adequate.
She had been worried that the dough wouldn’t rise, but to her surprise, after fermenting overnight, the dough in the bowls had puffed up by the next morning. Good thing she had sprayed them with water twice more, otherwise the surface would have surely dried out. Thankfully, she had placed them at the end of the heated platform, and even there, the effectiveness was evident, which showed just how conducive the Beast World environment truly was.
Earlier, she had them make her dough kneading boards from a centuries-old tree, which produced not just a few boards but also several tabletops, as they didn’t need to be assembled or nailed and had no woodworm – these were sawn off with iron saws. Since they were still getting accustomed to iron items, the work was not perfect, with uneven surfaces that had to be smoothed out later with grinding stones. A kneading board or rolling pin might seem simple, but in reality, patience and effort were required behind the scenes.
Remarkably, they found natural plant glue, and applying this glue made the boards smoother, and the rolling pins were treated the same to enhance durability, with many, many layers applied. With this method, they even made three or four large tables and some stools for the house.
Sometimes Sugar would jokingly say that if these few people were in the modern world, they could all become expert woodworkers, haha!
So why would Sugar know woodworking? Well, she didn’t really know either – maybe she had done it in a dream?
(Hmm, indeed, she has done it before, Long Gang was originally a carpenter, wasn’t he?)
Next, she planned to make cabinets and tables as well, but time had to be squeezed out of her busy schedule, so it was not too late to start after she finished this current batch of tasks.
The dough required a bit of alkaline powder, which she extracted from the salt-alkali land. Without it, the steamed dough would turn sour and taste awful.
So, while kneading the dough, she also mixed in the alkaline powder, allowing it to combine with the yeast. Only then would it taste delicious.
The buckwheat flour turned black, the millet flour yellow, and the sorghum flour was just a shade lighter than the buckwheat. She kneaded three batches of dough and then rolled them flat, brushing them with oil, sprinkling salt, sesame, scallion, and Five-Spice Powder on top, then rolling them up, cutting them into proper sizes. Thus, she finished making the tri-color mixed grain oil rolls.
Besides the oil rolls, she also made a variety of cornbread and steamed buns. Their family’s iron pot was large enough to cook two layers at a time, but even with two layers, she estimated that they would all be eaten in one meal.
After covering the pot with its lid, she had Lang Sen stoke the fire, then immediately returned indoors to stew the dishes. Steamed buns had to be paired with side dishes to taste good.
Today was going to be a meal full of new types of food, so it needed to be more sumptuous. Stewing didn’t require pouring oil, or even stir-frying the vegetables first.
She just poured in clear water, added lotus, previously marinated internal organs cut to the right size for eating, slices of cured meat, cabbage, glass noodles, Blood Tofu, fried tofu, plain tofu, tofu skin, as well as bean curd sticks. "Ah well, add whatever’s available," she said. After filling the big pot with an ample array of ingredients, she began adding various seasonings. Stewing in this way would make the dish even more flavorful.
Do you know why Northeastern people love stewed dishes?
It’s because it’s too cold there. If you stir-fry vegetables, by the time you bring them to the table they might have gotten cold before you even sit down.
That’s why, in the North, most families prefer stewed dishes during the cold winter months.
Since the side dishes were already fried, they could be stir-fried before stewing if desired. However, as Tangtang felt there was meat and fried items, there was no need. Moreover, the longer the veggies stewed, the better the flavor.
The vegetables were perfectly stewed, and it was time to take the buns out of the pot. Just sitting by the stove, she could smell the scent of steamed buns filling the entire yard. Lang Sen commented as Tangtang approached.
"This smells really good!"
Tangtang couldn’t help but chuckle, "It’ll taste even sweeter." When the vegetables were half-stewed, she instructed Lang Sen not to add any more firewood, so by this time the fire had died down to just glowing embers. During this process, the steamed buns were also just about done. She brought over a bamboo basket lined with cotton cloth, lifted the heavy iron lid off the pot, and was greeted by a wave of steam, warm and carrying the tantalizing aroma of the food. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Curious, everyone gathered around her as night had fallen and the house was rather dark. Although there were oil lamps made from animal fat, their light range was limited. To enable her to see better, four lamps were lit and brought over.
She used chopsticks to lift the corner of the cloth liner, and the steamed buns detached themselves from it. She then quickly transferred the buns to the basket.
After two baskets were filled, she tossed the steaming cloth in water to soak, making it easy to clean later. The steaming rack was set upright; the bits of dough that had stuck to the bottom of the buns were scraped off and could be fed to the chickens.
The aromatic large steamed buns were laid out on two tables, everyone holding either one cub or two in their arms. They couldn’t just leave them on the ground to eat like animals, so they had to hold and feed them. Thankfully, holding a bun with two paws, they managed to nibble at it with great relish. However, when it came to the vegetables, they preferred to dive into the dish face-first. Every time they finished eating, they had to wipe their heads like an old lady, such a heartwrenching chore!
Lili always transformed after meals, suppressing the urge to do so during the meal. Her bed was actually a pool designed for her soaking, and her sister had even made a special stone pool in her room, the water of which could be drained into the vegetable garden. The drainage system meant that she could change the water daily and still meet her needs. During the day, she slept on the bed like everyone else, but transforming afterward was always a bit troublesome.
Fortunately, the house was warm, much happier than before when she was in her own home. The kindness of her sister, she reckoned, was something these children would never forget.
