Chapter 86

When rice wine is first fermented, it is called jiu niang (sweet rice wine). At this stage, it has little liquid and is mainly consumed for its sweet flavor with very little alcohol taste. Some dishes made with jiu niang include jiu niang tang yuan (sweet rice wine dumplings), brown sugar jiu niang egg, and jiu niang red beans.

To increase the alcohol content, a second fermentation is needed.

The second fermentation takes one or two days based on the initial jiu niang.

During this time, the alcohol flavor becomes stronger, the sweetness decreases, the rice grains become hollow, dry, and woody, making them unpleasant to eat. It is primarily consumed as rice wine.

“Soak the glutinous rice for two hours, until you can crush it between your thumb and forefinger, like this,” Shuiqing demonstrated, scooping out the soaked rice from a wooden basin.

“Then drain the water and steam it until fully cooked. You need to manage the time and heat yourself.”

“Let it cool, and mix evenly with the wine yeast powder. We make the wine yeast ourselves, but since it’s out of season now, I’ll teach you how to make it next year.”

“Finally, wrap it in clean cotton cloth and cover it with a lid.”

Shuiqing explained carefully, and the apprentices listened intently.

They knew better than anyone how hard it was to earn money.

Since they had an opportunity to earn money, they were determined to seize it.

Shuiqing first explained the process roughly. Once the rice was steamed, she brought out four basins for Hu Mu, Yan Qiu, Xing Hui, and Fan Jiang to work individually.

Fan He and Fan Hu were too young to participate in the process.

The remaining four were to see if they were suited for making rice wine.

Making jiu niang and rice wine is similar to pickling vegetables; some people can make delicious food effortlessly, while others, even when meticulous, end up with inedible results—either moldy or sour and bitter.

They used spring water for the process.

Since it was cold, even with thick cotton blankets around the wooden basins, it would take at least three days to see results. During this time, Hu Mu processed the radishes sent by the village women into spicy and sour radish strips, dried radish, and pickled radishes for storage.

None of the radish greens were wasted and were also pickled.

They were kept for eating when there were no vegetables in winter and could also be served with porridge in the morning.

Any leafy greens that couldn’t be eaten in time were made into dried mustard greens to prevent spoilage.

Shuiqing watched all this while swallowing her saliva.

These were authentic, additive-free, and pure dried mustard greens made at home. They would be delicious steamed with pork belly in winter, oily and tasty!

It must be said, the quality of life for lazy people and diligent people is entirely different.

Thinking back to the original host’s life with Fan Mu, it was endless vegetable mush and wild vegetable mush in winter—dried vegetables prepared by the original host and her two daughters in the summer.

In contrast, when she was at home, even breakfast with plain porridge could be accompanied by several small pickles, making life quite comfortable.

The original host had a tough life, enduring many years of hardship with Fan Mu.

Not only the original host, but many girls in this era had hard lives. No matter how good their maiden family was, marrying into a bad family ruined their later life…

At least in Hua Country, one could start over after divorce…

On the third day, the results were revealed.

The whole family squeezed into the thatched house’s main room, anxiously waiting.

Even Hu Wenhua temporarily stopped making adobe bricks to join and hold his breath.

The first basin opened was Fan Jiang’s.

As expected, it was covered in black mold.

“That’s strange. I washed my hands thoroughly, using the soap mother bought, and even cleaned my nails before mixing the yeast!” Fan Jiang muttered in confusion.

For the first attempt, everyone only used one jin (about 500 grams) of rice, so the loss was small.

Except for Shuiqing and Fan Jin, the others were still heartbroken.

Fan Jiang concluded, “Maybe I shouldn’t have used my hands. I should’ve used chopsticks to mix it!”

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Hearing that chopsticks should be used for mixing, the other three immediately felt anxious.

They had also used their hands to mix!

The second one opened was Xing Hui’s.

When the cotton cloth was lifted, there were no black spots or mold, and everyone surrounding it breathed a sigh of relief.

Shuiqing scooped a few spoonfuls into bowls in front of each person for tasting.

“Sour?”

“Indeed, it’s a bit sour.”

It was barely acceptable for home consumption, but definitely not sellable.

Xing Hui stepped back, dejected.

After two consecutive failures, Hu Mu frowned, her thoughts heavy.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s rare to succeed on the first try. We just need to keep practicing,” Shuiqing comforted.

Hu Mu was concerned about the precious rice being wasted if they kept failing.

Unexpectedly, when Hu Mu opened the third one, it was a success!

“Mom’s is different! It’s sweet, and there’s a wine flavor!” Hu Wenhua took a taste and was the first to exclaim joyfully.

“It’s delicious! This is even better than rice wine,” the younger ones exclaimed in surprise.

Shuiqing also found the sweet rice wine (jiu niang) tastier than rice wine, but most rice wine buyers were men who preferred the stronger alcohol flavor.

With Hu Mu’s success, the family’s spirits lifted slightly.

Finally, they opened Yan Qiu’s batch.

As soon as the lid was lifted, a sweet aroma of rice wine wafted out.

“Strange, the soaking time for the rice was the same, the steaming time was the same, the yeast was the same, and the method was the same. How come the eldest sister’s even smells better!” Fan Jiang wondered, puzzled.

Shuiqing thought: …Scientifically, it could be due to different microbial flora on each person’s hands. Some people are naturally suited for this, some are not.

From a mystical perspective, there’s no reason; some people are just born for this!

It turned out that Yan Qiu had a natural talent for brewing. Her wine was clear, sweet-smelling, initially sweet to the taste with a lingering wine aroma… In short, it was exceptionally delicious.

“Great, eldest sister, we can make rice wine and sell it in the county town!” Fan He excitedly grabbed his sister’s hand and planned, “You make it at home, and Dad and I will drive the ox cart to the county town to sell it!

We’ll use part of the money to buy more rice to continue making wine, and the rest to buy rabbits, sheep, and piglets to raise. When they grow up, we can sell the meat and fur, and with the money we earn…”

Shuiqing thought: …You’re thinking too far ahead.

Endless cycles of chickens and eggs.

Ultimately, the batches made by Yan Qiu and Hu Mu were set aside for secondary fermentation with spring water.

Fan Jiang’s batch had to be discarded—it was too risky to even feed it to the chickens in case it harmed them.

Half of Xing Hui’s batch was mixed with flour to make rice wine steamed buns and cakes, and the other half was used to make rice wine sponge cakes.

Holding the soft, fluffy rice cake, Hu Mu couldn’t bear to eat it, constantly marveling, “It’s as soft as cotton. Who would’ve thought that such a little bit of rice could make such a big cake.”

Hu Wenhua took a big bite and, swallowing quickly, exclaimed, “If Xing Hui’s can be this delicious, imagine how good Yan Qiu’s would be!”

Thinking about how their mother’s was even better than Xing Hui’s, they felt even more hopeful.

Hu Mu, however, was thinking: Such delicious and cost-effective rice cakes could definitely be made for sale.