Rebirth 1979: Marrying a poor girl at the beginning

Tang Xiaofu tilted her head and frowned her beautiful eyebrows. She thought for a moment, then her beautiful eyes suddenly lit up and she said in surprise, "Zhengjun, do you want to make maltose?"

"You are really smart and you understand everything at once!" Lin Zhengjun smiled and scratched her straight nose.

"I was wondering why you were buying malt on credit this morning!"

Tang Xiaofu shyly dodged and smiled: "Da Mingbai is still so proud, thinking that he has made a great profit. When you make money, they will know..."

"The clown is actually me!" Lin Zhengjun added.

"Hehe, that's a true portrayal. They are just clowns who think they are smart."

Tang Xiaofu raised her little face slightly and said proudly, "They never thought that my Zhengjun was smarter. It seemed that he suffered a loss, but in fact he made a big profit!"

Upon learning of Lin Zhengjun's plan, the little girl immediately expressed her willingness to help Lin Zhengjun make maltose.

Lin Zhengjun readily agreed.

When he returned home, Lin Zhengjun discovered that another batch of wheat had grown suitable malt.

"Just cook all the remaining grits!"

Lin Zhengjun washed the remaining 30 kilograms of corn dregs, put them into a large iron pot, and added enough water.

Without being told, Lin Hongying took the initiative to sit in front of the stove, pulling the bellows with one hand and stuffing firewood into the stove with the other.

The bright red flame licked the bottom of the pot, and twenty minutes later, white steam with a hint of sweet smell rose up around the lid.

He scooped out some with a colander and checked to see if there was any hard core. When he was sure that the corn grits were cooked through, Lin Zhengjun scooped out all of them, spread them out on a mat in the yard, and let them cool.

"Why does it have to be refrigerated?" Tang Xiaofu asked curiously.

"Amylase in malt is a protein that catalyzes the hydrolysis of starch and is inactivated at high temperatures."

Lin Zhengjun explained as he turned the corn slag over: "So the corn slag must be cooled to below 35 degrees Celsius. It can only be too cold, not too hot. If the temperature is too high, you need to add some cold water."

"Zhengjun, you are so knowledgeable!" Tang Xiaofu's beautiful eyes flashed with deep admiration and full of admiration.

Lin Zhengjun mixed the chopped malt and barley in a ratio of about one to five, and put them in a water tank to start fermentation.

This process may take four to five hours at the fastest, or six hours at the slowest, depending on the temperature and the concentration of the protease. It should be successfully fermented in the early hours of the morning, so they can be done together.

Lin Zhengjun estimated the time and said with a smile: "The malt and barley from this morning should be fermented. Let's go and have a look!"

"that's amazing!"

Tang Xiaofu and Lin Hongying came to the water tank with great anticipation, and sure enough, bright yellow translucent sugar liquid had seeped out between the barley and malt.

“It was quite successful!”

Lin Zhengjun scooped some with a spoon, tasted it, and handed it to Tang Xiaofu, saying with a smile: "Try it too!"

Ah? Isn't this an indirect kiss? Tang Xiaofu's face turned red, her heart was beating wildly, but she still tasted it shyly and happily.

Suddenly, I felt sweetness in my mouth and heart, and said with a smile: "It's really sweet, and there is a fragrance of malt, refreshing!"

"I'll pull the bubbles out of the sugar and then dry it. It will become crispy and taste better." Lin Zhengjun said with a smile.

Next, Lin Zhengjun found a brand new piece of cotton cloth, washed it, and used it as a "filter" to filter out all the sugar liquid.

A total of 200 kilograms of sugar liquid were filtered out. Of course, there will be a discount after removing the water.

The residue of corn grits and malt will not be wasted, but will be used to feed pigs and chickens, making their stomachs full.

"Hongying, use a low fire, just one or two sticks of firewood will do. It won't be good if it's too hot."

Lin Zhengjun asked Lin Hongying to light the fire. He first fried a pound of sesame seeds and a pound of rice flour, and then took them out for later use.

Next, take 20 kilograms of sugar liquid and put it into the iron pot, stirring it constantly with a wooden stick to prevent it from sticking to the pot and burning.

The water gradually evaporates, and the maltose gradually becomes thicker and turns slightly yellow. This is called "syrup" and some people sell it directly.

But in Lin Zhengjun's opinion, this can only be regarded as a semi-finished product, which is not easy to preserve and carry. It must be put in a bottle and eaten with a spoon or a stick.

The fire in the stove went out. After waiting for a few minutes, the temperature in the pot dropped slightly. Lin Zhengjun endured the high temperature with his hands and folded the maltose in the pot more than ten times.

While Lin Zhengjun was folding the sugar, Tang Xiaofu fried some cooked sesame seeds in a pan behind her and sprinkled the sesame seeds evenly on the sugar.

The aroma of the sesame seeds is stimulated by the temperature of the sugar, and an enticing sweet aroma fills the air.

Lin Hongying's nose twitched and her saliva was about to flow out

Making sugar in a hot pot is like practicing iron sand palm, which tests one's hand skills the most.

Fortunately, in his previous life, after the reform and opening up, Lin Zhengjun opened a hemp candy workshop. He was a master craftsman and was very skilled at the work.

The next step is to “pull the sugar”.

The purpose of pulling sugar is to fill the sugar with an appropriate amount of gas so that the sugar will refract its luster and turn white.

At this time, you have to operate while it is hot and your movements must be clean and quick. While pulling, you must also observe the color and shape of the sugar. You must keep pulling until enough pores appear. This is the most technical step.

Lin Zhengjun sat on a clean bench, hung a large ball of malt sugar on one end of the bench, and kept pulling with force on the wooden stick in his hand.

As Lin Zhengjun pulled it again and again, the originally yellowish-brown malt sugar gradually turned into milky white as if it were cast by magic.

"Zhengjun, you are amazing and have great skills!" Tang Xiaofu praised with an innocent look on her face.

Next, Lin Zhengjun placed the soft sugar ball on the chopping board, stretched it into a long and thin shape, cut it into small pieces, and then sprinkled it evenly with cooked rice flour.

Leave it to cool for a while until the moisture evaporates completely and the sesame candy becomes completely cold and crispy, then you are done.

"Wow, it looks delicious!" Tang Xiaofu and Lin Hongying said excitedly.

"You all try it!" Lin Zhengjun said with a smile.

Tang Xiaofu picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. With a light chew, the candy turned into powder and exploded in her mouth. The rich sweetness mixed with the aroma of sesame and malt seemed to dance on her taste buds, causing her saliva to secrete rapidly.

"It's delicious! It's better than fruit hard candies and comparable to White Rabbit milk candy!" Tang Xiaofu's beautiful eyes lit up and she praised it endlessly.

"It's so fragrant, crispy and sweet. Brother, your cooking skills are so good!" Lin Hongying was almost moved to tears by the sweetness of the food.

She had tasted cane sugar once during last year's Spring Festival and she missed the sweet taste so much.

Lin Sanhuai and his wife put down the wicker baskets they were weaving and went to the kitchen. When they saw the freshly baked maltose, they were also amazed and couldn't believe it: "Is it really done?"

In fact, the old couple have been worried all the time.

They knew their son's character better than anyone else. How could he, who was lazy and had no knowledge of farming, do such technical work?

But unexpectedly, the sesame candy I made looked quite good.

"Try it, it's crunchy and very sweet!" Lin Zhengjun said with a smile.

The old couple each picked up a piece and started eating. The malt sugar was so delicious that they almost swallowed their tongues.

Lin Sanhuai nodded nonchalantly: "Not bad!"

"What do you mean by 'okay'? Would you die if you praised your son?"

Seeing her husband's inconsistent expression, Zhang Shuqin smiled and said, "It's obviously delicious. It's sweeter and more fragrant than cane sugar, granulated sugar and fruit candy. It will definitely sell for a good price!"

Hearing this, Lin Sanhuai blushed.

Tang Xiaofu and Lin Hongying were both full of anticipation. Lin Zhengjun's maltose plan was really successful and they could make money!