NFBE Chapter 82 Apricot Jam
Chapter 82 Apricot Jam
"Brother Li, that's 84 jin in total, plus 4 jin in the basket, making it exactly 80 jin. One coin for every 2 jin, that's 40 coins. Count them." After calculating the bill, Song Jiaojiao paid.
Honest Brother Li wiped the sweat from his hands before taking the coins and counting them. "Perfect, no problem. I'm off now, my family is still picking them on the mountain."
"Okay, you must be careful when you go up the mountain. Don't climb trees that are too small. If you meet any villagers selling fruit on the way, please tell them where to go."
Song Jiaojiao said with a smile.
"Okay, I understand." After saying that, Brother Li continued up the mountain with his basket on his back.
They harvested over 400 jin (200 catties) in just one morning, so it seems there are quite a few apricot trees around here.
Qingshui Mountain is very large, with more than a dozen peaks that encircle Qingshui Village. The mountain behind Song Jiaojiao also belongs to Qingshui Mountain.
Song Jiaojiao didn't provide meals for the 20-wen wage. Everyone would leave work on their own when it was time to eat and go home to eat. Several of the older women working for Song Jiaojiao were experienced and knew the rules.
Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, Song Jiaojiao told her aunties to go home for dinner and come back later. After saying that, Song Jiaojiao left. There was still a large open space on the grounds of the workshop that hadn't been built yet. This area was also included in the land that Song Jiaojiao had bought. She planned to build a processing workshop here. Once the apricot preserves were finished this time, she would find the village chief to start construction.
Xu Da arrived home after noon. The main problem was that brown sugar was hard to buy. He had to visit three different shops to buy 200 jin of sugar. There weren't many families in town who were willing to buy sugar, and the big sugar consumers, such as pastry shops, had their own supplies, which meant that most grocery stores didn't have much in stock.
Song Jiaojiao asked Meng An to take a bag of sugar to the sweet potato shop to be pounded into a fine powder. The brown sugar they bought was in large chunks and needed to be processed again before it could be used to marinate the apricot flesh.
When Song Jiaojiao arrived in the afternoon, the aunties had already started working together. The apricots that had been washed in the morning had been drained, and the aunties had started to remove the pits. Seeing that the soft apricots next to them had also dried, Song Jiaojiao called over an auntie and asked her to process these soft apricots. They also needed to remove the pits, but it required an extra step: the pitted apricots were diced. These were for making apricot jam.
Although the brown sugar was in large chunks, it was quite brittle. In just one hour, a bag of sugar was ground into fine powder. Although it wasn't as fine as granulated sugar, it was still better than white sugar.
Song Jiaojiao saw two buckets of chopped apricots next to her. Each bucket contained about 20 jin (10 kg) of apricots. Song Jiaojiao poured the two buckets of apricots into a clean wooden basin. Each wooden basin could hold about 50 jin (25 kg) of apricot flesh, but it needed to be stirred, so 40 jin (20 kg) was just right.
The ratio of apricot flesh to sugar is 10:1, meaning that ten pounds of apricot flesh requires one pound of sugar. There are forty pounds of apricot flesh here. Song Jiaojiao scooped out four pounds of sugar and poured it in. One spoonful of sugar is roughly one pound, so four spoonfuls were just right. She stirred it well, covered it with gauze, and then sealed the lid to prevent insects from crawling in.
When everyone saw that this stuff required so much sugar, they were heartbroken. With so much sugar, how much would it cost to break even? It's definitely not something ordinary people can afford.
Song Jiaojiao had Meng Anquan pound all the sugar she bought. Once pounded, it was placed in the rice bin here. The workshop had two rice bins. Song Jiaojiao also told the aunties working there that they must seal the rice bin tightly after each scoop of sugar, to prevent ants from wasting it. She emphasized the importance of paying attention to details when making food, and even chose the most meticulous auntie to check it carefully each time.
The fruit harvest is still ongoing, with a relatively large harvest in the first two days, yielding about 600 jin (300 catties) per day. Later, all the hills around Qingshui Mountain were searched, but the villagers in the deep mountain villages still dare not go there. Last year, wolf howls were heard coming from the mountains, and it's not worth risking one's life for money.
In the following days, we only managed to get about two or three hundred catties a day. Then, after the last rain, all the fruit on the trees was gone. But that's another story.
The apricot flesh had been soaking overnight, producing a lot of broth. Song Jiaojiao arrived at the workshop early in the morning and taught them how to cook the fruit. After they learned how, the two of them took over cooking, each tending to two pots, which was perfectly manageable.
The jam was only made on the first day because Song Jiaojiao didn't refuse any of the fruit she picked, and since it had been left overnight, it naturally softened a lot. Song Jiaojiao made the jam herself. Making jam requires patience. It needs to be cooked over low heat the whole time and stirred constantly until the jam is thick enough to coat a spoon. After it cools down slightly, it is put into sterilized bamboo tubes and earthenware jars. It is important to keep it completely dry and free of oil throughout the process.
The last 200 jin of fruit pulp was boiled down to 150 jin of jam. All the earthenware jars we bought were used up, and we also filled 25 two-jin bamboo tubes.
Song Jiaojiao delivered several jars of jam in bamboo tubes to her third uncle's family, the village chief's family, the stonemason and carpenter's family, and Cheng Yun's family, telling them to eat them as soon as possible, because she didn't know how long they could be kept, and if they got moldy, they shouldn't eat them anymore.
They kept two bamboo tubes and a ceramic jar for themselves, and then took the remaining jam to town.
Song Jiaojiao thought that the owner of Huichuntang had a pastry shop, so she went directly to Huichuntang and bought a few steamed buns when she passed by the steamed bun stall.
Song Jiaojiao told Meng An to wait for her outside, and then went inside with two jars of apricot jam in bamboo tubes.
Just then, Manager Liu was standing at the door, with a tall, slender man standing beside him. Song Jiaojiao saw them talking but did not go up to disturb them.
It was Manager Liu who noticed Song Jiaojiao, who had been standing there for a long time. "Jiaojiao, why didn't you call me when you arrived?"
The man in front of Manager Liu turned around, and Song Jiaojiao met his gaze. Oh my, isn't this the owner of Huichuntang? I haven't seen him many times, and I really didn't recognize him from behind.
Liu Xuewen slightly curled the corners of his mouth and slowly said, "Madam Song has arrived." His gaze fell on the bamboo tube in Song Jiaojiao's hand, and he paused for a moment, "It seems that Madam Song has brought something good again today."
Liu Xuewen spoke with certainty; this young lady always brought him surprises whenever she came, so it seemed that coming this time was a good choice.
This Mr. Liu has a good eye; he's a true businessman.
"Master Liu has a good eye. Why don't we go to the backyard?" Song Jiaojiao waved the bamboo jar in her hand. Because it was sealed tightly, no smell came out.
"Please." Liu Xuewen bowed slightly, gesturing for him to enter.
Song Jiaojiao didn't stand on ceremony with him and took the lead into the backyard. Liu Xuewen, who followed behind, chuckled. Only someone like Song Jiaojiao wouldn't be afraid of him; as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.
Song Jiaojiao sat down without saying anything, but opened one of the jars. Instantly, a sweet aroma filled the air. Song Jiaojiao asked Manager Liu for a small, oil-free and water-free spoon, cut the steamed bun in half, spread apricot jam on it, and handed it to Liu Xuewen.