My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Chapter 138: Ejiao Cake

"Chang Lang, I'm done washing up!" Gu Li shouted after wiping his face.

"Then let's go to the kitchen now." Chang An also stood up, picked up the basin of water, and left the room with Gu Li.

On the way from his courtyard to the kitchen, Gu Li did not see Huaiqin and Zhen'er. He suddenly became curious and asked, "Chang Lang, why didn't I see Huaiqin and Zhen'er today?"

"I asked them to buy some things for me." Chang An answered simply.

Gu Li nodded, and then asked: "What does Chang Lang want to do today?"

"It's just donkey-hide gelatin cake. It's not difficult to make, but it may take some time." Chang An said with a smile, "Fortunately, I asked someone to deal with the donkey-hide gelatin before."

"Donkey-hide gelatin cake?" Gu Li knew what donkey-hide gelatin was and what cake was, but when the combination became donkey-hide gelatin cake, she didn't understand.

Chang An remembered that the earliest donkey-hide gelatin cake appeared in the imperial palace. Emperor Minghuang of Tang Dynasty specially ordered people to develop it for Yang Guifei to eat. Now it was still ten or twenty years before Yang Guifei entered the palace, so it should have never appeared. It was normal that Gu Li didn't know about it.

"It is a pastry made with donkey-hide gelatin as the raw material, supplemented with wolfberry, walnuts, red dates and black sesame seeds. Gu Niang can also be understood as a kind of medicinal pastry." Chang An explained.

"We don't have walnuts and black sesame at home. So I asked Huaiqin and Zhen'er to go buy some early."

"But why did Chang An prepare this donkey-hide gelatin in advance?" Gu Li still didn't understand. It was impossible that Chang Lang knew about his daily life, right?

"This..." Chang An laughed awkwardly at this time, "First of all, this donkey-hide gelatin cake can nourish the yin and moisten the lungs. Gu Niang's lung disease has just improved, so the later stage cannot be left behind."

"Secondly,... doesn't Gu Niang want a child very much? It will be so hard to have a child, and you will definitely lose blood during labor. This donkey-hide gelatin cake can replenish blood and stop bleeding, and it has the effect of stabilizing the pregnancy."

Gu Li couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

"Chang Lang has so many things in mind..."

Chang An smiled and said, "Of course, we need to plan ahead! Everything must be prepared early, otherwise it will be useless to prepare at the last minute."

Gu Li nodded and began to flatter Chang An again: "Chang Lang is really awesome, no wonder so many people want to be friends with Chang Lang."

"Little flatterer." If Chang An hadn't been holding a basin of water in his hand, he would have reached out and scratched Gu Li's nose.

After arriving at the kitchen, Chang An casually handed the basin to a servant, then called over a servant and asked, "Where is the donkey-hide gelatin that I asked you to soak two days ago?"

"Sir, they are all safely placed in a corner," the servant replied.

Chang An nodded and said, "Then go get half a catty first, and get some rice wine."

"Yes, sir." The servant responded and called another servant to go and deal with it with him.

Then, Chang An called another servant and asked him to heat up the pot. At this time, Chang An was not idle either. He found a square wooden container, and then simply applied some oil on it and used it as a mold for the time being.

"It seems that we have to ask Huaiqin to go to the West Market to make a mold this afternoon..."

As for Gu Li's matter, Chang An had accidentally overlooked it because the two of them were not as shameless as they are now. He was not aware of it until last night, so the matter of donkey-hide gelatin cake was directly put on Chang An's agenda.

After he smeared the oil on the mold, the servant at the beginning also brought donkey-hide gelatin and rice wine. After Chang An took another look at the pot that had been set up, he ordered:

"Now put the donkey-hide gelatin and rice wine in."

After the servant agreed, he put half a pound of donkey-hide gelatin into the pot, and then, under Chang An's instruction, poured in an appropriate amount of rice wine.

It takes some time for the donkey-hide gelatin to melt. During this time, Gu Li drank the medicine. Huaiqin and Zhen'er also bought all the red dates, wolfberries and other things.

Chang An casually pointed to an empty space and asked the two of them to put the materials aside. Then he looked at a servant and said,

"Go get some prepared rock candy."

"Yes, son."

Old rock sugar is needed to make donkey-hide gelatin cake, and the rock sugar that Chang An had previously refined is old rock sugar, which is just right for use.

After seeing that the donkey-hide gelatin in the pot was almost melted, Chang An put the rock sugar into the pot and stirred it with a spoon. Then he raised his head, looked at the servants surrounding him and Gu Li, and began to give orders again:

"Two people go, shell the walnuts and pack them. Two more people go, light a fire and fry the sesame seeds. One person goes to wash the red dates, cut them and remove the cores. The last person goes to wash the wolfberries. They'll be used later."

The servants all turned around and left, leaving only one to watch.

At this time, Chang An was a little bored, so he looked up again and saw Gu Li, Huai Qin and Zhen Er standing by. Zhen Er and Huai Qin also found a stool for Gu Li to sit on.

At this moment, Chang An suddenly asked, "Zhen'er?"

When Zhen'er heard that she was called, she hurried forward and asked, "What do you want, sir?"

"You are in charge of Gu Niang and the medicinal materials at home, right? Do you have brown sugar at home?" Brown sugar is red sugar.

Zhen'er thought about it for a moment and replied, "Yes."

"Go get half a piece, mix it with hot water, and give it to Madam Gu to drink."

Brown sugar water is something that countless straight men in modern times can make. After all, when their aunt comes to their house, she always asks the fatal question, which makes many brothers and sisters anxious like ants on a hot pot. However, it is obviously the best and most affordable method, but in the Tang Dynasty, not everyone could afford to drink brown sugar water.

"Yes, son."

"Huaiqin?" After giving instructions to Zhen'er, Chang'an called again.

"Young Master, I'm here." Huaiqin also came over and waited for Chang'an's instructions.

"Go back to the room and find a book on the desk to entertain Mrs. Gu." Chang An ordered.

"Yes, son."

Huaiqin received the message and turned to leave. At this time, Gu Li also said, "Bring Chang Lang's copy of Zuo Zhuan. Put it in the middle of the desk."

"Okay, Sanniang."

After the old rock sugar and donkey-hide gelatin and rice wine were mixed and melted, Chang An put the pot and spoon aside, because the next step was to wait for the donkey-hide gelatin to hang the flag. There was no point in rushing for half an hour.

So he came to Gu Li, picked her up, then sat on the stool himself, while Gu Li sat on Chang An's lap.

"Chang Lang has come at the right time. What does this 'Zhou Ren once said: When a countryman sees evil, he should do it like a farmer weeding the grass. He should weed and prune the weeds, cut off their roots and prevent them from growing. Then the good will believe him.' mean?"

"Especially the phrase '芟夷蕰崇之', I don't understand it. If the grass is piled up, won't it still ruin the field?"

Chang An smiled and explained, "Mrs. Gu only knows that 'fallen petals are not heartless, they turn into spring mud to protect flowers', but don't you know that weeds can also turn into spring mud like flowers?"

"It means that when a person who governs a country or a family sees evil, he should do so like a farmer eager to remove weeds, hoeing away its accumulation to fertilize the field, digging out its old roots and not letting it grow again, so that good things can develop."

Gu Li nodded, and then asked in a low voice: "So was Chang Lang doing something like weeding at that time?"

"Yeah, but I was just talking, nothing much." Chang An said with a smile.

At this time, Zhen'er brought a bowl of brown sugar water. After Gu Li took it, he pointed to a certain place and asked, "Then Chang Lang, what does this sentence mean?"

"Let me see......"

......

I sat in the kitchen like this for more than half an hour, until the servant came over and said, "Master, Sanniang, the donkey-hide gelatin flag has been hung."

"Okay!" Chang An picked up Gu Li again, and after he stood up, he put Gu Li back on the stool.

Then, he came to the big pot, where the red dates and wolfberries were processed and dried. He first used a spoon to pick up some donkey-hide gelatin and found that it was indeed sticky. So, he rolled up his sleeves and poured the walnuts directly into the pot and began to stir.

During the mixing process, the donkey-hide gelatin was a bit stringy, but under Chang An's "magic power", it was quickly mixed. Then he put the chopped red dates in, mixed them well, poured in the wolfberries, and finally the black sesame seeds, which he mixed three times.

After stirring, Chang An put the pot and spoon aside and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he waved his hand and called two or three servants to come over, poured the donkey-hide gelatin cake into the container that had just been greased, smoothed it, and put it in a cool place.

"Chang Lang, is the donkey-hide gelatin cake ready?" Gu Li also came over and asked.

"Okay, all that's left is to wait for it to cool and solidify." Chang An said with a smile.

Gu Li nodded, and then saw Chang An instructing a servant: "When the donkey-hide gelatin cake reaches room temperature, put it in the water tank so that it can solidify faster."

"Yes, son."

Then, Chang An took Gu Li by the hand and said, "Let's go back to the house."

"Okay!" Gu Li shook Chang An's hand again.

"With the donkey-hide gelatin cake, whether Madam Gu has a cough or is pregnant, she can eat it in the future." Chang An said with a smile as he walked, "I originally wanted to save it for a surprise for Madam Gu."

Gu Li also said something funny at this time, "What a surprise! I don't know when I can eat it."

"The latest will be tomorrow, hurry up, it can be tonight." Chang An also said with a smile.