Miao Chu

Chapter 18 What a pity
As for later, the Song family would give generous gifts every now and then, especially during festivals, and they even contributed a lot when the Lin family's daughter got married, which goes without saying.

The neighbors on both sides had witnessed the actions of both families. They saw that Song Miao, who used to be pampered, was now all alone, pushing a cart to sell food. The Lin family had only come once, on the day of the funeral, and had not shown their faces since. Naturally, they couldn't help but sigh.

No matter how much they lamented, no one expected that the Lin family would break off the engagement before even waiting for Song Dalang's funeral.

When Zhu learned of this, she was also taken aback, but she didn't ask too many questions. She offered a few words of comfort and then took her leave.

After seeing Zhu off, Song Miao could only sigh as she recalled what the other party had said.

The Song family had fled to the capital from another prefecture many years ago due to the plague. Their relatives and friends back home had either died or broken off their ties, leaving them with no clan or relatives left.

As for Song Dalang, even if he were a son-in-law who had married into the family, he probably wouldn't help in such a situation, let alone with his good looks and physique. If he hadn't lost his family's wealth and elders, he wouldn't have married into the family.

As long as there's even the slightest chance, the original owner wouldn't...

However, now that Zhu has suddenly come to remind her, Song Miao guesses that something must have happened at Master Wu's place.

Since the other party didn't move, she was caught off guard and found herself in a somewhat passive position.

She had originally planned to discuss it with Cheng Zijian the next day. If there were any inconveniences, she was told not to force herself and that she could find another way, such as finding another copy of the "Wei Criminal Code". Now she was even more anxious, so she simply put the vegetables she had bought aside and started counting the money she had earned in the past few days.

Since the main ingredient of mung bean paste glutinous rice was already available at home, the cost was all in the other seasonings and firewood, so the cost was not much. With the little money left over, they managed to save up a small sum of five strings of cash.

In another day or two, there should be even more available. If things get really tough, I might as well grit my teeth and buy one myself.

Looking at the strung copper coins, Song Miao lifted them up; they were heavy. She finally felt a little relieved.

She arranged what she needed to do the next day, ate a simple meal, and then went to wash up and rest.

Running a breakfast business inevitably involves working day and night.

Today she was going to make a new dish, and it was the first time she had tried such a large quantity. Song Miao was afraid she couldn't estimate the time accurately, so she got up early the next morning, just after 3 a.m.

She lit the fire first and then skillfully steamed the glutinous rice.

Once the glutinous rice is steamed, Song Miao can free up her hands to do other things.

She washed the pork bones and spare ribs, put them in a pot with ginger, and after the water boiled for a while, she skimmed off the foam, then turned off the stove and let the fire simmer slowly.

In order to avoid competing with the food sold by other vendors in the food alley, Song Miao considered it for two days and decided to sell mutton as a side dish.

A few days ago, she saw vendors selling their wares on the street. The shape was somewhat similar to that of a street vendor, but the taste was quite different.

Shaomai, also known as Shaomai, is named after the fact that it was sold in teahouses in Guangnan and Jiangnan. Another explanation is that it is named after its resemblance to a gauze hat.

But further north, especially beyond the Great Wall, there is another type of mutton shumai, which tastes just as good.

Song Miao plans to make both northern and southern styles of shumai this time. For the meat filling, she will make scallion lamb and scallion pork, and for the vegetarian filling, she will make shepherd's purse, bamboo shoots and tofu.

The two taste very different; the former satisfies cravings, while the latter cuts through the richness.

Ordinary restaurants usually use raw scallions and raw meat to make scallion and meat filling, but Song Miao likes to add a little fried scallion to mix with the raw scallion, and then add a spoonful of scallion oil to enhance the aroma.

Although she was now doing business with students, she was unwilling to be perfunctory. She put in rapeseed oil and waited for the oil to heat up slowly. Then she first put in ginger slices and garlic cloves, and then slid a large handful of washed and drained scallion whites into the pot.

The white part of the scallion was cut into sections, then split in half again, still with a little water and scallion juice left from being shaken out. As soon as it was put into the pot, it started to crackle and pop.

Song Miao didn't let them squeak freely. She gently pressed them down with long chopsticks to allow the white parts of the scallions to soak up the oil.

Soon, the hot oil brought out the scallion flavor, and the aroma gradually intensified.

The white part of the scallion was fried until it was only half dry, then Song Miao added the green part of the scallion.

She added the scallion leaves to the pan, and as the oil temperature dropped, she casually tossed in a few peppercorns to enhance the flavor and cut through the greasiness. Although it was on low heat, the scallion leaves and white parts were fried to perfection in no time. Before the scallion leaves and white parts had even retained a bit of their original color, Song Miao scooped them out and drained them in a bowl.

The scallions became crisp in no time after being removed from the pan.

She picked up two scallions with her chopsticks and put them in her mouth. They weren't fried, so the scallions were crispy and fragrant, with no bitterness at all. There was only the aroma of scallions and oil in her mouth, clear and clean.

If you don't need to set up a stall right now, you can make some noodles, put a spoonful of lard at the bottom of the bowl, add two spoonfuls of homemade soy sauce and a little vinegar, and mix it with this scallion oil...

As soon as the thin noodles come out of the pot, they are immediately placed in a bowl and rolled around a few times. At this point, the heat of the noodles is enough to melt the lard, and each noodle is coated with scallion oil and sauce. Just by imagining it, Song Miao can almost taste it after taking a bite.

The noodles will be coated with the aroma of lard, scallion oil, and soy sauce, along with the indispensable fragrance of vinegar. With each bite, the noodle flavor blends all the aromas together—the taste…

You could even bestow the title of emperor upon that mouthful of noodles as a token of gratitude...

Song Miao was confident she could eat two large bowls!

Unfortunately, people can't just focus on eating; they also need to make money...

Song Miao sighed, ladled out the scallion oil, and began kneading the dough.

The wrappers for mutton and pork shumai must be extremely thin, like paper, but they must not be torn. Otherwise, once the meat juices leak out, the appearance and taste will be greatly compromised.

To achieve this thin yet resilient skin, Song Miao specially used boiling water to scald the dough today.

The wrappers for the shepherd's purse, bamboo shoot, and tofu shumai need to be thin and soft. To make sure the filling is visible after steaming, she uses warm water to mix the dough and adds a little wheat starch in addition to flour.

After the dough was kneaded and set aside to rest, Song Miao began preparing the filling.

Blanch shepherd's purse in a little oil until the water boils, then remove it, rinse it in cold water, wring it dry, and chop it to keep it tender.

Cut the dried tofu into small cubes and crush them slightly to allow them to absorb the flavor. Also, chop the soaked wood ear mushrooms into small pieces. Stir-fry both of them in clear oil until they just start to release their smoky aroma, then remove them from the pan.

Bamboo shoots need to be blanched after peeling, and then diced. This time, they are stir-fried with lard.

Bamboo shoots cooked with lard are incredibly fresh and fragrant, carrying the natural flavor of the mountains and fields.

After preparing the vegetarian filling, Song Miao didn't rush to mix it. She waited until the last bit of salt was added before making the meat filling.

The mutton in the meat filling shouldn't be chopped too finely; she cut it into similar-sized pieces.

The pork, however, was minced and made into a paste.

Just like when I made mutton buns last time, this time I also used half of the meat, both raw and cooked.

I spent the whole morning chopping, stir-frying, frying, and deep-frying until all the filling ingredients were ready. Finally, I added salt and the remaining seasonings before I started wrapping the fillings.

Making shumai doesn't require pinching pleats. Just place the rolled-out and kneaded dough with lotus leaf edges in your palm, press the filling in the middle, and pinch it closed with your thumb and forefinger to create the pleats. There's no need to seal it, making it much simpler.

Song Miao carefully calculated the amount of dough and filling to use, and by the time she finished wrapping the dumplings, she had used just the right amount of each ingredient, neither too much nor too little.

Once the shumai is finished and placed in the steamer, the glutinous rice is already steamed, and the soup has been stewed for a long time.

Before leaving the house, Song Miao washed two white radishes, sliced ​​them thinly, put them in the soup, added salt, and then pushed the cart out.

Radish and pork rib soup should ideally include pepper, but pepper is too expensive, and Xiao Miao is too poor, so she can only use Sichuan peppercorns instead.

Tomorrow's update should be scheduled for noon, so please don't wait up tonight.

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(End of this chapter)