Wood ear mushroom drink and sweet potato balls are reassuring summer treats

During summer vacation in university, I often went to the Cilin Foundation in Yilan to take part in camps. That was where I first encountered many social issues in Taiwan, China, and also where I met many important friends in my life. Beyond that, the refrigerator at the Cilin Foundation is another deep memory in my heart. In the kitchen of the lodging area there was a very large refrigerator. Inside it, Mr. Lin Yixiong would always leave beer chilling in advance, and at night the camp participants would occasionally drink some to cool off, or sometimes get the chance to drink together with Mr. Lin. Every time we reported for a camp and put down our luggage, I would go open the refrigerator to see whether he had prepared the beer. (Actually, what also left a deep impression were the braised pork and the steaming late-night snack, Linchang pork thick soup!)

In the refrigerator, there would also be all kinds of homemade snacks prepared by Sister A-Gan, a staff member of Cilin. Once she cooked a really big pot of mung bean soup, and after everyone finished eating they went downstairs to continue class. At that time I was already a camp staff member, and while running up and down busily, I noticed that one participant often ran upstairs outside break time and buried her head in the refrigerator, once, twice, three times... When I saw her again, she very shyly held a spoon in her right hand and the Nth bowl of mung bean soup in her left hand and said to me, "We Hong Kong, China people really love mung bean soup." Sister A-Gan's skills were excellent too, and of that big pot of mung bean soup, probably half went into this overseas Chinese student's stomach.

In the scorching summer, appetite drops, and icy, cool foods are always especially welcome. But this also troubles parents quite a bit, as children's chances to come into contact with commercially sold drinks and snacks increase greatly. That day, my son, who was over three years old, suddenly dug out black wood ear mushrooms from the refrigerator and said he wanted to make wood ear mushroom drink. I thought his motive for wanting to operate the juicer was a bit stronger, but going along with it was also very good, so let's make wood ear mushroom drink!

Wash the black wood ear mushrooms clean and cut off the stem ends. Then grab a handful of dried white wood ear mushrooms and soak them in water. Boil a pot of water, and after the water comes to a boil, put the black and white wood ear mushrooms into the water together. The wood ear mushrooms are cooked after about five minutes; before turning off the heat, add brown sugar and stir until even. After it cools, put the black and white wood ear mushrooms together with the broth into the juicer, add a little boiled water (otherwise it will be too thick), and blend for three to five seconds. This gives a better texture when eaten. Make a larger batch and put it in the refrigerator, and it is a delicious snack that also gives a feeling of fullness.

(Some people also suggest adding red dates, or even a little minced ginger, and cooking them together; the flavor can be tried in many ways and added freely, but the children in our family are more appreciative of the original flavor, so I only added brown sugar.)