Chapter 249

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

He Lao Furen was smugly pleased here, separated by a screen, Zhu Jie'er was equally seriously "selling her own melons."

"Look quickly! This is Straw Raincoat Cucumber, isn't it fun!!"

No child could resist the sweet-and-sour Sweet and Sour Pork, and it was snatched clean in a moment; when they saw the Straw Raincoat Cucumber, without Zhu Jie'er introducing it, they all widened their eyes.

The Straw Raincoat Cucumbers, arranged in staggered layers, were pulled out whole into a long strip, coiled into circles on the plate, wide at the base and narrow at the top, exactly like a round treasure tower shape; while in the plate they were still somewhat shrunk, making them look beautifully emerald green, but once chopsticks pinched them from the top, the slices immediately separated, yet oddly still connected slice by slice at the uncut place.

The cucumber skin was emerald green, the cucumber flesh a pale greenish-white, and a whole strip could easily be pulled open, long and very interesting.

"Like Nine Linked Rings!"

"What Nine Linked Rings, this is clearly a Spring Ring!"

"What is a Spring Ring?"

"It's just a circle, long and long! Oh, you haven't played with one either? My father brought back many when he went to Lintao; next time I'll give you one!" Zhu Jie'er hurriedly patted her chest.

"Only she has one? Why don't I have one?"

"Everyone has one, everyone has one! I just haven't had a chance to say!"

"Oh, forget about circles for a while, I want to play with this cucumber, let me play with it!"

The maid who had long received Song Miao's instructions and had taken scissors to cut the Straw Raincoat Cucumber into sections had no choice but to step aside.

A group of children surrounded the Straw Raincoat Cucumber, and even knew to use public chopsticks; you one chopstick, I one chopstick, you pull mine, I tug yours.

One said: "Oh, don't break it from my end, my piece is only this short!"

Another said: "Let's all pull together, all use chopsticks to tug; when this Straw Raincoat Cucumber breaks, whoever pulls the most gets to eat the most!"

Cucumber was originally an ordinary ingredient; although Song Miao's sauce was well mixed and the pickling time was just right, it was nothing more than a tasty cold cucumber dish, but thanks to its unique shape, a group of lively children who happened to have plenty of time played here to their heart's content, even the proper dishes on the side had to take a back seat.

The He Family's kitchen was naturally outstanding; a whole table of dishes, pan-fried, stir-fried, braised, deep-fried, simmered, with long-simmered soups and expensive ingredients, but everyone present was from wealthy and noble families—what had they not seen?

After eating, naturally they would all praise the taste as decent, but if asked which dish left the deepest impression, ask ten people and all ten would say the chilled Sweet and Sour Pork was novel, followed by the Perilla Cucumber—this dish was perfect for elderly people to eat with rice, combining simple, fresh, and rich flavors in one.

But if you asked the children, it was much harder to choose.

Chilled Sweet and Sour Pork was naturally the tastiest, but that Straw Raincoat Cucumber was clearly the most fun!

Alas, being a child also had grown-up troubles—how to choose!!

After admiring the lotuses in the afternoon, they went to the neighboring He family's old garden to see the blooming magnolia flowers; everyone had a white magnolia by their graying temples, strolling and wandering for half a day, finally returning to Qingfeng Garden; just as they were half-hungry, the rice cakes followed the drink and were served.

A roomful of old ladies ate and sighed.

"So soft and smooth, how on earth was it made!"

"This one is good; it has a bit of the taste of what I ate when I was young!"

"Oh, don't say that, it really is!"

"It's exactly this flavor, glutinous rice cake! Truly like it!"

Thus a group of people began reminiscing about the past.

Someone said how they played during the New Year, how they spent the Lantern Festival, how they sneaked into the kitchen to watch people make rice cakes and New Year cakes while avoiding maids and old nannies; they didn't want to eat the carefully cooked dishes served on the table, but insisted on getting some themselves; a group of sisters gathered around the stove to roast and eat them, and finally indeed suffered from indigestion...

Immediately someone took up childhood stories—cold wind and cold rain in winter, unable to get out of bed, claiming a headache from catching cold, asking the family's tutor for leave, lying in bed; the congee the nanny brought for convalescence wasn't filling, relying on the maid who knew cold and heat to bring New Year cakes, roasted on a hand stove, wrapped with preserved fruit and eaten secretly.

Someone else said that many years ago returning to their hometown to visit relatives, when they arrived it happened to be cold wind and cold rain; upon entering the door, Old Lady called for someone to bring a bowl of hot brown sugar ginger boiled white rice cakes—fragrant, sweet, and warm; the rice cakes were also soft and delicate; afterward, no matter how they were cooked or where they were eaten, they were never that flavor again.

Talking and talking, they came back to the rice cakes themselves.

"I remember the ones I ate before were a bit harder, stickier to the teeth, and should be a bit more choking!"

"Right right! They should stick to the teeth; this one doesn't stick, it's lacking..."

"Your family's is sticky; what I ate back then wasn't sticky!"

He Lao Furen smiled and watched them discuss back and forth, inserting a sentence: "The cook is still here; I'll ask her to make a sticky-to-the-teeth, hard one?"

For a moment everyone declined; even the one who had just said it should be stickier and harder and more choking shook their head desperately—never mind, never mind; right now this unpromising loose tooth truly didn't have that blessing!

If it stuck a tooth out, that would be trouble!

"Such a fragrant glutinous rice taste! Rice cakes should be eaten like this! In the past no matter who I asked to make them, none had this texture." Someone couldn't help asking He Lao Furen, "Do you have the recipe? Is it made by your Tian Niangzi? If you can tell me, I'll give her a gift, copy down a recipe, and have my home kitchen make it!"

"It wasn't made by Xiao Tian." He Lao Furen's words still carried pride; "It's a young lady surnamed Song; today's chilled Sweet and Sour Pork, Perilla Cucumber, and these rice cakes are all her skill—a young girl, so young, has already opened her own big food shop!"

"Fortunately I have good eyesight and discovered her early; otherwise where would you get this to eat? And you still want to reminisce here!"

—Not caring that Song Miao's food shop had only two tables and no menu, she had already spread the word for her.

Hearing it was made by an outside food shop, everyone instead felt it was simpler.

Doing business is good!

Who lacks those few coins? When you want to eat, just go to the door to buy; cash and goods settled, very convenient.

But if it was made by relatives or old friends' homes, asking for the recipe would be a bit awkward, and it's not good to keep going to their door to ask—maybe they didn't have any ready-made at that time; although telling the servants to make it was just a matter of one sentence, it's not good to go to their door every time, right?

Human feelings are always more valuable than money, and not convenient to repay.

Immediately someone asked: "Which food shop is it?"

He Lao Furen originally saw Song Miao as a lone girl, Cheng Erniang was a widow with a daughter, and there was also a yellow-haired brat; she wanted to lend a hand; hearing people ask, she said: "I don't do that middleman business, passing it around; I'll invite the person over!"

Soon, Song Miao entered the door.

A servant had already brought a chair; she didn't decline, thanked them, first saluted and greeted the group of old ladies, then sat down.

Because everyone asked her questions, she answered them one by one, only saying her home was at the end of Sanzao County Alley by Zhuque Gate, that she had a food shop called Song Ji Food Shop, currently small scale, only doing some private small tables, and also doing business for students, various government offices and departments, and neighbors and acquaintances.

Asked about the rice cakes, she simply repeated what she had told He Lao Furen that day.

"I use thick gauze to separate and rub them out by hand; the various old ladies can go home and ask your home cooks to try; choosing glutinous rice is not that the more expensive the better; the variety being suitable is best; wash and soak according to the texture of the glutinous rice; after steaming, rub immediately; don't keep it covered for long."

"Actually, the most important thing about glutinous food is freshness—take it out of the pot and roll it, eat it as soon as it's rolled, don't let it cool down……"

She spoke of mochi for a while, then spoke of rice cakes.

She began with the variety of rice selected, the location of planting, then to how much of the germ was ground after the glutinous rice and non-glutinous rice were hulled, the way grain was stored, and then to when they started making it, what water was used for soaking in winter and summer respectively, how long to soak, and why it was done that way.

After speaking of selecting rice, she spoke of soaking rice and making it, every item had its particularities.

Even the hammer used to make rice cakes had its particularities.

"I usually use a stone hammer, but actually a jade hammer would be best; some people are used to iron hammers, and that's not impossible, it's just that I don't like to use them myself—I always feel there's a metallic smell inside that affects the rice fragrance."

"If wooden or bamboo hammers are used, they often mix in the smell of wood or bamboo, and fine debris will fall into it; besides, whether bamboo or wood, no matter how cleanly washed, they will absorb smells, unless they are used only once……"

Song Miao spoke, never hurried, never slow.

She spoke of ingredients, of tools, of points needing special attention in the method, speaking with truly great interest; clearly very minute and trivial, but even with the same content, expressed through different words, the feeling given to people was completely different.

Coming from her mouth, it made people especially want to keep listening, especially made people convinced. But within the words there was not the slightest deliberate effort, nor any showing off.

A group of old ladies were all shrewd people, accustomed to affairs, and had seen many people, but almost every one of them had a very good impression of this cook's wife.

When she spoke of ingredients and making, her eyes were bright and sparkling, her tone joyful, her intonation light and raised, and there was a smile on her face, that smile came from the bottom of her heart.

Before even eating the rice cakes she made, just listening to her speak, looking at her bearing, made people feel happy, and feel that the finished product must be very delicious.

No one spoke to interrupt; on the contrary, every time Song Miao finished a segment, someone continued to ask questions, wanting to hear more details.

Listening to the end, an old lady couldn't help but exclaim: "Young Lady makes food, truly so meticulous!"

Song Miao, however, did not take credit, replying: "Thank you, Old Lady, for such praise, but many cooks are very meticulous in cooking; they just don't have the opportunity to introduce themselves one by one before you Old Ladies—this time I relied on the blessing of these mochi, luckily standing before everyone, chattering on so much to all of you; others each have their skills and particularities, it's just a pity they can't stand out!"

"That is still different."

"Still not quite the same."

Unanimously, several of those present spoke up.

If at the beginning everyone still thought of having their own kitchens replicate it, after listening to this Young Lady's leisurely introduction, almost everyone—not just the old ladies, but even the standing servants—wanted to find an opportunity to try this Young Lady's mochi and rice cakes, to see if they differed from others, and by how much.

Song Miao laughed and said: "If there is any difference, there is only one thing—I truly and sincerely love to eat—I consider myself to love eating more than many other cooks!"

At once, the whole room laughed out loud.

After the laughter ended, an old lady asked: "If I want to buy your mochi, how do I buy? Send someone to your door to order?"

"Right now the weather is hot; mochi left for a while easily spoils—rice food and glutinous food especially like to turn sour; at least wait until late autumn, when winter is approaching, before it's suitable for delivery, but even then only rice cakes can be delivered."

"Which Old Lady wants to eat mochi? Either I go to your door to make it, or you find spare time to grace my food shop with a visit; otherwise, whether sending someone to buy ingredients at my food shop, or I deliver to your door, the flavor will be lost."

"I boasted so much just now; if I still give you Old Ladies something inferior, I truly would have no face."

Song Miao smiled and said: "Let me say something shameless—aside from the sweet and sour pork, cucumber, and mochi eaten today, and the rice cakes just mentioned, I have many other dishes I consider myself quite skilled at, and I very much want the guests to try them!"

Sanzao County Alley was not considered remote, after all it was inside the inner gate, and now the weather was hot; a room full of elderly people naturally didn't want to run so far.

But soon someone thought of a flexible solution.

"In a month or so it will be autumn; I have many chrysanthemums in my courtyard; then I will host a banquet, still the same people as today, going together to my residence to admire the flowers—I will again invite Young Lady Song to make a few side dishes, just like today, and wait to try your signature dishes!"

But He Qi had always stood quietly to the side; hearing this, he suddenly said: "It's rare for the Old Ladies to gather so completely; finding spare time to visit my garden as guests—it's a pity there's nothing much produced now, only a few flowers can be offered—when the weather cools, I'll entrust Young Lady Song to make some rice cakes to deliver to your residences, would that do?"

He Qi spoke, and it was only sending some rice cakes; everyone smiled and agreed.

He then said to Song Miao: "After I have Beizhi draft the addresses of all the residences, I'll give them to Young Lady Song."

A simple sentence justly delivered the residences of eight or nine Old Ladies into Song Miao's hands.

Song Miao immediately agreed and thanked him; after all, there were too many people present to speak, so she first closed her mouth, but in her heart she was truly very moved.

This Young Master He was truly very kind and well-intentioned.

Although everyone had listened with great interest just now and all said they wanted to buy Song Ji's rice cakes and mochi, this was the heat of the moment, naturally everything sounded good; after a long time, they were very likely to throw these things behind their minds.

The Old Ladies present came from different households; strangers were not easily admitted, and would mostly be stopped at the gatehouse; now with Young Master He speaking up, in the future borrowing the He family name to deliver to the door—once the door was knocked open, whether Song Ji's food could stand firm inside would depend entirely on their own skills!

Early in the morning, Song Miao carried flatbread, bringing only a gourd of vinegar and a gourd of soy sauce on her person; after admiring a pool of lotuses and making a few dishes, on her way home she had an extra basket on her back—inside the basket were over ten lotus buds, several lotus leaves, and a lotus-leaf-wrapped Late White Yulan.

Besides this, she also took next month's banquet order, and additionally obtained a list of the Old Ladies' residences—indeed either rich or noble.

Song Miao returned home fully loaded, heading toward Sanzao County Alley; while two streets away, a young man and woman had just walked out of Guangji Temple.

"Buy some pastries and fruit to take to the door?"

"Everything in the Capital is truly expensive; apples cost seven or eight wen per jin; I just asked about summer pears on the way back, and they are sold by the piece; I don't know where that pear comes from, and it doesn't look big, yet it costs three wen each—why not go rob someone!"

"Don't be afraid; we're both earning money! Although it took some days, it wasn't in vain; I've already found a job and can start working at the dock tomorrow; didn't you ask at the Washing Clothes Workshop? Washing a set of clothes can earn three wen!"

"Those clothes aren't as easy to wash as before; quite troublesome; sigh, money in the Capital isn't easy to earn!"

Thank you Rang Xiang Bu Dao and mikewei for gifting me one sachet each, and Artuno for gifting me one Peace Talisman:)

Thanks to Book City Occasional Relaxation for gifting me two Small Gifts=3=