I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 225 Steamed Gourd Cake

Making an oven isn't difficult. Once it's done, you can bake bread, pies, and pizzas. Bai Ling had wanted to make one for a long time, but only now did she have the time.

Bai Ling first went to exchange some adobe bricks and tiles, and then took Yue and Chen to collect stones. Stones have good heat insulation properties. When building the oven, Bai Ling planned to add stones to the yellow clay so that the heat in the oven would be lost more slowly.

There are also some rules to picking stones. They shouldn't be too big or too small. The size of about half a palm is best. Also, avoid stones with sharp edges and try to choose stones that are relatively round.

The three of them picked up stones, and soon they had enough. Then they carried some yellow soil back, poured it on the ground, piled it up, dug a hole in the middle, and poured water into it.

When mixing the mud, Bai Ling also added some wheat straw, which made the mud more resilient and less prone to breaking.

Bai Ling held a ruler in her hand, first used charcoal to draw the dimensions on the ground, and then began to build the kiln bottom with bricks.

Yue and Chen assisted from the side. Qu was curious and took the cub to watch for a while at the kitchen door. The cub quickly got bored, so Qu took the cub to do other things.

The oven was not difficult to make. It was hollow at the bottom and had a semi-circular roasting chamber on top. Bai Ling did not work quickly. The oven walls he made were relatively thick, separating the bottom of the kiln from the roasting chamber. Bai Ling first laid a layer of adobe bricks, then stones, and filled the gaps between the stones with yellow mud.

The furnace was first filled with yellow soil, and then yellow mud was applied. There was a specific method to applying it: the yellow mud had to be kneaded thoroughly like dough, then shaped into long strips, and finally applied onto the yellow soil.

The built oven was left to dry until it was completely dry before the yellow soil inside the oven could be removed.

*

The sweet grass had wilted, so Bai Ling decided to boil the sugar out.

However, before boiling the sugar, we need to do something else. Bai Ling assigned Chen a task: "Chen, go and get the half-eaten melon from yesterday. I'll cut a piece and steam it in a pot. Today, I'll make melon steamed cake for you."

Chen immediately ran to the kitchen, picked up half a pumpkin, put it on the table, and asked, "Brother, how much do you want me to cut?"

"Cut them all up," the melons were as big as car tires, even half of them would be enough, the orcs had big appetites, so we had to make more to have enough to eat.

"Peel the melon, cut it into chunks, and then steam it in a pot." Chen agreed and started working. Bai Ling went to the storage room, found the dried fruit she had exchanged from the Greenwood Tribe, and took out one of them.

This fruit is about the size of a ping-pong ball, purplish-red in color, and slightly shriveled from the sun. It tastes similar to a jujube, so Bai Ling calls it a jujube.

Two of these fruit trees, Bai Ling, were also transplanted and planted in the backyard.

Bai Ling soaked these dates, intending to use them when making red date steamed cake.

Qu Heyue had already cut a lot of sweet grass, washed it clean, and soaked it in a ceramic basin. Bai Ling went to the kitchen and brought a small stone mill, washed it clean, and moved it into the main room. This was a small stone mill that Bai Ling had specially made, with a diameter of only about 30 centimeters, which was very convenient for grinding small things.

Bai Xiaoshi placed the stone mill on the stone, with a ceramic basin underneath. Bai Ling scooped up more than half a spoonful of sweet grass with a wooden spoon and put it on the stone mill to start grinding.

The ground sweet grass was ready to be cooked. As the syrup in the pot bubbled and simmered, the sweet aroma grew stronger and stronger. Chen and Qu, who were guarding the kitchen door, both took deep breaths, and the cub perched on Qu's shoulder cried out several times.

*

As soon as the three men who had gone out to cut grass entered the house, they smelled a sweet fragrance.

The sweet fragrance smelled like sweet grass, but much stronger. Lin sniffed exaggeratedly and asked, "Ling, what delicious food have you made this time? It's so sweet."

Before Bai Ling could speak, the leopard cat cub pounced on Lin, then grabbed Lin's clothes and climbed onto him. Once it was on Lin's shoulder, the cub immediately grabbed Lin's hair and started meowing at the table.

Chen called out, "Father, Uncle, we made some candy. Try it! I think this candy tastes even better than maltose."

Orcs love sweets, and when they heard that their family had made candy again, the eyes of the three orcs lit up at the same time.

*

Pumpkin steamed cake is very easy to make. Bai Ling had wanted to make some to try for a long time, but before he didn't have flour, he could only think about it in his heart. Now that he has flour and doesn't have anything he has to do, he can finally make pumpkin steamed cake.

No, in the orc world it shouldn't be called pumpkin steamed cake, it should be called wheat flour steamed cake.

Mash the steamed melon with a spatula, add a little sugar water, stir well, then add flour and soaked sourdough, and continue stirring with chopsticks.

While Bai Ling was doing these things, the whole family gathered around him and watched. Even the little one squatted obediently on his father's rubber stick, staring at Bai Ling's movements without blinking.

The kneaded dough needed to continue rising, so Bai Ling covered the ceramic pot and placed it in her bedroom.

The kang (a heated brick bed) was heated yesterday, and the bedroom is warmer than the main room.

Bai Ling put down the ceramic pot and came out. The others followed him from the bedroom to the main room. Chen asked excitedly, "Brother, do we need to ferment the rice cake to make it?"

Bai Ling nodded: "Yes, and steamed cakes are fermented even more than steamed buns."

After the dough has fermented, Bai Ling kneads the noodles into long strips, cuts them into small pieces, places them on a steamer, sprinkles halved red dates and several kinds of dried fruit on top, and a steamed cake is ready. Just steam it until cooked, and you can enjoy a delicious steamed cake.

*

Orcs don't have the concept of snacks; for them, being able to eat their fill is already a great blessing.

The pursuit of delicious food is an ingrained trait in every creature. Even if the orcs had never tasted steamed rice cake before, this was their first time eating it, and it didn't stop them from being captivated by its flavor.

Sweet, fluffy, and with the flavor of dried fruit, it's an unparalleled treat to eat.

Bai Ling knew her family's appetite, so she made a lot of dough, enough for everyone in the group to eat their fill. After everyone had tasted a steamed cake, Feng wrapped some steamed cakes in clean animal hide and said to Bai Ling, "Ling, go and take these to Yue's grandfather and great-grandfather. They're perfect to eat while they're still warm."

Before Yue could say anything, Bai Ling said first, "Let's go now."

As he spoke, he tucked the steamed cake into his pocket, grabbed Yue's hand, and headed out the door.

The Bai family's house is not far from the Yue family's house. If you walk a short distance west from the Bai family's house, you will reach the Yue family's backyard.

There were no livestock in the backyard of the Yue family, only some firewood. The two of them went straight from the backyard to the front yard, just in time to see Yue's grandfather and great-uncle preparing a meal.