Alkaline water is often used in our lives, such as making rice dumplings and rice cakes. Food made with alkaline water is not easy to deteriorate and has a special taste. Nowadays, many people use alkaline water when making rice dumplings or rice cakes. They buy alkali powder and mix it with boiling water. The rice dumplings and rice cakes they make feel like they have lost their natural taste. So how to make natural alkaline water? Here is a brief introduction to the method. I hope more people will know about this method.

Props: wooden basin (needs to be washed and dried, a large plastic basin will also work), straw ash (or plant ash), straw, water, steamer (a large filtering vessel will also work), cloth bag (The bag should be larger than the steamer, preferably with multiple layers).

First of all, straw or general plant ash will do (the plant ash must not have burned camphor trees). If it is straw, you need to find an open space to burn the straw first, and then let it cool down naturally after the combustion is complete (the amount of straw It needs more, and the amount after burning is very different from that before burning). After cooling, put it in a container. Put the prepared cloth bag on the steamer. It is best to use several layers of cloth bags to prevent ash from leaking into the basin. Next, lay a layer of straw at the bottom of the bag, and then pour straw ash (or plant ash) onto the straw of the bag. If there are yellow wattle, you can cut some yellow wattle and put it on the top. You can burn it while doing all this. Boil water, the amount of water is more than half the required alkaline water (straw ash will absorb a lot), and finally put the wooden basin under the steamer (for receiving the alkaline water). After doing this, just wait for the water to boil. After the water boils, use a spoon to pour the water onto the straw ash. The straw ash is very absorbent, so you can pour it faster at the beginning and slow down when the water leaks from below. speed. The water that comes out at this time is alkaline water. Back home, my mother would usually use a small spoon to scoop a little bit into her mouth, taste it and then spit it out. The taste was just to see the intensity of the alkaline water and she could not drink it. Generally speaking, the concentration of alkaline water is related to the amount of plant ash, as well as the amount of water. This mainly depends on how much is used. Generally speaking, making rice cakes and making rice dumplings require soaking glutinous rice in alkaline water first, and rice cakes After being made, it needs to be soaked in alkaline water after drying. However, the rice dumplings do not need to be soaked again, so the amount of water must be controlled according to the situation when making them. The water poured from the straw ash can be used after it cools down. The alkaline water produced in this way has a purer taste when used to make rice cakes. Currently, many people in rural areas still use this method to make alkaline water when making rice cakes and rice dumplings. But some people find it troublesome and gradually buy alkali powder and mix it with water themselves.