After the water came to a boil, she added the raw chestnuts to the pot with a pinch of salt. About five minutes later, after covering it with the lid, she took out the chestnuts, slit them with a knife, and the shell peeled away with the skin as she pulled it off by hand.
Once all the chestnut skins were removed, Mo Yan placed them in a steamer and soon they were cooked through. After chopping the chestnuts into small pieces with a knife, she painstakingly rolled them with a rolling pin until they turned into a fine powdery form, and only then did she mix them with glutinous rice flour and wheat flour at a ratio of three-to-two-to-one.
With an appropriate amount of Spirit Spring Water added, along with some honey, the mixture was thoroughly blended until it formed dough. She shaped the dough into a circular cake and placed it into the steamer. Not long after the water boiled, she could smell the sweet aroma of the chestnuts.
