"In addition to smelling the incense, the osmanthus flowers can also 'eat fragrant', and every year I will collect osmanthus flowers from the osmanthus trees I planted, make some osmanthus nectar, and share them with my neighbors and friends." Yesterday morning, in the activity room of Qingtang Community in Huqiu Street, Gusu District, Shen Meiyu, an "osmanthus expert" in the community, brought her neighbors to make osmanthus nectar and told a story about her past with Osmanthus.
Shen Meiyu is known as the "Osmanthus Expert" because she has loved osmanthus since she was a child, and she has also planted more than a dozen osmanthus trees, and in recent years, Shen Meiyu has also been making osmanthus nectar and giving it to neighbors around her.
More than ten years ago, after she moved to Qingtang New Village, every autumn time, as soon as the window is opened, the rich fragrance of osmanthus flowers will come to her. At that time, she germinated the idea of planting osmanthus flowers at home, but due to the small space at home, it was not suitable for planting, Shen Meiyu bought more than a dozen osmanthus saplings and "fostered" them in The home of relatives in Dongshan, and every once in a while, she would go to "visit". "For more than ten years, the osmanthus tree has also gone from a half-human-tall sapling to a height of more than two meters now, just like my child, I already have feelings, and, every year, it is 'fragrant', I also collect some osmanthus flowers every year, turn over the flowers to make some sweets that are related to the osmanthus flowers, adults and children also like." Shen Meiyu said.
"After the fresh osmanthus flowers are picked, the broken parts are first picked, the impurities and dust are removed, wrapped in gauze, and then rinsed with water." Shen Meiyu said that the collection of osmanthus flowers is very exquisite, especially the mastery of time - in the morning, we must start to prepare for the work, and then collect after the sun comes out. Because the osmanthus flowers in this time period will not have moisture, and there will be no condensation dew on the flowers, but the aroma is fragrant. "Generally, it takes about 3 hours to collect two pounds of osmanthus flowers, and during the year, you can collect the fragrant osmanthus flowers during this time, and if you miss it, you have to wait for the next year." After the osmanthus flowers are collected, the osmanthus flowers and white sugar are alternately spread in the bottle in proportion, and the bottle mouth is sealed with a cap, and the basic steps of osmanthus nectar are completed.
This year, due to the late bloom of osmanthus flowers, Shen Meiyu also made certain improvements to her osmanthus nectar. "This year's osmanthus flavor is indeed not as strong as in previous years, but it is as good as ever." This time to do osmanthus nectar, Shen Meiyu also appropriately added some salt, pickled for half an hour, and then soaked, dried, salt can play a role in cleaning petals, sterilization and disinfection, while salt can also make the petals quickly dehydrated, and the sweet taste of osmanthus can also be maintained for a long time. "Some people make osmanthus nectar, and they also choose to remove the stems and stems of the osmanthus flowers, leaving only the petals, saying that the taste will be more delicate, but I think it is a bit wasteful." Shen Meiyu said.
After the osmanthus nectar is sealed, generally about 3-5 days, the osmanthus in the bottle will ferment back to the sweet, put into the shade for storage, and after 1 month, the sweet osmanthus nectar can be taken out and eaten. "I think that since the fragrance is around, I will pick up this beauty, and I will make full use of it, make some different flavors every year, and infiltrate this fragrance into daily life, such as making osmanthus cake, osmanthus wine, osmanthus tea, osmanthus sugar taro and so on." Among them, the osmanthus sugar taro I made also won a prize in a food competition held in the city. Osmanthus has indeed added a lot of sweetness to my life, and I hope that this 'sweetness' can accompany me for a long time. Shen Meiyu said with a smile.
Excerpted from Gusu Evening News on November 5, 2021, reporter Liu Da correspondent Qin Qian
(Source: Gusu District People's Government website) [Submission, regional cooperation, please send a private message or send 3469887933 #qq.com within 24 hours to reply. 】