I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 836 - 362: From Shelled Chestnuts to Silky Liangfen—The Magical Transformation of Food!
"Mom, is it troublesome to make cashew jelly?"
Shen Baobao wasn’t really hungry, just bored and wanted a snack.
Chen Meijuan took out the wild chestnuts she brought. The small chestnuts were much smaller than regular ones, but because of their low yield, the chestnut flavor was very rich.
"Not troublesome. You just peel the chestnuts, grind them into a juice, then cook it until it’s thick, put it in a bowl to cool, and that’s it. It’s very simple."
Is that simple?
Shen Baobao was utterly confused.
Originally, she wanted to learn a unique dish from her mother-in-law to outshine a certain copycat chef. But now it seems... she’d better choose another dish.
She didn’t want to try overshadowing Yan Bao only to be overshadowed by her mother-in-law instead.
Even though she couldn’t learn it, she could still film it, perfect for practicing her photography skills, so she wouldn’t be criticized for inexperience when filming Dundun later.
She ran upstairs to get the point-and-shoot camera, handheld stabilizer, tripod, octopus stand, lighting equipment, and other gear. Once she set it all up in the kitchen, Chen Meijuan began cooperating to make the dish.
First, cut the chestnuts open one by one, then put them in a pot to boil for a while, making it easier to remove the shell.
After ten minutes, the chestnuts were taken out, the shells were removed, and each golden chestnut was peeled.
Smelling the delightful aroma, director Shen curiously asked:
"Mom, can we eat them now?"
"No, the boiling time is too short, so the outside is cooked but the inside is still hard. If you want boiled ones, I’ll make them for you later. Anyway, I brought a big bag of chestnuts, plenty to eat."
"Thanks, Mom!"
Once all the chestnuts were peeled, Chen Meijuan put them in a blender, added water, and blended them three times, turning the chestnuts into a fairly thin paste.
Then she poured it into a basin and did the same with the remaining chestnuts.
After blending everything, she took a clean basin, lined it with a kitchen filter cloth, leaving the corners outside, and poured the paste on it. Then she lifted the corners of the cloth and squeezed it hard.
A large amount of chestnut water was squeezed out.
Once most of the water was squeezed out, she dumped the remaining pulp back into the original basin.
"Mom, can these leftovers be used?"
"Yes, since we have plenty of time today, I can bake some chestnut cakes for you to try."
What? These leftovers can be made into crisp cakes?
Mother-in-law is amazing!
After taking a few close-up shots, she saw Chen Meijuan pouring the filtered white liquid into a non-stick pan, and followed her to continue filming.
At this point, a large amount of starch from the chestnuts had been filtered into the water.
Simply heat and stir the liquid.
So-called cashew jelly is just mixing various starches with water to form a paste, then heating it into a semi-transparent thick liquid, and cooling it to set, becoming jelly.
After seeing this, Shen Baobao felt the difficulty level was indeed not high.
Other than needing a knife to open the chestnuts at the start, the other steps seemed very simple.
Hmm, she had a chance to challenge it, to let Xu Bao know that she’s not just a pretty face; she can cook delicious food on her own too.
At first, being filmed was somewhat uncomfortable for Chen Meijuan.
But on second thought, it was an opportunity to bond with her daughter-in-law, so she decided to let it be filmed. Given her age, as long as her daughter-in-law was happy, that was what mattered.
As the cooking continued, the white chestnut water in the pot became noticeably thicker, and the fragrance of the chestnuts wafted continually from the pot.
Unlike jelly made from other starches, chestnut juice, since it was unrefined, had a stronger flavor, and the jelly made from it was fragrant and delicious.
"Wow, such a fragrant chestnut aroma."
Director Shen found food photography genuinely challenging because the enticing aroma easily distracted her.
Truly, no field is easy. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
With continuous stirring, the semi-transparent liquid in the pot became increasingly thick.
When it seemed about right, Chen Meijuan turned off the stove, took out several insulated food containers, and greased the inside. She used a spoon to scoop the cooked jelly into the containers.
Next, it was time to wait.
Once the jelly cooled down, it would be ready to eat.
Chen Meijuan took a large basin, filled it with water about halfway, and put the containers with the jelly in it.
This allowed the jelly’s heat to gradually be absorbed by the water, warming it without cooling the jelly too much.
Since it was winter and nighttime, it was best not to consume too much cold food.
The jelly needed more cooling time, so Chen Meijuan looked at Shen Baobao and asked:
"Do you want to eat chestnuts boiled in syrup or chestnut cakes?"
This question left director Shen quite indecisive because the more she filmed, the hungrier she got, wanting to try both delicacies.
But compared to chestnuts boiled in syrup, she chose the wild chestnut crisp cake, which she hadn’t tried before.
"I’ll have the cakes. Mom, is it troublesome? If it is, never mind the trouble."
"It’s not troublesome; you’ll be able to eat them soon."
Chen Meijuan brought over a bowl filled with wild chestnut remnants, added a bowl of low gluten flour, then added caster sugar, an egg, milk powder, baking soda, and baking powder.
After mixing it all well, she added half vegetable oil and half lard, kneading it into dough.
She rolled the dough into long strips, then cut it into uniform pieces.
She rolled each piece into a ball by hand, placed them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and let them rest for over ten minutes.
Seeing these complex steps and ingredients, Shen Baobao thought, does her mother-in-law call this simple?
It’s too complicated, isn’t it?
Just the amount of ingredients used is enough to make one’s head spin, not to mention the dough kneading techniques and so on... indeed, baking is not for someone as cute as me to handle.
