Chapter 311: Rebirth in the Nineties: Overbearing Flower Chapter 312: Getting on Track

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Chai Mi sometimes couldn't quite figure out exactly what to do to earn more. But ever since she and Song Qiushui had settled the fried chicken matter, she was quite dedicated to it.

Still, she had eaten fried chicken before, but had never actually made it herself.

In later film and TV, Korean fried chicken and beer was indeed popular. But out here in the rural Northeast, it seemed they just fried things like chicken legs and fork bones, and that was fine.

More importantly, Chai Mi herself didn't know how to make it.

It was basically just coating chicken pieces in starch or flour, similar to the famous Northeast dish guo bao rou.

But exactly how to do it was particularly hard to figure out.

She'd have to research it herself.

So the next day, while going to the city to set up her stall, Chai Mi had Song Qiushui watch the stall, then she took an inverted donkey ride over to the big market.

As mentioned before, the big market generally dealt in wholesale. And the three chickens Song Qiushui had tricked last time were also obtained from Liu Zhangshun.

Given that Liu Zhangshun was so easy to trick and was such an honest person, Chai Mi didn't bother going to a second shop and went straight to Liu Zhangshun's store.

When she arrived at the store, Liu Zhangshun was plucking feathers off a chicken, with chicken feathers flying everywhere.

"Oh, Chai Mi, what brings you here?" Liu Zhangshun was clearly surprised that Chai Mi had come over.

He hurriedly tossed the chicken he was plucking to one side, washed his hands, and asked: "Uh... any instructions?"

Chai Mi said with a smile: "Just passing by and thought I'd drop in. Thinking of buying a few chickens to take home and eat."

"Something at home?" Liu Zhangshun didn't understand. Last time Chai Mi's family had held a full-moon celebration for their third child, buying dishes and other things from him, which counted as quite a bit of business.

Although Liu Zhangshun kept saying he didn't make much money and didn't make money from his own family, in reality, since Chai Mi bought quite a lot, he had made quite a bit too.

Chai Mi watched Liu Zhangshun's flustered appearance and felt a bit amused inside. Liu Zhangshun was still so honest and a bit simple-minded. She directly stated her purpose: "Nothing much, just that my family wants to try making fried chicken to sell. Well, I figure your chickens are good, so I came to buy a few young roosters to practice with."

"Fried chicken?" Liu Zhangshun's eyes lit up, then he looked a bit confused. "Sell outside? Sure! No problem! How many? I'll pick out some spirited young roosters for you, tender meat!"

Chai Mi nodded: "Let's start with four or five, enough to try a few times. Mainly I've never done this before, need to figure it out."

Liu Zhangshun nimbly dove into the chicken cage to pick chickens while enthusiastically saying: "Hey, what's so hard about fried chicken! Isn't it just coating them in batter and frying them in oil! My wife fries them at home all the time, smells great, just uses a lot of oil! Little sister, if you don't mind, I'll tell you our family's 'secret recipe'... uh no, just how we usually do it?"

This was exactly what Chai Mi wanted, and she immediately smiled: "That would be great! Then tell me quickly, so I don't waste things guessing blindly."

Liu Zhangshun tied up the legs of the few lively young roosters he had picked, carried them out, placed them by Chai Mi's feet, wiped his hands, and began gesturing: "Simple! Chop the chicken into pieces, or whole chicken legs and wings are fine too. First marinate with scallion, ginger, garlic, salt, soy sauce and such for an hour or so to let the flavor in! Then the most important thing is the batter..."

He counted on his fingers: "Flour! Need flour, best to mix in some starch... cornstarch works! Add some water, mix into a batter that can coat chopsticks. If you're particular, crack an egg in, it'll come out crispier and more golden! Oil temperature needs to be high, when you stick chopsticks in and small bubbles come up it's about right. Coat the marinated chicken pieces in batter, put them in the pot to fry! Fry until golden, scoop them out and drain the oil... done!"

Chai Mi listened carefully, silently noting the key points: marinating, batter (flour, starch, water/egg), oil temperature (small bubbles), fry until golden.

"Sounds not difficult," Chai Mi nodded, "it's just the heat and flavor that I'll have to figure out myself. How much for these few chickens?"

Actually, Chai Mi knew some things, just not in such detail. But explaining it this way sounded simple; actually doing it, Chai Mi herself didn't know how to handle it.

Still, having one more thing to do at the stall was good.

Liu Zhangshun waved his hand: "Hey, what are a few chickens worth! Take them and try first, and after you succeed, just look after my business more! Last time... those three chickens last time, just consider them a gift for Qiu Shui to taste something fresh!" He obviously still remembered the Song Qiushui matter, and bringing it up made him a bit embarrassed.

Chai Mi naturally couldn't take them for free, and insisted on paying the market price. Liu Zhangshun couldn't refuse, so he accepted the money, and even gave her an extra small packet of cornstarch his family often used for frying: "Take it, take it, go try it! Don't get discouraged if you mess up, fry a few more times and you'll get the feel of it!"

Chai Mi thanked Liu Zhangshun, then had Liu Zhangshun pluck the chickens and clean them up. Carrying the dressed chickens, she hurried back. On the road she calculated in her mind: batter proportions, marinade ratios, oil temperature control... these all needed slow testing. Su Wan was right, it did use a lot of oil, but as long as she could develop a popular flavor, this investment was nothing.

Back at the stall, Song Qiushui was listlessly bickering with the last few students and collecting money. The moment she saw Chai Mi bringing the chickens back, she immediately perked up: "Oh my! You really brought the chickens back? Frying them tonight? I have to taste them well! I haven't properly eaten fried chicken a few times in my whole life!"

Chai Mi stuffed the chickens under the stall to hide them, and glared at her: "Eat eat eat, all you know is eat! This is capital for doing business! After we close the stall and go back, we'll make them, you're in charge of tending the fire. If they get burnt, you're the first one to eat!"

Song Qiushui patted her chest, looking fearless: "Leave it to me! It's just tending the fire! As long as I can eat them in the end, I won't mind if they're burnt!"

Anyway, it's definitely better than what my mom makes.

Besides, it's all meat, how bad could it taste?

Business was okay, and the two of them closed the stall and went home.

Riding the inverted donkey back to the village, it was just past noon. At home, Su Wan heard they were really going to try frying chicken; on one hand she worried about wasting oil, on the other she couldn't help but be curious. She handed the third child over to Chai Youqing to hold, and she herself stood with Chai Xiu by the stove to watch the excitement.

Following Liu Zhangshun's method, Chai Mi picked the two fattest chickens and had Su Wan help chop them into appropriately sized pieces. She rolled up her sleeves, took out scallion, ginger, and garlic, added salt and soy sauce, and sprinkled some five-spice powder, chicken essence, MSG, and pepper powder she had bought from Liu Zhangshun, then marinated the chicken pieces.

Next came the crucial batter. Chai Mi scooped out flour, added the packet of cornstarch Liu Zhangshun had given her, and pondered the proportions. Too much water made it too thin to coat, too little made it too thick. She cracked an egg in, stirred with chopsticks at top speed, striving to mix the batter Liu Zhangshun described as "able to coat chopsticks." She heated the oil pot, and imitating Liu Zhangshun, she stuck the tip of a chopstick in, watching fine small bubbles "sizzle" up, feeling the oil temperature was about right.

"Fire! Lower the fire!" Chai Mi directed Song Qiushui at the stove pit. Song Qiushui was puffing her cheeks blowing on the fire; hearing this, she quickly pulled out two pieces of firewood, and the flames immediately shrank by a section.

Chai Mi picked up a marinated chicken piece, coated it with thick batter, and carefully slid it into the oil pot along the edge of the pot.

"Sizzle—!"

A burst of violent oil splatter erupted, and rich meat fragrance instantly filled the whole kitchen. The golden batter rapidly set, puffed up, and rolled in the hot oil, its color gradually deepening. Chai Mi stared nervously, afraid of burning it.

When the first chicken piece came out of the pot, its color was golden and appetizing, sizzling. Song Qiushui couldn't help but be the first; not minding the heat, she pinched it up, blew on it twice, and took a bite with an "ow."

"How is it?" Chai Mi, Su Wan, and Chai Xiu all watched her nervously.

Song Qiushui's expression first froze, then her eyebrows and eyes scrunched up into a ball. She chewed with difficulty a few times and mumbled unclearly: "... Mm... cooked... outside... crispy... just..." She gulped down a big mouthful of water: "So salty! Chai Mi, did you kill the salt seller? And inside... inside doesn't seem to have absorbed much flavor, the meat is a bit... dry..."

Anyway, it was basically undercooked, plus the meat seemed a bit dry. Also, too much salt was added, and the heat was uneven—some places burnt, some places were still damn undercooked.

In short, Song Qiushui felt it was truly indescribable.

She took two bites, spat it out, and directly threw the chicken piece away.

Chai Xiu felt it was a pity: "Oh my, why are you just like my sister, not knowing how to manage a household? You won't eat this, wouldn't it be better to save it to feed our family's dog?"

Chai Xiu said, picked up the chicken piece Song Qiushui had thrown away, then went out to find her own two dogs.

Chai Xiu's status at home was already low; whatever she said didn't count, and no one listened to her.

Fortunately, those two dogs didn't listen to her either...

Of course, sometimes with some things, you have to look for the reason in yourself.

For example, Chai Xiu was busy raising dogs, but although she shouted good slogans, she just didn't feed the dogs.

As a result, the job of feeding the dogs fell to Su Wan.

So, although Chai Xiu often went to pretend to play with the dogs, the dogs weren't very fond of Chai Xiu.

That was really awkward.

But this time Chai Xiu brought some chicken chunks to feed the dogs, and the two little dogs immediately perked up, flattering Chai Xiu nonstop.

Chai Xiu was overjoyed: "Cough cough... behave well. From now on I'll often make you two something delicious."

Afterwards Chai Xiu gave the chicken chunks Chai Mi fried to the dogs.

As a result, after the dogs took a bite, they suddenly acted as if poisoned, howling miserably without stop.

This left the big fellows dumbfounded, and they hurriedly ran out to look.

Chai Xiu spread her hands awkwardly: "Mom, if I say I didn't hit the dogs, but simply fed them chicken chunks, and the dogs went crazy, would you believe me?"

Su Wan: "......"

Chai Mi:!!!

Chai Mi didn't think her own cooking was that bad. She shot Chai Xiu a glance, muttering in her heart that Chai Xiu was just looking for trouble.

Afterwards...

Chai Mi tried a piece herself, and sure enough, the outer layer was overly crispy and salty-fragrant, while the chicken inside was bland and a bit tough.

She frowned: "The marinating time might not have been enough, and the heat was a bit too strong. Salt... seems like I really put in too much." She was a bit annoyed, having overestimated her grasp of saltiness.

Mainly, the inside wasn't cooked through, so it was especially fishy, and also bitter.

So, the dogs not eating was right.

Cough cough...

"Try again." Chai Mi had no other choice, so she had to try again.

"Wastes oil..." Su Wan looked at the less than half pot of oil in the pot, wincing in pain, "Ten-plus catties of oil went in just like that."

"It's fine, Mom, trial and error—who succeeds on the first try?" Chai Mi was steady-minded, bringing over the remaining batter and chicken chunks, "Again! This time use less salt, marinate longer, the fire... Qiushui, make the fire smaller, try slow-frying in warm oil!"

Song Qiushui resignedly continued to be her "fire-tending girl."

Over the next few pots, Chai Mi kept adjusting: halving the salt, extending the marinating time, lowering the oil temperature for slow-frying, even trying to put only starch in the batter without flour...

After failing several times, finally one pot came out fried, the color a beautiful golden amber, biting into the skin crispy and crumbling, the chicken inside fresh, tender, and juicy, the saltiness just right.

"Mm! This works!" Song Qiushui's eyes lit up, shoving piece after piece into her mouth, too hot but not caring to exhale, "This is delicious! So fragrant! Much more fragrant than the braised chicken frames sold at the market!"

Su Wan tasted it and nodded: "Mm, this flavor is good, crispy outside and tender inside, salty and fragrant just right."

Chai Xiu nibbled on a chicken wing middle, saying vaguely: "Sister, this will definitely sell if we take it to sell!"

Chai Mi tasted it herself; the taste was okay, at least it had absorbed flavor, and it was cooked through.

But Chai Mi also concluded that this thing couldn't be fried in a big pot.

The heat of a big pot wasn't easy to control—either the fire was too big or too small.

It's better to use the Ga Zi Can; that fire can be adjusted. But if using the Ga Zi Can, we'd still need to specially buy a small pot for frying things.

Like the professional ones used in later times, I don't know if this era has any for sale.

Chai Mi sighed: professional things still need professional equipment.

And Chai Mi concluded that the bought chicken was a bit tough. That seemed to be the key to the problem.

This era doesn't have White Feather Chickens yet; the rearing time is a bit long, the chicken itself was raised for a long time, and it's also a free-range chicken. This kind seems better for stewing or making chicken soup, but purely fried chicken isn't very good.

It absorbs flavor too slowly, and the meat is too old.

Chickens raised in a month or two don't exist in this era. Half-year-old ones, pure meat chickens do exist.

But Chai Mi hasn't heard of any nearby having them; she needs to go out and ask around.

"Looks promising!" Chai Mi said: "But we need to go out and find better, more tender chicken meat. This chicken won't do, it's too old. Can't eat it fried."

Su Wan saw her daughter already had an idea, so it wasn't convenient to say anything.

"Anyway, this isn't urgent; at worst if it's fried and not delicious, we can just take it home to feed the dog pups."

The two dogs trembling on the side: No, absolutely not, we two are still too young, we can't withstand your old person's heavy hand destroying flowers.

But we still need to slowly try a few more times; today there are only a few chickens, basically all tested.

Song Qiushui, however, didn't want to try anymore: "We're like this, why not just hire a master? Not everything has to be done by ourselves..."

Chai Mi mercilessly exposed her: "You can forget it. What, you want to hire people for everything, how do we earn money? Originally we earn money by working. I'm doing this so you can sell it later, I won't do it much. Otherwise I'd always be the one setting up a stall and taking the biggest share, and eventually you wouldn't want to do it anymore. To get rich, we have to get rich together. Qiushui, perk up."