Returning to the workshop, Fang Er began sorting the items on the list one by one.
For seafaring, a sextant should ideally be made, but Fang Er didn't know how and had never even seen one.
Fortunately, there were compasses.
And not just one, but three.
With these, he wouldn't get lost at sea.
With safety addressed, the next concern was health.
During the Age of Discovery, the biggest problem European sailors faced was scurvy.
He had read about this in his previous life.
It was mainly caused by the inability to eat vegetables regularly on ships, leading to a deficiency in vitamins.
This was easily solved by bringing along beans.
Sprinkling a suitable amount of water on them for a few days would sprout bean sprouts, providing a source of vitamins.
Additionally, some tea could be brought.
Tea contained various vitamins, with Vitamin C being the most abundant.
It also contained provitamin A, vitamins B1, B2, P, PP, K, and folic acid.
Therefore, moderate tea consumption could supplement the body's need for various vitamins to some extent.
This was also why the barbarians on the grasslands were willing to pay high prices for Tang Dynasty tea.
And in the next few centuries, when Chinese merchants reached European countries, they could even sell tea for an astronomical price of an ounce of gold for an ounce of tea!
However, Fang Er was somewhat unsatisfied with just tea and bean sprouts.
It sounded rather bland!
He then built a small grinder in his workshop and brought it back to his residence.
In the kitchen, Chen Xuelian was busy preparing dinner ingredients with Xiao Mi.
Xiao Qing and Xiao Huan were leaning at the kitchen entrance, and the four of them were chatting and laughing.
Seeing Fang Er walk over carrying a strange object,
Xiao Qing curiously asked.
Young Master, what is this you're carrying?
Fang Er smiled slightly.
Go wash some green vegetables, I need them.
Xiao Qing said "oh" and then pulled Xiao Huan to wash the vegetables.
Soon, a small basket of dewy green vegetables was placed before Fang Er.
Fang Er opened the grinder, twisted the greens into sections, and put them in, then closed the lid.
The blade was connected to the handle outside. As Fang Er vigorously turned it, the greens inside were slowly ground into pieces.
The pieces became smaller and smaller.
Fang Er opened it periodically to check.
Until finally, it turned into a green paste. He opened the lid again.
Pointing at the paste, he said.
Go get some flour, mix this with the flour, add a spoonful of fine salt, and two eggs, then make noodles.
Hmm, stir-frying is fine, but making hand-pulled noodles is something that, if not done often, is truly difficult.
Xiao Qing poured the vegetable paste into a small basin of flour, mixed it well, added the eggs, and then kneaded the dough with salted water.
The yellowing flour, after the addition of vegetable paste and eggs, turned a verdant green.
After a long period of kneading.
The Young Master likes them chewy, so it's better to knead the dough longer.
The kneaded dough was rolled out into a sheet with a rolling pin, then folded and cut into thin strands with a knife.
After completing all this, Xiao Qing dusted the flour off her hands.
Young Master, the noodles are ready.
Fang Er pondered, he had eaten instant noodles quite a bit in his past life, but he wasn't very clear on how they were made, so he could only try.
Steam them, then deep-fry them.
Hmm, wasn't there an advertisement saying "non-fried"?
If that's the case, then everything else must be fried then?
Xiao Huan ran to start the fire, and two ladles of water were poured into the pot.
When the water boiled, the green noodles were placed in a steamer, which was then put on top of the pot.
After steaming for fifteen minutes, the noodles were out of the steamer.
They had been coated in dry flour before, so it wasn't very noticeable.
Now that they were cooked, the noodles looked brilliantly green.
Chen Xuelian and Xiao Mi, after finishing their tasks, also came over, marveling at the noodles in the steamer.
Young Master, these noodles look so beautiful!
Xiao Qing looked at the noodles she had made in surprise, picked up a strand with her chopsticks, and put it in her mouth.
Mmm, delicious!
With the freshness of vegetables, and a little salty.
Young Master, how did you think of this?
Fang Er pointed at the noodles on the chopping board.
It's not finished yet, divide this into two portions, place one in front of the stove and dry it over a low heat.
The other portion, fry it again in the oil.
The four maids worked together.
Chen Xuelian, who had been tending the fire, found a clean wooden stick, draped the noodles over it, and together with Xiao Huan, each holding one end of the stick, carefully dried them.
The boiling water from steaming the noodles was poured into a bucket.
Lard was put into the wok.
Once the temperature rose, Xiao Qing put the noodles in, and Xiao Mi used chopsticks to stir them, preventing them from burning.
The small amount of noodles was quickly processed twice.
Fang Er took a portion of the noodles and put them in a bowl, then poured the still-hot water into it.
Similarly, he prepared a bowl of dried noodles and soaked them.
Xiao Qing was very confused.
Young Master, why do we need to soak them again?
Xiao Huan took a fried noodle and nibbled on it with great relish.
Young Master, Huan'er thinks they taste great just like this!
Fang Er smiled but didn't say anything.
After a while, he stirred the noodles in the bowl with his chopsticks.
The noodles had indeed softened.
The dried ones remained whole strands after soaking.
However, the fried ones broke apart with a touch.
But they tasted quite good.
The next day, Fang Er, at the workshop, had a vacant room cleared out to mass-produce instant noodles.
Three twenty-meter-long iron troughs, burning with charcoal, were arranged in a triangular pattern.
In the center of the triangle was a simple conveyor belt, forming a drying line.
The steamed noodles were brushed with a layer of oil to prevent sticking, and then the drying line baked out the moisture.
No preservatives were needed, as the extremely low moisture content was unfavorable for microbial survival.
The finished green instant noodles were packed into wooden barrels.
The outside of the barrels was then sealed with wax to ensure no insects could enter and to prevent the noodle blocks from absorbing moisture.