Miao Chu

Chapter 125 Skills

It was a dinner party, but Song Miao and Cheng Erniang started preparing early in the morning.

Fearing flooding and not being able to buy all the ingredients, I prepared chickens, ducks, fish and other things a few days ago. Since I won't be setting up a stall for the time being, I'll put them in cages in the backyard for now, so that they can grow meat and get rid of the muddy taste.

However, fresh fruits and vegetables can only be picked and used as needed.

Fortunately, the rain stopped last night, and this morning there was only a light drizzle. The water on the road has receded a little, and there are some pedestrians now.

The two waded through the water to the vegetable market.

The Song Family Restaurant was situated on higher ground. Upon reaching the entrance of Suanzao Alley, the water was growing deeper and deeper, almost reaching above the knees. Some households even had their doors wide open, constantly scooping and shoveling water out from inside – looking inside from the outside, every house was soaking wet.

On the street, some children were out stomping and playing, while others were happily squatting on the ground scooping up water and splashing it everywhere, getting themselves all dirty. Their families would catch them, take them home, and give them a good spanking, making them cry and scream.

Some idle people took basins and straw hats to scoop up the fish that were swimming by on the water street, while others cursed and complained that someone's roof had collapsed and hit their own tile, causing their house to leak.

Others said that their front door had been washed away by the water and the furniture inside was also gone, and asked others to keep an eye out.

Some people were making a fuss, saying that a thief had broken into their house and that their neighbor had stolen the two hundred coins they had hidden. They were shouting that they would go to the police station to report to the authorities. But their father came out and said, "So the money in that earthenware jar was yours. I thought it was the money I had hidden years ago, and that I had already used it to buy a fishing rod."

The son immediately burst into tears: "What kind of fishing rod costs two hundred coins? You might as well hang me!"

Everything was a mess.

This was the first time Song Miao had ever seen such a scene, and she found it all very novel. Especially when she saw someone actually catching fish in the "street river," she couldn't help but want to wade over and see what kind of fish it was.

Cheng Erniang was even more amazed, but then worried, "I heard the young lady say that boats were being used on the streets. Could it really come to that?"

Song Miao shook her head and said, "It's hard to say. There has been too much rain this year. Judging from the current situation, we may be able to get through the spring floods, but the summer floods will be troublesome."

At this point, her initial excitement turned to a gloomy mood.

The two went to the vegetable market, and as soon as they asked the prices, Song Miao realized that she had been prepared. She knew that the prices of everything would rise due to the continuous heavy rain. Vegetables that usually cost only five or six coins per catty were now fifteen or sixteen coins, a threefold increase. As for pork and mutton, they had risen to the point that people could hardly afford them. It was so terrible that her hand trembled as she took out her money.

Cheng Erniang tried to negotiate the price down several times, but couldn't get it down. The vendor even said, "These are all regular customers, I won't call your price! I have to pay twelve coins a pound to get the goods. If there were any other way, I wouldn't want to sell them at such a high price—how can I make any money, and I'll just have to get scolded by customers!"

She then showed Song and Cheng the vegetables covered with a damp cloth behind her and said, "These are the leftovers from yesterday that I couldn't sell. I lost a lot of money. If you want a cheap deal, buy the leftovers. I'll give you eight coins a pound. They're still edible even after you pick off the yellow leaves!"

Today is a banquet, so it's impossible to buy vegetables from the next day.

When she got home, Cheng Erniang felt a pang of heartache and kept calculating her costs.

Song Miao then said, "It's alright, it's not like we won't make any money. Besides, for us in business, reputation is more important than anything else. This is the first time we've taken on a banquet, so we're only worried about not doing a good job, not about making a little money."

After returning home and having lunch, she began to make arrangements.

The first thing to do is make soup.

With the recent heavy rainfall, many people feel heavy and sticky even without sweating.

Before leaving home, Song Miao had soaked chicken bone grass in water. It is a herb that is cool in nature and has a sweet and slightly bitter taste.

She planned to use it to make a pot of chicken bone grass and pork pancreas soup.

Whether you're a student or a teacher, many of you stay up late. Drinking this soup can help clear liver fire and remove dampness, and it can also protect your spleen and stomach.

Clean the pork pancreas and ribs, then add chicken bone grass, red beans, ginger, dried tangerine peel, and jujubes. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat.

Once the soup is simmering, it's time to kill chickens and fish, and Cheng Erniang and Xiaolian will help each other scrub snail shells.

Choose large snails, cut off two or three rings of hard shell around the tail, use an iron skewer to pick out the snail meat, remove the internal organs and intestines, and repeatedly rub and wash the snail meat with coarse salt to remove the mucus.

At this point, chop the snail meat, soaked shiitake mushrooms, pork foreleg meat, and plenty of mint together. As Master Chen requested, the foreleg meat should be 20/80 fat-to-lean ratio. In fact, according to Song Miao's idea, it should be 40/60 fat-to-lean ratio, or at the very least 30/70 fat-to-lean ratio. It would be better to use pork belly and lean meat together, because the meat filling should be fattier to be more oily, otherwise it would be difficult to suck the shell out and eat it.

However, Master Chen was quite self-aware and was afraid that the food would be too oily or too fatty, and that his stomach would not be able to handle it. He was already prepared to eat to his heart's content, so he had thought everything through in advance.

There's a trick to chopping snail meat. It's best to do it in two batches, one batch first and the other later. This ensures that the snail meat is finely and evenly distributed in the minced meat, while still allowing you to enjoy a distinct texture from time to time.

After mincing the meat, stuff it back into the cleaned snail shells. At this point, the meat filling should be kept as loose as possible and gently filled, but not too tightly.

Although there was one and a half assistants, Song Miao was the only one truly in charge of cooking.

With two tables serving eight dishes and a soup, ensuring that the dishes are served in order so that guests don't have to wait too long, while also making sure that the dishes are cooked immediately rather than pre-cooked and then reheated, is not an easy task.

Song Miao had made a plan early on. At this moment, she was keeping track of the time, stewing what needed to be stewed, steaming what needed to be steamed, frying what needed to be fried, and baking what needed to be baked. She was busy but not chaotic. By the time the group of teachers and students outside finally arrived, some holding umbrellas and others wearing raincoats, the food was almost ready.

Today, because the banquet was set up in the front hall, she specially prepared the dishes in the kitchen in the backyard to avoid the smell of cooking oil in the house.

Just then, Cheng Erniang came in to report. She and the other person took out two small plates of cold dishes, and there was also dried fruit already on the table. She greeted everyone.

The students were all familiar with the place, having previously shared the pork trotter rice. They all felt at home as soon as they entered the room, and even helped themselves to their own tea.

The gentlemen arrived a little late, and only two of them had come so far. She didn't recognize any of them, so she quickly went up to greet them and introduced the dishes to everyone.

The fruit was a platter of several seasonal fruits, including plums and pears, and the cold dishes were a dish of fermented mutton and a dish of shredded lettuce salad.

Upon hearing her introduction, everyone couldn't resist picking up their chopsticks to taste the dishes—there was no need to wait for the cold dishes.

The first bite of the lettuce was crisp and refreshing. The second part was made by cutting the lamb leg meat into thick slices, chopping it loose with the back of a knife, cutting it into small pieces, boiling it in water, draining the water, and then squeezing out all the water with a cloth. It was then mixed with vinegar, salt, Sichuan peppercorn oil, cardamom, and amomum villosum powder.

The mutton was incredibly tender, and the Sichuan peppercorn oil enhanced its flavor beautifully while masking any slight gamey taste. The vinegar, a wonderfully chosen peach vinegar, added a refreshing and appetizing touch to the mutton dish. Before everyone had even arrived, the cold dishes were gone, each person only needing half a chopstick. Everyone craned their necks to look at Song Miao. Before Cheng Zijian could speak, Wang Chang said, "Shopkeeper Song, we're all family here, please give us more cold dishes! The water's deep outside, and Old Chen walks slowly; he might not arrive so soon—we can't let Master Cao and Master Wei go hungry."

Before Cao and Wei could speak, hearing the student use them as an excuse, they heard someone outside chuckle and say, "Where did I walk slowly?"

As if on cue, Cao Cao arrived—Master Chen, wearing a straw hat and with Xiao You holding an umbrella beside him, strode in, wearing boots, wading through the water, looking very proud and imposing.

Several other teachers followed behind him.

Immediately, everyone in the room stood up and went out to greet them.

After everyone was seated, Master Chen said, "This feast today was specially prepared by a few students who have been promoted to higher levels of education. It is out of consideration for your hard work in teaching. While you are enjoying the good food, don't just eat and do nothing. If there's anything you can't say normally, just say it all at once."

He is highly respected and known for his kindness; now that he has spoken, everyone should naturally obey.

Taking advantage of this moment, the other gentlemen took turns commenting, one pointing out the flaws in so-and-so's article, another saying that so-and-so's foundation was not solid enough and needed more attention, and yet another pointing out problems with the writing style of so-and-so.

On weekdays, they are either in the study or after class. The teacher is the teacher, and the student is the student. They are both serious and reserved. There are some things that cannot be said too harshly, and some things that cannot be asked too much.

At this moment, whether sitting at the same table or across from each other, everyone is holding chopsticks and a bowl. Although they cannot drink alcohol, they can sip a cup of perilla-infused water, which makes them feel much closer to each other.

As a result, the speaker had fewer concerns, and the listener dared to ask follow-up questions, which truly allowed the students to gain a lot.

As they were talking, amidst the buzzing and creaking, Song Miao and Cheng Erniang each brought out a clay pot to the table and served soup to everyone.

Suddenly, it was as if a hundred ducks on the table had their necks grabbed and all of them shut up, only looking at the bowls of soup being served, each calculating which bowl might be theirs, and whether it had more or less ingredients.

Song Miao then introduced the soup to everyone, saying, "This soup is especially good for relieving liver fire caused by staying up late, and it also helps to dispel dampness and relieve fatigue. If anyone sweats a lot, feels heavy, has a thick and greasy tongue coating, feels tired day and night, and has trouble sleeping, they might as well drink a bowl. Although it has a bit of a herbal taste, it is somewhat helpful."

With each word she uttered, the hearts of everyone at the two tables skipped a beat. After she finished speaking, everyone's hearts pounded so hard they nearly burst into a drumbeat, as if a song was about to be played. They all started to identify with her in their hearts—wasn't she talking about me?
How could a student from the Imperial Academy, who would be sent back to his hometown if he didn't get promoted, possibly not stay up all night?
With only half a table of teachers, they have to stay up even more late! Besides, most of them are quite old. Even if they don't stay up late, who among them isn't heavy and sweaty?
So everyone quickly took a bite.

Hearing that it contained herbs, many people were prepared that it wouldn't taste very good, but after taking a sip of the soup, almost everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

It's sweet and refreshing with a lingering aftertaste. The broth is the base, with a hint of herbal flavor, but it's a very palatable herbal taste. It's very nourishing, and one sip gives you the illusion that you're taking good care of yourself by drinking this soup!
After finishing their small bowls of soup, everyone busied themselves with getting more, making sure to serve the teacher first before the students.

There was nothing wrong with serving soup to the teacher, but when it came to the students' turn to distribute it themselves, seeing that there wasn't enough soup, everyone started to seriously discuss the topic of "who deserves to drink more".

Suddenly, one person said they stayed up too late, another said they had a lot of liver fire, and some even chased after each other to see whose tongue coating was thicker. Even at the dinner table, they still insisted on sticking out their tongues and comparing them to find out the truth.

Just as they were arguing, the second dish arrived.

It is steamed chicken with five-finger peach.

The chicken was steamed to perfection, with the aroma of coconut and chicken blending together. Steaming the whole chicken preserved the chicken juices to the maximum extent. Chop it quickly while it's still hot; the skin is taut and translucent, and the meat is tender but not mushy, yet still satisfying to eat. Each bite produces a crisp sound, followed by the release of rich and fragrant chicken juices.

Although Song Miao had prepared a plate of ginger and oil dipping sauce, the chicken was already delicious without any other sauce. It was already seasoned with salt, and when you ate it, you could dip it in the chicken juices that flowed out from the steamed chicken in the dish. The rich aroma was simply wonderful!
Next up was a spicy braised grass carp. The grass carp was deep-fried and then cooked, making it fragrant, spicy, and absolutely delicious with rice!

Next is stir-fried shrimp with celery...

……

As each dish was served, it was a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate.

There were about twenty people at two tables, which was quite a lot, but during the meal, almost no one spoke. It was clearly a banquet to thank teachers, and everyone had drinks in their cups, but they were so engrossed in eating that they didn't even know how to raise their cups. The only sounds were chewing, clinking bowls and chopsticks, and gnawing on meat.

Occasionally, a few words of conversation would be exchanged, such as "This chicken smells so good," "It's fragrant and tender," "The shrimp is so bouncy and sweet," "The celery is so crisp and tender," and "Wow, this fish is so spicy, it tastes so good. Can you hand me a drink? It's so spicy!"

Between the two tables, the others ate heartily, fearing they hadn't eaten enough. Only one person refrained from eating much of any dish, taking only a few bites.

He moved his chopsticks very slowly and ate his food very slowly. By the time about 70-80% of the dishes had been served and everyone's plates and glasses were in disarray, someone finally came to their senses and hurriedly asked, "Sir, why are you eating so little? Is it not to your liking?"

Master Chen shook his head and said, "It's delicious, but there's another dish that I've never eaten before. Ever since I heard the stall owner Song tell me how to make it yesterday, I've been thinking about it all night, wondering what it tastes like. I even dreamed about it. I'm saving room for it."

Upon hearing this, people at both tables became curious.

Soon, Song Miao and Cheng Erniang served the last two dishes. One was stir-fried mixed vegetables, which were extremely crisp, tender and glossy. The other dish looked both familiar and unfamiliar.

A large plate of snails, when served, immediately releases a strong aroma of meat mixed with the scent of mint.

The minty aroma was particularly refreshing, and the meaty aroma was also unique, instantly overpowering the flavors of all the other dishes on the table.

Upon closer inspection, everyone discovered that the snails were not filled with ordinary snail meat, but rather stuffed full of minced meat.

Master Chen's eyes lit up instantly, and he was about to grab his chopsticks when Song Miao hurriedly said, "This dish is called Stuffed Snails. There's nothing else to it, but there's one very important thing—you need a certain technique to eat it. It's best to first dig out the meat that's sticking out and eat it, then gently suck the meat inside the shell. If you can't suck it out, you can turn your head and suck back towards the snail's tail before trying to suck the meat out again. Be very careful with your strength; don't use too much force, or the meat will come out all at once and choke you!"

He then asked Cheng Erniang to put bamboo sticks on each table.

Master Chen listened attentively, picked up a piece, and was about to eat it when Wang Chang, who was sitting at the same table, hurriedly said, "Please wait a moment, sir! Let me try it for you. It wouldn't be good if you choked!"

As he spoke, he indeed took a snail and stuffed it. Following Song Miao's instructions, he used chopsticks to scoop out the exposed meat. Before he could even eat it, he began to suck on the snail shell.

The meat, with a perfect 2:8 fat-to-lean ratio, was soaked in broth and very fragrant, but the meat was still a bit firm; it wasn't so easy to compromise on that.

He sucked and sucked, then turned the conch shell around and sucked a few more times before turning it back. Whether he was using force or just showing it to the people at the two tables, his face turned a little red, but the stuffed meat inside remained visibly unmoved.

Suddenly, almost everyone looked at him differently.

—You can't even suck out the meat stuffed in a snail. How can you possibly study or make any progress?
(End of this chapter)