Chapter 3: Soft and hot rice rolls
Quartz and Aster went to their bedroom, which was still there, unchanged, while their parents' bedroom next door was still closed. Since their parents always worked away from home, that room was closed longer than it was used, and now the whole house had moved to another world.
The two sisters still slept in the same room, changing into comfortable home clothes.
They were now completely free, so they could do whatever they wanted, it was surprising that things in the house that needed electricity to work, but like the blender, everything was still working as usual.
Even the water heater, they breathed a sigh of relief, if there was no hot water to bathe, it would be very difficult.
After the older sister finished bathing first, she turned on the computer and started her own work, making a list of the next day's menu, along with the ingredients needed, and then doing it. Meanwhile, her younger sister had nothing to do so she started practicing the zither, a traditional musical instrument of Vietnam.
Quartz did not feel uncomfortable because she liked listening to music, any kind of music she listened to as long as it could relieve stress at work.
When her younger sister finished bathing, she immediately went to dry her hair, then she noticed that there seemed to be something very strange about her eyes. The vision of a nearsighted person like her, which was blurry, suddenly became clearer, and to confirm it once again, she put on her glasses and saw that looking through the glasses was only blurry.
When she discovered this, she immediately ran into the room to share this good news with her older sister Quartz.
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The two goddesses Ambrosia and Melodie were observing their two girls, which was very interesting.
"So you gave your little sister a clearer vision?"- Ambrosia
"Not only that, but also beauty. As a music lover, beauty is something that cannot be lacking, that is my standard!"- Medolie
"You really love beauty"- Ambrosia
"What about the girl you chose? Why didn't you give her beauty?"- Medolie
"I think she doesn't seem to be the type of person who likes to put on makeup, but rather someone who is more into developing her natural beauty."- Ambrosia
"Developing her natural beauty? That's really rare, most girls are people who like to beautify themselves, always using all kinds of methods to make themselves more beautiful, yet that girl doesn't want to?"- Medolie
"That girl Quartz seems to be someone who cares more about her talent and work than herself. Let's continue following watching them" - Ambrosia
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The next morning, Quartz woke up first from her sleep, yesterday she worked until midnight so when she woke up she already had an idea of what today's menu was.
When she checked the dry goods cabinet, she noticed something different, the bag of flour she used yesterday now filled an entire drawer. It was obvious that she only bought one bag of flour, so why did more bags of flour suddenly appear?
Then she went to check the other cabinets and sure enough, there was something very strange, ingredients and spices that she had never seen before, appearing all over her kitchen. Could it be that someone had snuck in here last night when she slept?
But the house showed no signs of a break-in, the furniture was still intact, could it be that the thief just entered the house and left without doing anything? Is there any thief in the world that is so kind?
Putting that thought aside, Quartz thought that this morning she should eat something light and not too much, so she decided to make a dish called hot rice rolls.
There are not just one but many types of rice flour, each with its own unique uses to make different types of rice rolls. Rice rolls are made from rice flour combined with tapioca starch, creating a sticky, non-hard cake with a soft, supple texture.
The flour is already ready, so she just needs to mix it well with water, just enough water so that when poured into the steamer, it will not be too liquid or too thick.
Next is the filling inside, the traditional filling includes minced meat that has been stir-fried in a pan, mixed with dried onions, and chopped wood ear mushrooms or wood ear mushrooms. Of course, spices are indispensable, just a little because hot rice rolls are a dish with a mixed dipping sauce, so there is no need to add much.
The ingredients are ready, now it's time to make it. Quartz uses a non-stick pan, then uses a soft brush to brush a little fat on the surface of the pan, then adds the thin rice roll batter and shakes it gently to spread the batter evenly throughout the pan before closing the lid. Steaming for a long time, the surface of the rice rolls is cooked, then she uses her hand to take the rice paper out and place it on a cutting board, then puts the filling in the middle and finally rolls it up.
Don't forget the main part of this dish, which is the mixed fish sauce, this is the highlight of the dish. There are many places that have different flavors of dipping sauce, so everyone has different tastes, Quartz has a strong taste, so the dipping sauce she makes will be salty with a slightly sour and sweet taste.
But she also has to make a portion for her younger sister, so she makes it a little lighter, adding pepper, chili, and minced garlic to make the dipping sauce more delicious.
So she ran out to the garden to find chili and garlic, ran to the chili area and picked the red ripe chili. Garlic is grown differently from other plants because it belongs to the onion family, so it is usually grown in pots. When Quartz got to the onion pots, she was surprised.
Her pots were destroyed, the pots were knocked over, and soil and vegetables were scattered everywhere.
What exactly destroyed her potted plants?
Quartz looked down and saw animal footprints, judging by the size and shape, it could be a horse. It was only natural, since her house was in the middle of nowhere with no other houses in sight, there would definitely be wild animals lurking around, it would probably be better to put up a fence around it.
Following the footprints, it led to a nearby bush, it seemed like there was a creature hiding behind it, it seemed like the creature inside noticed her approaching and shook the bush, a feeling of fear rose in her heart. Quartz immediately grabbed a rake and used it as a weapon.
As soon as the creature jumped out of the bush, Quartz was startled and stepped back, intending to swing her weapon to attack.
Quartz was surprised to see that in front of her was a pony, it looked very weak and injured, she felt sorry for this small creature. She ran into the house to get the first aid kit, approaching the horse which seemed to be very scared and kept whining at the sight of humans.
"It's okay, I won't do anything to you. Let me heal you" - Quartz
Holding out her hand towards the horse, it still looked at her with a wary gaze. In order for the horse to trust her more, she immediately held out a homegrown carrot towards it. The horse glanced at the carrot in Quartz's hand. It seemed to want to eat it. Realizing that the horse had distracted her, Quartz slowly approached her hand, still holding out the carrot towards the horse.
When the carrot was near the horse's mouth, it immediately grabbed it and ate it. While it was eating, Quartz immediately healed the creature. The wound on the leg had a pretty clean cut that seemed to have been shot. Luckily, it was dodged so the skin was scratched, but it was poisoned, so the horse was injured while running away.
She didn't know how to get the poison out, but suddenly, the wound on the leg gradually healed, not only that, the wounds on the horse's body also miraculously disappeared.
The horse also stood up and snorted loudly, it glanced at Quartz who was sitting there with a stunned look. While she was at a loss for what to do, the horse immediately bowed its head to her as if to express its gratitude for saving it. Quartz felt relieved that the horse was also grateful to the person who saved its life, so she gave the horse another carrot.
After eating the carrot, the horse neighed and left, not forgetting to turn its head to look back at its savior once more before running into the forest.
Although she didn't know what kind of pony it was, Quartz felt like the pony's arrival here wasn't a coincidence. But she didn't think much of it and returned home to clean up the mess.
And returned home to finish the dipping sauce, the popular rice rolls were complete.
Eating the rolls while they were still hot was the best, so she ate them right away. Picking up a piece of banh cuon, dipping it in the dipping sauce and putting it in her mouth, the hot cake made Quartz have to blow on it while eating, but the taste was salty and sweet.
"So delicious!"- Quartz
Although the taste was not the same as the outside, it was not too bad, the cake crust was a bit firm, probably because of using a direct pan. Outside, they used a pot to steam it with a special cloth placed over the mouth of the pot, when the steam rose, it would cook the cake dough and the cake crust would become more supple without drying out.
But it was okay, this was the first time making banh cuon. Quartz happily continued to enjoy the dish.
"Big sister! What's that delicious smell? Are you eating alone again?"- Aster
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The pony ran through the woods very quickly and stopped in front of a large ancient tree, it immediately knelt down to pay its respects.
The ancient tree immediately lit up and revealed a beautiful young woman with long ears, a crown made of leaves on her head, wearing a flowing white dress. Seeing the kneeling creature, she immediately extended her hand, the pony immediately rubbed against the woman's hand with an affectionate look.
"You've worked hard, I was very worried when I heard that you were kidnapped. But now that you're back, it's good."
The pony immediately let out a soft cry as if it wanted to say something, the woman understood what the creature was saying.
"The representative of the gods saved you? And a little-known god? Looks like I'll have to personally thank that female messenger when I have the chance."
A happy cry from the pony made her smile. Also curious what that kind female messenger looks like?