After learning where the different pots and the mortar and pestle were located, I thanked Chef Cooke before immediately pulling out the rice from the cabinet.
As I waited for the rice to cook on the stove (since I didn't have a steamer or a rice cooker) I went into the garden to grab some red beans and strawberries for filling.
The strawberries were rinsed, cut, then tossed into another pot on the stove with a bit of water and sugar. I also rinsed the beans, throwing away any broken ones, before pouring them into a pot with water and boiling them.
The red bean will take a while to cook, so I'll work on the strawberry filling first.
I turned off the fire for the rice and placed a lid on to keep the rice steaming. As the rice finished cooking, I dragged the mortar and pestle over so that I could pound the rice into glutinous rice dough.
The heavy stone mortar was an absolute pain to move around, and I was trying to be extra careful so that I didn't accidentally scratch the shiny marble floors. I laid two towels on the ground to help protect the marble and slowly shifted the mortar onto the towel in order to slide it closer to the pot of rice.
Someone knocked on the kitchen door as I was moving the mortar into place, and Lionel's head peeked through.
"I knew you would be in here when you didn't answer me in your room."
"Yep. It's been a while since I've been in the kitchen," I replied, lifting the lid to the rice to check on it. "Would you like to help?"
"Are you just saying that so your own arms don't get sore?"
He's too perceptive. Hopefully I can still convince him to pound the rice for me.
"You're stronger than me which means you can get it finished faster. We can take turns too, if your arm gets tired," I told him.
"What do you need help with?" He asked, as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.
"The rice will be done cooking soon. I'll transfer it to the mortar, and I need you to use the pestle to grind the rice until it's all one sticky mass of dough."
Lionel lifted the pestle up, eyes widening.
"Why's this thing so heavy!?"
"Well... It is made out of pure stone..."
"How long will it take!?" he complained. "If my arm is as sore as last time, I won't even be able to train properly tomorrow."
"That's why I said we can take turns," I stressed. "Besides, doing this is probably a better workout for your arms than any other exercise."
I drained the water from the pot of rice before pouring the rice into the mortar.
"Here, let me show you how to start," I took the pestle from Lionel, explaining to him how to mash the rice together (not that it needs much explanation).
As Lionel got busy with the mortar and pestle, I checked on the strawberries, which were bubbling and reducing nicely. The red bean water had a yellow tint to it, which told me the beans had been cleaned, so I took the pot off the stove and poured the water out before refilling it again to continue to cook.
"Why'd you replace the water?" Lionel asked.
"The first boil is just to cleanse the beans. The second time is to cook them. Some people will clean them more than once, but I don't feel like waiting even longer for the beans to cook," I explained.
"How long until they are ready?"
"Probably around an hour and a half..."
Should I get my books to read while I wait? I wish I could watch some movies or something. This would be such a perfect time to binge a show.
A/N: Happy late Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!
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Let's Start A Bakery!
FantasyReborn as a lady into a strange family. How will our protagonist achieve her life's dream of starting a bakery when she has to worry about living until 14 first? Read to find out! Corvalia has suddenly been taken over by someone else. "What the...
