Chapter 43

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

She had tasted it last time; it was indeed top-grade Lipu Taro.

Now that spring has opened, taro naturally does not keep well; it is best to eat it up quickly.

Since that is the case, why not make a dish with taro and meat?

Considering suitable cost, and also convenience in eating — no need to spit out bones or remove shells and such — pork remains the best choice.

Pork, taro.

Song Miao thought of a Pressure Table Dish from the South during the festivals: Taro Braised Pork.

The ingredients for this dish are particularly important; first, one must select good meat, preferably genuine Pork Belly, with fat and lean layered alternately, at least five layers, only then does it have the face to call itself Five-Layer.

Then one must pick good taro; the top choice is naturally Lipu Taro.

One also needs an extremely fragrant sauce — the most crucial thing in the sauce is to add a measure of Guangnan Fermented Bean Curd.

At present, Da Wei has fermented bean curd everywhere, but the taste of Guangnan's fermented bean curd differs from that of other places; the blocks are smaller, the texture soft and smooth, the surface fermented with a layer of semi-transparent gel — this layer is wondrously fragrant, the inside salty and fragrant without being cloying, full of umami, with a long aftertaste.

With these three things, and grasping the heat well, one can make it exceptionally outstanding.

Although it is only a Side Dish, since the Main Dish is set, this braised pork's Five-Layer is ultimately somewhat greasy, so one must also add a dish to cut the grease.

It just so happens that this time the students sent two bags of peaches; they are sour, but they have an advantage — extremely crisp, and a hard crispness.

The Back Courtyard already has a patch of perilla growing, and another patch of mint; now that the weather has warmed, stems and leaves crawl all over the ground; although the leaves are small and tender, the fragrance cannot compare to summer, but they are barely usable already.

With peaches and perilla, one only needs to supplement with some Young Ginger, and one can make Peach Perilla Ginger — sour and sweet, appetizing, slightly spicy, threads of saltiness, crisp and fresh, perfect to accompany rice.

With these two Side Dishes secured, even if the Taixue Canteen is truly perfunctory, they ought to be able to send in two large bowls of rice, several steamed cakes, enough to eat one's fill and eat well, not too shortchanged.

Plan settled, Song Miao conveniently washed those sour peaches and sliced them, then salted them to marinate first, then went to the Back Courtyard, pulled a large bunch of perilla, plucked off all the formed leaves, washed them with water and set them out to air.

Taking advantage of the sky still being half-bright, she took a lantern, preparing to go out and buy some Young Ginger to bring back.

But just as she had locked the door and not walked a few steps, Song Miao saw two people coming from opposite.

Those two, one in front, one behind, each walking their own way, not speaking to each other; but hearing Song Miao's door-closing movement, and seeing her carrying a lantern walking over, they instantly seemed like mice seeing a cat, scattering to the roadside, fearing a real face-to-face encounter.

The sky half-dark, naturally one could not see the opposite people's appearances clearly; one could only barely distinguish they were two men, ages unknown.

One of these two was of medium build, the other very thin, and also very short.

Both dressed ordinarily.

Song Miao only swept a glance, did not stare at their faces, carried the lantern and walked on.

She had walked quite far before she heard the two knocking at the door behind, and speaking in low voices, as if announcing their names.

The door they knocked on was the Song Family's opposite house's door.

Just now the house had been noisy for half a day, fighting and clamoring, yet the opposite house had no reaction at all, its front door shut tight; at this moment the two went to rap on the door, the sound not loud, the movements small, yet it opened at once, and they quickly slipped inside.

That door immediately shut again.

Song Miao turned her head, looked at that door once more, and in her heart secretly calculated the hour again.

Early, late — she had run into people entering both times.

But in broad daylight, she had almost never seen anyone enter or leave that house.

Where did the people all go?

Could there be a Rear Gate? Or do they just hide from people entirely?

Just as she was thinking, she had already exited the Alley, walked another Street, and reached the Da Jie Street intersection.

At this time, proper business is naturally most important.

The sky is already dark; the Vegetable Stall may not still be open; fortunately, at the street intersection there is a household specializing in selling all kinds of Suan Pa Cai.

Song Miao stepped forward to ask; sure enough, this Shop still had fresh Young Ginger, so she added a few coins and bought several large pieces.

By the time she turned back and returned home, the sky was already completely dark.

The opposite house was a stretch of darkness; looking from afar, not a single Light, as if no one lived there; but walking closer, nearing the Front Door and listening carefully, clamor rose and fell inside, unceasing to the ear.

Song Miao did not linger at the door; having confirmed, she returned home, this time carefully locking the door, then pulling the Cart over to block behind the door, and propping up the Door Bar.

On this round trip, the peaches had already been drawn by the salt to release quite a lot of water; this water is peach water, full of peach fragrance, just right for use; seizing this moment, she chopped the air-dried perilla leaves a few times, then sliced the newly bought Young Ginger, twisted the two together to wring out juice — the juice a deep purple-red, a good half Basin — and smelling it, the Basin was full of perilla fragrance, and also tender ginger fragrance.

Mixing with this juice, she added White Vinegar, Zhejiang Vinegar, Mianbai Sugar, stirred evenly with the peach slices to soak, covered it to prevent insects and ants, and then needed to pay it no more mind, only waiting for tomorrow.

That night, Song Miao did not return to her room to rest, but dragged out a Rattan Chair missing a leg, propped up that chair leg, spread Bedding, and slept directly in the Main Hall — that Cleaver rack was placed on the ground nearby; if anything happened, she could immediately reach out and take the knife.

Fortunately, a night without incident.

Next day early, the sky not yet bright, Song Miao went out to the Meat Stall.

She searched several meat stalls; taking advantage of the early time, she picked out the most beautiful half-side of Pork Belly in the Meat Stall today.

This is Lower Five-Layer Pork, located at the pig's belly; compared to the usual Upper Five-Layer Pork with only three layers, it has more layers, better proportion; although it does not reach ten layers, it has a full eight layers of fat and lean; pressing with the hand, it is soft, full of elasticity; even without any complex cooking method, boiled in plain water and dipped in sauce it would be delicious.

Carrying this Pork Belly, on the road she also went to the North-South Goods Shop to supplement some Seasonings, and Song Miao returned home.

Making such a Main Dish cannot be rushed; she lit two Stoves, one to heat the oil pot, one to blister the pig Five-Layer's skin — even the best pig, if the outer skin is not handled well, will more or less have threads of Fishy Smell; it just depends on whether the eater has a Sharp Tongue to taste it out.

For blistering the pig skin she used firewood Charcoal, scorching it black; after scorching well and washing clean, she then added ginger, Scallion, Sichuan Pepper water to boil through.

This side water boiling the pig Five-Layer, that side oil also heated about right; she peeled the taro skin, divided the large taro in two, cut into three-tenths thick slices, put them in the oil pot and slowly Fried them.

Four or five large taro, took more than half a double-hour to Fry well; by this time the whole house was fragrant.

Those taro slices aired a while; the outer layers cut thinnest were already a bit cool; touching them lightly with the Spatula, they made a scraping sound; without even eating, one could see that crispness; combined with the fragrance, it was simply tempting one to err.

Song Miao is also human, naturally she also could not resist erring.

She first stole a piece of taro trimmings; sure enough, fragrant and crisp, oil fragrance carrying taro fragrance, outside crisp, inside bursting with fragrance — only because it was trimmings, one could not taste much Soft and Sticky, still insufficient, so she stole two more slices from the middle, the most Soft and Sticky, and went to dip them in Mianbai Sugar.

The taro slices fried with white sugar this time were sweet within their fragrance, soft and powdery; even if not served as a dish, if a few more children came, they could snatch up this whole basin as snacks.

After the taro was fried, the pork belly was also cooked; it had to be wiped dry of water, holes poked in the skin, then rubbed with salt and vinegar before frying the meat.

With vinegar applied, the pork skin easily blossoms.

Large pork belly naturally takes a long time to fry; after double-frying twice, it was finally fried through, the pig skin golden yellow, covered in large oil bubbles, and blossomed; a scrape with the knife made a crisp, hard sound — simply fragrant to the extreme — while hot, it was immediately plunged into the previous meat-cooking water to soak for tiger skin.

Once the meat was well-soaked and sliced, it was tossed together with the previously fried taro slices in the sauce — the sauce's main ingredients were fermented bean curd and fermented bean curd juice from Guangnan West Road, plus soy sauce and cooking wine, various spices and seasonings added; finally, following Song Miao's own taste, a few pieces of pickled plum meat and pickled huangpi fruit meat were added to enrich the texture.

After marinating for an hour, estimating the sauce had penetrated the flavor, she then layered them one slice of taro, one slice of fried pork belly, arranging the ingredients from the basin into large bowls.

The bowls used were also particular; best if depth and shallowness were suitable, the mouth not too large, a pair of taro and meat laid flat at the very bottom, the rest placed standing upright.

Once everything was arranged, half a side of pork belly, paired with five large taros, produced eleven bowls in total.

The remaining sauce was ladled into the bowls, steamed over high heat, and only then was it finally considered finished.

Many bowls, much sauce, steaming took a long time; during steaming, the fermented bean curd fragrance mingled with taro and meat fragrance winding through the room, simply describable as bewitching, bewitching people into salivating.

Seeing the time was about right, Song Miao then took out two large food boxes and a bamboo basket.

These food boxes were the kind commonly used by food shops for delivery; the lower layer held charcoal, the upper layer held dishes, copper separated the middle, able to preserve warmth.

Eleven bowls of taro braised pork; Song Miao kept the most eye-pleasing bowl for herself to eat, another two bowls prepared to send to Sun Lizheng's home, the rest given to the Imperial Academy students to fill their stomachs.

Eight large bowls of taro braised pork — they looked like quite a lot — this dish is substantial, and not rice-accompanying; one person actually can't eat much; eight students, even adding those who helped copy books earlier, only twenty-odd people, plus the canteen's rice and dishes, three to five pairs of taro braised pork per person at most; there might well be leftovers in the end.

However, the weather isn't hot right now, keeping overnight isn't a worry; by evening meal, steam over water again — or too lazy to steam, just put back in the food box, add some charcoal to keep warm, still delicious in the afternoon.

After allocating the taro braised pork, Song Miao brought out the purple perilla peach ginger; lifting the lid, the purple perilla and young ginger fragrance rushed forth, but the peach fragrance mixed with sweet-sour taste within remained very distinct.

She spooned out a bowl, not forgetting to keep the most essential sweet-sour peach original juice for herself, then put this basin into the basket, and covered it again.

At this time the hour was still early, but counting round-trip time, it was just right.

Song Miao carried two large food boxes on her hands, a bamboo basket on her back, and went out the door.

Although covered, whether her illusion or the fragrance grew legs itself, seeping out from inside the lid, or a little soup accidentally spilled when putting them in, Song Miao always felt the taro braised pork fragrance followed her.

And as she walked, it was now the time of crowds coming and going; passersby kept stopping their footsteps, sniffing again and again, looking left and right in puzzlement.

Someone even asked their companion aloud: "Do you smell it? What smells so good?"

Song Miao heard them ask, barely suppressing a laugh, not daring to answer, hurriedly quickened her pace, heading first to Sun Lizheng's home.

Arriving at the place, she set down the food boxes and bamboo basket beside the main gate, freed the bamboo basket, took one bowl of taro braised pork and put it in, then carried the bamboo basket to knock on the door.

The Sun family; Sun Lizheng, who had been out for two days, only returned early this morning.

He slept a nap, his stomach hungry beyond measure; getting up he sought Zhu Shi, asking: "Is there anything to eat at home?"

At this neither-early-nor-late time, Zhu Shi said: "I boiled taro this morning, and there's last night's leftover oil cakes; I'll bring a teacup's worth for you to eat."

She asked again: "I see you're tired, didn't ask much — how did it go, did Boss find him?"

Sun Lizheng frowned: "Someone said they saw him last night in the small gambling den at Luoluo Temple in City West; I went to catch him, didn't catch him, said he just left; but at least there's news."

Zhu Shi sneered: "In my view, no need to catch him; wait till he loses everything, he'll run back on his own."

Sun Lizheng vexed, couldn't help cursing: "Why doesn't he just gamble himself to death out there!"

And teeth-itching: "Next time he dares come back, I'll definitely make it clear to Uncle and Aunt, lock him in the room, never let him out again — no amount of family fortune is enough for him to squander!"

Such words, Zhu Shi has heard who knows how many times, too lazy to bother; she brought out the taro and oil cakes, poured tea, then went to busy herself with other things.

And Sun Lizheng, though still cursing, ultimately breathed a sigh of relief — knowing the person was whole, and there was news, likely he'd be caught back in these two days.

His heart eased, his spirits lifted; after tidying up and coming out, seeing taro and oil cakes on the table, he first took taro, peeled and ate.

Authentic Lipu taro, even just boiled in water is delicious, but ultimately a bit monotonous, and somewhat dry, choking the throat.

Washed down with a few sips of water, Sun Lizheng couldn't help it, telling his wife: "Our taro can try other cooking methods too; water-boiled is a waste; the ribs you braised before were good."

Zhu Shi glared: "Who eats ribs every day!"

"Can braise meat too!"

"Where's that idle time; Old Lady still has to go watch accounts at the shop — you want to eat, cook it yourself!"

Sun Lizheng scolded into shrinking his head, still not giving up, slapped his forehead, naturally recalling the Song family girl's stir-fried caramelized taro strips from last time, and said: "The other day I went to find that Song family girl, she took oiled taro strips and sugar and stir-fried them, made something called caramelized taro, the taste was even more top-notch, fragrant and sweet; you like this flavor best, right? When we get time, let's make it ourselves to eat, how about it?"

"What caramelized taro?" Zhu Shi surprised.

"That last time, you forgot? The time I brought it back in a food box, that Song Xiaoniangzi asked what flavor, since you like sweet, I specially told her to make it sweet!"

Sun Lizheng blanked a moment, eagerly claiming credit, speaking on, suddenly realizing something wrong, his voice slowly quieting down.

Terrible!

These two days he was busy dizzy-headed, momentarily remembered wrong, actually misspoke — that day running into a group of patrol soldiers, the caramelized taro originally meant to bring back for his wife, was eaten clean by others...

Originally not saying was fine, could hide it; today he actually ran his cheap mouth!

Sun Lizheng heart panicked, hurriedly used words to perfunctorily cover.

However Zhu Shi isn't stupid; many years husband and wife, in a few words, she pried out the truth behind it.

She wasn't that unreasonable, just seeing her husband's tight-lipped look, both angry and amused, scolded: "Song Xiaoniangzi specially made it for me to eat, you actually borrowed flowers to offer Buddha, gave it to others — I have no face to ask for it again; however you gave it out, you make an exact same portion yourself!"

Sun Lizheng didn't dare answer, just hehe laughing, when he heard someone calling at the door outside.

Hearing that voice, he couldn't even identify whose it was, perfectly like sleepy meeting pillow, heart wild with joy, hurriedly said: "Wife sit, I'll answer the door, I'll answer the door!"