Chapter 238: The Marvelous Kitchen Chapter 240: Trade

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Such a mouthful, no exaggeration, was practically weightless as it went down, like a ball of clear sweet air drifting lazily into her belly.

He looked somewhat bewildered and asked, "Is this really mochi? How is it different from what I used to eat?"

Many of his in-laws were from the Jiangnan and Zhejiang regions, and He Qi had eaten plenty of mochi since childhood, but what he had eaten was clearly chewier and firmer; even the softest was very different from what was before him.

Song Miao smiled and said, "It is mochi, also called glutinous rice mochi—this one uses only glutinous rice, softer and more glutinous. Ordinary methods either mix in sticky rice or form glutinous rice flour into balls before steaming, which usually turns out tougher and springier. Today I used freshly steamed whole glutinous rice, rubbed with gauze, and cannot rub too much or it becomes tough. Eaten this way it is lighter and softer, but it collapses once set and hardens when cool, so it must be eaten hot."

She added, "Young Master, if you prefer something chewier and springier, next time I will change the method..."

He Qi could no longer resist and picked up that largest bai du ba—even the largest was only one bite in size.

The soft, moist glutinous rice mochi had a thin layer of ice sugar powder kneaded into the belly, ground extremely fine, mixed with its own rice fragrance, the sweetness was just right, and it was wrapped with crispy egg flakes, roasted black and white sesame brown sugar crumbs, and roasted almond, walnut, and hazelnut crumbs, the latter two carrying the unique oil fragrance of nuts. Though only a chicken-egg-sized bite, eating it gave the satisfaction of a goose egg.

Hearing this from Song Miao, He Qi had food in his mouth and could not speak, nor did he want to swallow it, for the roasted nut aroma had not been fully tasted, and he hurriedly denied it, afraid Song Miao would truly not make this texture next time, waving his hands anxiously.

After finishing in a hurry, he quickly said, "I love this texture very much, Song Xiaoniangzi, please don't change it!"

He then asked, "Is there more? Only these few, where is it enough to eat!"

Song Miao smiled and said, "Glutinous food easily fills the belly, so I did make more, but Young Master, if you eat more now, you won't be able to eat dinner—do you want more?"

He Qi immediately faced a dilemma, looking as if he did not know how to choose.

After a long while, he painfully waved his hand and said, "Next time... next time if I get the chance, Young Lady, please make this soft mochi for me again!"

Song Miao smilingly agreed, then took another small plate and went to the back courtyard.

By the well, Xiao Lian and Zhu Jie'er were washing bean sprouts while chatting idly; not far away stood an old woman, clearly used to such scenes, who did not go over to stop them, only smiling and watching the two.

Before she had walked a few steps, she heard Zhu Jie'er's excited voice.

"I've decided long ago! Since I was little I've loved flowers and grass best. When I grow up, I want to be a courtyard gardener! You know what a courtyard gardener is, right?"

As she spoke, she also wanted to interact.

Xiao Lian listened very attentively and gave her face, widening her eyes and asking, "What is a courtyard gardener?"

"Ordinary people who tend flowers and grass are called flower artisans or flower farmers, but what I want to be is the top-notch kind, capable of grafting flowers onto wood! Peonies originally bloom in spring, but our courtyard gardeners can graft them onto eggplant roots, making them bloom in summer with purple flowers, so beautiful!"

"If lotus seeds are kept in indigo-colored earthenware jars for several years, the flowers that bloom will be blue-green—if by then the flowers I grow can make everyone who sees them exclaim in praise, don't you think that would be especially remarkable!"

Xiao Lian listened so intently she forgot to wash the bean sprouts, and unconsciously asked, "That's too remarkable—wouldn't you be able to earn lots and lots of silver?"

"I suppose so?" Zhu Jie'er had clearly not expected to be asked this question, but she tried hard to recall, "Last time I heard someone say, grafting one Yao Huang peony could be worth several thousand coins!"

As she spoke, she turned to look at the old woman beside her and asked, "Feng Mama, right, right?"

The old woman hurriedly said, "Young Lady is exactly right—heard that grafting one Yao Huang is worth five thousand coins. Last time the Second Prince's Wang Fu built a new garden and invited all the famous courtyard gardeners from the Capital. As long as good flower colors can be grafted, one plant is worth eight thousand coins!"

Zhu Jie'er clapped her hands and laughed, "See, my trade is the best!"

She quickly turned and asked, "Xiao Lian, Xiao Lian, what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"I don't know yet." Hearing this, Xiao Lian also became anxious, "I originally wanted to learn cooking, but I learn slowly and am not clever..."

Zhu Jie'er said, "Learning cooking is too hard! Unless you're as skilled as Song Jiejie, otherwise being a cook is not as good as being a courtyard gardener with me, right? Let's play with flowers together!"

"I... when my father was sick, that Eldest Sister treated him again and again, each time needing a lot of money, and in the end he still couldn't be cured. So I thought if I could cure illnesses myself that would be good—this is just something I think in my heart, actually I know it's very hard!"

"What's hard about that? You can start learning right now! My family has lots of medical books. I'll tell my father to take them out for you to use, okay?"

Song Miao stood listening for a few breaths, seeing the two children talking so happily, she did not interrupt, only handed the plate in her hand to the old woman beside her, and turned back to the front hall.

When she returned, He Qi was holding a scroll, reading it very seriously.

Song Miao glanced at it, fearing there might be something inconvenient inside, so she simply avoided it.

Eldest Sister had already cooked the rice; seeing it was almost done, she then began to cook dishes.

Earlier, while the others went to the back to look at the perilla and mint, she had already sliced the cucumbers and salted them under the knife. Now she washed and drained them, first heated the oil, divided it into three portions. When the oil was just sizzling hot, one portion was poured over Sichuan pepper, one over evodia fragments, one over garlic heads. After the fragrance burst out, she took only the pure oil and mixed them together, then added a bit of sesame oil.

Three seasonings—pungent fragrance, spicy fragrance, garlic fragrance—intertwined and mixed, filling the whole room with aroma. He Qi could no longer focus on the scroll in front of him, hastily put it aside, came over to look, and couldn't help asking, "Why pour the oil separately? Can't they be combined?"

Song Miao smiled and said, "The more ingredients, the faster the hot oil cools. Mixed together, first it's not easy to release the fragrance; second, pouring separately and then mixing is different from mixing together and then pouring—the resulting fragrance layers are different. With Young Master's tongue, you'll be able to tell once you eat it!"

Since He Qi said two or three dishes were enough, Song Miao did not overreach, and made about that quantity.

The guests were big and small, naturally they had to accommodate both tastes.

He Qi ordered cold dishes, and Zhu Jie'er also wanted to eat ice plates, so Song Miao satisfied them both. First she made cold cucumber for the former—this dish needs to be marinated in sauce for a long time to absorb flavor. Also considering they couldn't only seek coldness, she prepared the remaining cucumbers with seasoning, planning to make a hot stir-fry later.

This hot stir-fry used local ingredients—the perilla in the back courtyard was in season, with large, thick leaves and extremely strong fragrance. She picked them directly, washed them, and stir-fried them with evodia fragments, mustard seeds, and cucumber thick slices fried on both sides with oil. Called Perilla Cucumber, fragrant and spicy, especially appetizing, it was a rice dish.

Besides cucumber prepared two ways, because Zhu Jie'er liked flowers, she also took pork from the pig's buttock, sliced it thinly, and with night-scented stock bought at noon, made a meat slice soup.

The other dishes were all very quick, but one required some effort, called Ice-Chilled Sweet and Sour Sweet-and-Sour Pork. According to her mother's saying, this dish was truly delicious, making people look at it, smell the aroma, and drool, so it was called Sweet-and-Sour Pork.

She especially liked eating this dish when she was little.

Children love sweet and sour flavors. If ranked by degree of preference, Song Miao thought she could rank among the top few—actually she wanted to eat it all year round, but her family didn't allow it, so every summer she would pester and make a fuss, acting coquettish one day and shameless the next. Finally getting it in her mouth, she would look forward to the next meal, truly never getting tired of it no matter what.

Actually Pingyang Mountain was not hot, because the mountain was high and the forest deep. Even in the height of summer it was cool. But everyone on the mountain knew about her habit. Not only did they dig an ice cellar for storing ice in winter, but whenever they went down the mountain, they would remember to bring back saltpeter, so that after the stored ice was used up, they could help Second Elder Sister-in-law make new ice.

Everyone said they would use it together, but in the end, plate after plate, many were eaten by this child. They were either used to make cow's milk ice, sweet and sour iced drinks, etc., or used to make this Ice-Chilled Sweet and Sour Sweet-and-Sour Pork.

Since coming to this place, although she had never seen it in outside restaurants, ten thousand changes never leave the source. Actually it was similar to sweet and sour ribs in method, and the flavor type was also extremely similar.

Finger-width strips of fresh pork belly, three parts fat seven parts lean, cut into slices as thin as cicada wings. Salt, a little sugar, clear wine poured bit by bit, and the pepper He Qi sent last time, roasted until fragrant and ground into powder, all mixed evenly.

After marinating to absorb flavor, beaten egg yolks were added, mixed with mung bean glutinous rice flour. At this time the batter was wet and semi-fluid. Two chopsticks were used to roll the pork belly slices into circles, rolled into quail egg sizes, then rolled in mung bean glutinous rice flour until dry on the outside, turning from meat slices into large meatballs of similar size.

Fried in an oil pot, low-temperature deep frying to set the shape, high-temperature re-frying. After frying until fragrant and cooked through, the sweet and sour sauce was made.

White vinegar, salt, ice sugar powder, the just-marinated sour plum sauce, homemade Xiao Sauce, finally half a bowl of water was added, slowly cooked and melted over low heat until even.

Another pot was used. Hot pot, cold oil, explode garlic. Add green onion and white onion sections. After stir-frying until fragrant, the previously cooked sweet and sour sauce was poured in and cooked evenly. A little mung bean glutinous rice flour water was added, simmered over low heat into a thick sauce. At this time, quickly add the sweet-and-sour pork. Before leaving the pot, add a small handful of apples.

She operated two stoves at the same time. When this side's sweet and sour sauce was cooked, the other side's large meatballs had already been fried and drained of oil, so that when the dish left the pot, it was full of wok breath.

The ice basin was prepared early; as soon as the dishes were done, they were tipped in, covered with another layer of ice, and the dishes were ready.

While stir-frying the sauce, Song Miao called Cheng Erniang to fetch Zhu Jie'er; the latter tried to drag Xiao Lian along but failed, so when the dishes were served, one big and one small sat side by side in their places, waiting wholeheartedly.

Even He Qi had already picked up his chopsticks.

He first offered to Song Miao, then to Cheng Erniang and Xiao Lian; seeing all three say they had eaten glutinous food and were not hungry, and giving Zhu Jie'er two chopsticks of vegetables, he then felt assured and began to eat.

The cold-mixed cucumber was cut into straw raincoat style; lifting the chopsticks, it dragged out into long, hollow curtain-like strips, green and lovely.

Zhu Jie'er had just put rice in her mouth; seeing the layered straw raincoat cucumbers, she even forgot to chew, swallowed a mouthful of rice whole, and finally freed her mouth to cry out excitedly, playing with the cucumber for a long while.

Straw raincoat cucumber was sour, refreshing, and crisp, with a slight spiciness; that crispness was not a clean crispness, because it had been salted and cut into straw raincoat shape, becoming a slightly tough and firm crispness; not only that, the flavor was fuller and more concentrated.

Flower cuts layered upon layered, the cold-mixed sauce soaked through thoroughly; biting down, the teeth seemed to carry an unstoppable momentum, though blocked layer by layer, yet able to break through layer by layer, like splitting silk, like snapping bamboo—a cucumber battle fought smoothly and effortlessly, each bite winning back cool cucumber juice with sour, salty, spicy, and sweet flavors, refreshing and invigorating; on a hot summer day, eating it made one feel comfortable all over.

Likewise cucumber, perilla cucumber was yet another flavor.

The cucumber was cut into thick slices, pan-fried until cooked through and dead; the edges and even the skin were scorched yellow, almost not crisp at all.

That softness was a cooked softness; one bite and a burst of juice, wrapped in salty-spicy sauce, with the unique fragrance of garlic and perilla—an unexpected flavor; the tongue had not tasted it, still in shock, yet the hand was already desperately shoveling rice into the mouth.

He Qi saw such an eating method for the first time, loved it endlessly, chopstick after chopstick, cucumber with rice, and without noticing he had mastered an immortal art called the Method of Rice Disappearance; unknowingly, more than half the rice in the bowl was gone.

He was still immersed in that strange fragrance and rich flavor when his arm was pushed repeatedly several times; when he came to, he turned his head, only to see Zhu Jie'er anxious, reaching chopsticks into the chopstick ice basin; because her hands were too short, she pinched several times but could not get the meat bits, so she came to urge him: "Brother Qi, I still want to eat, help me pinch another piece of meat, okay?"

He Qi hurriedly pinched two pieces for her, and casually tasted one himself.

Just as he bit one mouthful, he was a bit stunned.

Fried things are countless; this mouthful was different from all others, not ordinary crispness, nor hard crispness, but a "glazed crispness" like thin ice breaking.

The outer skin was very cold; the coldness diluted the sweetness and made the sourness rounder and softer, with a comfortable fruity flavor and fruit acidity; but biting in, the inside was hot, even hot to the teeth; but the next breath, another bite, biting the sour-sweet shell, it was cold to the teeth again.

He Qi subconsciously blew a breath, not knowing whether he was blowing heat or cold.

The meat piled up layer upon layer, fried very fragrant; biting the outer few layers, this time it was crispy and crumbly, going "crack" and "crack."

Further inside, bite after bite fresh and tender, steaming hot meat juice dripping; the meat juice was locked between layers of meat like overlapping mountain ranges, truly nowhere to escape; finally finding an exit, it escaped into He Qi's mouth, so eating naturally had an especially obvious juice-bursting sensation; mixed with the outer sauce, the slight greasiness left was fiercely driven away by the rich sour-sweet sugar-vinegar sauce.

Crisp shell ice-cold, meat heart boiling hot, sour-sweet and delicious; this was also the first time He Qi had tasted such a texture.

This meal could be said to be wind sweeping away remnant clouds without exaggeration; eating to the end, it was concluded with night-scented lean meat soup.

The soup was fresh, clear-sweet, and with lean meat freshness, just right for cleansing the palate.

So when Zhu Jie'er returned home that evening and nestled in He Lao Furen's arms, her mouth was truly nonstop, talking about the young ladies she met today, and talking about the iced sweet and sour pork, straw raincoat cucumber, perilla cucumber, and glutinous rice balls she ate at Song Jiejie's house; she was reluctant to omit any of them, and while speaking, she swallowed saliva.

This dish that Song Miao had long yearned for back then, decades later, still had undiminished power, making Zhu Jie'er keep acting coquettish: "Grandmother, Grandmother! I want to eat tomorrow, and I want to play with Xiao Lian! Can Brother Qi take me tomorrow?"

Iced sweet and sour pork, sour-sweet flavor, pleases the old and coaxes the young alike.