Chapter 206

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Small fish were fried pot after pot; as long as someone had done it once, it could be handed over to two helpers to watch the pot, and Song Miao only went to check the heat from time to time.

When she had a spare moment, she went to manage another dish.

There were two large zhiqiu fish weighing about four jin each; because Zhang Siniang said they had few bones and tender meat, Song Miao had originally planned to steam them, but seeing the size of the fish and weighing them again, she felt something was off—a fish of this size should not feel so heavy in the hand; upon closer inspection, she indeed found the fish's belly was extremely large.

Song Miao had thought there would be fish milt inside and was very much looking forward to it, but when she cut open the fish belly, she saw it was full of intestines wrapped around the liver, all thick strips of fat, and even the fish's abdomen was more than three or five fen thicker than ordinary white fish, especially that strip at the tip of the belly, plump and thick, like a piece of pure fat, so fatty it was almost transparent—as if in life it had been a lazy fish that did not like to swim, with a brain full of intestines and fat, yet never lacking food or drink.

With a fish this fatty, how could she still dare to steam it plainly? After thinking it over, she went to ask Zhang Siniang again, learned that the fish was tender enough but lacked fresh sweetness, weighed the ingredients at hand, and simply changed the cooking method a bit.

Still steamed, but she separately prepared another flavor.

She took out fermented black beans, pounded them loose with the back of a knife, soaked them in water for a moment, drained them, then slowly stir-fried them over low heat with cold oil in a hot pot to bring out the aroma, then added minced garlic, crushed evodia, and mustard seeds, stir-frying out that pungent and spicy fragrance, finally adding soy sauce and a tiny bit of sugar.

Those fermented black beans were produced in Liu County, Tanzhou—black and glossy, soft; compared to other fermented black beans, their saltiness was milder, highlighting the freshness of the beans themselves after fermentation, and they also carried a faint sweet fragrance; the soy sauce used was also fresh soy sauce, brewed for a short time, with light saltiness and freshness.

After stir-frying, the fresh soy sauce evaporated its moisture and blended with the fermented black bean aroma, becoming even richer and more mellow; the saltiness, freshness, and spiciness among all the seasonings were all stimulated to be more pronounced.

After cleaning the gills, scales, and innards cleanly, the large white fish was split in half with a horizontal knife, breaking the spine but leaving a section of skin and flesh connected; ginger was cut into fine shreds and placed at the bottom of the plate, the fish was opened from the middle, salted thoroughly on all sides to absorb the base flavor, then both sides of the fish belly cavity were laid face down, flatly spread on thick ginger slices.

Thick ginger at the bottom: first to remove fishiness, second to slightly prop up the fish so it would not stick to the bottom of the plate, and when steaming, the heat could evenly penetrate the bottom, making the fish cook more evenly.

Since enough salt had been rubbed on, and this fish belly was extremely thick, not much different from the fish back meat, there was no worry about uneven doneness; Song Miao did not even need to make flower cuts, directly covered it with plenty of ginger shreds, and put it in the pot to steam.

A four-jin large fish, even if split open, needed to be steamed for a full quarter of an hour.

When the fish was done steaming, she removed the ginger shreds, poured out the steamed water, covered the fish from head to tail with the previously prepared fermented black bean and evodia mixture, then added minced scallions, and poured hot oil with blue smoke rising straight up over it; with a "hiss" sound, the scallion fragrance, fish fragrance, and fermented black bean evodia fragrance surged to fill the whole kitchen.

At the same time, several pots of crispy fried small white fish had all been finished frying.

While tossing with seasoning, Da Bing, having received Song Miao's instructions, hurriedly ran out to notify everyone to eat.

He was like a little bee, calling room by room in the back courtyard; here a "buzz", there a "buzz"; at each place, using only the three words "Time to eat!", and even before the last word had finished sounding, he had already shouted the door open, using the gluttonous bug to lure the people inside out.

Hearing the sound and seeing the person, they responded while hurriedly locking the door, and while busy either thanking or asking questions.

This one said: "Our biscuits, so many fish tonight, how did Song Xiaoniangzi make them?"

That one asked: "What are we eating tonight? That cold porridge yesterday was really refreshing; Little Bing Bing, help me pass the word and ask Song Xiaoniangzi if she can make porridge tomorrow too?"

Someone immediately chimed in: "Porridge is fine, as long as we can get a mian jiao to go with it, it would be even better; those three-page biscuits and pan-fried pancakes last time were top-notch; help me ask Song Xiaoniangzi which day she'll make them next? Let me have a heads-up, come back early, absolutely must not be delayed!"

Another person said: "Is there any soup juice from tonight's fish that can be used to soak rice? I'm not good at eating fish; every time the bones get stuck in my throat..."

Every time Da Bing opened a door, two more mouths came to ask questions.

He was anxious to answer and anxious to go to the next room to call; since he hadn't practiced speaking smoothly, his mouth went wah-wah-la-la, busy as if he wished to grow ten more mouths; here he said "Yes, yes!", there he said "No problem, no problem!", answering in a jumble, thinking he had covered everything, but actually no one knew which sentence was answering them.

However, the questions were just asked for the sake of asking; once the door was locked, seeing Da Bing jumping up and down, everyone laughed, but their feet did not stop, each hurrying toward the front.

Indeed, as soon as they sat down, dishes came one after another to the table.

Except for Cook Zhang making two meat and two vegetable dishes, each of the two large tables also had a bowl of Suan Cai from the pickling jar, a basin of fragrant fried small fish; finally, Song Miao and Zhang Siniang each carried a tray, respectively bringing up a large strip of steamed fish.

The person seated at the serving position saw Song Miao and the other bringing dishes over, hurriedly made way, and shifted positions to make room for them to place the fish, and urged them to hurry and eat a dish with Da Bing.

Song Miao only said she had kept rice as usual in the back kitchen, and was about to leave when she heard Lu Wenming's voice; turning her head, she indeed saw Old Lu in the corner persuading two people, one big and one small, without stopping.

"Inspector, eat before you go—you've come all this way; Head Han won't be too late today; maybe in a while, just as you leave with your front foot, he'll arrive with his back foot."

"Really no need; it's also my fault for not giving advance notice; I happened to pass by today, thinking that since I'm here and the child is also here, let's first get familiar with the road and recognize people, send a visiting card, and arrange another day!"

Lu Wenming, hearing this, was very embarrassed and hurriedly said: "You yourself may not be afraid, but should the child go back hungry? Coincidentally, we brought back many fish today; locals say these are fish from the old water channel, the big ones can be three or five chi long, fat and tender; Song Xiaoniangzi personally cooked them; you rarely encounter such a good thing..."

That person, however, hurriedly waved his hand, pulling the child as he wanted to go outside.

Song Miao found his voice familiar, so she was not in a hurry to return to the kitchen; after waiting a while, she saw him turn around, just about to walk outside—it was Zhang Fu.

Many things in the kitchen were purchased with the help of the Zhang family; even the storekeeper was a Zhang family assistant; Zhang Fu had even brought many people to run along the river channel, contributing manpower, effort, and money; Song Miao had interacted with him quite a bit and was quite familiar.

The two faced each other, both recognizing one another, and exchanged greetings.

Song Miao knew the inside story, so she asked: "Inspector Zhang brought the child to find Young Master Han?"

Zhang Fu nodded and said: "We came in a hurry today; only entered the city through Bei Men in the afternoon; even the luggage is still on the carriage outside; just passing by, I thought I might as well bring Zhang Yong in to take a look—Zhang Yong, quickly greet Song Xiaoniangzi."

Zhang Yong, hearing this, immediately stepped forward and solemnly saluted Song Miao; his movements were very orderly.

Zhang Fu added: "He will enter the Capital next month; I don't know if he will be on the same route as Young Lady; if they are on the same route, that would be best; even if not, once they reach the Capital, there will surely be dealings in the future; my son is young and inexperienced, lacking some seasoning—I still ask Song Xiaoniangzi, if you see anything not right, to keep an eye on him and offer a word of advice!"

Song Miao did not refuse and agreed in one breath.

Watching the person opposite being so earnest for the sake of the younger generation's future, Song Miao for a moment thought of Xiang Yuan and Liang Yan, and couldn't help but sigh.

Seeing Lu Wenming's anxious look, she knew the other was not good with words, so she simply helped speak up to persuade: "Inspector Zhang, if you want to find Young Master Han, why not wait a bit longer? Starting tomorrow, for the next several days, Lord Wu will need to find him to inspect the water channel; he may not be able to return early."

"According to Young Master Han's usual way of doing things, once he sees Zhang Yong, he might give him an advance assignment to test his foundation; missing tonight, who knows when it will be delayed to—if he can get some critique early, that's also good; Young Master Han is very good at teaching people."

She then told the story of one of her own xue shi who, with Han Li's guidance and her own hard work, plus help from other teachers, managed to rise from Waishe to Neishe in the last year, and how her writing improved.

This example had such an effect that Zhang Fu's shoe soles seemed to suddenly be coated with flour paste, sticking firmly to the ground, unable to take a step; he couldn't help but say: "That's right; Mr. Tingqing is famous under heaven for the classics and righteousness, but Young Master Han's literary name is also widely spread; I usually saw him doing many things and thought he was just capable; I was actually foolish, forgetting he also has a hand at good writing!"

Zhang Fu had spent much effort sending the younger generation to the Capital, naturally for studying and scholarship; at this moment, having developed the desire to seek Han Li's guidance, he needed no further persuasion and agreed on his own initiative, looking quite embarrassed, saying: "If so, then we father and son will disturb you!"

As soon as he sat at the table, no introduction was needed; everyone recognized him and all greeted him.

Thinking of the money, effort, and help the Zhang family had provided, a student, salivating, had already sent the basin of crispy fried fish on the table to Zhang Yong's face, saying: "This is fragrant; children definitely like it!"

Saying this, he casually picked two more for his own bowl.

Someone else, bearing the heartache, shifted that large plate of steamed zhiqiu fish with fermented black bean and evodia crumbs to Zhang Fu's side, saying: "Inspector Zhang, eat this; Song Xiaoniangzi's steamed fish is absolutely superb!"

Zhang Fu thanked them, very obligingly picked a fish for Zhang Yong's bowl, exchanged a few pleasantries with everyone, told the child to eat slowly, but he himself quietly stood up, preparing to go find a post station runner to buy two jars of good wine.

After the adults left, only a ten-year-old child remained at the table.

Everyone at this table was a student; seeing Zhang Yong not moving his chopsticks, just sitting honestly upright, they all took care of him, saying: "Eat, what are you afraid of! There's a whole basin here!"

"Very fragrant; just fried out a moment ago; Song Xiaoniangzi said it won't be so crispy when cold!"

"Are you afraid of bones?" Someone picked up another strip from the basin and ate it to show him, "Just don't eat the small fish heads and this big middle bone, my teeth are good, I can even chew up and eat the big bones!"

As this person moved his chopsticks and chewed, the sharp-eyed people beside him immediately noticed something was off.

"Hey, we agreed to divide by headcount, how are you snatching from the communal share???"

"Master Zhang has arrived, do we still divide by headcount?? Just now Lin Er also stole two strips??"

"You also know this is called stealing?"

"Bah! I misspoke, took! It's took!"

"Just now Lin Er" immediately clarified for himself: "I already told Brother Feng Lao, let him deduct my two strips!"

"Then mine... mine too... sigh! The strip I just ate was a small fish, brought as an example to show this Zhang kid! Deducting one strip seems a bit much?? Two strips only equal one big one from the others!"

"Only you can make examples, can't I??"

A group of people were fighting over fish here, Zhang Yong didn't dare raise his head much, he could only stare at his own bowl.

While staring, he couldn't help swallowing saliva.

A fish just out of the oil pot, two fingers wide, three inches long, clearly the dimensions were quite delicate, yet the fragrance was that crude and wild, carrying meaty aroma and burnt fish flavor, also with Sichuan pepper's warm spicy flavor, constantly assaulting his face, fragrant and steaming hot.

This fish at a glance had been fried thoroughly by fierce fire, the fish skin was still slowly bubbling out tiny oil bubbles, making extremely faint sounds, the whole body was mottled with tiger stripes, pale yellow, golden yellow, burnt yellow interwoven, only at the very center of the fish belly remained a bit of struggling white, that white was all fried into unevenness, white carrying crispy shell.

Although there was no batter coating, under high fire there were already several places where the fish skin had separated from the meat, that skin extremely light, extremely thin, almost transparent, half revealing the fine white underneath, the curled-up edges were instead thick, bulging into bubbles, glistening with oil, no need to eat, just looking one could imagine just how crispy, how crunchy, how fragrant it was.

What child doesn't like eating fried things?

Zhang Yong was simply unable to sit still, as if ten thousand fish bones were standing upright under his buttocks.

Only after much difficulty did Zhang Fu return, bringing station runners and several jars of wine, exchanging polite thanks with everyone, returned to his seat, saw his nephew's fish in the bowl hadn't moved at all, sighed in his heart, hurriedly picked a few chopsticks of dishes for him, and said: "Eat quickly, don't go hungry!"

Only then did Zhang Yong dare move his hands, hurriedly sending that fish into his mouth.

He bit first tentatively at the fish back.

What he ate first was naturally the seasoning flavor.

Sichuan pepper freshly roasted and freshly crushed, exceptionally fragrant and numbing, full of distinct fire-roasted qi — mixed with fine salt, coated evenly and thinly, if five parts is just right, then this seasoning is six parts, Song Miao's hand is heavier, making one eat with a mouth full of warm, numbing, salty sensation.

But his mouth hadn't yet had time to fully react, the fish fragrance underneath had already fiercely rushed out.

Frying fish with lard this kind of meat oil, naturally adds fragrance to fragrance.

Fish skin fried extremely dry and fragrant, fish meat also fried through, big bones small bones, even fish bones completely fried crisp, chew a bit and can swallow down.

The fish tail section connecting to the fish bones is also burnt fragrant, but further toward the middle, that layer of fish meat at the fish spine still stubbornly guards its bit of tenderness, carrying river fresh's unique fresh sweetness, constantly calling at your tongue — "Ah ah ah I am fish ah I am fish ah!"

?? This chapter's structure actually still needs revision, a part should be next chapter's content, but evening tired I can't write anymore eating rice... I'll see tomorrow when updating how to swap, sorry recently too busy updates comparatively chaotic, affected everyone's reading experience, I'll try to adjust tomorrow QAQ