Spring is a season worth savoring.
Not only are there pleasing flowers and refreshing floral scents, but also a vast array of nutritious and delicious wild vegetables.
If you are willing to imrse yourself in the search, you’ll find the delicious gifts of nature spread across the hills.
Among the countless types of wild vegetables, dandelion is the most nostalgic; a true delicacy of Spring that offers a taste of the season with just one bite.
Dandelion is also known as "popo ding"; it can be used as dicine, and both its roots and leaves have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, heat-clearing, and detoxifying properties. Its tender shoots and yellow flowers are edible, while the roots and old leaves can be brewed into tea.
"Dandelion salad or dandelion scrambled eggs both work."
Jiang Yu glanced at the field not far away where Hu Zhihai, Yan Tongtong, and others were playfully chasing each other while picking dandelion shoots, chuckled softly and said,
"If they pick enough, we can have a salad for lunch and scrambled eggs too."
"If you put it that way, you’re making hungry."
Upon hearing this, Jia Dequan was imdiately enthusiastic, laughed heartily, and said,
"I haven’t had dandelion in years, now I really want to savor it again. Just wait, I’ll help pick so too; I’m worried we won’t have enough to eat later!"
With that, he left Jiang Yu behind and walked briskly toward Hu Zhihai and the others.
"..."
Watching Jia Dequan, whose face was beaming with joy, stride swiftly, exuding a "young at heart" aura, Jiang Yu couldn’t help but pause for a mont.
However, he quickly regained his composure and, not lingering behind any longer, briskly followed suit.
Spring outing, spring outing, after all, isn’t the essence of spring revealed through these trips?
An old man and a group of young n and won entered the verdant, flower-laden field, frolicking like a troop of monkeys in an orchard.
"Alright, we should head back to the village now; the family there is probably about to start cooking."
As noon approached, Jiang Yu reminded himself about the cooking and promptly called everyone to a halt, then turned to see Hu Zhihai holding dandelion shoots with his jacket and couldn’t help but laugh and say,
"Is this all you’ve picked? If it’s not enough to eat, you can’t bla !"
"Isn’t this enough?"
Hu Zhihai had certainly had his share of adventures this morning, with his clothes covered in green grass juice and mud, and even his face smudged like a painted cat. He held up the bulging jacket in his hand and said,
"We picked all the dandelions in this area; there must be several pounds here!"
"This much? Then it’s definitely enough, eating too much of this isn’t good anyway, just a taste will do."
Jia Dequan probably hadn’t exercised this strenuously for a long ti, and now he panted heavily, his hair soaked with sweat and pressed firmly against his forehead. He wiped the sweat from his brow, smiling as he said,
"Today’s outing was truly to the right place, excellent scenery, good air, and even able to pick so wild vegetables; not bad at all!
If I’m still in Jiangzhou next year, we have to co again; it would be even better if we could stay for a day or two. This village is so quiet; surely we’ll sleep well at night!"
"Why wait till next year? If you want, you can stay tonight; it just involves a small lodging fee."
Jiang Yu turned to glance at him, chuckled, and said, "Since you have your phone with you, if you get tired of staying here, call Zhihai to pick you up."
"You’re all going back; why would I stay alone?"
Jia Dequan rolled his eyes and said, "If I can’t eat well, no matter how quiet it is here, I certainly won’t sleep well!"
As the group chatted, they returned to the village, where the hoowner was waiting at the door and, upon seeing them, breathed a sigh of relief, quickly instructing his wife to get lunch ready.
He then led everyone into the main hall, busily serving tea to everyone.
Jiang Yu was indeed a bit thirsty, and after drinking a cup of tea, he inquired about the location for washing vegetables and went with Hu Zhihai to clean the dandelion shoots.
During this ti, Hu Zhihai had run off to discuss borrowing the kitchen for cooking with the host, and even got four fresh eggs.
Anyway, Jiang Yu and the others were going to have lunch here, and the host behaved generously, allowing them to use whatever was in the kitchen.
It was all factored into the costs anyway.
In the host’s eyes, these young people from the city want to cook for novelty; needless to say, the taste of dandelion is bitter, and only villagers know how to cook it well. It would be surprising if these young people could make it delicious.
In the end, they would probably need to resort to chicken and fish stew, making a whole table of farmhouse dishes to fill their stomachs.
Ultimately, it’s all just playful ssing around!
With help from Yan Tongtong and the other girls, Jiang Yu quickly cleaned the picked dandelions and separated half to blanch in boiling water, then instantly cooled them in chilled water.
Once the blanched dandelions cooled, he squeezed out the excess water and put them in a bowl.
He then washed and chopped chili peppers and garlic, sprinkled them over the dandelions, and added salt, MSG, sesa oil, vinegar, and other seasonings.
Finally, he heated oil in a pan, and when the oil was hot, he poured it over the dandelions with a sizzling sound. A rich aroma, mixed with garlic scent, instantly perated the entire kitchen.
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