Chapter 16: Solitary Termite Mushroom
Because they had gathered husuozi yesterday and gone to sleep rather late, Ying Kongtu also woke a little later than usual.
After getting up, he yawned as he boiled well water to make tea.
The water on the small clay stove had not yet come to a boil when Wen Zhongshan came over to visit.
Seeing Wen Zhongshan appear outside the gate, Ying Kongtu’s eyes showed a little surprise.
Wen Zhongshan smiled and said, “I guessed you’d be frying quite a lot of mushrooms today. I happened to have nothing to do at home, so I came over to help.”
“I thought you’d also wake up later today. Thanks. There really is quite a lot to do today.” Ying Kongtu turned his head and asked, “Have you had breakfast?”
Wen Zhongshan shook his head.
“How about noodles?”
“Anything is fine. Everything you make is delicious. I’m not picky.”
“Then let’s wash the husuozi first, then eat noodles.”
The husuozi they gathered last night had been left by Ying Kongtu in a winnowing tray to air out and had not yet been washed.
Ying Kongtu carried them out, then drew well water and poured it into a large wooden basin before beginning to wash them.
Wen Zhongshan moved a small wooden stool over and sat opposite him, washing with him.
The branches of the husuozi had a certain hydrophobic quality. When soaked in water, the branches became wrapped in tiny bubbles, sparkling brightly.
Ying Kongtu said to Wen Zhongshan, “No need to rub them, or you’ll rub off the little fuzz and flower buds. Just place them in the water and gently swish them to wash off the dust.”
Wen Zhongshan copied his movement, gently swishing the branches under the water. “Like this?”
“More or less. You can swish them a little harder.” Ying Kongtu said with a smile.
Ying Kongtu divided the washed husuozi into small bundles and tied them with grass stems.
After all the husuozi had been washed, Ying Kongtu hung them upside down beneath the eaves.
“Once the moisture dries, they’ll be very fragrant when used to fry mushroom oil,” he said.
With the husuozi washed, Ying Kongtu carried a small extra bundle of husuozi and two washed cucumbers into the kitchen.
Wen Zhongshan tacitly went to tend the fire.
Ying Kongtu took two bundles of buckwheat noodles from the cupboard.
After the water in the large iron wok boiled, he put the buckwheat noodles in, cooked them, scooped them out, and cooled them in well water. Then he blanched a handful of pea shoots.
Ying Kongtu took out two large ocean bowls. Into each bowl, he put a small piece of lard, soy sauce, dried shrimp, fine salt, fragrant vinegar, chopped scallions, chopped husuozi, and other seasonings. He mixed them evenly, ladled in a spoonful of noodle broth, then added the cooled buckwheat noodles, pea shoots, and shredded cucumber.
“All done.” Ying Kongtu handed one bowl of noodles to Wen Zhongshan. “Your taste is similar to mine, so you should be used to it.”
“I will be. It smells very fragrant.” Wen Zhongshan took in the scent—the refreshing fragrance of cucumber and the fragrance of husuozi.
Ying Kongtu took another small plate and filled it with pickled deer-ear chives. “Have some pickles. The flavor will be richer. Do you want chili oil?”
“Yes.”
And so, the two sat in the courtyard and ate breakfast.
After Wen Zhongshan mixed the noodles evenly and took a bite, he found that they were indeed extremely delicious.
The mixed noodles were sour, spicy, and rich, and every mouthful carried a very layered fragrance, among which the fragrance of husuozi stood out the most.
He had only just gotten up and had not originally been very hungry.
But after tasting these noodles, his appetite opened completely.
Especially the husuozi and cucumber inside: the clean yet rich fragrance of the husuozi paired perfectly with the sour-spicy seasoning, making the flavor outstanding. The cucumber’s fresh fragrance finished it off, its faint aroma and refreshing taste just right.
“Delicious. I didn’t expect husuozi to go so well with noodles.”
“Boiling husuozi oil separately and using it with noodles is also very delicious. I’ll make two bottles separately this evening.”
“All right.”
The reason he had to wait until evening to make it was because they had to go up the mountain today to gather mushrooms.
Ying Kongtu had been gathering mushrooms on the mountain for so long that he knew the mushroom patches on the mountain clearly.
He led Wen Zhongshan up the mountain.
“It rained these past two days, so there should be many mushrooms on the mountain. Let’s go look for boletes first.”
Ying Kongtu knew the general growing locations of some mushrooms. Although he might not be able to gather mushrooms every time he went, as long as they searched several spots, they would definitely not come up empty.
They climbed the mountain all the way. Slowly, more mushrooms began filling the basket.
Boletes, green russulas, coral mushrooms, milk-cap mushrooms, chanterelles, pine milk caps, red russulas…
Most of the mushrooms were very plump and thick. Only a small portion had been nibbled by insects and birds.
But that was fine. They only needed to break off the nibbled parts, and the rest could still be eaten.
“There really are so many mushrooms on your mountains.” Wen Zhongshan turned to look at the back basket that was almost full. “The other mountains probably don’t have this many mushrooms, right?”
“Maybe? The temperature and humidity this season are both right, so there are just many mushrooms on the mountain.”
Ying Kongtu beckoned. “We’ve gathered enough ordinary mushrooms. I’ll take you to pick something heavyweight.”
“What?”
“You’ll know once we get there.”
There were no paths on the mountain. Ying Kongtu led Wen Zhongshan around turns and bends, walking toward the mountainside.
As they walked, the mountain breeze suddenly carried over a sweet fragrance.
Wen Zhongshan stopped and sniffed.
It was the smell of peaches.
“There’s a wild peach grove ahead,” Ying Kongtu turned back and said. “Are you hungry? We can pick peaches to eat later.”
“I’m all right. Who planted the peach trees?”
“I don’t know. They’re probably wild? No one manages them, and I’ve never seen anyone come to pick the fruit.”
Wuchuan Mountain and the other three mountains had already been placed under Ying Kongtu’s name. If anyone had any objections, they should have raised them during the public notice period.
Since no one had, then they all counted as wild trees.
Of course, they were all Ying Kongtu’s trees now.
They turned another bend, and before them, there was indeed a wild peach grove.
Ying Kongtu set down the back basket. “Wait a moment. I’ll pick a few peaches.”
The trees in this peach grove were all local wild hairy peaches.
The hairy peaches had gone unmanaged for many years, yet they were growing quite well. Especially the peaches at the treetops—they looked large and red, and smelled sweet and fragrant.
It was just that this kind of wild peach also attracted all kinds of wild animals.
Although there were many peaches on the trees, half had been eaten by insects and half by birds. Very few were intact.
“There’s no water on the mountain, so break them open to eat.” Ying Kongtu picked a peach and signaled for Wen Zhongshan to split it open. “Just eat the flesh directly.”
The peaches were already fully ripe, soft, fragrant, and sweet. After being split open, the pit could be removed whole.
Ying Kongtu broke it into several pieces and held them in his hand to eat, without dirtying his hands or clothes at all.
Wen Zhongshan copied him and split his peach, also splitting it perfectly.
The peach tasted very good. It was full of juice, and the peach fragrance was extremely rich, quite different from the peaches Wen Zhongshan bought in fruit shops.
“I always thought this kind of hairy peach wasn’t very tasty.”
“Of course they aren’t very tasty if they’re not ripe.” Ying Kongtu gave him another peach and said, “But hairy peaches ripened on the tree are different. In fact, most fruits that can naturally ripen on the tree are quite delicious.”
“I’ve discovered that. The oranges you brought me last time were also delicious, sour and sweet.”
“Old varieties of oranges have a richer flavor.”
After the two finished eating peaches, Ying Kongtu led Wen Zhongshan onward. “Come on. Let’s collect rent.”
“The rent is the heavyweight mushroom you mentioned?”
“Yes.” As Ying Kongtu spoke, he could not help laughing. “Actually, it’s termite mushrooms. Deep in the peach grove, there’s a patch of termite mushrooms. When I used to gather mushrooms with others, they liked to call it collecting rent.”
Termite mushrooms grew in termite nests and were symbiotic fungi of termites.
Orchards had excellent environments and abundant food, often attracting termites to make their homes there.
Many local orchard owners would deliberately leave the termites in their orchards in order to dig up termite mushrooms.
Every year, after the termite mushrooms appeared, the orchard owners would go near the termite nests to dig them up. That counted as the termites “paying rent.”
Ying Kongtu led Wen Zhongshan to the place where termite mushrooms often grew. With one glance, Ying Kongtu saw the large termite mushroom growing on the ground.
Wen Zhongshan saw it too.
“What a huge termite mushroom!” Wen Zhongshan crouched down and measured it with his hand. “It’s bigger than my hand.”
“Why else would I call it a heavyweight mushroom?” Ying Kongtu broke off two branches nearby and handed one to Wen Zhongshan. “This kind is the solitary termite mushroom, also called one-legged termite mushroom, one of the most delicious termite mushrooms. Let’s dig slowly.”
The termite mushroom was not only the part that grew above the surface; beneath it, there was also a long stipe.
The two followed the damp soil, slowly digging away the earth around the stipe. In the end, they pried out more than ten centimeters of the stipe.
Wen Zhongshan weighed it in his hand. “This one termite mushroom alone weighs more than a jin.”
“Around one and a half jin.” Ying Kongtu also took it and weighed it, then said with excitement, “Let’s dig the next one.”
They dug up a total of four termite mushrooms in the peach grove, three large and one small. Every one was extremely plump and tender.
Ying Kongtu carefully filled the dug-up soil back in. “There should be more in a few days. I’ll come take a look again then.”
“Will they keep growing?”
“They’ll grow until the end of September. Once the weather turns cold, they’ll gradually stop. All right, let’s go home.”
They had gathered many mushrooms today as well.
After returning home, Ying Kongtu poured the mushrooms onto the open space in the courtyard. After he and Wen Zhongshan finished showering and came out, they slowly processed them.
Mushrooms also belonged to the category of foods that were delicious but difficult to wash. Wild mushrooms usually hid a large amount of dirt and grit. If they were not cleaned carefully enough, eating sand would be very unpleasant.
Both Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan were very patient.
They first scraped the dirt from the mushroom stems, then placed the mushrooms in well water and gently stirred them clean, washing every mushroom thoroughly.
While they were washing mushrooms, Dart strolled back, circled and rubbed against each of their legs, then lay down in the open space, lazily keeping the two of them company.
Baskets of washed mushrooms were piled beside the well to drain.
Ying Kongtu picked out a few milk-cap mushrooms, chanterelles, tiger’s paw mushrooms, and others, planning to save them for soup later. The rest of the mushrooms were all going to be used for mushroom oil.
The mushrooms for frying mushroom oil did not need to be cut. Large mushrooms could be torn into pieces, while small mushrooms only needed to have their water drained.
Fortunately, his home had a large firewood stove and a very large wok.
With so many mushrooms, frying two wokfuls would be just about enough.
Ying Kongtu poured in bright rapeseed oil and the chicken fat he had rendered in advance. Once it was hot, he directly poured half a basket of all kinds of mushrooms into the wok.
Wen Zhongshan added a piece of firewood into the stove. “It takes this many mushrooms to make one batch of mushroom oil?”
“Yes. The secret to making it delicious is being willing to use all kinds of expensive mushrooms.” Ying Kongtu dragged a chair over and sat beside Wen Zhongshan. “Let it fry slowly. It needs a long time.”
These mushrooms all had relatively high water content. They had to be fried until the water evaporated and the oil became clear again. Only then could husuozi, Sichuan peppercorns, chilies, and other ingredients be added.
Ying Kongtu took out the chilies and cut them into thin strips. Wen Zhongshan cut them together with him.
These chilies were all chilies Ying Kongtu had grown on the mountain this year.
After the chilies turned red, he picked them and dried them beneath the blazing sun.
Now, these chilies had been dried to an extreme dryness. Even the chili stems had dried into little wooden sticks.
The chilies themselves had dried into a semi-transparent, hard, glass-like texture.
With just a slight cut from the scissors, the chilies released a spicy, rich, slightly sweet tropical scent.
They were completely different from the bland, nose-stinging chilies sold on the market.
The firewood burned fiercely, slowly frying out the moisture from the mushrooms in the wok, while also allowing the aromas of the various mushrooms to gradually blend and concentrate.
Once the mushrooms were fried dry, Ying Kongtu added Sichuan peppercorns, chili strips, and husuozi.
Stimulated by the mushroom oil, the flavors of the later-added spices also gradually merged.
In the end, a perfect wok of mushroom oil with a restrained fragrance was fried.
This wok of fried mushroom oil smelled somewhat unremarkable. Only when it truly entered the mouth could one feel all the aromas suddenly burst open and clash fiercely inside the mouth.
After the two batches of mushroom oil were finished, Ying Kongtu waited for them to cool, then packed them into clear sealed jars one by one.
Wen Zhongshan looked at the jars of mushroom oil and said, “I can truly feel now what it means to be rich.”
Ying Kongtu raised his head and glanced at him. “Come on. The numbers in your bank card can’t give you that feeling?”
“That’s different.” Wen Zhongshan shook his head. “Only this mushroom frying oil can truly make someone feel harvest and satisfaction. Just thinking about it makes me feel happy.”
Ying Kongtu smiled. “Then this time, we’ll keep a few more jars of mushroom frying oil.”
