kingnovel Chapter 372 What is starch? It is very useful!
Chapter 372 What is starch? It is very useful!
Everyone was surprised when Shen Zheng put the cracked clay back into the pot.
The water in the pot was just boiling, with flames jumping under the pot and white mist rising above the pot.
Shen Zheng took a wooden spoon and stirred the pot. Only then did a few people notice that she had poured something into the pot before. But it was already late at night and they couldn't see clearly even if they wanted to.
Yu Shizhang leaned his head closer and stared at the water swirling in the pot without blinking. The firelight danced on his face, making it flicker.
After a moment, he asked uncertainly, "In the pot, is... corn? And what?"
"And Angelica dahurica." Shen Zheng answered while stirring.
"Corn and Angelica dahurica?" Fang Ziyan also leaned over and asked Shen Zheng: "Sister Shen, what is Angelica dahurica?"
Feng Qianzhi also came over and took a few glances before confirming.
"It's Angelica dahurica, which is a common medicinal herb."
She counted the effects of Angelica dahurica on her fingers, "It can dispel cold, remove wind and stop heat, reduce swelling and discharge pus, etc. It has many medicinal effects. But Sister Shen, why did you throw the clay embryo into the Angelica dahurica pot? Is there any use for the cracked clay embryo?"
Shen Zheng handed the wooden spoon in her hand to Niu Chu, motioning him to continue stirring.
She took out an oil-paper bag from her bosom, took out the unused angelica, and handed it to Feng Qianzhi.
"Qianzhi, when you boil the medicine, if you add Angelica dahurica to it, what will the medicine look like?"
Feng Qianzhi took the Baizhi, and the familiar smell made her sniff it twice more.
She lowered her head and began to recall.
Angelica dahurica is common and can cure colds, so it is a very commonly used medicinal ingredient. She has also prepared many prescriptions containing Angelica dahurica.
If we talk about the difference of the medicinal juice containing Angelica dahurica...
Got it!
"I remember now! Sister Shen, if the prescription contains Angelica dahurica, the decoction will be extra thick, like... like..."
"Like snot?" Shen Zheng asked her.
"Uh..." Feng Qianzhi was stunned, "Yes! It's like snot!"
Shen Zheng smiled and asked her, "What if the Angelica dahurica juice is dried after being boiled?"
"Done?"
Feng Qianzhi unconsciously picked at the angelica in her hand, and after a while she said something that seemed to be unsaid: "The angelica juice is dry, very dry."
These words left everyone present confused.
Fang Ziyan took the angelica from her hand and looked at it, "Very dry...what does that mean?"
Feng Qianzhi clearly wanted to describe it to them, but her vocabulary was limited, so she was so anxious that she gestured in the air with her hands.
She said anxiously, "It's really hard! You have to use your fingernails to scrape it hard to get the dried angelica juice off! If you don't touch it, it will stay like that! Yes! That's it!"
She breathed a sigh of relief after she finished speaking - about the importance of learning to read from Nan Shu.
She really needs to work harder, otherwise she will be so anxious and flustered that she can't even find the words to describe an object next time!
When smart people talk to each other, they always stop at the point.
Yu Shizhang's eyes flashed, and he looked at the pot and said to Shen Zheng:
"So you threw the two cracked clay embryos into the pot and cooked them with Angelica dahurica and corn, hoping that the juice would seep into the gaps and fill them up by itself?"
"Uncle is wise." Shen Zheng praised.
Yu Shizhang shook his head and said with a smile: "It's not Benbo who is wise, it's you."
The admiring looks from Bai Song and Niu Chu were so intense that even though Shen Zheng tried to ignore them, she couldn't escape those fiery gazes.
Yu Shizhang came to her rescue. He asked curiously, "But why can the food cooked from angelica and corn fill the gap?"
Everyone present was stunned.
Yes, they only knew from Mr. Shen that the cracks could be filled with juice, but why could they be filled? Why didn't they think about it? Could it be that they have been around smart people for too long and their brains are no longer useful...
Shen Zheng chose the simplest and most brutal way of explanation—telling the truth.
"The product of the mixture of the boiled substance of angelica dahurica and corn and water is called starch water. When the water containing starch is dried, starch will be left behind."
"Starch?" Everyone asked in unison, "What is starch?"
"Starch is also called flour, which is mostly white. It is mostly found in grains and plant roots and is another form of sugar. It is edible and can also be used for weaving and dyeing. Its characteristics are that it is sticky and has low water absorption."
This explanation was new to everyone present; before this, they had no idea what starch was called.
Shen Zheng looked up and seemed to see big question marks above everyone's heads.
She smiled softly and explained in a different way:
"If you trace it back, starch has actually existed for a long time, but it has never been popularized. For example, the water used to wash rice also contains starch. Oh, and the white powder on the rice actually contains starch as well."
After saying this, everyone understood.
Fang Ziyan's mouth opened wide, his eyes shining brightly in the firelight.
He said blankly: "Sister Shen, you are really amazing..."
Shen Zheng chuckled, "I didn't discover starch, I read it in a book. If Zi Yan and everyone read more books, you can also learn a lot from them."
Yu Shizhang sneered when he heard this, thinking he was lying to the kids again.
But the children were still fooled, and more than one child was fooled.
The four children present nodded heavily, as if they had made some kind of resolution: "Don't worry, Sister Shen, we will study hard and become as great as Sister Shen!"
Praise and reassurance spoken by children always sound pleasant to the ears of adults.
Shen Zheng's smile was bright and charming under the firelight, which stunned the little followers.
The smile on her face had not yet faded. She looked at the pot and called out, "It's almost done. Niu Chu, take out the movable type embryos."
As soon as the movable type embryo was fished out, everyone gathered around it, their eyes glued to it.
The situation was exactly as Shen Zheng had predicted. The original cracks were filled with the boiled starch. If it weren't for the difference in color, it would be almost impossible to tell the difference.
Yu Shizhang held the clay figurine and looked at it in the light of the fire for a long time. He couldn't help but pick at it with his hands, but was stopped by Shen Zheng.
"Uncle, the starch is not dry yet, you can still scrape it off with your hands. You have to leave the clay to sit overnight, and the starch will solidify tomorrow."
Yu Shizhang quickly withdrew his fingers and patted Shen Zheng on the shoulder.
"Youth are to be feared, you are to be feared. Benbo knew that you were the right person to do this."
Shen Zheng chuckled and pointed to the sky.
"I still have to thank God. It was he who gave me the inspiration."
It just rained, and the night sky is no longer dark today. There are many stars twinkling in it, like the blink of a beauty.
Yu Shizhang looked up at the sky and joked with her: "Think about it from another perspective. Maybe God can't bear to see his beloved daughter frowning."
Before he spoke, no one present thought about it in this way.
But once he said this, Tongan County had another beautiful legend...