Chapter 512 Killing Pigs and Bacon for the New Year
Although the Zhang An family killed three pigs in total this year, only more than two hundred kilograms of clean meat was left.
Such a lot of meat may seem like a lot, but in Zhang An’s opinion, it is a bit too little, because if it is used to smoke bacon, it will definitely shrink a lot.
But if we kill another head, there will be too much meat left, and the family will definitely not be able to finish it.
So in the end, I didn’t pull another pig out to kill. The remaining two hundred kilograms were just over two hundred kilograms. I could make do with it until the end of the year if I saved a little on food.
Anyway, there will be many people in the village who want to kill pigs in the next few days. At that time, each family will cut some and bring back some. All the remaining mountain pork at home will be used to smoke bacon, and the fresh meat will be eaten from other people’s homes. Cut it back.
After unloading all the meat into pieces, today’s pig-killing work is almost over.
Zhang An, as in previous years, took out the money and gave it to Lin Youde as a reward for killing the pig.
But this time Lin Youde refused to accept anything he said, and said happily that he was not happy with it.
Now Lin Youde is no longer the pig butcher he used to be. In addition to farming, his family used to rely on him to kill pigs to supplement their family income.
But now, he bought a lot of kiwi seedlings from Zhang An and planted five acres of orchard.
On weekdays, he would collect some pigs from everywhere, kill them himself and sell them in the village and town.
The conditions of their family now are much better than before, because Zhang An gave him an extra portion of kiwi fruit seedlings and taught him step by step how to grow them.
So he has always done the killing of pigs for Zhang An’s family by himself, and he no longer charges any money.
“Oh, Uncle De, what have you done? Since you don’t want to ask for money, just take these three pig heads back and I’ll chop off two more pig feet for you. After all, our rules still apply. You have to keep it for a while.”
Seeing that Lin Youde was really unwilling to accept the money, Zhang An had to give him a few pig heads.
In the past, everyone had little money, so it was the rule to give pig heads, pig feet, and tails as gifts.
Lin Youde also quickly refused this. He came today thinking about what to bring back from Zhang An's house.
“Alright Zhang An, I’ll just take a pig head and you’ll be fine. Don’t chop off the pig’s feet. I don’t want to chop them off either. You’d better keep the prosciutto.”
< br>But in the end, Zhang An's family all spoke up, and they couldn't push him any further, so they had to accept a pig's head.
Although four pigs were killed, the meal time today was much earlier than at Zhang Jianwen’s house yesterday.
There were no other dishes on the table today. At most, we just added some extra vegetables.
Killing pig rice. Killing pig rice. Eat all parts of pork that were just killed today.
During the dinner, Zhu Yuliang chatted a little more with Zhang Jianwen and expressed his gratitude to the village for sending them the wax goods.
After all, everything has been collected, and you will definitely have to express a few words when you meet someone.
During the meal, everyone drank some wine, but Zhu Yuliang did not drink at all.
Although he has always been greedy for Zhang An's wine, whether it is blood rice wine or medicinal wine made with various medicinal materials.
But they had to go back to the city in the afternoon, and their man also came here today, so he could only watch others drink.
After eating this meal for nearly two hours, we finally called it a day.
After everyone set up a half-pay dragon gate array at Zhang An's house, they all dispersed and went back to their homes.
But Wu Qingzong didn't leave in the end, he stayed until the end.
"Old Zong, if you have something to do, just say it directly. Why are you so polite to me?"
Zhang An could tell at a glance that the old man stayed until the end, and he was afraid that there was something wrong with him. I wanted to talk to him about something, but I was too embarrassed to ask.
“Well, Zhang An, I just want to ask you how to raise this deer and what needs to be paid attention to.”
After Zhang An spoke, Wu Qingzong stopped dawdling. , and asked Zhang An.
At this time, Zhang An knew that the old man in front of him might want to apply for a job raising deer in the village.
But this is not surprising. After all, deer raising work in the village pays high wages, and it is in the village. This kind of work that can make money without leaving home is watched by many people in the village.
Wu Qingzong's ability to keep looking for Zhang An proved that he was more concerned about this matter than others.
After all, Zhang An is the only one in the village who raises deer, and he is the only one who has come to see Zhang An until now.
“There’s nothing special about raising this deer. It’s just like raising cows and pigs at home. It’s very simple. How about you come to the pen with me and I’ll explain it to you.”
Of course Zhang An would not refuse, so he took Wu Qingzong to the deer pen for a field lesson.
He has a lot of books about breeding here, some he bought himself and some he got from the Forestry Bureau.
I could have asked Wu Qingzong to take some back to read, but the old man didn't know many words, so Zhang An explained it to him carefully.
In the afternoon, Zhu Yuliang looked at the time and saw that it was getting late. It gets dark very early in winter, so he was ready to go back.
But before leaving, he quietly found Zhang An behind his wife at home.
"Zhang An, the tea you gave me last time is gone. Get me some more this time. After all, you won't go to the city for a long time."
Since the two met, Lao Zhu can be said to be a loyal fan of Zhang Anna’s space tea.
In the past, you could use Zhang An to go to the city to beg for some, but now after Xiao Siqi was born, this guy squats in the village every day as a full-time nanny, and doesn’t go in for months if there is nothing to do. Once in town.
"Okay, I'll get you some more this time."
Zhang An thought for a while, the last time he sent tea to Lao Zhu was half a year ago, and it was indeed a long time ago. .
Lao Zhu is also very economical. After drinking a few taels of tea for half a year, he must be very poor.
So I plan to give more to Lao Zhu this time. After all, the tea in the space has reached the point where there is as much tea as you want.
Every time he went into the space to pick tea, Zhang An would fry it directly inside. It can be said that he saved a lot.
"Well, give me two kilograms of your wine. I smelled it just now, and the wine bug kept turning in my stomach."
I didn't have it when I was eating just now. Just because he drank it didn't mean that Lao Zhu just gave up. He was always thinking about it.
He used to feel a little embarrassed, but now, it doesn't matter whether he is embarrassed or not, he has to get the good stuff first.
"Sure, I'll give you a few pounds, but you have to hide it so my aunt doesn't find out."
When Zhu Yuliang is at home, he rarely drinks. Yes, Zhang An discovered this after visiting his home several times.
Because as he gets older, his wife becomes more strict with him.
Whether it's tea or wine, Zhu Yu's conscience is filled with joy when he gets what he wants.
Zhang An returned to the house, found a box, entered the space and filled Lao Zhu with half a catty of tea. I didn’t give more because half a catty of tea was not too little, and the box could no longer hold it.
Then it was time to pour the wine. Without thinking, Zhang An directly found a five-pound jar and filled it full for Lao Zhu.
However, this wine is not puree brewed from blood rice, but has been blended by Zhang An.
Lao Zhu is the kind of person who is addicted to food. He likes to drink but his drinking capacity is not very good.
If you give him five kilograms of raw juice, I'm afraid he will be drunk after just two sips and fall unconscious, so this blended one is suitable for him.
“Hey, why did you make such a big jar for me? Where should I hide it?”
Zhu Yuliang watched Zhang An come out with a jar as big as five kilograms. , he was very, very happy at first. He didn’t expect that Zhang An would fill him with such a huge amount of trouble.
But after he was happy, he started crying again. The jar was really big and he couldn’t find any place to hide it in his car. The tigress at home would definitely find him.
“It’s not much, it’s only five pounds. If you think it’s too much, I’ll change it to a two-pound bottle.”
Seeing Lao Zhu's expression of wanting but being very scared, Zhang An couldn't help but feel a little happy, so he started to tease him.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t, I’m just kidding, I can find a place to hide it.”
When Zhu Yuliang heard that Zhang An wanted to change him to a smaller jar, he immediately shook his head and drank the wine. He grabbed the jar and held it in his arms.
Joke, how can you let something fly away when you are almost there?
At this time, Lao Zhu was heartbroken. The brave would starve to death and the timid would starve to death, so he decided to take the risk and keep the jar of wine.
After Zhu Yuliang took the wine jar and hid it in the car, he came back with the money and handed it to Zhang An's family.
This is the money he paid to buy a pig with Zhang An's family. Although the two of them have been friends for many years, and they don't feel embarrassed when talking to each other, but this size is the same, such a big pig , what should be given must be given.
Zhang An did not refuse. After taking the money from Lao Zhu, he handed it to Su Ying behind him without counting it, because Wang Fang and Wu Qiuping were holding their grandson at the moment and were not free. .
"By the way, Zhang An, we are going to prepare smoked bacon in the next two days. Your smoked bacon is very delicious. Our whole family likes it very much. I will keep 70 to 80 kilograms and a pig leg. You By the way, help me smoke some.”
Last year before the Chinese New Year, when Zhang An went to his house to deliver something, he also gave him a piece of bacon.
After it was served on the New Year's Eve, their whole family liked it very much, especially their daughter.
I knew that Zhang An’s family would be rushing to smoke bacon after killing the pigs today, so I wanted Zhang An to help smoke some.
Anyway, after killing a pig, there are more than 200 clean meat. Even if he wants to give it away, he can't give away that much.
"Okay, you can keep as much as you want, it's a convenient thing."
Zhang An would naturally not refuse such a convenient thing.
And the debt is not heavy. This year, I have agreed to help Chen Ze and Li Hongbin repay Ding Yi and the three of them smoke together. The dozens of kilograms that Do Lao Zhu and his family have is nothing.
Lao Zhu then prepared to go back, and Wu Qiuping and Su Shaowen also prepared to take his car back together.
"Dad, Mom, I won't go to work tomorrow on Sunday. Why are you so busy going back? Don't leave. I will take you back tomorrow afternoon."
It's not like you are rushing back to work. , Zhang An will definitely not let his father-in-law and mother-in-law go.
"That's right, Mom, don't leave. Stay here and see Qiqi more. Zhang An will send you back tomorrow."
As soon as Su Ying moved Xiao Siqi out, Wu Qiuping and Su Shaowen immediately gave up the idea of going home.
After all, little Siqi is the heart treasure of these old people, and nothing is as important as this grandson.
After Zhu Yuliang and his wife left, Zhang An and Su Ying were free.
When there were only Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo, Xiao Siqi rarely got their turn to take care of him.
Now that there are Wu Qiuping and Su Shaowen, it is estimated that they will not return their son to them until bedtime.
Zhang An also enjoyed his leisure time. He found the remaining ingredients for curing the bacon last year and began to prepare the ingredients for marinating the meat.
Before smoking bacon, it takes several days to marinate it, usually five to ten days, before the fresh pork can be marinated and flavorful.
Now that the Chinese New Year is only half a month away, it would definitely be best to pickle it in advance.
The recipe for marinating meat is still the old one given by Mr. Huang, but Zhang An changed it with two spices, so that the marinated meat will be more flavorful and fragrant.
After Zhang An finished weighing and proportioning the spices with a small scale, he started to prepare the marinating water.
Before marinating the meat, all the meat should be wiped with wine. This will allow the essence of the marinating water to better adhere to the surface of the pork and marinate it more thoroughly.
“I originally thought that the cured bacon can be just marinated with seasonings, but I didn’t expect it to be so troublesome. No wonder the smoked bacon is so delicious.”
Su Shaowen saw his son-in-law at the Although he was busy, he also rolled up his sleeves and came to help. He couldn't help but sigh when he saw that a piece of pork had to go through so many processes.
"We all eat at home. We must do better, just spend some time."
Zhang An's family doesn't have much work now, they have a lot of time, and he is What people pursue now is to eat well. Once they have space, their mouths will be full of food.
A total of five families had more than 600 kilograms of pork. It took more than two hours to marinate it. This was because there were many people in the family, otherwise it would have been longer.
Put all the marinated pork in a large basin and seal it with oilcloth.
After marinating for a few days, you have to take it out and turn it over. When it is finally marinated, some of the moisture in the fresh pork will seep out.
At that time, when the Kang frame is hung up and smoked with firewood, only a small amount of oil and water will drip down.
In the next few days, Zhang An ate pig-killing rice from other families in the village while waiting for the pork to be marinated.
When he was free, Zhang An took Dahei into the mountains to chop wood.
The firewood needed for curing bacon is still mainly cypress branches and camphor trees, and what is needed is fresh and moist, dry wood is not suitable.
Because if you use moist firewood to smoke, the smoked bacon will not be very dry, and the fragrance from camphor trees and cypress branches will also penetrate into the meat with the smoke, so the surface of the smoked bacon will be golden. yellow.
But if you use dry firewood, the cured bacon will not only have no fragrance, but will also be smoked very black. Moreover, such bacon will be very dry and taste very woody.
As for these trees, Zhang An had already transplanted them into the space a few years ago. This visit to the mountain was just a pretense.
After all, every household in the village has been smoking bacon recently, and many of them came earlier than Zhang An’s family.
The branches that can be cut nearby have been cleared away by everyone. If you really want to cut them down, you will have to walk a long way.
(End of this chapter)